Effect of designed health education program on knowledge, attitude, practice and the rate Pediculosis Capitis in female primary school students in Chabahar city

Pediculosis Capitis is one of the important health problems in students which cause physical, mental and social complications. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of designed health education program on knowledge, attitude, practice and Pediculosis Capitis rate among female elementary students in Chabahar city during 2008 and 2009.

This research was a quasi-experimental (case –control) study. Data gathering tools were questionnaire, check list and head examination. Two schools were randomly selected among female primary schools in Chabhar and 153 students were divided into case and control groups. After collecting the data, an educational program was designed and performed in case group and was evaluated after 2 months. Data were analyzed using Chi-square, Wilcoxon-Mann Whitney, and McNemar tests.

Results showed a significant difference in knowledge, attitude and practice of the students in the case group before and after the educational program (P<0.001), however, it was not significant in the control group (P>0.05). The infestation rate was 69.3% in the case group before education and 82.1% in the control group which decreased to 26.7% in the case group after the education (P<0.001). However, it was not significant in the control group (P<0.05). Significant relationship was observed between infection and the variables such as father’s level of education, number of bedrooms, number of individuals per room, existence of continuous water at home, type of hair, history of infection in students and infected cases in the family (P<0.05).

The health education program had a positive effect on the reduction of Pediculosis Capitis among students. Therefore, performing and evaluating educational programs for students and their parents is suggested.