Effect of Health Belief Model Education on the Participation of Rural Women in Papsmear Test

Cervical cancer is one of the most prevalent cancers in females. Pap smear test is an effective screening program; however, it is not conducted very frequently. The purpose of this article was to present findings on the effect of health belief model education on women's participation in Pap smear examination.
The study included a convenience sample of asymptomatic females aged 20 years and older, who were living in Sarvabad. Overall, 180 subjects were selected and randomly divided to experimental (n = 90) and control (n = 90) groups. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire and items of the Health Belief Model were self-reported. Data analysis included descriptive statistics for demographic variables, and Manwitny test and Chi-square determined the associations of other variables.
Our findings showed that the mean scores of the intervention group and the control group based on the Mann-Whitney test in perceived susceptibility, perceived benefits, perceived barriers and perceived self-efficacy had a significant relationship. However, the severity had no significant relationship.Furthermore, 64.5% of people in the intervention group had pap test. Rate of doing a Pap test in the intervention group was 2.5 times that of the control.
Findings showed that targeted training and education models influence participation of women in the Pap smear test.