Background and objective: Personal protection has an essential role in preventing and decreasing solar UV radiation-induced cancers. This study aimed to determine the effect of education based on protection motivation theory on the harmful effects of sun rays on male students.
Methods: This semi-experimental study was conducted on 200 male students from eight primary schools randomly divided to control and experimental groups. The tool used for data collection was a researcher-made questionnaire. This questionnaire included demographic and protection motivation theory questions. The validity of the study instruments was assessed and confirmed by an expert panel and the reliability by Cronbakh Alpha test (= 0.83) through 20 samples. After primary data collection, educational intervention including lecture, with cartoon clip with PowerPoint, was performed for the intervation group. Two months later, data in both groups were collected again and analyzed through SPSS16 using descriptive and analytic statistics (independent and paired t test, Chi-square, ANCOVA (p< 0.05). Results: After intervention among experimental group, the mean scores of knowledge and behavior increased from 9.55 to 15.88 and from 6.15 to 10.55, consecutively. Based on linear regression testing the model could predict 12% of protective behaviors against UV radiation.
Conclusion: Educational intervention, based on protection motivation theory, was useful in increasing knowledge and promoting preventive behaviors of ultraviolet radiation disorders In male primary school students.
paper Type : Research paper