HEALTH BEHAVIORS IN RELATION TO DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES IN ADULTS

Sara SADIKI, Hana SALIU, Naser RAMADANI

Abstract

Health behaviors shape health and well-being in individuals and populations. Researchers have recently shown great interests in studying health behaviors and their impact on the physical and mental health of individuals. Therefore, our aim was to analyze health behaviors (physical activity, diet, smoking and alcohol consumption) in relation to demographic variables (gender, age, economic status) in adults. Data collection is conducted through quantitative method and the respective instrument, with a sample of 961 Albanians from several cities in North Macedonia, aged 25-65. The findings showed that physical activity reached a mean score of (M=5,51) in the researched sample, while no statistically significant differences were found in any of the demographic variables. The carefulness regarding the food has reached a value above the mean (M=16,69) and differences are found in relation to gender with an obtained Z value for -4,478 p<0,01, in relation to age p<0,01 and economic status p<0,01. More than half of the sample (N=513) smokes and in relation to the demographic variables, smoking was found with significant statistical differences only in terms of gender, the obtained Z value for -4,165 p< 0,01. Of the total number of subjects (N=961), only 23% declared that have consumed alcohol, while 77%, namely N=753, had not consumed alcohol in the last 12 months, while statistically significant differences were found in the gender variable with an obtained Z value for - 5,809 (p<0.01) and age (p<0.01) regarding this variable.

Pages: 170 - 177