A comparison between school district employees with and without chronic health conditions for their health behavior stages of change

The purpose of this study was to compare the differences between school district employees with and without chronic health conditions (diagnosis of hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and overweight) for their health behavior stages of change for exercise, diet, weight loss, and tobacco use. Research data were collected using a survey questionnaire developed for a worksite wellness program evaluation project funded by the Texas Department of Health. Of the 512 employees who received the survey questionnaire, 255 respondents completed and returned the questionnaires, for a 49.8% response rate. Descriptive statistics and chi-square tests were performed to determine if significant differences in stages of change for risk factors existed for those with and without chronic health conditions. From the chi-square analyses, statistically significant differences were found for: high-fat food consumption stages of change and weight and/or body fat stages of change between overweight and non-overweight respondents, and weight and/or body fat stages of change between respondents with and without hypertension.