PURPOSE
This cross-sectional survey research was undertaken to identify the factors influencing time from onset to hospital arrival of stroke patients and to provide basic information for the development of intervention programs for stroke patients.
METHODS
The data were collected using a convenient sampling method from three hospitals in Inchon. The subjects were 78 patients who were diagnosed as stroke by doctor and they voluntarily participated in the study.
RESULTS
On the average, subjects arrived at the hospitals by 16.72 hours after the onset of stroke events with the range from 0.17 hours to 72 hours. Thirty-four(43.6%) subjects arrived within 3 hours which can maximize treatment effects. There was significant difference in hospital presentation time according to the level of knowledge(chi-square=18.629, p=.0003). A negative correlation was found between the hospital presentation time and self-efficacy (r= -.320, p=.004). Stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that the most powerful predictor was self-efficacy. Self-efficacy, the level of knowledge and physical symptoms were significant factors and accounted for 21.7% of the variance of hospital presentation time in stroke patients.
CONCLUSION
According to the results, self-efficacy is a useful concept for reducing the hospital presentation time from onset of attack in stroke patients. Therefore, nurses should consider educational programs which include not only a knowledge of stroke and recurrence prevention but also the concept of self-efficacy.

PURPOSE
The purpose of the study is to investigate the degree of fatigue and its related factors in patients with breast cancer. METHOD: The subjects of this study consisted of 62 breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. The Revised Piper Fatigue Scale, Disruption of Usual Activity Scale, Linear Analogue Self Assessment Scale and Self-Care Diary Scale were employed to measure fatigue, disruption of usual activity, mood state and physical symptom respectively. Collected data were analyzed using SPSS-PC to obtain summary statistics for the descriptive analysis, Pearson Correlation, and Stepwise Multiple Regression. RESULT: The results are as follows. 1. The mean score of the degree of fatigue was 4.82 points indicating moderate level. 2. The mean score of the degree of disruption of usual activity, mood state and physical symptom were 2.66, 5.00, and 4.69 points. 3. Fatigue of the subjects was significantly correlated with disruption of usual activity(r=.517, p<.01), mood state(r=.420, p<.01) and physical symptom(r=.463, p<.01). 4. With the result of stepwise multiple regression, disruption of usual activity, mood state and physical symptom being the three variables which could explain fatigue by 39.1%. The results of this study suggest that comprehensive intervention strategy for fatigue should be developed to maintain quality of life during and following chemotherapy considering these factors.

The purpose of this study was to identify correlation of stress, coping patterns and physical symptoms in cancer patient's caregiver. The stress was measured by VAS( Visual Analogue Scale). The coping methods were measured using the modified Ways of Coping Questionnaire by Yang (1998) and the actual physical symptoms were investigated. The phases of patient illness consisted of 1st (initial) stage, and 2nd (recurred) stage and 3rd (terminal) stage based on literature (Lewandowski & Jones, 1988). The data were collected by a survey conducted from March to July, 2000 and which included 196 cancer patients' caregivers from two hospitals in Seoul. The data were analyzed using paired t-test, unpaired t-test, ANOVA, Scheffe test and Pearson correlation coefficient. The results were as follows: 1. The average of caregivers' stress scores was 62.5. Problem-focused coping methods were significantly used more than emotion-focused coping methods by the cancer patients' caregiver. The mean number of caregivers' physical symptom was 1.03. 2. There were significantly high level of stress in women, those who were more than 60 years old, those who had a low education level, those who had no job, those who are patients' wives' and those who are terminal patients' caregiver. There were significantly low levels of coping in women, those who were more than 60 years old, those who had low education levels, those who had no job and those who are patients' wives. There were significantly higher number of physical symptoms in women, and those who have no job. 3. Caregivers' stress was significantly correlated to problem-focused coping methods (r=-.21, p=.006), and physical symptom (r=-.28, p=.0001). In conclusion, attempts to develop nursing interventions for cancer patients' caregiver in women, those who are more than 60 years old, with a low education level, have no job, and are cancer patients' wives could have an improvement on positive coping methods and provide relaxation from stress in the patients' experience.

This study was undertaken in order to examine the effect of hardiness on future stress-related physical symptoms in the female students in a longitudinal design. The subjects who participated in this study were 97 female nursing students (in the analysis of data after 1 year). The instruments used for this study were a survey of general characteristics, stress (43 items), hardiness(25 items), and physical symptoms(35 items). Analysis of data was done by use of mean and hierarchical multiple regression with the SAS program. The results of this study were as follows. 1) Main effects of hardiness on future stress-related physical symptoms was found. 2) The stress buffering effects of hardiness were not found.