Application of Health Belief Model in Prevention of Osteoporosis among Primary School Girl Students

Background: Osteoporosis is the most common metabolic bone disease. Prevention of osteoporosis during childhood and adolescence is an important issue in World Health Organization. The purpose of this study was to investigate application of health belief model in prevention of osteoporosis among primary school girl students, in Fasa city, Fars Province, Iran. Materials and Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, 140 primary school girl students who were randomly divided into groups, experimental (n=70) and control (n=70) in Fasa city, Fars Province, Iran, were selected in 2015. A questionnaire consisting of demographic information, Health Belief Model (HBM) constructs was used to measure nutrition and walking performance for prevention of osteoporosis before, immediately after intervention and four months later. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 19.0 software. Results: The mean age of students was 11.45±1.13 and 11.25±1.60 years old in the Experimental and the control group, respectively. Immediately and Four months after the intervention, the mean scores of the HBM components (Perceived susceptibility, Perceived severity, Perceived benefits, Perceived barriers, Self-efficacy, Internal cues to action), and nutritional and walking performance in experimental group was better than the control group (P<0.001). Conclusion: The findings of the present study confirmed the practicability and effectiveness of the Health Belief Model based educational program in promoting behaviors about prevention of osteoporosis. Hence, these models can act as a framework for designing and implementing educational interventions for the osteoporosis prevention.