The purposes of this descriptive study were to describe preventive behaviour, as well as variances of preventive behaviour for cardiovascular disease of Thai Muslim menopausal women by using perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefit, perceived barriers and health motivation as their predictors. The sample consisted of 200 Thai Muslim menopausal women who were purposively recruited according to inclusion criteria. The questionnaires comprised of demographic data, perceptions and health motivation, and preventive behaviour for cardiovascular disease which were tested for content validity and reliability. The data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation and stepwise multiple regression for predicting preventive behaviour.
1. The mean score of preventive behaviour (scale 1-4) for cardiovascular disease among Thai Muslim menopausal women was at a high level (X=2.66, SD=.34). When considering each dimension, it was found that the preventive behaviour in three dimensions were at a high level (X=2.53, SD=.55; X=2.89, SD=.30; X=2.83, SD=.39 respectively) whereas those in physical examination were at a medium level (X=2.13, SD=.62).
2. The result of stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that 10 percent of the variance in preventive behaviour for cardiovascular disease could be explained by health motivation and perceived barriers (p < .05), and the best predictor was health motivation (β = .28, p < .01)
The findings suggest that promoting of preventive behaviour for cardiovascular disease among Thai Muslim menopausal women requires promoting health motivation in relation to Muslim's lifestyle and culture as well as decreasing perception of barriers.