Assessment of health promoting lifestyle behaviours of adults living in the semi-rural area

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to determine the level of healthy lifestyle behaviors and related factors in the individuals who applied to the primary health-care center. METHODS: The study is a cross-sectional study of adults aged 18 years and over who applied to the primary health-care center. The sample size of the study was calculated as 992 people and 995 participants were accessible. The health-promoting behaviors of the individuals were assessed by the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile II (HPLP-II). In the analysis of the data, Mann-Whitney U-test, Kruskal-Wallis tests, and multiple linear regression analysis were used to determine effective variables on scale score. RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 43.8±17.1. Of the total participants, 45.7% (n=455) of them were female. The median score obtained from the HPLP-II was 132. Health responsibility, nutrition, and interpersonal relations subscale scores of male were lower than female patients, while physical activity subscale scores were higher in male patients. In participants under the age of 48 years in the study, health responsibility, nutrition, interpersonal relations, and stress management subscale scores were higher. The scores of the married participants were higher than the areas out of the stress management subdimension. Stress management subscale scores were higher in individuals with primary and lower education levels in terms of health care, nutrition, and interpersonal relations. Those who had good family income status and health perception scores also received higher scores in terms of all subscale scores. CONCLUSION: Gender, age group, marital status, education level, income level, physician-diagnosed chronic disease history , and perceived health status were found to be related to health-promoting behaviors. Educational programs should be prepared in these issues by determining the issues that individuals are lacking in protecting and developing their health and social needs should be taken into consideration when these programs are being prepared. N on-communicable diseases have gained importance with the reduction of infectious diseases which were the main cause of death in the past [1]. Today, non-communicable diseases, which are responsible for 80% of the deaths in the world, usually occur as a result of lifestyle-related behavioral risk factors such as smoking, physical inactivity, alcohol abuse, and unhealthy diet [2]. Behavioral risk factors related to lifestyle are the main determinants of health such as physical environment and socioeconomic factors [3]. Studies have shown that lifestyle and health status are related to utilization of health-care services and health expenses [4]. A healthy lifestyle is defined as the ability to control all behaviors that may affect the health of the individual and to choose behaviors that are appropriate to their health status in organizing their daily activities [5]. The individual who performs these behaviors continuously in