PTOTSurveyJournal of physical therapy science2020

Effect of health consciousness behavior and health-promoting behavior on the quality of life in elders in South Korea.

Nam Hyun Cha

PMID 33281286

WHAT IT FOUND

Elders who actively engage in health-promoting behaviors, report better health, and exercise have significantly higher quality of life scores.

Simply being health-conscious (knowing about health risks) was not linked to better quality of life outcomes in this group.

Key findings

01Health-promoting behavior, perceived health status, and exercise were significant predictors of quality of life, explaining 53.0% of the variance.

02Health consciousness behavior did not show a significant relationship with health-promoting behavior or quality of life.

03Health-promoting behavior was positively correlated with quality of life.

STILL TO COME

How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs

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What it does not show

The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot prove that health-promoting behaviors cause better quality of life; people with better health may simply be more able to engage in these behaviors. Participants were recruited from only three cities and nearby rural areas in South Korea, which limits the generalizability of the findings to other populations. Data relied on self-report questionnaires, which may be subject to recall bias or social desirability bias.

Declared interests

The research was supported by a grant from 2019 subsidy for overseas dispatch research of Andong National University. The author declared no competing interests.

The easy way to misread this

Do not assume that increasing an elder's health knowledge or consciousness will improve their quality of life. This study found that health consciousness behavior was not significantly related to quality of life, while active health-promoting behaviors and exercise were.

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