Abstract
Background & aimHIV/AIDS is one of the most dangerous viruses known in the world. In addition, considering its fatality rate and high cost of care, it is a serious threat to the health and economy of social communities. Adolescents are one of the high-risk groups. One of the most effective ways to prevent this disease is to promote healthcare, raise awareness, and change health-related beliefs and attitudes. This study aims at determining the effect of peer education, based on the health belief model, on the preventative measures against AIDS adopted by girls.Methods & materialsIn this empirical-interventionist study two schools were randomly selected, one of which was considered as the intervention group and the other as the control group. The classes were also randomly selected and 80 students from each school took part in the project following the entry criterion. A questionnaire with acceptable validity and reliability was used to collect data. In this study a few bright students were chosen as peer educators after being trained. The intervention group (N = 80) received 4 sessions of 60-min education through training, lectures, question and answer, and group discussion, But the control group received no instruction. The posttest was administered two months after the treatment. The data was fed into the SPSS 16. Finally, T-test, Chi-Square, and ANCOVA were employed to analyze the data.ResultsThe average scores obtained from the intervention group and the control group were not significantly different in terms of awareness level, perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, perceived self-efficacy, behavioral intention, and behavior in baseline (P>0.05). Two months after the intervention there was a significant increase in the average scores of all the variables in the experimental group (P > 0.05). However, there was no significant change in the scores of the control group (P > 0.05).ConclusionFollowing a health belief model focusing on peer eduaction among high school girls, the intervention eduaction can affect awareness level, susceptibility, severity, benefits, perceived barriers, perceived self-efficacy, behavioral intention, and finally avoidance of high-risk behavior.
Highlights
Background & aimHIV/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is one of the most dangerous viruses known in the world
Following a health belief model focusing on peer eduaction among high school girls, the intervention eduaction can affect awareness level, susceptibility, severity, benefits, perceived barriers, perceived self-efficacy, behavioral intention, and avoidance of high-risk behavior
The present study aims at investigating the effects of peer education on girls’ preventive measures against AIDS following the health belief model
Summary
HIV/AIDS is one of the most dangerous viruses known in the world. This study aims at determining the effect of peer education, based on the health belief model, on the preventative measures against AIDS adopted by girls. AIDS, one of the most dangerous viral diseases known in the world, is the result of a virus infection affecting the immunity system. Still high on the agenda, HIV has claimed over 33 million lives in the world so far. According to World Health Organizaton (WHO), 690,000 lives have been lost due to AIDS-realted issues in 2020 [3]. By the end of 2019, approximately 59,000 cases had been identified in Iran, almost a quarter of whom were women of 15 years of age and beyond (16000) and about 75% were men of the same age group (43000) [6, 7]
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