Assessment of Health Locus of Control among Students of Bushehr University of Medical Sciences: A Short Report

Health locus of control is one of the most widely measured parameters of health belief for the planning of health education programs which plays an important role on the health improvements and education. This study was performed to assess health locus of control among the students at Bushehr University of Medical Sciences. This cross sectional study was conducted on 267 students of Bushehr University of Medical Sciences selected by stratified random sampling in 2012. Data were collected by demographic checklist and Form “B” of Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLC) scale. Data were analyzed by descriptive (numbers، mean، percent and standard deviation) and analytic (Mann-Whitney، Kruskal-Wallis and Spearman correlation) tests. Three dimensions of health locus of control scores were determined to be 26. 8±5. 3 for internal locus of control، 16. 9±3. 9 for chance locus of control and 21. 9±4. 8 for others locus of control. According to spearman correlation test، a positive and significant relationship was found between internal locus of control dimension and others locus of control dimension (p<0. 001، rs=0. 220). Further، it was determined that Health Locus of Control score did not have a significant relation with demographic characteristics such as students’ age، gender، number of siblings، birth order، field of study، parent’s education، and parent’s occupation (p>0. 05). Since the most scores were pertaining to internal locus of control dimension and fewer scores were pertaining to chance locus of control dimension، it can be conclude that according to the students the most influential significant factor on students’ health is their performance and chance has less influence on their health.