Effect of Educational Intervention Based on Protection Motivation Theory on Promoting Pediculosis Preventive Behaviors among Elementary School Girls in Neyshabur

Background and Objective: Pediculosis capitis (Head lice) is a worldwide parasitic infection that often occurs in nurseries and school with poor hygiene. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of educational program based on protection motivation theory (PMT) on the promotion of preventive behaviors against pediculosis in female elementary school students. Materials and Methods: The present randomized controlled trial was conducted in Neyshabur in 2015. Sixty female students in the fifth grade were randomly selected, using randomized cluster sampling. They were randomly divided into two experimental and control groups. A standard questionnaire was designed and administered based on socio-demographic characteristics and PMT constructs. An educational intervention was, then, designed based on focus group discussions and role-playing method during the educational program consisting of two sessions (each taking 50 minutes), held for the experimental group. Independent and paired t-test, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, chi-square, mann-whitney, and Wilcoxon tests were conducted by SPSS 16 software to analyze the data. Results: There was no statistically significant differences between the two groups before the intervention (p>0.05). After the intervention, the mean scores of the perceived vulnerability, perceived intervention, response efficiency, self-efficacy, cost response, and protection motivation after intervention were significantly improved in the experimental group (p<0.05), but there was no significant difference in the mean scores of the PMT constructs in the control group (p>0.05). Conclusion: PMT-based intervention program is effective in promoting preventive behaviors against pediculosis on female elementary school students.