Effectiveness of Designed Health Education Package on Healthy Behaviors of Patients with Tuberculosis at Pasteur Institute of Iran

Background and Objective: Tuberculosis (TB) is the most common infectious disease. It causes more than ۲ millions deaths annually around the world. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of designed health education package on healthy behaviors of patients with tuberculosis at Pasteur Institute of Iran. Materials and Methods: This research was a quasi-experimental study that was carried out on ۳۱ smear positive patients who referred to Pasteur Institute in ۲۰۰۴. Questionnaire and self report checklist were used to collect the required data. The educational needs were recognized and then the health educational package was designed. After that, the questionnaire and checklist filled out and educational package was performed for ۸ weeks. The effect of training was evaluated by post-test after two months and the obtained results compared with the results of pretest. The main data was analyzed by analysis of variance, paired T-test and Pearson correlation coefficient tests in order to evaluate the effectiveness of intervention on knowledge, attitude and behavior of the patients before and after the intervention. Results: The average age in study group was ۳۳.۷۱ years old (SD=۱۳.۶۸) and the sex frequency was ۵۴.۸ % for males and ۴۵.۲ % for females. There was a significant correlation between the change of attitude and the previous family history of TB (P<۰/۰۰۱). However, there was no significant correlation among the past jail and the previous tobacco use with the patient’s knowledge, attitude and practice. Analysis of the data, before and after the educational package intervention showed a significant difference among knowledge, attitude and practice before and after education (p<۰/۰۰۱). Conclusion: Health education has an important role in improving knowledge, positive attitude and adopting healthy behaviors in the patients with Tuberculosis.

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Key words: Health education package , Healthy behaviors , Tuberculosis