OBJECTIVES: To investigate the status of health behavior and its influencing factors in stroke among young adults. BACKGROUND: Previous research on young stroke patients has focused mainly on clinical risk factors, with limited attention paid to health behavior. Factors associated with health behavior in younger adults is unclear. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of 220 Chinese younger adults was conducted. A structural equation model(SEM) identified factors associated with health behavior and their effect magnitude. RESULTS: The young adult participants had a mean age of 39.62 ± 4.85 years(18 to 44 years), with male accounting for the majority (74.5%, n = 164). Mean the Health Behavior Scale for Stroke Patients (HBS-SP) score was 65.64 (± 12.30). The results showed that personal mastery, social support, health literacy, self-efficacy, health belief, occupation and comorbidities were independently associated with HBS-SP(p < 0.05). SEM showed HBS-SP had the strongest association with personal mastery, followed by health literacy, Health belief, Self-efficacy, social support. CONCLUSIONS: Future research on tailored health behavior interventions should prioritize the enhancement of personal mastery, health literacy, and health beliefs, alongside the strengthening of self-efficacy and the expansion of social support systems. These interconnected psychosocial and contextual factors serve as critical underpinnings for sustainable health behavior change, and targeted efforts to optimize them will likely yield more effective and equitable intervention outcomes in clinical, community, or public health settings.
Fan et al. (Mon,) studied this question.