Physical Therapy Experiences of North Korean Defectors in South Korea

The purpose of this study is to identify the current status of physical therapy use by North Korean defectors currently residing in South Korea, and to use the results to improve the use of physical therapy by North Korean defectors, thereby contributing to the promotion of health among North Korean defectors.

This study recruited 100 North Korean defectors currently residing in South Korea using the snowball sampling method. The data were collected using a self-written questionnaire. The purpose of the study was fully explained to the subjects before the survey, and those who understood it and voluntarily agreed to participate in the study were included. The questionnaire used in this study consisted of 10 questions on characteristics, 10 questions on the subjects’ physical therapy experience, and 3 questions on the subjects’ physical therapy experience prospects, for a total of 23 questions. The data for this study were collected using the SPSS 22 program. Pearson correlation analysis was used to identify the correlation between physical therapy experience and experience prospects. The statistical significance level was set at 0.05.

The results of this study showed that the intention to recommend physical therapy and the intention to experience in the future also showed a significant positive correlation (r=.766, p.001). The satisfaction with physical therapy showed a statistically significant positive correlation with the intention to recommend physical therapy (r=.423, p.01) and the intention to experience in the future (r=.429, p.01). However, the number of physical therapy experiences did not show a statistically significant correlation with the satisfaction, the intention to recommend physical therapy, and the intention to experience in the future (p>.05).

The higher the satisfaction level of North Korean defectors with physical therapy, the higher their willingness to experience and recommend physical therapy in the future. In addition, satisfaction with physical therapy was greatly influenced by the treatment results. In order to improve the physical therapy experience of North Korean defectors, it is important to improve the treatment capacity of physical therapists.

This study is significant in that it investigated the use of physical therapy among North Korean defectors in Korea, a study that has never been conducted before. It is believed that it can be used as basic data to contribute to the promotion of health among North Korean defectors in the future.