Abstract

Introduction:Self-medication and requesting medicine without prescription are common in many countries for time and cost saving. In this regard, it is crucial to pay attention to medical students as factors influencing the health of the community. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of education based on health belief model on self-therapy and self-medication in students at Fasa Medical Sciences dormitories during the years 2016 to 2017. Method: This quasi-experimental study was conducted on 90 students at Fasa Medical Sciences dormitories (45 students in the test group and 45 students in the control group) in 2016-2017. The data collection tool in this study included a researcher-made questionnaire consisting of 3 sections. The first section included demographic information, the second section included questions on the knowledge, and the third section included the structures of health belief model and behavioral performance checklist, completed before and two months after intervention. Educational program for the test group included four 55-minute educational sessions over a period of 4 weeks in the form of a lecture and a group discussion along with the presentation of educational pamphlets, brochures and educational pictures in the dormitory. The results were analyzed by SPSS 22 software and at the significance level of P <0.05. Results: In this study, 90 students living in dormitories of the Fasa University of Medical Sciences were studied. 80.77 of the students were paramedicine students and 20.42 of them were medical students. The mean age of students in the test and control groups was 22.2 ± 19.2 and 23.1 ± 14.2 years, respectively. Chi-square and independent T-test showed that all characteristics of the two groups were similar and there was no significant difference between the two groups in this regard (p> 0.05). Conclusion: Improving self-therapy and self-medication status in the studied students supports the usefulness of the implementation of the educational program and the use of the health belief model in reducing the rate of self-medication. © 2019, Advanced Scientific Research. All rights reserved.