THE EFFECT OF HEALTH EDUCTION IN PROMOTING HEALTH OF HAIRDRESSERS ABOUT HEPATITIS B BASED ON HEALTH BELIEF MODEL

Hepatitis B (HB) is an infectious disease occurring worldwide which can be transferred by some professions, including hairdressers. Health education is an essential component of public health campaign about this disease. The purpose of this study was to test the utility of the health belief model (HBM) in understanding and predicating the intention of hairdressers in prevention of HB in their clients. A quasi-experin1ental study was conducted to 140 hairdressers (70 men and 70 women) in Yazd, Iran. All subjects were divided into two groups: case group (35 men and 35 women) and control group (35 men and 35 women). A researcher designed questionnaire according to the framework of HBM was developed, pilottested and then completed before and after intervention. There was significant difference between the mean grade scores of knowledge of case group before and after intervention (P 0.0001). The perceived threat of case group were also increased from 9.8 to 10.61 after intervention, but the perceived threat of control group were decreased from 9.97 to 9. The HBM may offer an effective foundation for development of an educational intervention program in hairdressers for prevention ofHB in their clients.