[Perceived health of persons and their practice of health promoting activities].
The perceived health of persons and their practice of health promoting activities were surveyed using a self-rating questionnaire with 49 items assessing level of health, practice of health promoting activities, life styles, health education, and participation in health screening for general health conditions and cancers. The questionnaires were mailed to 2,500 residents of a city, aged from 30 to 69 years old, randomly selected according to the composition ratios of the populations in the city. Persons from 2,333 subjects (1,057 male and 1,276 female) were effectively collected, representing about 1% of the city's population. General health was good in about 85% of the subjects, with decreases observed with age. Practice of activities for health promotion was wide-spread among the subjects. These activities included regularity, diet, nutrition, smoking and drinking control, physical exercise, sleep, and rest. The subjects expressed strong fear of cancers and concerns about deterioration in physical fitness. Their target life style was one with adequate sleep and rest, regularity in eating, good nutrition, and avoidance of overwork. Health screening participation rates were low at approximately 28% because of their perceived good health, and busy daily life and work. It appears that the perceived health of citizens may not always correlated with the practice of health promoting activities.
Department of Environmental Medicine, Kurume University School of Medicine.
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Matoba
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Nakagawa
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Ishitake
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Suenaga
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Iwamoto
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Mori
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010465:Perception; D014504:Urban Health