Background and Objectives: Failure to diagnose diabetes on time is one of the major problems associated with this disease. Early diagnosis can reduce complications caused by the disease. This study aimed to determine the effect of education based on the theory of planned behavior on conducting diabetes testing in people at risk and its relationship with health literacy in the Qorveh district.

Materials and Methods: This intervention study was conducted on 282 people at risk of diabetes by multi-stage sampling method in two intervention and control groups. Educational intervention based on model structures was conducted during 4 training sessions. Data were collected using 3 questionnaires, including a demographic information and risk factors questionnaire, a researcher-made questionnaire based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), and a health literacy questionnaire in three stages: pre-test, post-test, and follow-up. Formal methods and content validity were used to ensure the validity of the researcher-made questionnaire. Reliability was confirmed by internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha coefficient). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and analytical tests in SPSS version 26 statistical software.

Results: The mean and standard deviation of the age of the subjects in the control group was 45.33±9.33 years and in the intervention group were 46.63±9.05 years. The results showed that after the educational intervention, the mean score of awareness (P = 0.000), attitude (P = 0.000), subjective norm (P = 0.000), perceived behavioral control (P = 0.000), intention (P = 0.000), and behavior (P = 0.000) were significantly different in the two intervention and control groups. The results of within-group effects for the model and awareness constructs showed that the effect of time and the combined effect of time and intervention were significant. The out-group effects also showed that the two intervention and control groups had a significant difference (P = 0.000).

Conclusion: The findings of the present study showed that educational interventions based on TPB, regardless of health literacy, can help design an educational program for people at risk for diabetes testing. Therefore, it seems necessary to pay attention to the aforementioned variables in designing educational interventions.

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