Health promoting behavior and influencing factors in Iranian breast cancer survivors

The purpose of this study was to investigate the associations among the internal health locus of
control, depression, perceived health status, self efficacy, social support, and health-promoting behavior in Iranian
breast cancer survivors and to determine influential variables. Materials and Methods: A predictive design was
adopted. By convenient sampling the data of 262 breast cancer survivors in Iran were collected by questionnaires
during 2014. Data were analyzed applying descriptive statistics, t-tests, one-way ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation
coefficients, and stepwise multiple regression. Results: The internal health locus of control, depression, perceived
health status, self efficacy, social support and undergoing chemotherapy all correlated significantly with the
health-promoting lifestyle. Stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that social internal health locus of
control, depression, perceived health status, self efficacy and social support and chemotherapy accounted for
about 39.8% of the variance in health promoting lifestyle. The strongest influence was social support, followed
by self efficacy, perceived health status, chemotherapy and depression. Conclusions: The results of the study
clarifed the seriousness of social support, self efficacy, perceived health status and depression in determining
the health-promoting lifestyle among Iranian breast cancer survivors. Health professionals should concentrate
on these variables in designing plans to promoting a healthy lifestyle