Investigation of the Effect of Health Education Based on Health Belief Model on Nutritional Self-Efficacy in Prevention of Osteoporosis in Adolescent Females

Osteoporosis is the most common metabolic bone disorder that is characterized by decreased bone mass and changed microscopic architecture of bone tissue. Ultimately, these processes increase fragility of bone and induce pathologic fracture. Healthy nutrition and change of incorrect habits of nutrition play a significant role in reducing incidence and prevalence of osteoporosis. These goals will be impossible except with proper education. Considering the importance of preventive education in adolescence, this study was performed to determine the effect of health education, based on health belief model, on self-efficacy in prevention of osteoporosis in female adolescents.
In this quasi-experimental study, 106 adolescent females were randomly allocated to two experimental (53) and control (53) groups. They were evaluated in two phase (pre-intervention and immediately after the intervention). The data were collected using a new questionnaire, the validity and reliability of which was investigated (P = 0.81). The questionnaire included three parts: demographic information, health belief model and nutritional self-efficacy. After the pre-test, the intervention was performed for the case group during four sessions that lasted one hour. Information was analyzed by statistic methods (Covariance analysis) (SPSS v.16).
There was a significant difference in the mean self-efficacy score before and after the intervention in the case group (P Results of this study showed that behavioral models, such as the health belief model, could provide a framework for improvement of education in the field of nutritional efficacy for the prevention of osteoporosis.