Behavioral risk factors among members of a health maintenance organization.
BACKGROUND
Co-occurrence of risk behaviors (RBs) substantially increases the risk of disease. This study examines the co-occurrence of four health risk behaviors (i.e., smoking, high-fat diet, sedentariness, and high-risk drinking) and demographic and psychosocial variables associated with number of RBs in a sample of members of a health maintenance organization who participated in the Seasonal Variation in Cholesterol (Seasons) study.


METHODS
Seasons study baseline data were used. Subjects completed a self-administered questionnaire packet containing questions on demographics, smoking history, and leisure-time physical activity, a 7-day dietary recall instrument, and various psychosocial measures. Results presented here are based on 496 subjects with complete data on all RBs.


RESULTS
Forty-three percent of participants had > or = two RBs. The most prevalent RB combination was high-fat diet/sedentariness, with 30% of subjects reporting both RBs. Associations between RBs were observed. A greater number of RBs were observed among younger and less-educated subjects, those with higher depression scores, and subjects who perceived their health as poor.


CONCLUSIONS
Findings highlight the importance of designing and evaluating primary care-based screening programs and interventions for multiple RBs.
Rosal
M C
MC
Division of Preventive and Behavioral Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts 01655, USA. Milagros.Rosal@umassmed.edu
Ockene
J K
JK
Ma
Y
Y
Hebert
J R
JR
Merriam
P A
PA
Matthews
C E
CE
Ockene
I S
IS
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000008:administration & dosage; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006279:Health Maintenance Organizations; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008404:Massachusetts; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D004041:Dietary Fats; D002784:Cholesterol