Elderly Health Journal

en Awareness: the Golden Key to Understanding Healthcare Seeking Behavior among Elderly Hypertensive Patients in Taft, Iran تخصصي Special پژوهشي Research <div style="text-align: justify;">Introduction: Healthcare seeking behavior is crucial for early detection and proper management of hypertension in the elderly. This study investigated the factors influencing healthcare seeking behavior among elderly hypertensive patients residing in Taft, Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study recruited 230 hypertensive individuals aged 60 and above residing in Taft, Yazd Province, Iran. Participants were randomly selected and completed a questionnaire through face-to-face interviews. The questionnaire assessed their healthcare seeking behaviors and potential influencing factors. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software. Correlation tests and linear regression analysis were employed to identify significant relationships (p < 0.05). Results: A significant majority (70%) of participants reported always paying attention to symptoms of high blood pressure. When experiencing symptoms, over half (53.9%) of the participants indicated a preference for visiting health centers, general practitioners' offices, or emergency departments. Among the factors studied, awareness (B = 0.228) emerged as the most significant positive predictor of healthcare seeking behavior (p < 0.05). Other positive influences included decision-making autonomy (B = 0.177), prior experience with healthcare services (B = 0.131), and social support (B = 0.131) – all statistically significant at p < 0.05. Conversely, barriers to healthcare seeking had a negative and significant impact (B = - 0.064, p < 0.05). Collectively, the investigated factors explained 23% of the variation observed in healthcare seeking behavior among the elderly participants (R2 = 0.23). Conclusion: This study identified awareness of hypertension as the strongest predictor of healthcare seeking behavior in elderly patients. Additionally, providing accessible and supportive healthcare services can further encourage elderly hypertensive patients to seek necessary care. Corresponding Author:  Masoumeh Abbasi‑Shavazi  <a href="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0573-7429">View Orcid in Profile</a> You can search for this author in<a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=%22++Masoumeh%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%E2%80%8B%C2%A0Abbasi%E2%80%91Shavazi%C2%A0%22+and+%22Department+of+Health+Education+and+Health+Promotion%2C+School+of+Public+Health%2C+Shahid+Sadoughi+University+of+Medical+Sciences%2C+Yazd%2C+Iran+%22"> PubMed </a>    <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=Mqo_LSYAAAAJ">Google Scholar Profile</a> </div> Health Care Seeking Behavior, Blood Pressure, Awareness, Aged 62 69 http://ehj.ssu.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-232-3&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Mandana Pirouz No Department of Aging and Health, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran Masoumeh Abbasi‑Shavazi mabbasishavazi@gmail.com https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0573-7429 Yes Department of Health Education and Health Promotion, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran Sara Jambarsang No Center for Health Care Data Modeling, Departments of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran Maliheh Alimondegari No Department of Social Sciences, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran Mohsen Mirzaei No Health Monitoring Research Center, School of Medicine, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran