The Effectiveness of Educational Program Based on Theory of Planned Behavior on Preventing and Decreasing Tobacco Smoking Among Post-secondary Students

• Main Authors: Yadollah Fathi, Babak Moeini, Amir Bazvand, Majid Barati, Ghodratollah Roshanaei
• Format: Article
• Language: fas
• Published: Hamadan University of Medical Sciences 2016-09-01
• Series: Journal of Education and Community Health
• Subjects: Attitude; Smoking; Subjective Norms; Students
• Online Access: http://jech.umsha.ac.ir/article-1-212-en.pdf
• ISSN: 2383-2312; 2383-2312

Background and Objectives: Tobacco smoking has increased among youth in recent years. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of educational programs on prevention of tobacco smoking among post-secondary students in Lorestan, Iran based on Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Materials and Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, 126 male students were randomly divided into two experimental and control groups in Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, west of Iran. Data was collected using a questionnaire, including the TPB constructs and demographic variables. The intervention comprised four sessions, applied on the experimental group during one month. Both groups were followed for three months after the intervention. Data were then analyzed in SPSS 18 using chi-squared, independent t-test, paired t-test and McNemar. Results: After the educational intervention, significant differences were observed in average scores of attitude, subjective norms and behavioral intention, between the experimental and control groups (P <0.05). Results also showed that there was a significant difference in tobacco and hookah smoking rates between students in the experimental and control groups after performing the educational program (P <0.05). Conclusions: Implementing the TPB-directed instructional sessions resulted in preventing and decreasing tobacco smoking in the students.