The effect of education based on the Health Belief Model in mothers about behaviors that prevent febrile seizure in children

Abstract

Introduction: Fever is one of the most concerning issues in public health, which occurs fairly frequently and is a precursor for the occurrence of seizure in childhood between ages of 6 months to 6 year children. Therefore the current study aims to determine the effect of education based on Health Belief Model (HBM) in mothers about preventive behaviors regarding febrile convulsion in children. Methods: This study was conducted as a randomized clinical trial in which 200 mothers (were divided to intervention (case) and control groups randomly) with children 6 months to 3 years referring to health centers in Rezvanshahr participated. The data collection instruments is a questionnaire developed based on HBM. This survey included questions on knowledge, aspects of health belief model, and performance. After needs analysis that was done in the pretest, the educational program was designed and implemented in the experimental condition based on the aspects of the model. Results: There was no significant difference between the two groups in demographic variables (P>0.05). The average knowledge score, aspects of the model, and performance increased significantly in the case group (P<0.05). Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that the design and implementation of an educational program based on HBM and based on the predictive beliefs and culture and education of the mothers was effective in preventing febrile convulsion.

Keywords

• education
• health behavior
• febrile seizures
• prevention
• mothers