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Background & Aim: Unhealthy snacks consumption has an important role in childhood obesity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of an educational intervention for mothers on the consumption of healthy snacks in children aged 1-5 years using social cognitive theory.

Methods & Materials: This quasi-experimental study was (IRCT2013062912456N2) conducted on 126 mothers who had children 1-5 years old in 2013. The mothers were selected from Hamadan health centers and divided into two groups of intervention and control. The intervention consisted of four sessions, a booklet, a short video, and 6 written messages. The constructs of SCT and food consumption frequency were assessed at baseline, 10 days after the last session and 2-months after the intervention. The data were analyzed by Chi-square test, independent t-test, repeated measures and covariance analysis using SPSS software version 16.

Results: At baseline, the two groups were similar in the demographic characteristics, the constructs of SCT, and unhealthy snacks consumption frequency (P>0.05). Considering that the interaction effects of group and time in the repeated measurement analysis of variance were significant, the means of two groups were compared at each stage using independent t test and significant differences between the two groups were observed at two stages after the intervention.

Conclusion: This intervention had a positive effect on the consumption of healthy snacks. Therefore, SCT and the implemented procedure could be used to develop interventions to modify snack consumption patterns in children.

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Background & Aim: Prostate carcinoma is the most common cancer among men and the second lethal cancer. The present study aimed to investigate the prostate cancer screening behaviors and its related cognitive psychological factors among men over 50 years of age using the health belief model.
Methods & Materials: This cross-sectional study was performed on 300 men over 50 years of age in Hamadan, selected by cluster sampling method. Data collecting tool was a questionnaire consisted of three sections: demographic information, prostate cancer screening behaviors and health belief model constructs. Data were analyzed using Chi-square test, Fisher's exact test and logistic regression through the SPSS software version 18.
Results: Findings revealed that 12% and 9% of the participants reported having a digital rectal examination (DRE) and prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing respectively. Perceived benefits and perceived barriers were the predictors of prostate cancer screening behaviors (P<0.05). Also, there was a significant relationship between prostate cancer screening behaviors and age and a history of prostate problems (P<0.05).
Conclusion: Given that the health belief model is effective in predicting prostate cancer screening behaviors, using these findings in designing educational interventions for people over 50 is recommended.
 

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Background & Aim: Operating room personnel are always exposed to blood-borne infections because of Needlestick Injuries (NSIs). Thus, this study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of an educational intervention to promote NSIs preventive behaviors among the operating room personnel based on the health belief model (HBM).
Methods & Materials: This is an interventional study with a pre-test/post-test, control group design, conducted on 90 operating room personnel (45 personnel in each group) from four hospitals in Hamadan City in 2018. The participants completed a self-administered questionnaire including demographic and professional variables and HBM constructs. The intervention included four educational sessions held for the experimental group within one month. Both groups were followed up for three months after the intervention. Data were analyzed by the SPSS software version 18 using independent t-test, chi-square, Fisher exact test, and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA).
Results: The results showed that before the educational intervention, there was no statistically significant difference in the mean scores of HBM constructs between the experimental and control groups (P>0.05). However, after the educational intervention, both the experimental and control groups had a statistically significant difference between before and after changes in the mean scores of knowledge, perceived vulnerability, perceived benefits, perceived self-efficacy, and NSIs preventive behaviors (P<0.05).
Conclusion: According to the results, applying the educational intervention based on the HBM is an appropriate and effective approach in preventing NSIs among the operating room personnel.