Health beliefs associated with preventive behaviors against noncommunicable diseases

Objective: To investigate the relationship between health beliefs and preventive behaviors against noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Methods: A survey was conducted in Health Management Center of the First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University from August 2019 to December 2019. An structured questionnaire was designed to collect the data on sociodemographic characteristics, health belief model (HBM) constructs and NCDrelated behaviors. Structural equation model was used to describe the relationship between health beliefs and the behaviors. Results: Among 4453 participants, the most common unhealthy behaviors were sedentary living and working, mood disorders and staying up late. Female, aging, living in urban areas, good physical health were associated with healthy behaviors. HBM constructs including perceived barriers, self-efficacy, cues to action, perceived benefits, perceived severity, and perceived susceptibility were directly or indirectly related to NCD-related behaviors. Perceived barriers (effect coefficient=0.495) and self-efficacy (effect coefficient=0.435) were found to have the greatest impact on the behaviors. Conclusion: Health beliefs are verified to be associated with preventive behaviors against NCDs. Practice implications: Changing sedentary living and working, mood disorders and staying up late are the top priority of health education. Health education based on HBM, especially focusing on helping overcome difficulties and building confidence of behavior change, may be more effective for the prevention of NCDs. (c) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. CC_BY_NC_ND_4.0

Automated summary

The study found a correlation between health beliefs and preventive behaviors against NCDs, with perceived barriers and self-efficacy being the most influential factors on behaviors. Therefore, emphasizing behavior change and building confidence through health education based on HBM can be more effective in preventing NCDs.