Investigation of health-promoting behaviors of employees of medical university: A perspective from West of Iran

BACKGROUND: Employees spend most of their time at work, and hence, it is important to pay attention to health-promoting behaviors. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the status of health-promoting behaviors of employees in the Medical University of Ilam-Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional, descriptive study has been conducted by the participation of 208 employees, whom selected through the simple random sampling method. In the present study, participants completed Walker's Health Promoting Life Style Profile II in the self-report form. The gathered data were analyzed using software at the significant level of 0.05. Data were analyzed by the independent samples t-test, one-way analysis of variance, and Pearson correlation coefficients. RESULTS: The highest correlation of health-promoting behaviors was related to spiritual growth (r = 0.785), stress management (r = 0.777), interpersonal relationships (r = 0.767), health responsibility (r = 0.730), nutrition behaviors (r = 0.641), and physical activity (r = 0.611) were in the next places (P < 0.001), respectively. Among sub-scales, the highest correlation was observed between spiritual growth and stress management (r = 0.676, P < 0.001) and the lowest correlation between physical activity and interpersonal relationships (r = 0.253, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The score of physical activity was lower compared to other dimensions of health promoting behaviors. Therefore, it is necessary to make more effective interventional measures for improving physical activity status.