Does health-related college major have an effect on health-promoting behaviors? Evidence from Iranian's staff.

ABSTRACT

Background: Health-promoting behaviors and lifestyle changes can reduce the cost of health services, stress, and disease complications. This study examined the status of health-promoting behaviors and its influencing factors. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 171 staff members of Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Iran, in 2023. The Persian version of the health-promoting lifestyle profile II questionnaire was used. Analyzes were performed in R 4.3.2 software. Results: Mean ± SD age was 37.67 ± 7.58 years. 83 % had the low levels of health-promoting behaviors, while 17.0 % had moderate levels. The physical activity and interpersonal relation had the lowest and highest scores. The most significant strong and weekly correlations was between health responsibility and physical activity with total score of health-promoting behavior scores (r = 0.81, r = 0.66). Staff with health-related college major performed better in the areas of nutrition, stress management, spiritual growth. Conclusion: Health-related college major is the most important factor affecting health-promoting behaviors. Also, health responsibility is most related to these behaviors. Educational interventions should be done at the community level, regardless of people's field of study, to increase people's knowledge and awareness about risk factors and improve the level of health.