Relationships Between Personal Satisfaction, Cardiovascular Disease Risk, and Health Promoting Behavior Among Arab American Middle-Aged Women

Abstract

Background Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death among middle-aged women. Health-promoting behavior is essential to the prevention of CVD. During middle adulthood, women experience biopsychosocial changes that may reduce personal satisfaction and affect health-promoting behavior and CVD risk. Objective This study aimed to examine the impact of personal satisfaction on health-promoting behavior and CVD risk in middle-aged Arab American women. Methods A convenience sample of 114 middle-aged Arab American women was recruited from 2 clinical sites in Michigan in the United States. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire, the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile-II, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, the Satisfaction With Life Scale, the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale, and a single item assessing health satisfaction. Risk for CVD was calculated using the 10-year atherosclerotic CVD Risk Estimator. Results Health-promoting behavior was significantly correlated with self-satisfaction (r = 0.54, P