The purpose of this study was to classify the research domains and subjects based on existing health problems, sex/gender specific crucial health differences and common risks across the life span.

Three hundred and seventy seven articles were examined that were published in 3 nursing journals from 1999 to 2004.

Research subjects were classified into middle-aged women (23%), nurses (20%), pregnant women (17%), school girls (14%), ill women (8%), working women (4%), elderly women (4%), mothers (3%), married women (3%), and unmarried women (2%) in sequence. The total number of keywords were 820 and the mean was 2.17 per article. Research domains were health behaviors (27%), childbirth (20%), socio-cultural and economic activities (8%), illness (6%), the reproductive system (5%), and demographics (5%) in the order of frequency. Research concepts shown were universal health behaviors (8.4%), mental health (7.2%), labor and delivery (6.2%), parent roles (5.5%), breast-feeding (4.6%), violence (4.5%), climacterics (4.3%), postpartum care (4.0%), weight control behaviors (3.8%), and a healthy life (3.5%) in frequency.

Based on the research results, research concepts should be chosen closely related with the existing health problems, sex/gender specific differences and common risks across the life span. Especially these matters should be taken into consideration for study: education about the risks of artificial abortion, giving information for decision making on cesarean birth, low birth rates, infection during pregnancy, and the increasing rate of divorce.