CORRELATES OF HEALTH-RELATED BEHAVIORS IN OLDER AFRICAN-AMERICAN ADULTS - COMPLICATIONS FOR HEALTH PROMOTION

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.