Evaluation of the Effect of Educational Intervention Based on Health Belief Model on Preventive Behaviors of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Students

Leishmania is one of the indigenous diseases of Iran, which is endemic in 18 provinces of the country. It is necessary to carry out an educational intervention to promote the preventive behaviors of this disease in endemic areas. The present study was designed to determine the effect of educational intervention based on the Health Belief Model (HBM) on the preventive behaviors of cutaneous leishmaniasis in male students. 

This study was conducted using a randomized controlled trial on 80 male students of the First secondary level school in Shahin shahr in 2022. The students were randomly divided into two intervention and control groups. Data were collected based on a standard questionnaire based on the Health Belief Model. Questionnaire was completed before, immediately and three months after the intervention. The data were analyzed using SPSS 19 software and statistical tests of repeated analysis of variance, independent t-test and post hoc Ben Feroni. Significance level was considered at 0.05.

Before the educational intervention, the two groups were similar in terms of demographic information and the scores of the constructs of the HBM (p>0.05). Immediately and three months after the educational intervention, the mean scores of the constructs of knowledge, perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, self-efficacy, behavior and perceived benefits increased significantly in the intervention group (p>0.05), but there were not a statistically significant difference in the constructs of perceived barriers and cues to action (p>0/05).

The results of the present study showed the effect of educational intervention based on the preventive behaviors of Cutaneous leishmaniasis in male students. Of course, due to the lack of impact of the intervention on the perceived barriers, it is necessary to pay attention to non-educational interventions such as allocating subsidies for the purchase of protective equipment, especially in deprived areas, in addition to educational interventions.