Journal of

Background and Aim: One of the most important characteristics of women and girls is their eagerness for showing their beauty, which is commonly achieved by using cosmetics and doing makeup. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of cosmetics use among high school and university students girls in Yazd city and to measure their  knowledge, attitude and practices.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 400 female high school and university students in Yazd city in 2016. Data were gathered using a four-part questionnaire, which was designed to collect demographic data of the participants as well as, items needed for assessment of knowledge, attitudes, and practice of the participants about using cosmetics. The collected data were described and analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA) version 22. Independent t, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and chi square tests were used for statistical analyses.

Results:  The mean scores of knowledge, attitude and practices of the participants showed that the mean knowledge score of them was related to the age, level of education of parents, parent's occupation and household income (P<0.05). The mean attitude score of the participants was also related to the age, level of education of parents, and parent's occupation (P<0.05). The mean practices score of the participants was related to the age, level of education of parents, and parent's occupation as well (P<0.05). Those who did not use cosmetics, had a more proper attitude towards using cosmetics (P=0.01).

Conclusion: This study demonstrated that the use of cosmetics among female high school and university students in Yazd was high. Proper training in appropriate use of the cosmetics is needed.