Health Locus of Control among Students of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences (2018)

Locus of control (LOC) refers to the extent to which individuals believe that they can control events that affect them. Health Locus of Control (HLOC) refers to beliefs that related to how one’s health is affected by oneself, others, or fate; and also it is one of the most broadly measured factors of health beliefs for the scheduling of health education programs. The aim of this study was to assess HLOC among Students at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences.

This cross‑sectional study was conducted in 297 students in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in Iran selected by simple random sampling method in 2018. Data collection was done by the demographic questionnaire and Form “B” of Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLC) scale. Statistical analysis includes (ANOVA, t-test, Pearson test) was performed using SPSS version 20 and p<0.05 was considered statistically significant.

The mean±SD of three dimensions of HLOC were 26.41±3.98, 16.64±4.36 and 21.67±4.37 for internal, chance and powerful others respectively. There was a significant relationship between internal and powerful others locus of control dimensions with sex (p=0.035, p=0.041). Further, there was not a significant relationship between HLOC dimensions with students’ age, major, parent’s education and occupation.

Since the most scores were relating to an internal locus of control dimension and fewer scores were relating to the chance locus of control dimension, it can be concluded that personal behavioral factors have more influence on students' health and their beliefs about chance, luck or fate has less influence on their health.