The Effect of the Health Belief Enhancing Program on Stroke Prevention Behaviors of At-Risk Persons in a Community

Abstract

            The best prevention for stroke is the promotion of health behavior changes for controlling the risk factors that cause the disease. This study examined the effect of the health belief-enhancing program on stroke prevention behaviors of at-risk persons in a community using a two-group quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design. The sample group included 44 persons at risk for stroke, aged 35 years and over, who were equally divided into an experimental group and a control group with 22 persons in each. The study was conducted in Ban Kho Subdistrict, Muang Pan District, Lampang Province. The research instruments included the 12-week health belief enhancing program, which included 5 steps: 1) promoting perceived risk of stroke, 2) promoting perceived severity of stroke, 3) promoting perceived benefits of stroke preventive behaviors, 4) promoting perceived barriers of stroke preventive behaviors, and 5) stroke preventive behaviors motivation. Data were collected using a demographic data questionnaire and a stroke-risk control behavior questionnaire with a reliability coefficient value of 0.81. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Fisher’s exact test, independent t-test, and paired t-test.              The results showed that after participating in the health belief enhancing program for 12 weeks, the experimental group had average scores for stroke prevention behaviors which were higher than before participating in the program and more than those of the control group participants who received usual hospital services, with statistical significance (p < .001).

         The outcome indicates that the health belief-enhancing programs could improve stroke prevention behavior of at-risk people.