Effects of Sociodemographic Factors on the Stage of Behavior Change Among Employees of Small to Medium Sized Enterprises

Koo, Myung Hoi; Yim, Hyeon Woo; Park, Chung Yill; Lee, Kang Sook; Koo, Jung Wan

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
This research attempts to investigate the relationship between health risk factors and workers'behavioral changes based on individual worker's characteristics to allow the development of more effective health promotion programs in businesses places.
METHODS
A questionnaire survey was conducted with 282 workers employed in small to medium sized enterprises in the Kyong-in area of Korea. The questionnaire was composed of general characteristics, a health risk assessment and an evaluation of the stage of behavior change for health promotion strategy in the workplace.
RESULTS
The health risk assessment revealed that 65.7 % of male workers smoke, 70.5% of male workers do not exercise on a regular basis, 86.1 % of female workers do not exercise at all, and 78.6 % of male workers and 50 % of female workers drink alcohol. In addition, the survey identified that 29.5% of male workers are addicted to excessive drinking, as are 11.1% of female workers. Based on the four stages of behavioral changes that lead to health, the pre-contemplation stage, contemplation stage, action stage, and maintenance stage, 40.5 %, 23.7 %, 12.1 % and 23.7 % of workers are in these stages, respectively, with regards to quitting smoking. As for regular exercises, 18.4 %, 37.6 %, 17.7 %, and 26.3 % of workers belong to each stage, respectively. As for moderation in drinking, 20.9 %, 15.4 %, 10.0 %, and 53.7 % are in each stage, respectively. The rate of health managers in the active stage of quitting smoking is significantly higher than that of general workers. Among the workers who do not exercise on a regular basis, workers over 50 years-old and blue color workers are more common in the precontemplation stage than any other worker groups.
CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study suggest that the stages of behavioral change vary with worker characteristics. An awareness of the effects of the high risk factors is essential for promoting workers'attendance in health promotion programs.