Journal of Behavioral Health and Psychology. 2014;
3(1):(98-377)
Health-seeking practices and psycho-social factors related to health behaviors in a Turkish sample
Ozlem Simsekoglu, Nuran Aydemir
Abstract
Background: The aim of the present study was to examine health-seeking behaviors and
psycho-social factors related to health behaviors (healthy diet, sleep and physical exercise) in a
Turkish sample.
Method: Data were collected from 270 Turkish adults aged between 17 and 75 by using
convenient sampling, between 2010 and 2012. A questionnaire which include items related to
demographic information, health-related practices, health-seeking behaviors, The Health
Behavior Questionnaire and The Medical Outcomes study short form- 36 (SF-36) was used in
data collection.
Results: For physical and sexual health problems, most of the participants stated that they
immediately seek out a physician. However, for mental health problems, a large proportion
reported no action or applied some alternative ways of dealing, such as consulting friends. In
order to explain the variance in health behaviors hierarchical regression analysis was
performed and the results showed that age, mental health and seat belt use were positively,
while smoking frequency was negatively related to engaging in health behaviors.
Conclusions: The participants were more reluctant to seek health care for mental health
problems, which may indicate the stigma related with mental health issues. Also, mental health
was found to be more related with health behaviors than physical health. Present findings
suggest that future public health campaigns promoting health behaviors in Turkey may
especially target younger people with an unhealthy life style, including smoking and risky
behavior in traffic.
