The Effect of Health Belief Model-Based Education on Knowledge and Prostate Cancer Screening Behaviors: A Randomized Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND: Prostate cancer has been reported as the second leading cause of cancer death among men in 2013. Prevention and early detection of cancer are considered as critical factors in controlling the disease and increasing the survival of patients. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the effect of Health Belief Model (HBM)-based education on knowledge and prostate cancer screening behaviors in a randomized controlled trial. METHODS: This study was a non-blinded randomized controlled trial. We enrolled 210 men aged 50-70. Balanced block randomization method was used to randomize the final participants who had inclusion criteria into intervention (n=93) and control (n=87) groups. The participants of the intervention group attended training workshops based on HBM. Data were collected using three questionnaires, i.e. demographic questionnaire, Prostate Cancer Screening-Health Belief Model Scale (PCS-HBMS), and the Knowledge about Prostate Cancer Screening questionnaire, all given before and immediately one month after the intervention. RESULTS: The mean scores of the perceived susceptibility, severity, barriers and benefits increased significantly after the intervention (P>0.05) in the intervention group. In the control group, such a difference was reported only for perceived susceptibility (P>0.05). The rate of participation in prostate cancer screening in the intervention group increased from 7.5% to 24% and 43.3% one month and three months after the intervention, respectively. CONCLUSION: Our findings showed that the health education programs designed based on HBM could positively affect prostate cancer preventive behaviors of individuals by improving their knowledge level and leaving positive effects on perceived susceptibility and severity as well as considering the perceived barriers, benefits and health motivations. Trial Registration Number: IRCT2013090911691N3