evaluation of knowledge, attitude and behavior in the field of urinary tract infection among the pregnant women consulted in health centers zahedan city, iran, based on the health belief model (hbm)

background : urinary tract infection (uti) is one of the most common infections in women; due to the changes occur in the body during pregnancy, it is more likely to develop urinary tract infection and it has a great deal of importance because of its potential complications on mother and the fetus. this study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors about urinary tract infections among pregnant women based on the health belief model (hbm). methods: this descriptive-analytic study was conducted on 140 pregnant women visiting health centers in zahedan city, iran during 2014. the data collection tool was a multi-sectional questionnaire consisting of demographic information, knowledge, questions of model components (perceptions) and behavior. the validity of questionnaire was confirmed by some expert professors (76%) and its reliability was calculated 81% using cronbach’s alpha. the data were analyzed using pearson, t and anova test with a confidence level of 95% via spss software. findings: the mean age of the study population was 22.55 ± 4.00 years and 64.3% of them had less than 9 years of education. the knowledge score of only 24.9% of the people was calculated as good. scores of perceived susceptibility of 40.4%, perceived severity of 49.7%, perceived barriers of 56.1%, perceived benefits of 61%, and behavior of 38% of the study population were assessed as good. there was a meaningful difference between the employed women and housewives in terms of knowledge and there was a significant positive correlation between the knowledge score and scores of all parts of the model. conclusion: based on the results, among the studied women, knowledge about the urinary tract infections was poor and attitude and behavior were average. therefore, it is recommended to hold meetings and workshops with the aim of improving women’s knowledge, attitude and behavior about urinary tract infections according to the health belief model which defines the policy and framework.