Animated educational video using health belief model on the knowledge of anemia prevention among female adolescents: An intervention study

INTRODUCTION: As the younger female generation, female adolescents should understand anaemia prevention. This study examined the effects of animated educational videos on the knowledge of anaemia prevention among female adolescents using the Health Belief Model (HBM). METHOD: A quasi-experimental method with a randomised pre-test and post-test control group design was applied. Animated educational videos about anaemia prevention were used as the intervention. One hundred sixty-one female adolescents were recruited through multistage random sampling and divided into intervention (n=78) and control (n=83) groups. The intervention group received education via animated educational videos. The HBM questionnaire was used to measure the nine HBM indicators (r=0.8); the item categories were valid and reliable. Descriptive analyses, independent t-tests and repeated-measures ANOVA were used to analyse the data. RESULTS: The animated educational videos played thrice significantly increased the knowledge of the intervention group (mean score: pre-test, 94; post-test one, 99; post-test two, 102). The scores for anaemia examination barriers (P=0.001), anaemia susceptibility (P=0.001), anaemia severity (P=0.001), anaemia prevention benefits (P=0.001), anaemia examination benefits (P=0.001), self-efficacy for obtaining iron tablets (P=0.001), self-recognition of anaemia signs and symptoms (P=0.001), signs of anaemia prevention (P=0.001) and health motivation (P=0.001) significantly changed. Meanwhile, the knowledge of the control group did not significantly increase (pre-test, 93; post-test one, 94; post-test two, 97). The intervention group had significantly higher mean scores in both the first and second measurements than the control group (P=0.05). CONCLUSION: Animated educational videos significantly increased the knowledge of anaemia prevention, including the nine HBM indicators.