Correlates of Preventive Health Behavior in Late Life

A sample of 172 community-resident older adults (aged 64-96) were interviewed to investigate correlates of their preventively oriented, health-related practices. Four health practice groupings were used: Information-Seeking, Regular Health Routines, Medical and Self-Examination, and Risk Avoidance. Results indicated modest associations among individual behaviors and among the four health practice groups. Gender (i.e., women) and a supportive family environment were among the consistent predictors of good health practices, although each of the four behavior groups tended to have its own set of major predictors.