The effect of mental distress on women's preventive health behaviors.

Purpose: To examine the relationship between mental distress and preventive health behaviors (i.e., mammograms, pap tests, physical exams) among women.

Methods: A cross-sectional design was employed. The sample consisted of 426 women from the Appalachian region in the United States who completed a comprehensive health survey. Mental distress was assessed by the 5-item Mental Health Index (MHI). Logistic regression was used to specify the models allowing for the control of covariates (i.e., marital status, education, recipient of Medicaid).

Results: Women who reported high mental distress were more likely to not get timely pap tests [OR = 1.64; 95% CI (1.10, 2.45); p < .05] or physical exams [OR = 1.68; 95% CI (1.07, 2.65); p < .05] than women who did not report being mentally distressed. A similar but less robust relationship was found between mental distress and timely mammograms.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that mental distress affects the likelihood of engagement in preventive health behaviors.