Investigation of the effect of educational program based on the health belief model on preventing behaviors exposure to polluted air among pregnant women

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Air pollution creates a wide range of acute and chronic effects in pregnant mothers. This study was carried out to determine the effect of education using Health Belief Model on improving the prevention of exposure to polluted air in pregnant women. METHODS:This quasi-experimental study was carried out in two cross-sectional and interventional sections. In the cross-sectional study, 208 pregnant women were randomly selected and data were collected based on Health Belief Model questionnaire (sensitivity, severity, benefits, barriers, practice guidance and perceived self-efficacy, while calculating the scores of each section based on 100). In the intervention study, a total of 114 pregnant women (6 to 24 weeks) were selected by multistage sampling and randomly divided into two groups of case and control. The intervention was performed according to the Health Belief Model and the subjects were followed for three months and then the data were collected and analyzed. RESULTS: The variables of external action, sensitivity and barriers, predicted a total of 25% of behavioral changes. In the intervention study, the mean awareness score of mothers in the intervention group increased significantly from 43.18±15.50 before the intervention to 71.39±16.68 after the intervention and the mean performance score increased significantly form 73.14±11.29 to 84.75±8.54 (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: The results of this study showed that the implementation of training program based on Health Belief Model with emphasis on predictive behaviors can be effective in reducing exposure to air pollution in pregnant women