HEALTH BELIEFS AND HEALTH BEHAVIOR IN ELDERLY, CHRONICALLY ILL MALES.
Contributors: Rush University, College Of Nursing.
Published: 1988
Number of pages: 183
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: This study was undertaken to explore compliance behavior of elderly male veterans with a diagnosis of congestive heart failure. The Health Belief Model (HBM) was tested for its ability to predict compliance with the prescribed regimen.

One hundred subjects aged 60 and over who attended a General Medicine Outpatient Clinic comprised the sample. Dimensions of the HBM (General Health Motivation, Perceived Illness Threat, Perceived Benefits and Perceived Barriers, Modifying Factors: General and Specific to Illness and Cues to Action) were measured with questionnaire and interview. Compliance was measured with a self-report questionnaire involving: medication adherence, dietary adherence, smoking cessation, stress avoidance and activity regimen adherence and also with a therapeutic effect score which reflected an increase or decrease in symptoms of cardiac failure from the previous health care visit to the current visit.

The predictive ability of the model was tested with multiple regression analysis. The model's combined dimensions explained a significant amount of variance in four of the six compliance measures: stress avoidance, smoking cessation, dietary adherence, and medication adherence. The results of hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated a significant (p = $<$.05) change in R$\sp2$ for two of the model dimensions: Perceived Barriers and Perceived Benefits (for medication adherence and stress avoidance) and Modifying Factors: General and Specific to Illness (for dietary adherence and smoking cessation). Within these dimensions, the individual factors that were significantly related to the dependent measures were knowledge and perceived benefits (p =.01).

Although the model did achieve predictive success with four of the six compliance measures, it appeared that there were individual factors within the model that were responsible for this finding rather than the model as a whole or even specific dimensions within the model. The individual factor of knowledge of treatment was related to dietary adherence and smoking cessation. Beliefs in treatment benefits were more strongly related to medication adherence and stress avoidance.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-08, Section: B, page: 3106.

Thesis (D.N.SC.)--RUSH UNIVERSITY, COLLEGE OF NURSING, 1988.

School code: 0591.