Application of Health Belief Model in Prevention of Osteoporosis in Volunteers of Khorramabad City Health Centers, Iran

Osteoporosis is a common metabolic bone disease that causes bone fracture. This study was performed to determine the effect of Health Belief Model in osteoporosis prevention in volunteers of Khorramabad in 2011.

This quasi-experimental before and after study was conducted among the hundred volunteers, which were stratified randomly into two fifty-member groups of case and control. Then, through three stages (before intervention, immediately after intervention, and three month after intervention) these groups were evaluated. Analyzing the data was performed by SPSS software using repeated measurement test.

No significant differences between the mean scores of the various structures of this model were observed among the two groups before the intervention. The mean scores of the awareness and various structures of the model (perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, and perceived barriers) were increased significantly in the case group after intervention (P < 0.05). In performance, the calcium consumption was decreased in both the case and control groups.

Although HBM is effective for planning programs to prevent disease or accidents, it seems it is not suitable for the promotion of behaviors, particularly long-term behavioral change and behaviors that depend on economic and social factors.