Self-care Activities among Women Referred to Health Care Centers in Kerman

Self-care, an important aspect of healthy lifestyle, means to follow a healthy life style to prevent diseases. Given the importance of self-care, this study aimed to evaluate self-care activities among women referred to health care centers in Kerman during 2015.
This is a descriptive – analytic and cross-sectionalstudy performed on 240 women who referred to health care centers in Kerman during 2015. They were selected using multistage sampling method. Data were collected using a two-part researcher-made questionnaire. The first part included demographic data and the second, 17 questions on screening performance. Data were statistically analyzed by SPSS 20 and Chi-square.
The results show that there was no significant relationship between different aspect of physical self-care and education, job, and income (P>0.05) but sleep quality was better in housekeepers (P=0.02) compared to the employed women. Screening analysis show that Pap smear in employed working (P=0.006), and in women with high education and income (P=0.004) and also lipid profile screening in women with high income(P=0.001) compared to the housekeepers were significantly performed.
Considering the results, it is concluded that physical activity as well as screening common cancers among studied women is not satisfactory. Therefore, educational programs should be considered in order to enhance public awarenessas well as finding out the inhibiting factors for self-care activities.