The influence of mid-life adult status and functional health status on health lifestyles

Abstract

The objective of this chapter was to advance the medical sociology theoretical literature on health lifestyle behaviors. This study investigated the influence of mid-life adult statuses (gender, marital status, parenthood, presence of children in the home, and employment status) and functional health status (general physical health, general mental health, vitality, and social functioning) on selected health-related behaviors. These behaviors included preventive medicine behaviors (routine physical exams, cholesterol checks, and blood pressure checks), risk-taking behaviors (driving above the speed limit, smoking, and consuming alcohol), health promoting behaviors (exercising, sleeping well, and relaxing), and medication usage (using prescribed medicines, over-the-counter medicines, and herbal supplements). The data were gathered through the Warren County Health Survey, a telephone survey of a randomly selected sample of residents from a county in Kentucky. Logistic regression was used to analyze the data. Results indicated that having children at home, being married, being fifty years old or older, and possessing better mental health and social functioning statuses were associated with a greater likelihood of practicing better health-related behaviors. In contrast, being both male and aged 49 and younger were correlated with a greater likelihood of engaging in poorer health-related behaviors. Based on these results, the authors offered several testable, theoretical propositions for future research to test the relationships between mid-life adult health statuses, functional health statuses, and health-related behaviors in other community-based samples.

Citation

Chumbler, N.R., Foster, A., Grimm, J.W. and Williams, P. (2000), "The influence of mid-life adult status and functional health status on health lifestyles", Jacobs Kronenfeld, J. (Ed.) Health, Illness, and use of Care: The Impact of Social Factors (Research in the Sociology of Health Care, Vol. 18), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 249-267. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0275-4959(00)80031-9