Effect of Educational Intervention Based on Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) on Doing Breast Self-examination in a Sample of Iranian Women

Abstract

Background: Breast self-examination (BSE) is an important part of health care for all women in every stage of life. This study aimed to investigate the effect of theory of planned behavior (TPB) on doing BSE in a sample of Iranian women. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out to examine the factors affecting the BSE in 400 women. Then, a quasi-experimental study was conducted on 200 subjects (100 in experimental group and 100 in control group). The educational intervention for the experimental group consisted of 8 training sessions. A questionnaire including demographic characteristics, knowledge, and constructs of TPB was used to measure BSE performance before and 6 months after the intervention. Constructs of attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control predicted the intention to do the BSE. Results: The mean age of the subjects was 31.65 ± 7.59 years. The studied variables predicted 38.7% of behavioral intention (P