Factors Influencing Oral Health Behavior According to BASNEF Model

Background and Planning for oral health requires recognition of effective factors. BASNEF Model helps to find the factors influencing the decision making process for implementing oral health. This study was conducted to find the factors influencing the oral health behavior amongst high school students in Babol and Noshahr according to BASNEF Model. This periodic study was conducted in 700 students selected through stratified random sampling. A questionnaire was used based on BASNEF Model and the data was analyzed using GLM test. The findings showed that the average score for students'' awareness was 70% and the average score for students'' attitudes was 76. 3%. In subjective norms of BASNEF Model in studied students، the most important reasons for implementing oral health care were parents’ will (65%)، following role models (36%)، respected people among relatives (18. 3%)، and teachers (16%). In enabling factors of BASNEF Model، the most influencing factors were the ability to pay for dental services (58%)، the high cost of dental services (46%)، supplemental health insurance (34%) and highly equipped specialized dental clinics (32%). The subjective norms and enabling factors of BASNEF Model were effective in recognition and implementing oral health among the study population. Therefore، it focusing on this issue could highly enhance the oral health behavior among students.