The effect of health belief model training on physical activity in geriatrics

Abstract

Background and aim: The most important issues in health promotion and life quality in the elderlies is to protect their independence of physical and cognitive activities and take care of continuing active life. This study aimed to determine the effect of health belief model training on physical activity in rural geriatrics.

Material and Methods: This study is a quasi-experimental, which was conducted over 200 elderly who lived in rural areas of Zabol, Iran. The subjects were recruited through a simple random sampling method. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS.

Results: The average scores of health belief structures between the intervention and control groups was not significantly different before intervention. However, most structures were significantly different in the intervention group after training. Before the intervention the awareness was not significantly different in both intervention and control groups (P= 0.183), But after training, the difference was significant (P < 0.001).

Conclusion: The results showed that the usage of the health belief model for training is an effective way to increase physical activity in geriatrics.