Effect of Educational Intervention Based on the Health Belief Model on Preventive Behaviors Against Influenza A (H1N1) among Students

Aims: Due to there is no immunity to influenza, non-pharmacological measures and prevention are very effective in controlling, reducing complications and mortality. Thus, the aim of the present study was to determine the effect of educational intervention based on Health Belief Model (HBM) on preventive behaviors against influenza A among students. Materials & Methods: This experimental study was carried out on 140 high school freshman girl students in Fasa-Iran in 2016 who were selected by cluster random sampling method and divided into experimental and control groups (70 people in each group). Data gathering tool was a questionnaire consisting demographics variables, knowledge, HBM constructs, and preventive behaviors. The educational intervention was implemented in four 1-hour sessions for experimental group. The questionnaires were collected before and one month after the intervention. The collected data were analyzed in SPSS 22 software using chi-square test, independent t-test, and paired t-test. Findings: Before educational intervention there was no significant difference in the mean scores of knowledge, HBM structures, and preventive behaviors between the experimental and control groups (p>0.05). However, after the educational intervention, a significant difference was observed between the experimental and control groups in terms of the mean scores of knowledge, HBM structures, and preventive behaviors (p<0.001). Conclusion: Implementation of educational interventions based on HBM is an effective educational strategy to promote preventive behaviors against influenza A among students.