Effect of Education Based on Health Belief Model in the Prevention of Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Couples Participating in Premarriage Training Classes

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are one of the most common infectious diseases in the community. Implementing health education interventions is the best strategy available to promote sexual health. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the effect of STDs prevention training in couples based on health belief model in Fasa, 2016.
This quasi-experimental study was conducted on 70 couples referring to Fasa health centers (35 couples in the intervention group and 35 couples in the control group). The participants were randomly divided in to a case and a control group. The study data were collected using a Standard questionnaire including demographic variables, HBM constructs and couples performance in the prevention of STDs which was completed by both groups before and 3 months after the intervention. Educational intervention was conducted in 4 sessions of 50-55 minutes in group discussion, questions and answers with educational images for the intervention group.The data were entered into the SPSS 22 and were analyzed using chi-square test and independent and paired t-test.
The mean age of participants in the intervention and control groups were 27.02 ± 5.53 and 25.14 ± 4.45, respectively. The mean scores of all constructs of the HBM and the level of performance of couples in preventing STDs increased in the intervention group after the intervention (P The results of this study showed that the designing and implementing educational programs based on the health belief model was effective in the field of prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and sexual health.