Health beliefs and healthy lifestyle behaviors of obese healthcare professionals according to the obesity health belief model

Aim: This research was conducted to determine the relationship between obesity health beliefs and healthy lifestyle behaviors of obese health professionals. Materials and Methods: The research was conducted in a descriptive-cross-sectional type with 222 health workers working at Gaziantep University Şahinbey Research and Application Hospital between January 2022 and September 2023, who were obese and above according to BMI and could be reached by face-to-face survey method. The data of the study was obtained between January 2022 and April 2023, using a data collection form including the Personal Introduction Form, Obesity Health Belief Model Scale (OHBMS) and Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors Scale II (HLBS-II). Cronbach Alpha reliability analysis, Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) test, descriptive statistics tests, t-test in independent groups, One-Way ANOVA Analysis of Variance, Pearson Correlation Coefficient analysis and Linear Regression Analysis were used to evaluate the data. In the study, the significance level was taken as p<0.05. Results: In the study, the average age of healthcare workers was 36.23±8.76 years old, 39.6% were between the ages of 36-45, 47.3% were women, 96.4% had social security, 87.4% were in nuclear family type, 78.4% were married. and 46.4% have a bachelor's degree or higher, 11.7% have a chronic disease diagnosis, 33.3% smoke and 9.9% use alcohol, 59% consume 2-3 meals a day, 45.5% have a diet per week. It was determined that he ate outside the home 1-2 times. It was determined that 48.6% of healthcare workers were healthcare technicians/technicians, 56.8% were engaged in physical activity/exercise, and 81.1% of the employees had an average BMI of 33.13±3.24 kg/m2 and 30-34.9 kg/m2. With a total average score of 125.55±22.58 on HLBS II, the healthy lifestyle behaviors of healthcare professionals were found to be above the average level. Healthcare workers' average score was 21.94±5.46 points from the Importance of Health sub-dimension of OHBMS, 14.29±3.32 points from the Perceived Susceptibility sub-dimension, 17.06±3.58 points from the Perceived Seriousness sub-dimension, and 17.06±3.58 points from the Perceived Usefulness sub-dimension. It was determined that they received an average of 31.86±6.60 points from the sub-dimension and an average of 20.09±6.51 points from the Perceived Obstacle sub-dimension. In the study, there was a positive and high relationship between the HLBS II total score of healthcare workers and the Importance of Health sub-dimension score of OHBMS, a positive and low level between the Perceived Seriousness sub-dimension score, a positive and low level between the Perceived Benefit sub-dimension score and a positive and low level between the OSIMÖ's Health Importance sub-dimension score and Perceived Obstacle. A negative and low-level significant relationship was found between the subscale scores. According to the results of linear regression analysis, an increase in the Importance of Health subscale score of healthcare workers significantly increased the HLBS-II total score; However, it was determined that an increase in the Perception of Obstacle subscale score significantly decreased the HLBS-II total score. Conclusion: It was determined that healthcare professionals' healthy lifestyle behaviors and the importance of health, perceived sensitivity, perceived seriousness, perceived benefit and perceived obstacle were above the medium level. While there was a relationship between obesity health beliefs and healthy lifestyle behaviors of obese healthcare professionals, it was determined that health beliefs significantly affected healthy lifestyle behaviors. Keywords: Obesity, Health Personnel, Health Belief Model, Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors.