Exercise behavior among female occupational health nurses. Influence of self efficacy, perceived health control, and age.

Physical fitness of the American worker is a core element of personal good health and a key factor in corporate cost containment. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention specifically notes that health professionals should be physically active not only to benefit their own health but also to make more credible their endorsement of an active lifestyle. Guided by Pender's Health Promotion Model, this study gives a profile of the current status of exercise behaviors, physical self efficacy, and perceived health control among a sample of occupational health nurses. Surveys were mailed to a random sample of 300 female members from a midwestern state association of the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses. The mean exercise score was 30.7 MET hours per week, with walking the activity most often selected. Physical self efficacy was a significant positive predictor of exercise practice, while age exerted a significant inverse effect on exercise. The study findings may be used to stimulate discussion among occupational health nurses about how their own physical self efficacy and perceived health control may influence their exercise behaviors, and how in turn these beliefs and exercise practices may influence their decisions about promoting exercise programs at their workplaces.