Evaluation of Knowledge, Attitude, and Protective Behaviors of Teachers Against Dust Phenomenon Based on the Health Belief Model

Awareness of protective behaviors against haze plays an important role in disease prevention and control. Students, who are in turn educated by teachers, are one of the important groups that can transfer health-related concepts to families. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate teachers' knowledge, attitudes, and behavior regarding adopting healthy behaviors upon exposure to haze using the health belief model (HBM).

This descriptive-analytical (cross-sectional) study was performed on 250 primary school teachers from Zabol County by cluster sampling. Data were gathered by multi-section questionnaires. Its validity and reliability have been evaluated. The data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 21) using proper statistical tests at a significance level of P < 0.05.

Teachers were in the average age range of 38.66±6.81 years. Mean scores of behavior, perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, and self-efficacy were obtained as 11.88±2.47, 26.42±43.10, 26.42±4.10, 22.43±4.10, 28.26±5.12, 10.73±2.06, respectively. There was a significant relationship between awareness and protective behavior (r= 0.61, P=0.0012). Health belief model constructs were able to predict about 39.8% of the variance of protective behavior, with the level of Education (B = 0.369) being the strongest predictor.

Results show that the design and implementation of educational programs based on the HBM in schools are effective in the promotion of awareness and empowerment with the aim of increasing protective behavior in teachers in the face of the haze phenomenon.