Health Promotion Behaviors of Turkish Women

Background: Exploration of health promotion practices of women will help community nurses when educating and counseling these individuals about health-promoting activities. Aim: The aim of this study was to describe health-promoting life-style behaviors of 210 Turkish women and to compare them with those reported from other published studies that used Health-Promoting Life-style Profile. Methods: Sample of this descriptive study included 210 women aged 15-65 years. Data were collected using a questionnaire about sociodemographic features developed by the investigators and Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile. T test and Anova test were used for group comparisons. Results: The women included in this study got the highest scores of interpersonal support and self-actualization. However, their total Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile and other subscale scores were generally the same as those reported from other studies and they had the lowest scores of exercise. Education made a statistically significant contribution to exercise, health responsibility and stress management scores (p<0.01). Women with broken marriages need more interpersonal support (p<0.05). Low family income has a negative effect on health behaviors of women (p<0.01). Conclusion: In view of the results, we can suggest that community nurses should be aware of culture, beliefs, and values of the community for which they provide care and make effort to promote health behaviors of women. Culture, Women, Health promotion, Public health nursing, Women’s health.