Effect of an educational intervention based on the Health Belief Model on prevention and fear of falling among older people

Abstract

Fall-related injuries are the leading cause of injury, death and disability among older adults, and their health care costs are high. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the effect of an educational intervention, based on the health belief model, on the prevention and fear of falling among older people. We conducted this experimental study on 140 older people in Fasa city, Fars Province, Iran, in 2023. We selected the subjects using a simple sampling method. The educational intervention for the experimental group included three 30-min sessions. We analyzed the data using SPSS 22 software, employing chi-square, independent t-tests and paired t-tests. The results showed that before the educational intervention, there was no significant difference between the experimental and control groups in terms of knowledge, perceived sensitivity, perceived intensity, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, self-efficacy, cues to action, and performance; however, three months after the educational intervention, the experimental group showed a significant increase in each of the mentioned variables except the perceived barriers. Additionally, after the educational intervention, the mean score of fear of falling in the experimental group showed a statistically significant decrease. This study demonstrated the effectiveness of an educational intervention based on the health belief model in preventing falls and reducing the fear of falls in older people. Therefore, we suggest using training based on this model to prevent and reduce falls among older people.