A Theoretically Based Behavioral Nutrition Intervention for Elderly Women: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Nutritional behavior is one of the main criteria for determining health in the elderly. Health
Belief Model (HBM) is most commonly used theory in the interventional programs. This study was aimed
to determine efficacy of HBM-based nutritional educational intervention on knowledge, belief and
behavior of the elderly women.
Methods: The sample of this randomized controlled trial study was 100 elderly women who attended to
four health care centers of Urmia, Iran. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaire
included demographic characteristics and some HBM constructs. The experiment group participated to
HBM-based trainings classes twice per week for 12 weeks. The educational strategies were consisted of
lecture, focus-group discussion, and video showing. The questionnaire was completed before and after 3
and 6 months intervention. Data were analyzed using two way repeated measure ANOVA at the significant level of a < 0.05.
Results: The mean scores of benefit, severity, susceptibility, and self-efficacy were not different between
the two groups before the educational training (p > 0.05). However, the aforementioned scores changed
significantly between two group after 3 months intervention and follow-up (p < 0.001). Furthermore,
intervention group improved significantly on HBM constructs through three times measurements
(p < 0.001).
Conclusion: This study confirms the effectiveness of HBM-based nutritional education on healthy
nutritional perception, belief and behavior among elderly women.
Copyright © 2017, Taiwan Society of Geriatric Emergency & Critical Care Medicine. Published by Elsevier
Taiwan LLC. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND licens