The Effects of Educational Program Based on the Health Belief Model on the Oral Health Behaviors of Elementary School Students

Oral disorders are among the commonest health problems which usually begin during adolescence. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of an educational program based on the Health Belief Model (HBM) on oral health behaviors of elementary school female students. This was a quasi-experimental study in which 60 female fifth-year elementary school students participated. The participants were recruited from Mashhad، Iran، through multistage random sampling and were randomly allocated to the two groups of experimental and control. The study intervention was developed and implemented based on the components of the Health Belief Model. The data were collected via a researcher-made questionnaire whose content validity and reliability were assessed and confirmed. The Cronbach alpha values of different domains of the questionnaire ranged from 0. 7–0. 8. The collected data were entered into the SPSS (v. 16. 5) and were analyzed by conducting the paired- and the independent-samples t test، chi-square، and Fisher exact tests at a significance level of less than 0. 05. Moreover، the measures of descriptive statistics were used for describing and presenting the data. The means of the students’ age in the experimental and the control groups were 10 ± 0. 48 and 10 ± 0. 61 years، respectively. The paired-samples t test showed that in the experimental group، there were statistically significant differences between the pretest and posttest values of the constructs of the HBM (P < 0. 05); however، these differences were not significant in the control group (P > 0. 05). Moreover، after the study intervention، the oral health behaviors of the students in the experimental group were significantly better than before the intervention (P < 0. 001); however، the behaviors of the students in the control group did not change significantly (P = 0. 9). The study findings indicate that education based on the HBM is effective in promoting the behaviors that prevent oral disorders among students. Accordingly، the HBM seems to be an appropriate model for developing and implementing educational interventions for disease prevention and health promotion.