Comparison of Factors Related to Health Behavior for Cardiocerebrovascular Disease Prevention in Middle-Aged Women with and without Depression

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to compare the health beliefs, exercise self-efficacy, and health behavior for cardiocerebrovascular disease prevention in middle-aged women with and without depression.Methods: This study employed a cross-sectional, correlational design using a structured questionnaire. The study participants were 180 middle-aged women aged between 40 and 64 years. The survey was conducted from August to December 2020 in G metropolitan city. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the independent t-tests, one-way analysis of variance, analysis of covariance, and Pearson correlation coefficients with the SPSS for Windows version 27.0.Results: Among the study participants, 70 (38.9%) were depressed and 110 (61.1%) were not depressed. A statistically significant difference was found in health behavior for cardiocerebrovascular disease prevention, with a score of 2.21 in the depressed group and 2.40 in the non-depressed group (F=5.46, p=.021). Health behavior for cardiocerebrovascular disease prevention was positively correlated with exercise self-efficacy (r=.51, p<.001) in the depressed group and wih health beliefs (r=.49, p<.001) and exercise self-efficacy (r=.42, p<.001) in the non-depressed group.Conclusion: It is necessary to consider the degree of depression in middle-aged women and to prepare strategies to increase exercise self-efficacy while considering health beliefs to promote healthy behavior for cardiocerebrovascular disease prevention.