[Relationship between perception of health concept and health promoting behaviors: a comparative study among Tehran University Medical and non-medical students]

ABSTRACT

Health is one of the vital concepts in every society which is affected by several factors including age, gender and social situation of the people. Individuals' perception of health concept is also of paramount importance. The main objective of this study is to determine health concept perceptions and health promoting behaviors among Tehran University medical and non-medical students. This is a descriptive- analytical study. Four hundred medical students and four hundred non-medical students were recruited for the study using stratified sampling. A three-section self-evaluating questionnaire including demographic information, health perception information and health promoting behaviors information was used to gather data. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test and Pierson Correlation Coefficient. 49.7 percent and 6.8 percent of the medical students had good and excellent perceptions about health concept, respectively. In non-medical students, it was 49.4 percent and 8.6 percent, respectively. 57 percent of the medical students and 54.9 percent of non-medical students had good health promoting behaviors, respectively. There was significant relationship between perceptions of health concept and health promotion behaviors among both groups [P<0.001]. Based on the results, there is a direct relationship between perception of health concept and health promoting behaviors among both groups. There is no difference in all aspects of health promoting behaviors, except for cigarette smoking in which the medical students showed more healthy behaviors