ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Chronic stress is associated with physical illness such as coronary artery disease and hypertension. Daily life habits being able to affect physical health and are associated with mental stress. We studied the relationship between physical illness and stress amount so far. However, the investigation about the stress and the health habits to affect disease directly was not studied enough. Eventually we tested this investigation to know the relationship between stress amount and health habits. METHODS: We measured stress amount and health habits for a month(from May 1 to May 31, 1997) through the people who had already received health screening and were working as researchers. We used 147 results out of 212. Health habits were investigated about 6 articles out of "Breslow's 7 Health habits" and stress amount was measured by evaluation scale made by Lee, Pyoung-sook. RESULTS: There were no differences in amounts of stress of subjects according to age, years in work, hours of sleeping, having breakfast or not, the frequency of exercise and body mass index(BMI). But there were significant differences in amounts of stress of subjects according to drinking amount, smoking or not, and health habit index(P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Drinking and smoking appeared to be health habits related to the amounts of stress. Prospective studies are needed ? find a causal relationship between health habits and stress amount.