Determinants of Health Promoting Lifestyle Behaviors in Hospital Staff of Guilan University of Medical Sciences

Aims: Due to the complexity of various factors threatening the health of nurses and the influences of their activities on patients’ well-being, their lifestyle promotion is of great importance. The aim of this study was to evaluate the determinants of health-promoting lifestyle behaviors among Rasht hospitals medical staff in Guilan, Iran. Instruments & Methods: This descriptive cross sectional analysis was conducted to study health-related lifestyles of 244 hospitals staff of Guilan University of Medical Sciences in 2015. Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile II (HPLP-II) Questionnaire was completed by the respondents. The samples were selected through classified random sampling method. The data were analyzed, using Chi-square test, Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis, Spearman correlation coefficient, and logistic regression method via SPSS 20 software. Findings: The mean HPLP-II score was 137.82±5.20. Among the aspects of health-promoting lifestyle behaviors, physical activity and stress management had the lowest score. There was a significant relationship between work experience and stress management (r=0.171; p=0.012). Gender and educational level showed a significant relationship with the level of physical activity (p<0.05). Conclusion: The present study showed a low level of physical activity and stress management as two important healthy lifestyle behaviors. It is recommended that training programs focus more on these two aspects.