Lifestyle Change Using the Health Belief Model to Improve Cardiovascular Risk Factors among Postmenopausal Women

The aim of this study was to determine the impact of a 6-month lifestyle change using the health belief model (HBM) on cardiovascular risk factors in sedentary, postmenopausal women of Ahvaz. This study started in June 2007 and completed in May 2008. A total of 67 healthy and sedentary postmenopausal women were assigned into two groups, namely exercise (38) and control (29). Over the six months of follow-up, the intervention (exercise) group attended five educational sessions about physical activity according to the HBM(the first session and the one at the end of the 3rd month included face to face education; three lecture-discussion classes with educational aids such as slide demonstrations, on weekends in the first month). In addition, a pamphlet containing information about menopause and the effects it has on the cardiovascular system along with the benefits of physical activity in cardiovascular disease prevention was prepared based on the HBM and handed to all participants. Every participant also received five exercise-reminding telephone calls at the end of each month. Pre- and post-intervention measurements of health belief and anthropometric components including blood pressure, blood lipids and physical activity were conducted. Paired and independent t-tests and repeated measure test were used to analyze the data in SPSS version 15. Compared to the control group, women in the exercise group experienced significant decrease in their low density lipoprotein levels (-15 mg/dl; P < 0.05), fasting blood sugar (-7.4 mg/dl; P < 0.05), and an increased physical activity (272 minutes/week, p = 0.02). All components of HBM, except for knowledge, improved significantly in the exercise group compared to the control group (P = 0.001). Lifestyle change intervention using the HBM can be an effective means of reducing cardiovascular risk in obese and sedentary postmenopausal women.