Is There a Relationship Between Health-Promoting Lifestyle and General Health Among Working Women? Evidence From Iran

Abstract

Background: Iran is in transition from tradition to modernity, and women employees are doubly laden with this transition. The assessment of lifestyle and its relationship with the general health of women working for universities (as the progressive organizations) can pave the way for designing and applying the ideas of health-promoting organizations. Objectives: The aim of this study was to measure the relationship between health-promoting lifestyle and general health among women working in the public universities of Lorestan province, Iran. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. The statistical population consists of all the women working for Lorestan University and Lorestan University of Medical Sciences in 2016. The sampling method was stratified random. The instruments were the valid and reliable Health-Promoting Lifestyle and General Health questionnaires. The data were analyzed by means of the SPSS-20 software and tests such as Pearson's Coefficient of Correlation, the Independent t-test, and regression models. Results: The mean scores of women's health-promoting lifestyle in Lorestan University of Medical Sciences and those of Lorestan University were respectively 51.92 ± 14.4 and 53.43 ± 12.7. The mean scores of women's general health in above-mentioned universities were respectively 27.98 ± 13.51 and 26.42 ± 11.76. There was a significant correlation between the health-promoting lifestyle and the general health scores among the above-mentioned women (r = 0.45, P < 0.001). Conclusions: Health-promoting lifestyle is a good predictor of general health among working women. Therefore, in order to promote general health among working women, it is recommended that their recruiting organizations provide the necessary regulations, facilities, and processes for their adoption of a health promoting lifestyle.