PURPOSE
S: Quality of life is an important health outcome for hemodialysis patients. The purposes of this study were to identify the level of quality of life and to identify the predictors of quality of life among hemodialysis patients. METHOD: A descriptive correlational study was conducted. Data were collected from 103 hemodialysis patients at the hospitals in a community using structured questionnaire and medical record. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, correlation, and stepwise multiple regression. RESULTS: Quality of life among hemodialysis patients was relatively lower than that of previous studies. In the final analysis, quality of life was predicted by presence of comorbidity, emotional health, gender, physical health, and knowledge of disease. These variables accounted for 45% of variance of the quality of life. The presence of comorbidity was the most significant predictor of quality of life among hemodialysis patients. CONCLUSION: Interventions to increase quality of life among hemodialysis patients such as health promotion program and educational program for dietary compliance are needed. These must be developed and applied

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to assess the characteristics of the user of complementary?alternative therapies(CAT) and to identify the important predictive factors associated with them.
METHOD
This study included 142 patients attending outpatient rheumatology clinics of D Hospital in Busan between July and August in 2001. The multiple logistic regression model was developed to estimate the likelihood of user or nonuser of CAT.
RESULT
The duration of illness and chance score of health locus of control were found to be significant factors through the estimated coefficients of using CAT. Duration of illness is longer and chance score of health locus of control is higher in patients who have used CAT in past than that of nonuser. When the model performance was evaluated by comparing the observed outcome with predicted outcome, the model correctly identified 95% of user of CAT and 31% of nonuser.
CONCLUSION
In this survey, duration of illness and chance score of health locus of control are found to be significant factors in predicting utilization of CAT. Nurses who care for rheumatoid arthritis patients should take consideration into health locus of control in planning health education programs.