The Effect of an Educational Program Based on Health Belief Model on Preventing Osteoporosis in Women

BACKGROUND: Osteoporosis is the most common metabolic bone disease. The study's objective is to investigate the effect of an educational program based on Health Belief Model (HBM) on preventing osteoporosis in women. METHODS: In this quasi-experimental study, 120 patients (60 experimental and 60 control) who were registered under the health centers in Fasa City, Fars Province, Iran, were selected in 2014. A questionnaire consisting of demographic information, HBM constructs was used to measure nutrition and walking performance for the prevention of osteoporosis before, immediately after intervention, and 6 months later. Bone mineral density (BMD) was recorded at the lumbar spine and femur before and 6 months after intervention. RESULTS: The mean age of women participated in the study was 41.75 ± 5.4 years for the experimental group, and 41.77 ± 5.43 years for the control group. The mean body mass index was 22.44 ± 3.30 for the experimental group and 22.27 ± 3.05 for the control group. The average number of women deliveries for the experimental group was 2.57 ± 1.47 and 2.50 ± 1.19 for the control group. There is no significant difference between the two groups in education level (P = 0.771), marital status (P = 0.880), occupation (P = 0.673), breastfeeding (P = 0.769), smoking (P = 0.315), history of osteoporosis in the family (P = 0.378), history of special diseases (P = 0.769), and records of bone densitometry (P = 0.543). Immediately and 6 months after intervention, the experimental group showed a significant increase in the knowledge, perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, self-efficacy, internal cues to action, nutrition, and walking performance compared to the control group. Six months after intervention, the value of lumbar spine BMD T-score in the experimental group increased to 0.127, while in the control group it reduced to −0.043. The value of the hip BMD T-score in the intervention group increased to 0.125, but it decreased to −0.028 in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed the effectiveness of knowledge, walking, and diet on bone mass by HBM. Hence, these models can act as a framework for designing and implementing educational interventions for the osteoporosis prevention.