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Behavioral diagnosis of 30 to 60 year-old men in the Fabreville Heart Health Program

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Abstract

To develop effective interventions in the Fabreville Heart Health Program, a behavioral diagnosis was conducted on a sample of 1,600 men 30 to 60 years of age residing in the Fabreville district of Laval, Quebec's second most populous city. The response rate of the self-administered postal questionnaire was 73.5%. The results indicate that dietary fat consumption, smoking and a sedentary lifestyle were more prevalent among the younger respondents, particularly those less-educated. The results underline the importance of segmenting the target population so that heart health interventions can respond to the specific needs of each sub-population. Furthermore, the data seem to suggest the need to adapt educational messages to the target lifestyle habits. The results showed that in terms of diet, consumption of meat and dairy products contributed the most to fat intake. Of the 30% who were smokers, a large proportion would be reluctant to stop the habit; 20% smoked 26 cigarettes or more a day, and more than half had already tried once or more to stop. Although 60% of respondents indicated they engared in physical activity, only 37.0% did it regularly. These results demonstrate the need to clearly target specific behaviours and subgroups in our promotion messages for a healthy heart.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Public Health Department of Laval, 800 Boul. Chomedey, Tour A, 2i⪻me étage, H7V 1X1, Laval, Québec, Canada

    Minh Nguyet Nguyen MSc (program evaluator), Richard Grignon MSc (coordinator of research module), Michèle Tremblay M.D. (physician) & Lucie Delisle BScN (health educator)

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  1. Minh Nguyet Nguyen MSc
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  2. Richard Grignon MSc
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  3. Michèle Tremblay M.D.
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  4. Lucie Delisle BScN
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Additional information

The Fabreville Program is being conducted as part of the Project Québécois de Démonstration en Santé du Coeur (PQDSC). The PQDSC is jointly financed by the National Health Research and Development Program (Canada), the Quebec Department of Health and Social Services and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Quebec.

The members of the coordinating committee of the PQDSC are: R. Lessard, B. Lachance, G. Paradis, L. Potvin, J. Pelletier, J. Moisan, L. Renaud, J. O'Loughlin, R. Grignon, M.N. Nguyen.

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Nguyen, M.N., Grignon, R., Tremblay, M. et al. Behavioral diagnosis of 30 to 60 year-old men in the Fabreville Heart Health Program. J Community Health 20, 257–269 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02260409

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