prevention of iodine deficiency EFFECTIVENESS OF HEALTH EDUCATION PROGRAM BASED ON HEALTH BELIEF MODEL FOR PREVENTING IODINE DEFICIENCY IN PREGNANT WOMEN REGISTERED AT ANTENATAL CARE CLINIC, SIRINDHORN HOSPITAL KHON KAEN, BAN HAET DISTRICT, KHON KAEN PROVINCE

Abstract

This study was quasi-experimental research, two group pre-post test design, aimed to investigate the effectiveness of health education programs, based on the health belief model for preventing iodine deficiency in pregnant women, who registered at antenatal care clinic, Sirindhorn Hospital Khon Kaen, Ban Haet district, Khon Kaen province, on during April – June 2020. The sample was divided into two groups, experimental and control groups, and each group had 24 pregnant women. The experimental group were educated by health education program based on health belief model for preventing iodine deficiency, including activities in terms of providing lectures and group discussions, sending knowledge message via Line group, monitoring and encouraging the participants via mobile phones, and also using personal home practice notes of the participants for seven weeks data were collected by a questionnaire developed with a reliability = 0.94 and using a Chi-square, Independent t-test and ANCOVA.

The results revealed that the experimental group receiving the program had an average score on knowledge; health beliefs and behavior in regards to iodine deficiency prevention among pregnant women were higher than the comparison group statistically significantly (p-value < 0.01).