P-170: The Influence of Education on Health Beliefs and Practice of Women Eligible for Breast Cancer Screening byHealth Belief Model in Shahid Behtash Lavizan

Background: The systematic application of screening helps early diagnosis and effective treatment of breast cancer. This study was conducted to assess the effects of education on health beliefs and practice of women eligible for breast cancer screening using Health Belief Model (HBM). Materials and Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted in Tehran, the north of Iran, using before after design. In this study, 144 women aged 20 to 62 years participated voluntarily. The volunteers divided into 2 groups, case and control. 3 sessions were held for case group and every session contained 1 hour training. The data collection tool was a self-administered multi-choice questionnaire that was developed based on Health Belief Model. Health beliefs and practice of the target group was evaluated preintervention and four months later. Results: Our findings indicated that education based on HBM was effective and could enhance the participants’ knowledge significantly and improve the HBM constructs including perceived susceptibility, severity, benefits and barriers. The training program enhanced the practice from 0.6 to 3.5. The result of the present study relieved that increase in knowledge had effect on the HBM constructs. Furthermore, there was a significant relationship between knowledge and educational level. Conclusion: We concluded that health education based on HBM can enhance women’s knowledge of breast cancer, change their health beliefs and improve their behavior regarding screening programs like self examination.