evaluation of health promoting behaviors and its relationship with mental health in elderly military veterans in iran

Background: one of the effective factors in the healthy living of the elderly is health-promoting behaviors. objectives: this study aimed to investigate the relationship between health-promoting behaviors and mental health in elderly military veterans in iran. methods: using available sampling method, this descriptive-analytical study was performed on 280 elderly military veterans over 60 years old referred to a military health center in urmia, iran. we used a questionnaire comprising three sections as follows: (1) elderly demographic information; (2) health promoting behaviors; and (3) mental health assessment. the collected data were entered into spss software v.20 and analyzed by chi-square and fisher’s exact tests. results: the results showed that among the health-promoting behaviors, non-consumption of alcohol, controlling blood pressure, and not smoking had the highest frequency, and the injection of influenza vaccine had the lowest frequency. the relationship between health-promoting behaviors and the level of mental health showed that smoking, stress, alcohol consumption, and not exercising had a significant relationship with anxiety and stress (p < 0.05). also, the individuals who consumed more fruits and vegetables had less stress than those who consume lower amounts of these foods (p < 0.05). also, people who consumed low-salt, low-fat, and dairy-based foods, controlled their blood pressure regularly and had received the flu vaccine had a better mental health. conclusions: according to the results, a special attention should be paid to these factors in planning to teach health-promoting behaviors to improve health and counseling services in the elderly.