Physical health status as a consequence of health practices

The relationship between worldview, self-efficacy, psychological distress, and a health-promoting lifestyle among a South African undergraduate university sample

This study examined the relationship between worldview, self-efficacy, psychological distress, and health-promoting lifestyle among an undergraduate South African student sample. We recruited a sample of 211 participants who responded to an online questionnaire consisting of the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Inventory, the Organicism-Mechanism Lifestyle Profile, the Hopkins Symptom Checklist, and checklists on nutrition, exercise, and alcohol use self-efficacy, gender, and place of residence. The data were analysed using SPSS 18.0. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that the linear combination of demographic variables, worldview, self-efficacy, and psychological distress significantly explained a health-promoting lifestyle. We also found that psychological distress and nutrition and exercise self-efficacy were significantly associated with a health-promoting lifestyle.

Worldview and health promoting behavior: a causal model

The present study investigated the manner in which Pepper's (1942) worldview theory relates to health promoting behavior. A sample of 259 subjects completed a battery of inventories measuring worldview, health promoting behavior (HPB), social class, and sex. The data were analyzed by means of structural equation modeling using the statistical program for the social sciences (SPSS) and the analysis of moment and structure (AMOS) computer programs. The results support the idea that a modest relationship exists between worldview and HPB, with organismic thinkers more likely than mechanistic thinkers to engage in HPB. There was also a slight indirect effect of sex on worldview and HPB, with women more likely to endorse an organismic worldview and therefore more likely to engage in HPB than men. No relationship was found between socioeconomic status and HPB.

The contributions of sleep to perceived health status during adolescence

The purposes of this correlational study were to examine the relationships of three dimensions of sleep quality (sleep disturbance, sleep effectiveness, and sleep supplementation) and sleep quantity (the amount of sleep obtained per day) to perceived health status in early, middle, and late adolescents. The samples consisted of 106 early adolescents (aged 12 to 14), 111 middle adolescents (aged 15 to 17), and 113 late adolescents (aged 18 to 21). In classroom settings, all subjects completed the VSH Sleep Scale, which measures sleep disturbance, sleep effectiveness, and sleep supplementation (the amount of sleep per day was calculated from two items on the scale); the General Health Rating Index, which measures perceived health status; and a demographic data sheet. Pearson product moment correlation coefficients between the sleep variables and perceived health status were not statistically significant for early and late adolescents. For middle adolescents, however, the correlations between sleep disturbance and perceived health status, between sleep effectiveness and perceived health status, and between amount of sleep per day and perceived health status were statistically significant, but the correlation between sleep supplementation and perceived health status was not. A post hoc regression analysis indicated that the sleep variables explained a small, but statistically significant, amount of variance in perceived health status for middle adolescents. Findings are discussed in light of theories guiding the study, and implications for nursing practice are addressed.

The relative effects of perceived personal control and responsibility on health and health-related behaviors in young and middle-aged adults

We examined whether perceptions of personal control over health and perceptions of personal responsibility for well-being were related, whether they had independent or interactive effects on health and health-related behaviors, and whether the effects of the perceptions varied by income. Young and middle-aged employees of a technology company (N = 186; aged 20-63) completed a questionnaire about perceived control and responsibility, health, health-related behaviors, and demographic information. Correlation analysis indicated that the perceived control and perceived responsibility variables were unrelated. Regression analysis indicated that a main effect of perceived control--but not responsibility--contributed significantly to the explanation of variance in health and several health-related behaviors (medical checkup, breast self-examination, exercise, and health promotion program membership). Perceived control and responsibility did not interact in their influences over health and behavior; however, the hypothesis that the variables would interact with income was partially confirmed. Overall, the results suggest that the sense of control rather than sense of responsibility should be targeted for health promotion efforts.

Positive health practices and perceived health status in adolescents

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among the components of perceived health status and positive health practices in a sample of 211 adolescents, aged 15 to 21, using canonical variate analysis. All subjects completed the General Health Rating Index, which measures current health, prior health, health outlook, and resistance to illness; and the Personal Lifestyle Questionnaire, which measures exercise, nutrition, relaxation, safety, substance use, and health promotion. Four canonical variates emerged in the statistical analysis, two of which had statistically significant canonical correlations. Implications for nursing practice and research are discussed along with the findings.

Effects of environmental demands, stress, and mood on health practices

The present study examined how environmental demands, stress, and positive and negative affect were related to health practices. College undergraduates (N = 79) completed measures of stress, mood, and health practices during periods of low and high academic demands. Positive affect was positively related to exercise, nutrition, self-care practices, and overall health practices at two measurement points. Levels of stress (daily hassles, perceived stress, academic stress) increased over time, but increases in daily hassles and perceived stress were unrelated to health practices. Increases in academic demands completed in the previous week were associated with improvements in nutrition and self-care practices, greater drug avoidance, and greater overall health practices. This pattern indicates that a "rebound effect" may occur after high demand periods, during which individuals engage in more health-promoting activities. The results also suggest that the determinants of positive health practices may differ from those of negative health practices.

Relationships between health protective behaviors

Health protective behaviors are receiving increasing attention for maintaining health and preventing disease. Most research has examined specific health behaviors individually, with relatively few studies of the relationships between many health protective behaviors. This investigation examined how health protective behaviors were related with each other using data from the American Family Report, a survey of a national sample of 1,247 adults in U.S. families. Eighteen health protective behaviors were not all consistently intercorrelated with each other, with only 39% of the correlations significant at p less than .001. Factor analysis using oblique rotation revealed six underlying dimensions of health protective behaviors: not smoking, planned exercise, routine exercise, moderate drinking, absence of sedative use, and general health behaviors. These dimensions were associated with sociodemographic variables, particularly with higher education being associated with healthier behavior. The multidimensional nature of health protective behaviors needs to be considered in programs for enhancing prevention and health promotion.

Alameda County redux: replication in Michigan

This article describes an attempt to reproduce, in Michigan, cross-sectional findings concerning the relationship between health habits and health status previously obtained in Alameda County, California by Belloc and Breslow. Data for this study were gathered by a telephone interview of a state-wide sample of 3,259 adult Michigan residents. The ridit (relative to an identified distribution) analyses presented include a comparison of findings from the Michigan and Alameda County studies. In Michigan, as in Alameda County, health status was found to be associated with various health practices, both individually and in combination. Consistent relationships were found between physical health status and individual health practices regarding hours of sleep, eating breakfast, eating between meals, cigarette smoking, weight for height, and physical activity. Physical health status was also linked to the overall number of health practices individuals engaged in. When the confidence interval for each ridit value was taken into account, however, only some of the findings proved statistically reliable.

The hale elderly: health behavior and its correlates

The purposes of this study were to describe health behavior of the elderly and to explore the determinants and health consequences of that behavior, using survey data from 386 respondents (138 men, 248 women), 55 years of age and older. These elderly persons engaged in a wide variety of activities to protect their health, the most important of which were eating properly, obtaining adequate rest, and exercising. By multiple regression analysis, age, sex, socioeconomic status, and marital status explained only 7.2% of the variance in health protective behavior. Of those variables, sex had the greatest association with health protective behavior and age the least. Married men, but not married women, practiced more health behaviors than their unmarried counterparts. Health protective behavior was not related to overall health status, but was weakly related to perceived health. The lack of association between health protective behavior and health status is interpreted in terms of the nature of the population examined.

Health status of the rural elderly according to farm work history: the Iowa 65 + rural health study

In a geographically defined survey of 3,097 rural Iowans who were at least 65 yr of age, we examined the association between prior farm experience (greater than or equal to 25 yr) and various measures of current health status; we controlled for age, current working status, and, where appropriate, smoking and alcohol consumption. Health status was indexed by self-reported morbid conditions, symptoms, and physical function. After controlling for smoking behavior, it was found that both men and women with previous farm exposure currently experience a greater prevalence of all nine respiratory symptoms employed in the study relative to non-farmers. Farm men report a lower prevalence of Parkinson's disease and prostate conditions, but report a greater prevalence of stroke and a lower level of self-perceived health status. Women with a farm work history experience a greater level of physical function and fewer symptoms associated with mental illness. Overall significant benefits as well as risks associated with a history of farm work were identified. However, of those who survived to age 65, extended exposure to farm work did not have a major impact on the overall current health status of men and women.