THE EFFECT OF EDUCATIONAL INTERVENTION BASED ON HEALTH BELIEF MODEL ON THE PROMOTION OF HEAD LICE PREVENTIVE BEHAVIORS IN ELEMENTARY FEMALE STUDENTS

Lice infestation as a social stigma has been one of the health problems among students.
Therefore, this research was conducted with the aim of investigating the effect of an educational intervention based on the health belief model on the promotion of head lice prevention behaviors in elementary school girls in 2020-2021.

The present study was a semi-experimental interventional study. The studied population was 140 students of the fifth grade in Shahr-e rey (70 in each of two intervention and control groups) who were selected by two-stage cluster sampling method. The research data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire whose validity and reliability have been confirmed by Meshki et al. Collected data was analyzed using SPSS software version 20 using Kolmogorov Smirnov inferential statistics tests, descriptive statistical tests, and univariate analysis of covariance test.

The results of the analysis showed that before the intervention, there was no significant difference between the demographic and contextual variables between the two groups (p>0.05).
Two months after the intervention, a significant difference was observed in the average scores of the variables of awareness and constructs of perceived sensitivity, perceived intensity, perceived benefits, perceived obstacles, self-efficacy, and behavior in the intervention group compared to the control group.

The results of the present study revealed the influence of the health belief model in promoting preventive behaviors regarding head lice. The results of this research can be useful and beneficial for health educators who are trying to design educational programs related to diseases.