Introduction: Early sexual initiation, the phenomenon of promiscuity, and voluntary childlessness are some reasons behind contraception use by women. Health-related behaviors determine the state of human health and are closely related to quality of life. The aim of the study was to analyze the manifestations of pro-health behaviors and to examine their impact on the quality of life in a group of fertile women using any form of contraception.
Materials and methods: Research material was collected from August 2017 to January 2018 in the West Pomeranian Voivod-ship, from 183 women of childbearing age who had been using contraception. The questionnaire consisted of a author’s part and the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire. Statistical analysis used descriptive and analytical methods, such as the Shapiro–Wilk test and the analysis of variance (ANOVA) test. A structure index containing a percentage was used. The results obtained were statistically analyzed using χ2 test for independent samples. The probability value of p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: Among pro-health behaviors, 80.9% of the women declared that they performed some physical activity at least once a week, 76% stated that their eating habits were correct, 47% went to a gynecologist once a year, 83.6% claimed they regularly performed preventive examinations. The better the subjective assessment of health, the higher the quality of life in the psychological domain (p < 0.001). The better the nutritional habits were assessed, the better the quality of life in the environment domain (p < 0.05). Not using stimulants had a positive impact on the quality of life in the physical health domain (p < 0.05). A rise in the frequency of follow-up visits to a gynecologist led to a rise in the quality of life in social relationships and physical health domains (p < 0.05).
Conclusions: The manifestation of pro-health behaviors in women of childbearing age who use contraception has a positive influence on the quality of their lives in almost all the domains. The overriding purpose of pro-health education is to strengthen the actions of women who display healthy behaviors and, in the case of those exposed to a reduced quality of life due to unhealthy practices, conduct intervention and preventive actions while respecting the woman’s individual biopsychosocial needs.
