Health locus of control and health-related information seeking at a hypertension screening.

Abstract

Abstract The present study examines the relationship between Health Locus of Control-a dimension of personal “belief” regarding the extent to which individuals characteristically attribute responsibility for matters of health to themselves (Internal control) or to chance, fate or other extrapersonal influences (External control)-and health-related information seeking in an unselected sample of individuals participating in a public hypertension screening. Partitioning 121 subjects by age and race, it was found that among older whites, individuals reporting greater Internal Health Locus of Control were significantly more likely to take informational pamphlets concerning heart disease and selected a greater number of pamphlets than persons indicating a belief in External Health Locus of Control. Unfortunately, the number of blacks represented in the older range of ages was insufficient for statistical comparison. Pamphlet selection did not vary as a function of Internal and External Health Locus of Control for either white or black participants in the younger group, though younger blacks were more likely to select pamphlets than younger whites and indicated a greater concern that they might develop heart disease.