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Results for “Health Behavior”

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PubMed1993

[Promotion of a positive image of health behavior by the population via primary health care system activities].

The aim of this investigation was to find out the possibilities and the necessity of health educational and health promotion programmes in the working population. The study was performed during 1991 in Vojvodina. The representative sample was selected among the industrial, administrative and agricultural workers. The results showed high participation of inadequate health behaviour among the questioned workers. But there is a strong wish for its correction among them, and expressed need for help in doing it. There was a high interest in health topics, but the main sources for these informations were mass media and selfexperience, and finally health workers. This shows the need for more active participation of health personnel in health education and health promotion. The paper suggests the promotion of health behaviour among the working population as a mutual activity of primary health workers and the working organization.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Health behaviors and other characteristics of women on hormone therapy: results from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988-1994.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the prevalence of hormone therapy (HT) use and compare demographic characteristics, health behaviors, and health indicators between current HT users and never-users in a nationally representative sample of postmenopausal women. DESIGN: The Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey was a cross-sectional survey conducted between 1988 and 1994, including 3,673 postmenopausal women aged 40 years and older. RESULTS: Overall, 419 (11.4%) of the women reported current HT use, 857 (23.3%) reported past use, and 2,397 (65.3%) were never-users. Non-Hispanic black women and women aged 70 years or older were less likely to be current users. Higher socioeconomic status (education and income) and surgical menopause were associated with increased odds of current hormone use. After adjusting for the above variables, women who reported being inactive during leisure time and obese women (body mass index >or= 30) were less likely to be current users. Women who had 5 to 29 alcoholic drinks per month, perceived their health status as "good," took a multiple vitamin, were aware of having high blood cholesterol, and had a clinic for regular medical care were more likely to be current users. Smoking habits were not significantly different between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: Current HT users have different demographic profiles and may lead healthier lives than never-users. This is important to take into account when studying the effects of HT, and it may partly explain differences in findings regarding the health effects of HT use in observational studies compared with randomized clinical trials.

Adult↗

PubMed1994

A staged-based approach to helping people change health behaviors.

Helping people change health-related behavior is a challenging part of CNS responsibilities. Behavior change is a cyclic phenomena where people progress through the typical stages of precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance, and, if not successful in changing behavior, relapse. Several interventions are available to assist people with health behavior change, in addition to the typical education that CNSs provide. Appropriate nursing interventions for each change stage that assist people to change health behaviors successfully are described in this article.

Health Behavior↗

PubMed1991

Socioeconomic status differences in health behaviors related to obesity: the Healthy Worker Project.

Obesity and health behaviors that influence energy balance (diet, exercise, and dieting to lose weight) were examined in a population of 2108 and 2539 working men and women in relation to socioeconomic status (SES). The hypothesis investigated was that the inverse relationship between SES and obesity observed in a number of studies is due to the fact that the distribution of obesity relevant health behaviors differs by social class. Body mass index (BMI), as expected, was found to be inversely related to SES. Higher SES was also associated with several behaviors that contribute importantly to energy balance. High SES respondents reported a lower fat diet, more exercise, and a higher prevalence of dieting to control weight. However, lower smoking rates were observed in upper SES men and women and higher alcohol consumption was reported in upper SES women. Both of these associations appear to be inconsistent with the hypothesis that the inverse association between SES and obesity is caused by differences in health behaviors. In multiple regression analyses, SES remained a significant predictor of BMI after controlling for all measured health behaviors. Weaknesses in the methodologies for measuring health behaviors and possible effects of obesity itself on social mobility are suggested as possible explanations for the residual association between obesity and SES.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Culture change and ethnic-minority health behavior: an operant theory of acculturation.

Data on acculturation and ethnic-minority health indicate that acculturation has opposite effects on the same health behavior among different ethnic groups; opposite effects on different health behaviors within an ethnic group; opposite effects on the same health behavior for the women vs. the men of most ethnic groups; and no effect whatsoever on some health behaviors for some ethnic groups. This evidence is so incoherent that it is unintelligible, and hence it continues to be largely useless to health psychology and behavioral medicine. This paper presents a new theory of acculturation that renders these confusing data coherent by predicting such changes in minority health behavior a priori. By so doing, the operant model of acculturation has the potential to improve health promotion and disease prevention and thereby reduce ethnic health disparities.

Acculturation↗

PubMed2005

Practice of habitual and volitional health behaviors to prevent severe acute respiratory syndrome among Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong.

PURPOSE: To explore factors relating to the practice of habitual and volitional health behaviors against the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) among Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong. METHODS: A community telephone survey was conducted with 230 Chinese adolescents. Random-digit dialing of the local residential telephone directory was used to select respondents, who were asked to provide information on their practice of SARS preventive health behaviors and associated factors as specified by the Health Belief Model. These factors included perceived threat of SARS, perceived benefits and barriers in practicing SARS preventive health behaviors, cues to action, knowledge of SARS, and self-efficacy. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to determine salient correlates of habitual and volitional health behaviors against SARS. RESULTS: About 54.8% of respondents reported practicing all three recommended habitual health behaviors. Another 47.8% indicated consistent practice of volitional health behavior of facemask-wearing to prevent SARS. Results of hierarchical regression analyses showed that habitual health behaviors against SARS were related to perceived health threat and environmental cues. For facemask-wearing, salient correlates were environmental cues, rates of SARS habitual health behaviors, younger age, and perceived health threat. CONCLUSIONS: The Health Belief Model is useful in understanding Chinese adolescents' practice of health behaviors, especially volitional health behaviors.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2001

The health and health behaviors of people who do not drink alcohol.

BACKGROUND: Compared to abstention, moderate drinking has been linked to better health, and heavy and hazardous drinking to increased morbidity and mortality. Many studies have failed to account for heterogeneity in health and drinking history among nondrinkers, however. If former drinkers quit in response to ill health, this could increase the risk in the nondrinker category and underestimate the effects of alcohol if illnesses leading to abstention are alcohol-related. In addition, health behaviors may vary with drinking status, affecting health outcomes often attributed to drinking. METHODS: Survey data were collected from a probability sample of a large health maintenance organization's membership. Regression analyses assess the relationship between drinking status (adjusting for covariates), mental and physical health and functioning, and health behaviors. RESULTS: Former drinkers and lifelong abstainers had worse health and functioning than current drinkers and, comparatively, former drinkers had worse health than lifelong abstainers. Former drinkers did not differ from light-to-moderate drinkers in regard to health behaviors (except for smoking), although lifelong abstainers and heavier drinkers were less likely to use preventive care or try to improve their health behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with hypotheses that former drinkers may stop drinking because of poor health, former drinkers were less healthy than current drinkers and had slightly worse health than lifelong abstainers, compared to light-to-moderate drinkers. Former drinkers did not appear to be at risk because of poorer health behaviors (except smoking), but lifelong abstainers and heavier drinkers might benefit from outreach designed to increase use of preventive care and improve health behaviors.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Screening for behavioral health problems in primary care.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The epidemiology of behavioral health disorders in children and the current literature on the identification of these problems within primary care are reviewed. Suggestions are offered on how to implement screening within primary care settings. RECENT FINDINGS: The prevalence of behavioral health problems in children is approximately 12-27% yet the detection of these problems within the primary care setting is much lower. Although identification may be improving, underidentification and limited referral for services remain a significant problem. Few physicians use standardized instruments or DSM-IV criteria to identify children. Families, in addition, often do not disclose behavioral health concerns about their child to their physician. Multiple barriers exist for successful screening, including lack of training, limited time and poor reimbursement. Recent evidence suggests that a number of well validated instruments are now available for behavioral health screening within primary care. SUMMARY: Pediatric settings hold the potential to be an optimal environment to address behavioral health concerns due to the frequent contact and trusted relationship many families have with their pediatrician. There is new evidence that screening can be thoughtfully implemented and that system change around the detection of behavioral health problems is possible.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Critical thinking, perceived health status, and participation in health behaviors.

BACKGROUND: Critical thinking has been proposed as crucial for processing conflicting information when people make decisions about participation in health behaviors. The critical thinking of individuals about participation in health behaviors may depend on their perceived health status. OBJECTIVES: To examine the relations between critical thinking and participation in three categories of health behaviors, and to determine whether these relations are moderated by perceived health status. METHODS: A cross-sectional, correlational design was used to study a sample of 112 community-dwelling adults who resided in a large, urban Midwest community. The participants were women and men 18 to 90 years of age (mean, 55 +/- 20.47 years) who completed self-report, written questionnaires including the Test of Everyday Reasoning and the Health Practices Instrument. RESULTS: According to hierarchical multiple regression analyses, the relation between critical thinking and health promotion behaviors and the relation between critical thinking and secondary prevention behaviors were moderated by perceived health status, whereas the relation between critical thinking and health protection behaviors was not. CONCLUSIONS: The relation between critical thinking and participation in health behaviors depends on perceived health status and category of health behaviors. Researchers can explore the role of other variables (e.g., functional status and perceived susceptibility to disease) to explain why perceived health status moderates the relations between critical thinking and participation in various types of health behaviors differently.

Activities of Daily Living↗

PubMed1999

Does managing behavioral health care services increase the cost of providing medical care?

This study examined the possibility that managing behavioral health care services achieves savings by cost shifting--by denying care or impeding access to care--and in that way encouraging patients to seek needed behavioral health care in the medical care system. In 1993, a large industrial company carved out employee behavioral health care from its unmanaged, indemnity medical care benefits and offered employees an enhanced benefit package through a managed behavioral health care company. This study compared the use and cost of behavioral health care and medical care services for two years before the carve-out and for three years afterward. The rate of behavioral health care usage remained the same or increased after the carve-out, while the cost of providing the care decreased. Controlling for trends that began before the inception of managed behavioral health, medical care costs decreased for those using behavioral health care services. No evidence supporting cost shifting was found.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1997

[Relationship between medical services utilization and preventive health behavior].

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between medical services utilization and preventive health behavior and to seek the factors affecting them. Subjects were 568 persons who were from 40 to 59 years old and lived in a community. Preventive health behaviors they actually performed and their interests in health were asked by questionnaire. Preventive health behaviors assessed included smoking behavior, drinking behavior, adequate hours of sleep, physical exercise, regularity of meals, and medical checkups. Medical services utilization, which included the number of visits to medical care providers, was measured by their medical claims during one year. Except for adequate hours of sleep, preventive health behaviors correlated positively with each other. A strong positive correlation was found between medical services utilization and medical checkups. However, correlations between medical services utilization and other preventive health behaviors were not statistically significant. Persons who performed preventive health behaviors and persons who utilized medical services scored higher in interest in health than persons who didn't. These results show that medical services utilization and preventive health behavior are strongly associated with interest in health, but are weakly correlated with each other.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

Health behaviors of students attending historically black colleges and universities: results from the National College Health Risk Behavior Survey.

The National College Health Risk Behavior Survey was administered to a convenience sample of students at 8 historically Black colleges and universities in 7 states. Analyses showed major differences in the men's and women's responses. The men were significantly more likely than the women to be current smokers. Also, they more frequently reported heavy drinking, drinking and driving in the past days 30 days, and carrying a weapon. The women were significantly more likely to view themselves as overweight, and more than one third reported they were trying to lose weight. More than one third of the students had not exercised or participated in sports activities for more than 20 minutes in the past 7 days. Because historically Black colleges and universities educate the majority of undergraduate Black college students, multidimensional programs to promote disease prevention and health promotion for Black college students must be expanded and evaluated.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Current knowledge about the health behavior of young children: a conference summary.

Twenty-five researchers involved in work related to the health behavior of young children attended an invitational conference to achieve consensus regarding: (a) the definitions, research methods, instruments, and variables that should guide future research into the health behavior of young children, and (b) the nature of the knowledge deficits that should be addressed by future research. The researchers examined the predisposing, enabling, and reinforcing factors related to health behavior, the important types of health behavior of children, the valid indicators of health behavior, and the conceptual framework within which these things can be viewed effectively. Although the stated goal of the conference was not achieved (i.e., to gain consensus about a set of guidelines in order to focus directions in data collection and thereby to facilitate comparability of results), the conference did obtain interdisciplinary perspectives on the state of the theory, research instruments, and knowledge gaps in the health behavior of children. Innovative research designs, and more rigorous research methods need to be applied to the entire area of health behavior before guidelines can be proposed.

Attitude to Health↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Correlates of expected success at health habit change and its role as a predictor in health behavior research.

Perceived ability to change health habits successfully is undoubtedly an important factor underlying personal health behavior. This report examines expected success in changing future habits, using a sample of community-resident adults 18-65 years of age (n = 1,367). One set of analyses used expected success as a dependent variable, whereas another set used it as an independent variable for health behavior and knowledge indices. In the dependent variable analysis, results showed that reported past success at health habit change was the strongest predictor of success expected in the future. Optimism about future success was also associated with variables that already placed individuals at an advantage to change behavior (e.g., not smoking, regular exercise, lower Body Mass Index, support in the family). When used as a predictor variable, expected future success was not associated with five health-related, self-report indices of behavior, knowledge, and perceived risk. Further examination showed, however, that in three instances the association between expected success and the outcome indices seemed to plateau in the most optimistic group. Extreme optimism (that admits no chance of failure) may be a belief characteristic that deserves further investigation, one that will present a challenge to research and practice. Men tended to report greater expected future success than women, although women had more favorable reports on three of the five health-related behavior/knowledge indices.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2007

Rural family caregivers and health behaviors: results from an epidemiologic survey.

This study examined health behaviors in a sample of rural family caregivers. In a community telephone survey of rural Missouri, Arkansas, and Tennessee, respondents were asked about their health, physical activity, nutrition, health providers, and family caregiving. Among 1,234 survey respondents, 12% self-identified as family caregivers. Caregivers reported lower fruit intake, more walking for exercise, and more provider advice about stress, fruits, and vegetables than noncaregivers. Groups did not differ in smoking, dietary fat, obesity, or self-rated health. Women caregivers reported more favorable patterns of physical activity, smoking, and provider interactions than men caregivers, and White caregivers had healthier reports of physical activity and body mass index than Black caregivers. These results provide new information about rural caregivers' health habits. Apart from nutritional intake, caregivers were not significantly different in most health behaviors. However, health providers seemed more attentive to caregivers regarding nutrition and stress.

Arkansas↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Associations between number of lifetime partners and other health behaviors.

OBJECTIVE: To examine associations between health behaviors and lifetime sexual partners among college students. METHODS: Data from the 1995 National College Health Risk Behavior Survey were analyzed. RESULTS: After adjusting for age, sex, and race, having 2 or more lifetime sexual partners was associated with infrequently using seat belts, driving after drinking, having a physical fight, considering suicide, and using chewing tobacco and marijuana. Significant sex interactions occurred with cigarette smoking and fruit and vegetable consumption, and significant age interactions occurred with binge drinking. CONCLUSIONS: Having multiple lifetime sexual partners (> or = 2) was associated with several negative health behaviors.

Age Factors↗

PubMed2006

Associations of health behaviors on depressive symptoms among employed men in Japan.

The associations between health behaviors and depressive symptoms have been demonstrated in many studies. However, job strain has also been associated with health behaviors. The aim of this study was to analyze whether health behaviors such as physical activity, sleeping, smoking and alcohol intake are associated with depressive symptoms after adjusting for job strain. Workers were recruited from nine companies and factories located in east and central areas of Japan. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) Scale was used to assess depressive symptoms. Psychological demand and control (decision-latitude) at work were measured with the Job Content Questionnaire. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to determine the independent contribution of each health behavior to depressive symptoms. Among the total participants, 3,748 (22.7%) had depressive symptoms, which was defined as scoring 16 or higher on the CES-D scale. Using the multiple logistic regression analysis, depressive symptoms were significantly associated with physical activity less than once a week (adjusted relative risk [ARR] = 1.18, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.14 to 1.25) and daily hours of sleep of 6 h or less (ARR, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.14 to 1.35). Smoking and frequency of alcohol intake were not significantly associated with depressive symptoms. This study suggests some health behaviors such as physical activity or daily hours of sleep are associated with depressive symptoms after adjusting for job strain.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Use of medical and behavioral health services by adolescents with bipolar disorder.

OBJECTIVE: This study compared use of medical and behavioral health care by adolescents with bipolar disorder and other adolescents and identified areas in need of more clinical attention. METHODS: Medical and behavioral health insurance claims from 1996 for 100,880 adolescents were examined and categorized. Differences between and among various categories of disease were explored by using multivariate analyses. RESULTS: Among the 10,970 adolescents who used at least one behavioral health service, adolescents with bipolar disorder (N=326) had significantly higher behavioral health costs than those with mood or non-mood disorders, a result driven by these adolescents' significantly higher hospital admission rates for behavioral health care. Adolescents with bipolar disorder also had significantly higher medical admission rates compared with adolescents who had other behavioral health diagnoses. More than half of the 14 medical admissions for adolescents with bipolar disorder were due to drug overdose. CONCLUSIONS: Reallocation of medical and behavioral health resources to improve ambulatory treatment of bipolar disorder among adolescents has the potential to decrease the use and costs of health care while improving the welfare of these adolescents and their families.

Adolescent↗