Health Promoting Behaviors in Pregnant Women Admitted to the Prenatal Care Unit of Imam Khomeini Hospital of Saqqez

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Health promoting behaviors are crucial to the health of pregnant women and their children. The present study was conducted to assess health promoting behaviors in pregnant women admitted to Imam Khomeini Hospital of Saqqez. Materials and Methods: The present descriptive analytical study was conducted on 181 pregnant women selected through convenience sampling. The data collection tool used in the study was a questionnaire containing two parts: a section on the subjects' demographic details, and another section for the Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile II (HPLP II). Data were analyzed in SPSS-21 using descriptive (frequency percentage) and inferential statistics, such as the independent t-test, the Pearson correlation test and the one-way ANOVA. Results: Based on the findings of the study, the highest scores of health promoting behaviors obtained were in the domain of spiritual growth and the lowest in the domain of physical activity. The mean overall score of health promoting behaviors was desirable. The only demographic variable found to have a significant relationship with health promoting behaviors was occupation (P<0.032). Conclusion: The results obtained indicate desirable levels of health promoting behaviors in these pregnant women. Other domains of health such as physical activity, stress management and accountability are recommended to be further emphasized. Future studies are encouraged to be conducted on other ethnicities and with larger sample sizes.

The Perspectives of Pregnant Women on Health-Promoting Behaviors: An Integrative Systematic Review

“…Only the studies conducted in Thailand by Thaewpia and colleagues as well as Onat in turkey reported a better total score (24,25). The results of the study indicated that the overall scores of behaviors were average; high scores were related to the dimension of spiritual growth (self-actualization) and nutritional status; scores related to social support and accountability were average; and the lowest score was related to stress management and physical activity (9). A review on foreign studies indicated that pregnant women had gained high scores in dimensions of self-actualization, social support, and accountability; average scores in nutrition; and low scores in stress management and physical activity (5,11,16).…”

“…Income and job status of individuals were other factors under the study indicating the negative effects of poverty on healthcare behaviors (23). Moreover, employed people with high incomes had higher scores in health-promoting behaviors (2,9,26), especially in terms of self-actualization, responsibility, physical activity and nutrition (9,16,24). According to a study conducted by Esperat et al in the United States, marital status was a predictor of healthcare behaviors in such a way that single people received less support and faced problems regarding health-promoting behaviors (23).…”

“…According to a study carried out by Gokyildiz in Turkey, the education level of mothers was one of the predicting factors of healthcare behaviors such as physical activity and diet changes (11). However, in some studies, no significant relationship was found (9,23). Income and job status of individuals were other factors under the study indicating the negative effects of poverty on healthcare behaviors (23).…”

“…According to the scores obtained from the questionnaire (HPLP-II), consisting of 52 items and 6 sub-domains including nutrition, physical activity, spiritual growth, stress management, health responsibility, interpersonal relations (1,11,18), regarding the total score of healthpromoting behaviors, pregnant women's status ranked as medium and low (5,9,11,23). Only the studies conducted in Thailand by Thaewpia and colleagues as well as Onat in turkey reported a better total score (24,25).…”

“…(25). However, some researchers did not find any relationship between maternal age and health-promoting behaviors (9,26). According to most studies, there was a direct relationship between the education level of pregnant women and health-promoting behaviors (16,24).…”