Gd. Weaver et Le. Gary, CORRELATES OF HEALTH-RELATED BEHAVIORS IN OLDER AFRICAN-AMERICAN ADULTS - COMPLICATIONS FOR HEALTH PROMOTION, Family & community health, 19(2), 1996, pp. 43-57
The literature on the health behaviors of elderly African Americans ra
rely looks beyond gender variations. This article attempts to determin
e if health-related behaviors (ie, regular exercise, cigarette smoking
, alcohol consumption, and health care seeking) vary by demographic, s
ociocultural, and mental health factors in a community sample of 311 m
en and women 55 years of age and older. The results indicate that over
a third of the sample participated in no regular exercise, smoked cig
arettes, consumed alcohol, and sought health care from hospitals and c
linics. Results of the bivariate analyses revealed several significant
relationships between the health behaviors and the nine independent v
ariables. Gender, age group, church attendance, and perceived control
were significantly related to three of the four health behaviors. Impl
ications for health promotion efforts targeting elderly African Americ
ans are discussed.