Correlates of preventive health behavior in late life

Self-Health Care among the Elderly

Data from a U.S. sample of 714 respondents aged 55 years and over were used to test the efficacy of the health-behavior model for explaining self-health care practices and attitudes. Three different indicators of self-health care, including a measure of actual self-care behavior and two attitudinal indicators, normative self-care response and global self-care, were employed in this work. Hierarchical ordinary least squares regression modeling yielded R2s consistent with those reported in the extant literature on health-services utilization. A difference with this literature, however, was that the net contribution of predisposing characteristics was found to be larger than that of enabling and need characteristics combined for all three indicators of self-health care.

Assessing Capacity for Self-Care among the Aged

Data drawn from the Supplement on Aging (SOA) to the 1984 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) were used to identify correlates of older persons' assessments of their capacity to provide self-care. The SOA data set consists of responses, based on personal interviews with 16,148 persons 55 years of age and older. Most assessed their capacity to care for themselves in positive terms; only 11% assessed their capacity to provide self-care as fair or poor. Based on stepwise regression, self-reported health status and perceived control of health accounted for approximately 15% of the 17% of variation explained in the dependent variable. The Health Belief Model may provide a theoretical context in which to understand better the self-care component of the health-care continuum.

Predicting Self-Care Behaviors Among Older Adults Coping With Arthritis

Objective: The purpose of this investigation is to examine correlates and predictors of self-care activities for persons diagnosed with arthritis both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Method: Data from telephone surveys conducted with 313 older ( M = 68.8, SD = 8.93) individuals, chosen from a larger sample, who reported professionally diagnosed arthritis, were used. Results: A total of 10 of the 11 self-care activities changed significantly during the 1-year interval, with 9 showing increased participation. Results from hierarchical regressions showed that all three blocks of predictors explained significant portions of variance, with gender and perceived importance of general health significantly predicting self-care activities at Time 1, at Time 2, and longitudinally. Discussion: These results highlight the influence of demographic, health status, and health belief variables on self-care both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Future work should focus on the mediating effects of these and other variables to better understand the processes by which individuals engage in self-care behavior.

The Association of Self-Rated Health with Two-Year Mortality in a Sample of Well Elderly

The 1984-1986 Longitudinal Study of Aging (LSOA) was used to investigate self-assessed health as a predictor of 2-year mortality in a subsample of 1,252 persons aged 70 and over. The LSOA sample was screened to exclude individuals reporting a high-risk medical condition or difficulty in instrumental activities of daily living. Logistic regression showed independent predictive effects with higher mortality for age (older), sex (male), less favorable self-rated health, and a family network variable (having no living children or siblings), and sex-specific body mass (highest quintile) was associated with lower mortality. Results therefore support prior studies showing that self-rated health predicts mortality, even in a very healthy elderly subsample, and with a follow-up period that is among the shortest reported to date.

Network Composition and Health Behaviors Among Older Samoan Women

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to explore how kin and nonkin social support networks influence health behaviors among older Samoan women.

Method: Using a cross-sectional survey design, 290 Samoan women who were age 50 years and older were interviewed. Using separate logistic regressions, each health behavior was regressed on age and kin and nonkin social support networks after controlling for background characteristics and health status.

Results: In multivariate analyses, higher scores on kin increased the likelihood of never salting food, getting screened for diabetes in the past year, and having had a mammogram in the past 2 years, whereas higher scores on nonkin increased the likelihood of exercising at all and ever trying to lose weight.

Discussion: Kin networks positively affect mostly chronic disease-related health behaviors, whereas nonkin networks positively affect mostly lifestyle-related health behaviors.

Associations among Health Perceptions and Health Status within Three Age Groups

Using data from the 1984 Supplement on Aging to the National Health Interview Survey, the associations among five health perceptions and two indices of functional health status were investigated within each of three age groups (55-64, 65-79, 80+). Greater functional impairment was associated with less favorable health perceptions in all three age groups. However, the strength of association was not consistent for the five indices, leaving room for conflicting assessments of one's health. Efficacy at taking care of health and perceived control over health showed lower strengths of association with functional impairment, raising the possibility that the resilience of some perceptions may be studied in greater detail. Results for persons aged 80 and older were similar in some ways to those for persons aged 55-64; however, there was some evidence of stronger negative association with increasing functional limitation among persons aged 55-64, suggesting a possibly stronger impact of health problems in this group. Future research might usefully examine intraindividual consistency of health perceptions and behavior, in addition to looking for normative interindividual trends.

Health Behaviors and Social Roles among Mature Men and Women

This article explores the relationship between gender, social roles, age, education, number of health problems, and health behaviors in mature adults. Data from a national study focus on women and men ages 54 to 64. Analyses indicate that women are more likely to avoid risk-taking health behaviors; in particular, men are more likely to report that they drink alcohol. There were no gender differences in promotive health behaviors or cancer detection behaviors. Further analyses focus on the relationship of two social roles (marital and employment status), demographic variables (gender, age, education), and number of health problems on promotive health behaviors, risk avoidance behaviors, and cancer detection behaviors. Social roles are related to health behaviors as follows: employed women are less likely to report cancer detection behaviors than are unemployed women; married men are more likely to engage in risk avoidance behaviors than are unmarried men. Demographic comparisons indicate that education and to some extent, age, are associated with promotive health behaviors. Men and women with health problems are more likely to engage in cancer detection behaviors. The small sample size, however, suggests caution in the interpretation and generalization of these findings.

Social Support, Health-Promotive Beliefs, and Preventive Health Behaviors Among the Elderly

A high level of social support was a consistent predictor of preventive health behaviors among 936 elderly members of a health maintenance organization. Beliefs about the importance of preventive health behaviors contributed more toward predicting their performance than did other respondent characteristics. These results suggest that efforts to increase the practice of preventive health behaviors by the elderly might be augmented by strengthening both theirsocial support networks and their health-promotive beliefs.

Self-Care Among Older Adults

Cette synthèse de la documentation sur les soins personnels chez les personnes ^gées définit le concept en termes des comportements préventifs et des réponses à la maladie adoptés par les profanes à leur propre bénéfice. Après avoir placé les soins personnels dans leur contexte historique, l'auteur examine les perspectives théoriques et les principales constatations sur son incidence ainsi que les corrélats et les barrières. Cet examen est suivi d'une revue du processus et des résultats des interventions destinées à promouvoir les soins personnels. L'auteur termine en présentant des recommandations en vue du développement de la recherche, des politiques et de la pratique.

Life events and their impact on health attitudes and health behavior

A representative sample of non-institutionalized elderly persons between 65 and 74 years living in Stockholm county, Sweden responded to a self-report health questionnaire. Special life events and their subsequent effects were examined in the context of health attitudes and health behavior. Of the 370 respondents, 128 reported experiencing a special life event. The resulting effects of life events were categorized into one of six groups: smoking, alcohol, diet, restricted mobility, existential circumstances and a miscellaneous group. Positive associations between life events and health attitudes and health behavior were discovered. This was particularly evident in the diet and the restricted mobility group. The findings suggest that the occurrence of life events and subsequent effects can contribute to health promotive behavior despite the potential worries, poor health and diseases which may also be associated with them.

Critical Thinking, Perceived Health Status, and Participation in Health Behaviors

BACKGROUND

Critical thinking has been proposed as crucial for processing conflicting information when people make decisions about participation in health behaviors. The critical thinking of individuals about participation in health behaviors may depend on their perceived health status.

OBJECTIVES

To examine the relations between critical thinking and participation in three categories of health behaviors, and to determine whether these relations are moderated by perceived health status.

METHODS

A cross-sectional, correlational design was used to study a sample of 112 community-dwelling adults who resided in a large, urban Midwest community. The participants were women and men 18 to 90 years of age (mean, 55 +/- 20.47 years) who completed self-report, written questionnaires including the Test of Everyday Reasoning and the Health Practices Instrument.

RESULTS

According to hierarchical multiple regression analyses, the relation between critical thinking and health promotion behaviors and the relation between critical thinking and secondary prevention behaviors were moderated by perceived health status, whereas the relation between critical thinking and health protection behaviors was not.

CONCLUSIONS

The relation between critical thinking and participation in health behaviors depends on perceived health status and category of health behaviors. Researchers can explore the role of other variables (e.g., functional status and perceived susceptibility to disease) to explain why perceived health status moderates the relations between critical thinking and participation in various types of health behaviors differently.

Can burdened caregivers be effective facilitators of elder care-recipient health care?

BACKGROUND

Caregiving by informal family caregivers of dependent older people in the community may be affected by burden and by the personal and social resources available to the caregiver. Given the increase in the dependent older population, study of factors affecting informal caregiving is necessary.

AIMS

To examine caregiver resources, burden and competence as predictors of health-care facilitation on behalf of older patients.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional data were collected by an interview schedule from 240 randomly sampled spousal and filial caregivers in Jerusalem. Study variables included caregiver background variables, general self-concept and feelings of caregiver competence, informal and formal social support, burden and levels of health-care facilitation. Path analysis was performed to clarify the direct and indirect predictors of health-care facilitation.

RESULTS

Caregiver facilitation of health-care was positively related both to the presence of personal and social resources and to burden levels. The results suggest that quality caregiving can coexist with burden, provided that ample caregiver resources are present. The most important resources were caregiver sense of competence and support from the professional health-care provider.

DISCUSSION

Caregiving burden is not readily reducible, given the chronic nature of older people's health problems. However, caregiver resources can be bolstered, particularly by health professionals. Nurses, who are orientated to holistic family centred care, are especially well-suited for this important intervention.

Staying healthy: the salience and meaning of health maintenance behaviors among rural older adults in North Carolina

Beliefs about what constitutes health promoting behaviors vary by culture and class, and knowing how an older adult interprets a specific health behavior can improve health education and medical compliance. Ethnomedical approaches have investigated how people define disease and the therapies used to return to a state of health. However, little research has addressed how individuals define health, or the behaviors they use to maintain health. We analyze the behaviors elders state are needed to stay healthy, and their meanings for these behaviors. Narratives collected through in-depth interviews with 145 male and female rural North Carolina residents aged 70 and older, including African Americans, Native Americans and European Americans are analyzed using systematic text analysis. The participants' narratives include seven salient health maintenance domains: (1) Eating Right, (2) Drinking Water, (3) "Taking" Exercise, (4) Staying Busy, (5) Being with People, (6) Trusting in God and Participating in Church, and (7) Taking Care of Yourself. Several of these domains are multi-dimensional in the meanings the elders ascribe to them. There is also overlap in the content of some of the domains; they are not discrete in the minds of the elders and a specific health behavior can reflect more than one domain. Four themes cross-cut the domains: "balance and moderation", "the holistic view of health", "social integration", and "personal responsibility". Elders in these rural communities hold a definition of health that overlaps with, but is not synonymous with a biomedical model. These elders' concept of health seamlessly integrates physical, mental, spiritual, and social aspects of health, reflecting how health is embedded in the everyday experience of these elders. Staying healthy is maintaining the ability to function in a community. These results indicate that providers cannot assume that older patients will share their interpretation of general health promotion advice.

Women's experience following a cardiac event: the role of the self in healing

This study explored the role of the self in the experiences of women living with cardiovascular disease. The study, which used a naturalistic design, involved interviewing 13 women with a diagnosis of coronary heart disease (CHD) and analyzing their reports through constant comparative analysis. For women, living with CHD was characterized by changing images of the self. Women reported engaging in processes involving seeking meaning, creating mastery, and accepting the self. These processes were marked by the overarching theme of connectedness with significant others. The study findings enhance understanding of the role of the self in recovery for women with diagnosed CHD.

Basic need status and health-promoting self-care behavior in adults

Health-promoting self-care behavior emphasizing positive lifestyle practices may improve the health and quality of life of adults. One variable that may influence health-related decisions is the status of basic needs as described by Maslow. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among basic need satisfaction, health-promoting self-care behavior, and selected demographic variables in a sample of community-dwelling adults. A convenience sample of 84 community-dwelling adults was recruited to complete the Basic Need Satisfaction Inventory, the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile II, and demographic information. Results of the study indicated that self-actualization, physical, and love/belonging need satisfaction accounted for 64% of the variance in health-promoting self-care behavior. The findings of this study are consistent with Maslow's theory of human motivation and suggest that persons who are more fulfilled and content with themselves and their lives, have physical need satisfaction, and have positive connections with others may be able to make better decisions regarding positive health-promoting self-care behaviors.

Assessing perceived health promotion needs and interests of low-income older women

This study focuses on an assessment of perceived health promotion needs and interests among predominantly older low-income women (76%) in the state of Pennsylvania. A questionnaire was completed by a convenience sample of 140 individuals attending four senior centers and two nutrition sites. In addition, 14 focus groups with an average of 8 members per group were conducted for a total of 105 people from two of the four senior centers. The health topics of greatest interest to women were exercise (57.6%), making friends (50.9%), nutrition (37.5%), losing weight (33.6%), and home safety (34.6%). Compared with women, men were significantly more interested in exercise and its effect on mood (41.3% versus 24.0%) and love and sex after 60 (44.8% versus 18.2%) and significantly less interested in nutrition (17.2% versus 37.5%). The fitness activities of greatest interest to women were walking (63.1%), back exercises (37.5%), toning to music (22.1%), and self-defense (18.2%), none of which was significantly different from the men in the sample. Results suggest that many of the key health needs perceived by low-income older women could be addressed by a combination of fitness activities and health education, especially if they are also designed to facilitate social interactions. The barriers to participation in such programs most often cited were transportation, scheduling, and cost factors. Fortunately, many communities already have the resources to offer low-cost interventions in the areas of need, such as walking groups, self-defense, and home safety. Communities interested in serving low-income older women should more closely examine the barriers and the unmet needs of this group when designing intervention programs.

Factors associated with caries incidence in an elderly population

The purpose of this paper was to identify baseline factors associated with future caries development in older adults (age 60+) during a 3-year study period. Poisson regression analysis was used to determine the association between potential risk factors and disease incidence. The significant factors associated with high coronal caries incidence rates were high baseline root DMFS (P<0.001), high counts of mutans streptococci and lactobacilli (P=0.036), male gender (P=0.007), and Asian ethnicity (P=0.002). These factors had small to moderate effects on incidence rates, with relative risk values of approximately 1.2 to 2. The significant factors associated with higher disease incidence on root surfaces were baseline coronal DMFS (marginally significant, P=0.078), high bacterial counts (P=0.002), and Asian ethnicity (P=0.009). The predictive value of the models was low for both coronal and root caries. This result may be because this population had a higher than usual caries incidence rate, making discrimination among these caries-active individuals difficult. The current study affirmed the value of baseline DMFS and salivary variables to modeling caries incidence and introduced ethnicity as a variable useful for the study of dental caries in older adults.

Quality of life issues among women with physical disabilities or breast cancer

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to assess quality of life (QOL) and life satisfaction among women with physical disabilities or breast cancer, and to identify factors predictive of QOL and life satisfaction for women and men. QOL and life satisfaction differences were examined between women and men with physical disabilities and cancer, and between women with traumatic and chronic physical conditions.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional design employing several QOL and life satisfaction measures was used.

SAMPLE

Two hundred sixteen outpatient subjects (99 women, 117 men) with physical disabilities or cancer were studied.

INSTRUMENTS

The Health Status Questionnaire-Short-Form 36 (SF-36), Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT), Functional Living Index-Cancer (FLIC), and the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS).

RESULTS

Women with traumatic conditions (amputation, spinal cord injury) reported poorer physical functioning and well-being, whereas women in the chronic (postpolio, breast cancer) group reported poorer health status. No significant gender differences were found with respect to QOL or life satisfaction. Whereas functional and emotional well-being were the strongest predictors of overall QOL for both men and women, self-perceived general health significantly predicted QOL for women (p < .05) and social well-being significantly predicted QOL for men (p < .01). Among men, life satisfaction was best predicted by marital status (p < .05), general health (p < .05), and social well-being (p < .01). The resulting QOL models had adjusted R2 values of .77 and .76 for women and men, respectively. Among women with traumatic conditions, functional well-being best predicted QOL (p < .01). Life satisfaction for women with chronic conditions was best predicted by age, education, and spiritual well-being.

CONCLUSION

QOL as measured by the impact of illness on an individual is best predicted by physical and functional well-being. Satisfaction with one's life was best predicted by functional ability. Although functional and physical ability were the best predictors for both QOL and life satisfaction, social functioning made significant and substantive contributions to these constructs. Spinal cord injury had the most impact on physical functioning, whereas prostate cancer had the least. Psychosocial functioning was most affected by amputation and least affected by prostate cancer.

Health status, life satisfaction and health practices: a study of Pacific Asian and Native Hawaiian elderly cohorts

This article describes the sociodemographic characteristics, self-ratings of health status, life satisfaction and health practices of Pacific Asian and Native Hawaiian elderly groups. The data were gathered from two separate, non-equivalent elderly cohorts enrolled in an elderly self-care education program in Hawaii during the period 1989-1992. The findings generally reflected favorable self-ratings of health status, high life satisfaction levels, and positive health practices for both of these minority elderly groups. The exceptions regarding several health practices relate to snacking between meals, overweight problems and insufficient sleep for a sizable proportion of both groups. Slight to moderate differences between the two groups were also evident in 1) eating habits; 2) snacking; 3) types of physical activities; 4) weight control; 5) sleep patterns; 6) alcohol use; and 7) smoking. Despite the article's exploratory nature and limitation in the generalizability of its findings, the data offer a beginning database for Asian and Pacific Island elderly which is sorely lacking.

Personal models of osteoarthritis and their relation to self-management activities and quality of life

We examined the personal models of osteoarthritis (OA) of 61 patients over 60 years of age. Models were elicited using a structured interview. Shared beliefs included perceiving OA as a serious, painful, chronic, and incurable condition that can be managed by recommended medical treatment. Considerable individual differences were found on six personal-model constructs: Symptoms, Seriousness, Cause, Control, Helpfulness of Treatment, and Negative Feelings about Treatment. The constructs of Symptoms and Seriousness were consistently related to a variety of important outcomes. For example, participants with higher scores on Symptoms and Seriousness reported higher levels of self-management (both concurrently and prospectively), reported more utilization of medical services, and experienced a poorer quality of life. The implications for the design of health-education materials and for patient-provider interactions are discussed.

Elderly health beliefs, attitudes, and maintenance

BACKGROUND

Why older persons engage in varying amounts of health maintenance activity is becoming both an increasingly important policy issue and a topic of interest to health services researchers. Such activity may help the elderly to delay the onset of the health-related problems associated with aging, maintain if not improve their functional abilities, and perhaps improve their quality of life.

METHODS

Using a conceptual model largely based upon the health belief model, this study sought to examine predictors of variability of health maintenance activity among older persons. The project included cross-sectional data drawn from the first phase of a multiyear panel study of elderly community residents.

RESULTS

Results of ordinary least-squares and logistic regression analyses of seven types of health maintenance activity suggest that health beliefs are an important consideration but that other variables, namely, type of insurance plan and select sociodemographic factors, also had significant impacts. Another consistent finding was that each of the types of health maintenance activity was associated with different types of predictor variables.

CONCLUSION

These findings suggest that in order for levels of health maintenance activity to be increased, intervention programs need to be targeted toward specific types of health beliefs and need to take into account the importance of social differences.

Daily illness characteristics and health care decisions of older people

Although investigations of health care decision making typically deal with patterns of health service use, increasing attention has focused on lay- and self-care actions in response to illness symptoms. This study examined the health care actions of a community sample of 142 older adults, who recorded illness symptoms and corresponding health care actions in daily health diaries for a 14-day period. Self-treatment and no-action decisions were found to be the most frequent response to illness symptoms. Professional-care decisions were associated with greater health care need, such as multiple symptoms and increased pain. Lay-care decisions were significantly related to symptoms of shorter duration. Women were also more likely than men to self-treat their illness symptoms. Results suggest that older people deal with a greater number of recurrent chronic symptoms than previously thought and that they make most treatment decisions without consulting their doctors or other health care providers. This investigation underscores the importance of a prospective diary methodology for studying the daily complexities of chronic illness experiences and for validating and conducting useful interventions.

Multiple stumbles: a risk factor for falls in community-dwelling elderly. A prospective study

To better understand risk factors for falls among community-dwelling elderly, we analyzed data from a sample of elderly Medicare beneficiaries interviewed in 1987 and a year later. Demographic, social, medical, and functional information were obtained by telephone interviews with 736 subjects (68% women) whose average age was 76.5 (range, 65-99). At baseline, 63 subjects reported a fall and 67 reported two or more stumbles without a fall in the past month. At the second interview follow-up information on falls in the past year was obtained on 586 subjects. One hundred twenty-seven (22%) subjects reported one or more falls. Baseline risk factors that were independent predictors of a fall at the second interview included two or more stumbles (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 2.3, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.2-4.5), one or more falls (AOR 5.9, 95% CI 2.9-12.2), having spent 4 or more days in bed in the past month (AOR 7.7, 95% CI 1.9-31.0), and self-reported declining health status (AOR 2.0, 95% CI 1.1-3.5). Falls and stumbles are prevalent among community-dwelling elderly. After controlling for covariates, we found subjects who reported two or more stumbles in the past month are at increased risk for a fall in the following year.

Information-seeking about health in a community sample of adults: correlates and associations with other health-related practices

Action by individuals to acquire information about their health has been an element incorporated throughout theory, research, and programs related to health promotion. This report describes an attempt to determine if an information-seeking dimension could be empirically identified in a general community-resident sample, and if so, to examine some of its characteristics. A total of 281 adults aged 18-75 were contacted by telephone using random digit dialing and were interviewed about a variety of personal health practices. Factor analysis identified a five-item cluster representing a tendency to seek out information about health. Women were more likely than men to report seeking information. In addition, more frequent information-seeking was associated with favorable responses to several other health-related practices. Formal health service use was the only type of health practice not associated with information-seeking, perhaps because regularity of contact is influenced strongly by health professionals (e.g., reminder cards and having staff call to schedule annual exams). Overall, results of the investigation support the importance of information-seeking as a component of a personal health practice repertoire. Additional attention might be directed toward elaborating its role as a "process" variable in health education programs and social marketing efforts, particularly in areas such as response to recruitment messages, dropout vs. maintenance, and differential gains on outcome measures of program effectiveness.

A hierarchical exercise scale to measure function at the Advanced Activities of Daily Living (AADL) level

Standard functional assessment instruments often fail to capture subtle impairment in community-dwelling older persons. To create a scale to measure function at the Advanced Activities of Daily Living (AADL) level, we chose three questions to separate a community sample into four levels: frequent vigorous exercisers (8.0%), frequent long walkers (10.8%), frequent short walkers (23.7%), and nonexercisers (57.5%). These levels of exercise formed a hierarchical scale that correlated positively in a graduated manner with progressively advanced social activities of daily living, current health status, and mental health. At 1-year follow-up, 20% of persons declined in exercise level, 63% showed no change in exercise level, and 17% improved their exercise level. Changes in exercise level in both directions were associated with changes in mental health status. The Advanced Activities of Daily Living scale may be a sensitive measure of earlier functional decline, but longer follow-up will be necessary to determine its clinical usefulness.

Differential health screening of the well elderly by gender and age; appropriate care or bias?

We use data from a random sample of 5,454 elderly participants in the California Preventive Health Care for the Aging Program to identify gender and age differences in health screening practices. We present a framework to facilitate an evaluation of current targeting of services by gender and age. This framework clarifies where targeting based on age and gender is appropriate or inappropriate and where more or less targeting might be needed. With use of this framework, some inappropriate age bias is indicated. The oldest-old often receive less health screening than their younger counterparts. Gender-based targeting is less frequent and is usually appropriate when it occurs. We discuss implications for practice and future program evaluations.

Preventive health practices among older men and women

The preventive health practices of older men and women were examined from interviews with a community sample of 172 adults aged 64-96. Differences between men and women were found with only 10 of the 37 individual health practices. A mixed pattern was found in the relationship of personal and demographic characteristics, life outlook, self-health perceptions, and social network with health practices. The results suggest caution in interpreting how age and gender interact to influence the preventive health practices and health behaviors of older adults.

Age cohorts and personal health behavior in adulthood

Secular trends in morbidity, mortality, and risk factor prevalence highlight the importance of adopting a life-span approach to the study of health-related behaviors. To help address this question, the predictors of nine personal health practices were examined within four adult age cohorts (ages 20-64), using data from Wave 1 of the National Survey of Personal Health Practices and Consequences (N= 3,025). Analyses showed that education and gender were the most consistently important predictors of the nine practices within each cohort. Across all four cohorts, however, no predictor was statistically significant for a majority of the practices. Functional health status, income, subjective health, perceived locus of control, a regular source of health care, and group participations were of relative importance in specific cohorts. Tracking of health practices and their predictors should continue as current cohorts progress through adulthood and into older age. However, it is still an open question whether predictors of health behavior are robust longitudinally in cohorts moving through adulthood.