Background
: With the increase of interest in health promotion, doctor's role in health promotion has been progressively emphasized. Although there were many findings which showed that interventions by doctors can result in important changes in the health behaviors of patients, little was known about patient's perception of doctor's intervention. Therefore, we attempted to find out about the factors related to patient's interests in health behaviors(smoking, alcohol drinking, body weight, and exercise) and patient's perception of the need for doctor's intervention in changing these health behaviors.

Methods : The study subjects were patients who visited either two private clinics(265 patient) or the department of family medicine in a tertiary hospital(410 patients) located in Seoul. Questionnaires the concerning demographic characteristics, patient's interests, health behaviors, and their perception of the need for doctor's intervention in changing health behaviors were administered to the study subjects between March 1997 and June 1997.
We examined the factors which had significant relationship with patient's interest and the perception-ns of the need for doctor's intervention in health behaviors with multiple linear logistic regression analysis. The relationship between patient's interests in health behavior and the perception of the need for doctor's intervention was evaluated with Spearman's correlation coefficients.

Results : Patient's interest and the perception of the need for doctor's intervention in smoking were significantly higher in males, smokers, and private clinic patients. Patient's interest in alcohol drinking was significantly higher in males, ex-smokers, and drinkers. Patient's perception of the need for doctor's intervention in drinking was significantly higher in males, smokers, drinkers, and those who had chronic disease. Patient's interest in body weight control was significantly higher in females, ex-smokes, tertiary hospital patients, and those who viewed themselves as obese. Patient's perception of the need for doctor's intervention in body weight control was significantly higher in private clinic patients and those who viewed themselves as obese, and was significantly lower in those who recognized their body frame as normal. Patient's interest in exercise was significantly higher in those who were older and who was exercising more than once a week. Patient's perception of the need for doctor's intervention in exercise was significantly higher among tertiary hospital patients. Significant relationship between patient's interest and the perception of the need for doctor's intervention in health behaviors, especially in smoking and drinking habit, was observed in private clinic patients as well as those in tertiary hospital.

Conclusion : The degree of patient's interest in health behaviors and their perception of the need for doctor's intervention in health promotion was significantly different according to the type of health behavior, the individual health habits, the demographic characteristics, and the type of medical center used by the patient. Therefore, doctors should pay more attention to proving interventions that affect the health behaviors of patients in consideration of these factors.