The effect of health education program based on Health Belief Model on the performance of Pap smear test among women referring to health care centers in Zarandieh

Abstract

Introduction: Despite the fact that cervical cancer is highly preventable, it still continues to occur, even among women who have access to cancer screening and treatment services. This study aimed to determine the effect of health education program based on Health Belief Model on the performance Pap smear test. Material and Methods: This random clinical trial was carried out on 120 women in Zarandieh. Data were collected using a valid and reliable questionnaire based on Health Belief Model which was completed by the participants. After the analysis of pre-test results, the educational program was designed and the experimental group participated in 3 educational sessions during one week. Two months after the intervention, a post-test was performed and analyzed using t-test، t-paired and x2. Results: Our findings indicated that mean scores of HBM Model constructs (self-efficacy, susceptibility, severity, benefit and barriers perceived) were significantly increased in the experimental group compared to the controls after the intervention. Also, performance of pap smear test increased significantly among the experimental group as compared to the controls after the intervention(P<0.01) (before intervention 30%, after intervention 53.9% in the experimental group). Conclusion: Health education programs are recommended to use the theories and models of changing of individuals' behavior in organization levels for to Help Plan Effective Programs as the uptake of cervical cancer screening (Pap smear).

Keywords

• papanicolaou smear
• health
• women