PubMed Health⌕ Search

SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “Health Behavior”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,261 records · Page 70Linked to original sources

Social-cognitive predictors of health behavior: action self-efficacy and coping self-efficacy.

The effects of social-cognitive variables on preventive nutrition and behavioral intentions were studied in 580 adults at 2 points in time. The authors hypothesized that optimistic self-beliefs operate in 2 phases and made a distinction between action self-efficacy (preintention) and coping self-efficacy (postintention). Risk perceptions, outcome expectancies, and action self-efficacy were specified as predictors of the intention at Wave 1. Behavioral intention and coping self-efficacy served as mediators linking the 3 predictors with low-fat and high-fiber dietary intake 6 months later at Wave 2. Covariance structure analysis yielded a good model fit for the total sample and 6 subsamples created by a median split of 3 moderators: gender, age, and body weight. Parameter estimates differed between samples; the importance of perceived self-efficacy increased with age and weight.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

Information seeking: a component of client decisions and health behavior.

The information-seeking patterns of clients have received little attention in nursing theory and research, but they are important antecedents of health-related decisions and behavior. The concept of information seeking is analyzed within the framework of a six-step process model. Inter-related dimensions of the information search process are identified and the impact on cognitive and behavioral outcomes is postulated. Sociodemographic, experiential, personality, and contextual variables suggested by prior research to predict variation in search behavior are identified, and implications for nursing theory and research are discussed.

Attitude to Health↗

Enhancing support for health behavior change among women at risk for heart disease: the Mediterranean Lifestyle Trial.

This paper describes a randomized study to evaluate the effects of a comprehensive lifestyle management intervention for 279 postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes who are at elevated risk for coronary heart disease (CHD). The intervention, called the Mediterranean Lifestyle Trial, is focused on dietary factors, physical activity, social support and stress management. The Mediterranean Lifestyle Trial relies on a synthesis of Social Cognitive Theory and Social Ecologic Theory, as well as goal-systems theory, to explicitly inform the lifestyle intervention and to address maintenance. Thus, the trial should help illuminate the theoretical mechanisms responsible for lifestyle change. Primary outcome variables are dietary, stress management and physical activity behavior change, quality of life, and CHD-related biological risk factors. Hypothesized mediating variables include self-efficacy, coping, and social and environmental support. Following the initial 6-month intervention, participants in the intervention condition are randomized to one of two groups designed to enhance maintenance of effects: either a peer-led support group or a personalized multilevel community resources maintenance condition. Unlike the peer group, the personalized approach focuses on multiple levels of community resources to promote healthful lifestyle change. Because this research focuses on issues of generalization and translation to practice, the RE-AIM evaluation framework is being used to evaluate Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance. This framework will help to translate research into practice by directing researchers' attention to important but seldom-investigated strategies for enhancing longer-term maintenance. Specifically, the study tests how long-term maintenance may be improved through the use of existing community resources, an intervention based on multiple environmental factors and multiple lifestyle behaviors, and lay leaders versus personalized professional support.

Aged↗

Prostitution, AIDS, and preventive health behavior.

Although considerable attention has been placed on the role of prostitutes in the AIDS epidemic, little attention has been directed to features of prostitutes' work lives which are relevant to the control of AIDS. This article reviews several aspects of prostitution in the United States which have implications for control of the epidemic. The article first reviews the epidemiology of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection among prostitutes. The legalized system of prostitution in Nevada serves as a basis for comparison to illegal prostitution. This article examines the effectiveness of mandatory testing of prostitutes for monitoring and controlling the epidemic. And finally, a peer education approach as a means to control HIV infection among prostitutes is explored.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

Changes in health behaviors among older Americans, 1990 to 2000.

OBJECTIVES: The authors used a large population-based survey to examine changes from 1990 to 2000 in age distribution by sex and race or ethnicity, to estimate both state-specific and national trends in the proportion of older Americans, and to examine changes in risk factors and quality-of-life indicators among those Americans. METHODS: The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), a cross-sectional telephone survey of adults aged > or =18 years. BRFSS data were analyzed for the District of Columbia and all states that participated from 1990 to 2000. SAS and SUDAAN were used in the analyses to account for the complex sampling design. RESULTS: The percentage of Americans aged > or =75 years increased 23.0% from 1990 to 2000, with the magnitude of the increase varying by state. In 2000, Florida had the highest percentage of persons aged > or =75 (10.27%) and Alaska the lowest (3.49%). Compared with 1990, older Americans in 2000 were more likely to be obese (16.3% vs. 13.5%) or diabetic (14.3% vs. 11.0%). Older Americans in 2000 were also more likely to exercise, consume more fruits and vegetables daily, and to have recently obtained a routine medical checkup. In addition, they were less likely to smoke tobacco or drink any alcohol. CONCLUSIONS: Increases in the population of older people will have a tremendous impact on health care in the states and will affect their future plans for serving the elderly. Although older Americans are living more healthfully than previously, there is an enormous need for targeted health promotion programs to prevent chronic diseases in this age group.

Aged↗

Longevity, big five personality factors, and health behaviors: presidents from Washington to Nixon.

In this study, the positive correlation between conscientiousness and death age discovered by H. S. Friedman et al. (1993, 1995) was replicated for 32 American presidents. Conscientiousness scores, using the Big Five variables produced by S. J. Rubenzer, T. R. Faschingbauer, and D. S. Ones (1996, 2000), were correlated with death age, r(30) = .41, p < .01, and the relationship was maintained with controls in a multiple regression framework. Smoking, drinking, and exercise, as assessed by J. R. Bumgarner (1994), were also correlated in the expected fashion with death age. Conscientiousness was correlated negatively with smoking and drinking, but openness to experience was correlated negatively with smoking and drinking to a higher degree and also was positively correlated with exercise. Openness, extraversion, neuroticism, and agreeableness were not correlated with death age, and extraversion, neuroticism, and agreeableness were not correlated with smoking, drinking or exercise.

Factor Analysis, Statistical↗

[Practitioners confronted with the four main health behavioral risk factors].

Four behavioural risk factors are common in primary care and are often clustered in individuals. Smoking is present from I cigarette per day, excessive alcohol use is defined either by drinking regularly more than 2-3 standard glasses per day or by occasional heavy drinking of more than 4-5 glasses at a time. Patients who don't have regular moderate physical activity of at least 30 minutes during 5 days of a week or intensive physical activity of at least 20 minutes 3 times a week are sedentary. A Body Mass Index of over 30 defines obesity. We propose a "generic" counselling tool in 5 steps, the 5 As, that can be used for any of the four behavioural risk factors during routine consultations. With this counselling guide, practitioners can help patients change behaviour in a motivational style that allows shared decision-making.

Health Behavior↗

Characteristics of controlled studies of patient education and counseling for preventive health behaviors.

To determine characteristics of controlled studies (quasi-experimental and randomized) of clinical patient education/counseling for behavior change to prevent disease, we conducted an extensive literature review of published and unpublished studies from 1971 to 1989. Sixty-four studies with 101 intervention groups met specific criteria for relevance and scientific acceptability. We examine these studies in terms of prevention area, subject source, intervention characteristics, and use of educational principles. Findings reveal many controlled clinical studies in smoking cessation, nutrition, and weight control but sparcity in other areas (injury prevention, exercise, stress, drug and alcohol misuse, STD prevention); an emphasis on communication by a single clinical practitioner; and varied use of educational principles. We recommend adhering to educational principles to enhance likelihood of success.

Adolescent↗

Effects of decisional control and work orientation on persistence in preventive health behavior.

Examined persistence in the daily use of fluoride mouthrinse among adolescents as a function of an induced-choice manipulation concerning self-management strategies and freedom to participate in the program. Seventh-grade boys and girls from urban and suburban schools were randomly assigned to a series of either high- or low-choice decisional control manipulations; their daily, home use of fluoride was monitored over a 20-week period. In order to ameliorate the relatively lower persistence rates found previously among suburban (vs. urban) students, all students were given self-management and action instructions as per previous studies. Although suburban students still declined in persistence relative to urban students, female students who received high choice persisted at a higher rate than girls who received low choice. Boys, for the most part, were unaffected by the manipulation. In addition, students' self-reported work orientation was also positively associated with persistence.

Adolescent↗

[Effect of occupation on health behavior and biological cardiovascular risk factors].

Within the framework of the second survey of MONICA-Switzerland (cantons of Vaud and Fribourg; canton of Tessin), the data of 683 working men were analysed to examine the relation between occupation and cardiovascular risk factors. For this purpose, lifestyle factors (smoking, nutritional habits, physical activity, alcohol intake) as well as blood pressure and serum lipoprotein concentrations were compared among 17 different occupational groups. Furthermore, every occupational group was ranked, based on the medians of the mentioned dependent variables. A strong relationship between socioeconomic status (recorded as number of years of schooling completed) and an index for healthy lifestyle was found. However, in some occupational groups a major discrepancy between socioeconomic status respectively lifestyle and measured cardiovascular risk factors (blood pressure, lipoprotein concentrations) was observed. It is therefore hypothesized that unknown occupational factors adversely affect blood pressure and serum lipoproteins for example in physicians, managers and executives whereas the contrary--beneficial effect of unknown occupational factors--is true for example for drivers and bricklayers.

Adult↗

Behavioral health issue brief: outpatient civil commitment.

Civil commitment is a term associated with involuntary treatment of individuals with mental illness. It can be an inpatient admission for treatment in a hospital or other health facility or it can be outpatient treatment that is court ordered. Either way the treatment is considered to be mandated or involuntary. But if a person, who suffers from mental illness, is not able to make appropriate decisions about his or her care and treatment, who will? How can society be assured that person takes the medication a physician says is needed to treat their illness? Opponents of civil commitment argue that it is a violation of a person's civil rights to order treatment. They fear that relaxing commitment standards may, again, lead to institutionalization of our mentally ill. Proponents contend that by not following recommended treatment plans these people can become a danger to themselves or others. Therefore, someone must take responsibility for them, otherwise they may violate the rights of, or fall victim to, others and are likely become incarcerated within the criminal justice system.

Civil Rights↗

Are there differences in oral health and oral health behavior between individuals with high and low dental fear?

Epidemiological studies of the relationship between dental fear, use of dental services, and oral health in different age groups in a common population are scarce. Dental fear and its relationships are usually described in individuals with high dental fear only. The purposes of this study were to describe the prevalence of dental fear in the Norwegian adult population according to age, and to explore differences in oral health, oral hygiene, and visiting habits between individuals with high and low dental fear. For the present study, data from the Trøndelag-94 study were used. The prevalence of dental fear in our study population of adults in Trøndelag, Norway was 6.6%. There was a tendency for individuals with high dental fear to engage in avoidance behavior more frequently than the low dental fear group. Individuals with high dental fear had a statistically significantly higher number of decayed surfaces (DS), decayed teeth, (DT) and missing teeth (MT) but a statistically significantly lower number of filled surfaces (FS), filled teeth (FT), functional surfaces (FSS), and functional teeth (FST). There were no differences in DMFS and DMFT between the groups of high and low dental fear. Since one of the superior aims of the dental profession is to help a patient to achieve a high number of functional teeth throughout life, consequently detecting and treating dental fear should therefore be an important aspect of dental processionals' work.

Adult↗

The co-morbidity of violence-related behaviors with health-risk behaviors in a population of high school students.

PURPOSE: To describe the frequency of violence-related behaviors and their association with other health behaviors among high school students. METHODS: The Youth Risk Behavior Survey was administered to all ninth and eleventh graders (n = 2075) of a school district in Texas. It provided information regarding violence-related behaviors and other health behaviors. Students were classified into four mutually exclusive, violence-related categories according to whether they were involved in a physical fight and/or carried a weapon. RESULTS: Overall, 20% of the students were involved in a physical fight but had not carried a weapon, 10% carried a weapon but had not been involved in a physical fight, and 17% had been involved in a physical fight and had carried a weapon. Prevalence of weapon-carrying and fighting were higher among males than females, and among ninth graders than eleventh graders. Among males, 48% had carried a weapon the month prior to the survey. Students who both fought and carried a weapon were 19 times more likely to drink alcohol six or more days than students who did not fight nor carried a weapon. Logistic regression analyses showed that drinking alcohol, number of sexual partners, and being in ninth grade were predictors of fighting. These three variables plus having a low self-perception of academic performance and suicidal thoughts were predictors of fighting and carrying a weapon. CONCLUSIONS: The data indicate that violence-related behaviors are frequent among high school students and that they are positively associated with certain health behaviors. Interventions designed to reduce violence should also address coexisting health-risk behaviors and target high-risk groups.

Adolescent↗

Education, health behaviors, and the black-white difference in waist-to-hip ratio.

Few epidemiologic studies have investigated the impact of body mass index, low educational attainment, cigarette smoking, and physical activity on the considerable black-white difference in waist-to-hip ratio. These relationships were assessed with multivariable linear regression among 3,094 adults (24% black) who were examined in 1987 in South Carolina. The unadjusted mean waist-to-hip ratio was lower for black men than for white men (-0.03 units) and higher for black women than for white women (+0.03 units). After adjustment for age, body mass index, education, smoking, and physical activity, the black-white difference in mean waist-to-hip ratio was -0.02 units (p < 0.001) among men and +0.01 units (p < 0.01) among women. Although differing distributions of age, body mass index, and educational attainment accounted for a 59% reduction in the black-white difference among women, these factors did not explain the difference among men. Thus, these results suggest that other environmental or biologic factors may also play an important role in the marked variation in body fat distribution between the two ethnic groups. The results also support the importance of the prevention of cigarette smoking and overweight in potentially preventing abdominal obesity in both black adults and white adults.

Adult↗

Health behaviors as mediators for the effect of partner abuse on infant birth weight.

BACKGROUND: Intimate partner abuse of pregnant women has been linked to the delivery of low-birth-weight infants. Also, abused pregnant women have reported a greater prevalence of substance abuse, poor nutrition, and demographic risk factors for poor birth outcomes. These factors may play a role in the reported relation between intimate partner violence and birth weight. OBJECTIVES: To explore the role of substance abuse (smoking, alcohol, and drug use) and weight gain of less than 15 pounds during pregnancy as potential mediators of the relation between recent partner abuse and infant birth weight, and to investigate the role of demographic risk factors as potential moderators for the impact of abuse on birth weight. METHODS: Data were extracted on abuse screening results, demographics, birth outcomes, and a range of medical and obstetric risks and complications from the medical records of 1969 women who had been screened by clinicians for domestic abuse during pregnancy. Hypotheses were tested using multiple regression analysis. RESULTS: Recent physical or psychological abuse had a small but significant effect on birth weight in this sample. Smoking and low weight gain were weak but significant mediators of the relation between recent abuse and infant birth weight. Single marital status was the strongest demographic predictor of decreased birth weight. No moderator effects were found. CONCLUSIONS: Although prospective studies are warranted, nursing care to reduce smoking and promote adequate weight gain in all women along with support for women's efforts to seek safety from abuse may help to improve birth outcomes and promote maternal well-being.

Adult↗