Assessment of the Explanatory Power of the Expectation-Confirmation Model for the Intention to Continue Fruit and Vegetable Consumption in the Rural Elderly

The prevalence of chronic diseases can be reduced by correcting people's food habits. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the explanatory power of the Expectation-Confirmation Model for the intention to continue fruit and vegetable consumption.
This descriptive-analytic study included 332 elderly people with a history of receiving health care services from 8 rural health centers and 40 health houses in Abadan city, Iran in the second half of 2015. Data were analyzed by path analysis and the multicolinearity test using LISREL8.8 and SPSS16 software, respectively.
Less than half (48%) of the subjects consumed 1 to 3 servings of fruit and vegetable daily. The model used could explain 79% of the intention to continue fruit and vegetable consumption. Analysis of the data also showed positive associations between the intention to continue fruit and vegetable consumption and the following variables: self-efficacy (β = 0.09, P The model used in this study is suitable for explaining the elderly people’s intention to continue fruit and vegetable consumption. It is recommended that policy-makers use appropriate strategies to increase the understanding of the benefits of eating fruits and vegetables by the elderly and, thus, sensitize them to increase their consumption through public campaigns and communication with the relevant organizations, families, etc.