Health Promoting Behaviors in Women of Khorramabad City in Western Iran in 2013

Background: Health promotion is a process, which enables people to control and improve their health. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to evaluate health promoting behaviors in women of Khorramabad City. Patients and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 500 women aged between 15 to 49, referring to Khorramabad health centers were studied by consecutive sampling method, using the standardized HPLPII questionnaire. t-test, one-way analysis of variance and multivariable analysis (linear regression) were used for data analysis. Results: Regarding health promoting behavior, 77.8% of women were in average condition, 14.4 % considered desirable, while 7.8 % found to have undesirable status. The mean score was 129.2 ± 20.9. Therefore, the physical activity and health care responsible were of lowest quality, where associability and spiritual growth proved to be in best condition. In linear regression test, the most important factors predictive of health promoting behaviors included the level of education (β = 0.15, P = 0.004), the number of children (β = 0.13, P = 0.002), and the marital status of the participants (β = 0.1, P = 0.021). Conclusions: The health system of any society should pave the way for providing facilities, offering proper trainings, according with intersectoral coordination and following the principle of social justice, encouraging women to perform health-promoting behaviors.