The Effect of Educational Intervention Based on Health Belief Model on the Promotion of Preventive Behaviors of Urinary Tract Infections in Pregnant Women Referred to Comprehensive Health Centers in Dezful, Iran, 2019-2020

Considering the importance of improving the health of the mother and fetus during pregnancy, the role of training programs is undeniable. This study was performed aiming to examine the effect of education based on Health Belief Model (HBM) on promoting urinary tract infection preventive behaviors in pregnant women.

This quasi-experimental study was conducted on 94 pregnant women referring to comprehensive health centers in the city of Dezful, Iran, in 2019-2020. The sample was randomly divided into two intervention and control groups. The data collection tool was a questionnaire based on the HMB which was completed in two stages of before and two months after the training by pregnant women. The study hypotheses were tested using chi-square and independent t-tests at a significance level of 0.05.

There was no significant difference in terms of demographic variables and different dimensions of the HBM in the two study groups in the pre-intervention stage. But after receiving training by the experimental group, a significant difference was observed in the mean and standard deviation (SD) of education knowledge, perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived barriers, perceived benefits, cues to action, efficacy, and behavior in the intervention group (P < 0.001).

Designing educational programs based on health belief model can be effective on preventive behaviors of gestational urinary tract infections. Because by increasing awareness, perceived sensitivity, perceived severity, perceived benefits, and self-efficacy have a positive effect on their behavior and reduce perceived barriers to adopting behaviors that prevent urinary tract infections during pregnancy.