Factors Influencing Disease Prevention Behaviors Among High-Risk Groups for Hypertension in Chulabhorn District, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province

Abstract

This cross-sectional analytical study aimed to examine the levels of motivation, social support, and hypertension prevention behaviors and to analyze the influence of motivation and social support on preventive behaviors among individuals at high risk for hypertension in Chulabhorn District, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province. A total of 214 participants were selected by simple random sampling from a population of 474 individuals identified as being at high risk for hypertension. Data were collected using a four-part questionnaire comprising personal characteristics, motivation for hypertension prevention, social support, and hypertension prevention behaviors. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression analysis with the Enter method. The level of statistical significance was set at 0.05.

The results showed that most participants were female (88.79%), with a mean age of 53.27 years. Most were engaged in agriculture (74.77%), and 54.21% had a first-degree relative with hypertension. Motivation for hypertension prevention was predominantly at a high level (89.25%), with a mean score of 4.19. Social support was also predominantly at a high level (81.78%), with a mean score of 4.19. Hypertension prevention behaviors were at a high level in 50.93% of participants, with a mean score of 3.05. Multiple regression analysis revealed that motivation and social support jointly and significantly predicted hypertension prevention behaviors, accounting for 24.10% of the variance (R² = 0.241, p < 0.001). Social support was the strongest predictor (β = 0.344, p < 0.001), followed by motivation (β = 0.231, p = 0.001). These findings suggest that interventions aimed at strengthening motivation should be implemented alongside support from family members, village health volunteers, and healthcare personnel to promote appropriate hypertension prevention behaviors among high-risk individuals within the local context.