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  Background & Aim: Cervical cancer is the fourth common cancer worldwide. Pap smear is a usual t est to screen cervical cancer. The aim of the present study was to determine factors associated with Pap smear screening among married women aged 15-49 years in Lamerd health centers based on the Protection Motivation Theory .

  Methods & Materials: In this cross-sectional study, 220 married women aged 15-49 years were selected. Data were gathered using a questionnaire designed based on the Protection Motivation Theory. The questionnaires were completed via individual interviews with the participants. Validity and reliability of the questionnaire were approved. Data were analysed using the Kruskal-Wallis, U-Man Whitney test and c ² in the SPSS-16.

  Results: Most of the participants ( 40%) had a high school diploma and 70% of them were housewives. Most of the participants (65.6%) had used the test once at least. There were statistically significant relationships between the use of Pap smear with the protection motivation against cervical cancer (P<0.001 ), perceived self-efficacy ( P =0.002 ), perceived response efficacy ( P =0.007 ) and perceived costs ( P <0.001 ) .

  Conclusion: Regarding the statistically significant relationships between the constructs of the Protection Motivation Theory and the use of Pap smear screening test among women , it is recommended to design educational programs based on the Protection Motivation Theory to encourage married women for using Pap smear screening test.

  

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Background & Aim: Prostate cancer is one of the most common causes of death from cancers in men. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of an educational intervention based on protection motivation theory (PMT) on prostate cancer prevention behaviors in men 50 to 75 years old.
Methods & Materials: This study is a randomized controlled trial with control group conducted on 100 men referred to the retirement centers in Hamadan in 2017. Participants were selected by convenience sampling method and randomly divided into two experimental (n=50) and control groups (n=50). A self-administered questionnaire including demographic information and PMT constructs was completed by the participants. Educational intervention was administered over four sessions in the experimental group. The questionnaires were completed by the two groups two months after the intervention. Data were analyzed by the SPSS software version 16 using independent t-test, Chi-square and the analysis of covariance.
Results: Before the intervention, the two groups were homogeneous in terms of demographic characteristics and the PMT constructs (perceived rewards, perceived response cost, fear, perceived self-efficacy), and cancer screening behavior. The intervention could improve all the PMT constructs in the experimental group compared to the control group. Also, Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) screening behavior was 38(76) in the experimental group and 16(32) in the control group (P<0.001).
Conclusion: The results of the study showed that protection motivation theory can be used as a framework for designing educational programs to perform prostate cancer screening.