Effect of health promoting lifestyle education on health promoting behaviors of postmenopausal women: A clinical trial study

Physiological changes in menopause can affect womenchr('39')s health. Womenchr('39')s lifestyle is one of the most important factors affecting their health at this time. However, women do not have sufficient knowledge of health-promoting behaviors and do not receive the necessary training in this area. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of health promoting lifestyle training on health promoting behaviors in postmenopausal women.

The present study was a randomized controlled clinical trial. 84 women referred to health centers of Qazvin (Iran) were selected by convenience sampling and were randomly divided into two groups of 42 intervention and control groups. Data collection tools included demographic questionnaire and HPLP II questionnaire. Both groups before intervention completed questionnaires. Intervention consisted of 4 sessions of lecture-based group training with presentation of slides, booklets, pamphlets and six areas of health promoting lifestyle questionnaire. The Health Promoting Lifestyle Questionnaire was evaluated in two groups one month, two months and three months after the intervention.

There was no significant difference between the intervention and control groups regarding the distribution of individual variables. According to the results of the three follow-up periods, it was found that the difference between the groups was significant in terms of changes in mean life style. Mean score of health promoting lifestyle in the experimental group (2.72 ± 0.37 before intervention), (one month after intervention 3.12 ± 0.45), (two months after intervention 3.43 ± 0.068), (3 months after intervention 3.45± 0.7). This result indicated the positive impact of the intervention mentioned. Mean score of health promoting lifestyle in control group (2.7 ± 0.43 before intervention), (one month after intervention 2.9 ± 0.46), (two months after intervention 2.76 ±.069), (three months after the intervention was 2.75 ± 0.71). This indicates that mean life style scores increased significantly in the experimental group during the measurement times but remained unchanged in the control group (P<0.05). This demonstrates the long-term effects of a significant increase in the health-promoting lifestyle over time. Remarkably, the highest increase was in physical activity and the least in health responsibility.

The findings of this study showed that health promoting lifestyle-training intervention is effective on health promotion behaviors of postmenopausal women. Therefore, this intervention is recommended as a simple, practical and low cost educational method for postmenopausal women.