The study was done to analyze the trends in research on the health of elders in Korea and suggest directions for future research in this field. From 1991 to 2000, 343 studies were published. These studies were examined according to the major concepts, for 5-year periods, for research designs, types of nursing interventions and research findings. According to the research theme, there were 137 studies on physical health. 103 on mental health, 7 on spiritual health, 45 on family health, 4 on social health, 20 on quality of life and 27 on welfare for elders. The most popular research designs were descriptive studies including an experimental component (311) followed by qualitative studies (25). In the 55 experimental research studies, the most frequent nursing interventions were exercise programs (24), followed by reminiscence (6), music therapy (5), recreation therapy (3), validation therapy (2) and 14 other intervention programs with one different intervention each. Further research is needed for nursing interventions programs and development of instrument for the health of elderly people, methods to reduce families' stressors and research on the real environmental situation of elders and their families. Qualitative studies on health of elderly people are needed to more deeply identify the meaning of health for the elders in the Korean cultural setting.