The effect of education based on planned behavior theory on women's knowledge and attitudes about human papillomavirus

Human papillomavirus is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the world. Improving knowledge and attitude is the key to controlling and preventing, but women's knowledge about this virus is not enough. This study aimed to determine the effect of educational intervention based on planned behavior theory on knowledge and attitude toward HPV and its vaccination in women of reproductive age. The study was a single-blind, randomized clinical trial study with a control group was done in 2022, which was conducted on 85 women referred to selected comprehensive health centers in Shiraz, Iran. In this study, the sampling was performed is a multi-stage random way. Eighty-three women who met the inclusion criteria were randomly divided into two intervention and control groups. The data collection tool was the knowledge and attitude questionnaire about HPV and its vaccine, which was confirmed to be valid and reliable. Data analysis was performed with descriptive and analytic statistics at a significance level of P < 0.05 with SPSS (22) software. The results showed that the educational intervention has caused a significant increase in the components of knowledge, attitude, social norms, perceived behavior control, and willingness to receive the HPV vaccine in the intervention group. So that in both stages after the intervention, there was a significant difference between the intervention group and the control group in the studied components (P < 0.05). The educational intervention based on the planned behavior theory significantly affected the knowledge, attitude, social norms, and intention for HPV vaccination in women of reproductive age. Therefore, educational intervention recommended as awareness-raising programs and strategies for women.