Prevention of Self-medication in Women of Reproductive Age Based on a Health Belief Model: A Quasi-experimental Study

Women of reproductive age have important responsibilities such as pregnancy, breastfeeding, and children raising. This study aimed at surveying the effect of educational interventions, based on the health belief model (HBM), in the prevention of self-medication (SM) in women of reproductive age.

This quasi-experimental study was performed on women of reproductive age in Jahrom in 2019 (January-September). Simple multi-stage random sampling was used to select the participants, and the sample size was determined 60 people for both intervention and control groups. Data collection tool was a questionnaire including demographic information and HBM construct questions. The questionnaire was completed in person by both groups before and three months after the educational intervention. The educational intervention was performed based on the HBM in the intervention group, including holding 4 educational sessions each lasting 60 minutes. The data were analyzed by SPSS 21 software using the chi-square test, paired t test, and independent t-test.

The results showed a significant difference between intervention and control groups in terms of knowledge, perceived severity, benefits, and barriers, as well as cues to action on the correct use of drugs after the intervention (P<0.05). Three months after the intervention, the practice mean of women in the intervention group was significantly decreased compared with the control group (P<0.001).

Overall, educational intervention based on HBM was effective in preventing SM, but the extent of this effect varied for different HBM constructs. Nonetheless, measuring the effectiveness of the intervention based on the HBM in preventing SM behaviors requires studies with a long follow-up period.