effective factors on health-promoting lifestyle among iranian chemical veterans in 2014 based on health promotion model: a path analysis

conclusions perceived social support is the most important factor that influences health-promoting behaviors. increasing social support by enhancing self-efficacy and decreasing perceived barriers can improve health-promoting behaviors among veterans. background health-promoting behaviors can enhance physical and mental health among individuals with disability, particularly veterans. objectives the current study aimed to examine both one-way direct and indirect effects of the factors of the health promotion model (hpm) on health-promoting behaviors in chemical veterans from ilam province in iran. materials and methods this cross-sectional study was conducted in 2014. in this study, 239 moderate-to-severe chemical veterans from illam province supported by the veterans’ affairs department of ilam were evaluated via census sampling. data including health-promoting behaviors, perceived self-efficacy, perceived barriers and benefits, perceived social support, and perceived health status were collected using standard questionnaires. results the results show that the hpm is a poor predictor of the health-promoting lifestyles of chemical veterans (r2 = 15%). social support (factor loading = 0.38) is the strongest predictor of health-promoting behaviors and it influences such behaviors directly, while perceived barriers (factor loading = -0.11) and perceived self-efficacy (factor loading = 0.02) indirectly predict behavior through social support.