Health-Related Procrastination in Nurses: Prevalence and Related Factors

Objectives: Procrastination is associated with many negative consequences which can have an effect on both physical and mental health while little attention is paid to health-related procrastination (HRP). Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the prevalence of HRP and its related factors among nurses. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 400 nurses working in educational hospitals affiliated with Iran and Gonabad University of Medical Sciences. These nurses were selected employing multi-stage sampling method in 2018. The data were collected by a highly reliable researcher-made HRP questionnaire. Finally, the data were analyzed using SPSS software, version 14.5. Results: Based on the results, 14.86% and 15.36% of the nurses were high and low health-related procrastinators, respectively. In addition, the health status of the nurses decreased by increasing the HRP levels (P < 0.001). There was a statistically significant relationship between HRP and the place of habitation (P = 0.009), employment status (P = 0.013), and one’s satisfaction with his/her economic status (P = 0.013). However, no significant relationship was found between variables such as age (P = 0.18), gender (P = 0.9), marital status (P = 0.73), level of education (P = 0.69), work shift (P = 0.47), position (P = 0.51), type of working ward (P=0.61), underlying disease (P = 0.90), work experience (P = 0.25), and number of children (P = 0.22). Conclusions: In general, the results revealed that HRP is less common among nurses compare to other individuals in society. Therefore, improving the health status of the nurses necessitates planning and performing several actions in order to reduce HRP.