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Introduction: Oral and dental health is one of the most important parts of public health. The purpose of this study was to assess the factors influencing oral and dental health among the pregnant mothers referring to urban health centers in Khorramabad, Iran, based on the Health Belief Model (HBM) in 2016.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 340 pregnant mothers living in Khorramabad, Iran were selected from health centers using multi-stage random sampling. The decayed, missing, filled teeth (DMFT) index, the Oral Health Index – Simplified (OHIS), the health belief model (HBM) scale, and performance regarding oral and dental health care were measured and the data were analyzed. The obtained data were analyzed using the SPSS 20 software and descriptive statistical tests, Pearson correlation coefficient, and linear regression.
Results: The mean DMFT score was 7.8 ± 3.27 and the mean OHIS score was 2.74 ± 1.65. Pearson correlation coefficient showed a direct and significant relationship between the constructs of the health belief model and performance (p< 0.05). Among the constructs of the health belief model, self-efficacy (22.2 %) had the highest predictive power. In addition, there was a positive correlation between the DMFT and OHIS scores.
Conclusion: The present study showed that cognitive barriers are associated with oral and dental health behaviors and they should receive attention from the oral and dental health professionals. On the other hand, the most important predictor variable of oral health care among pregnant mothers is self-efficacy. Therefore, the self-efficacy of pregnant women should be boosted for them to practice good oral and dental health care.

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Introduction: hypertension is the most important public health problem in developing countries. It is a leading cause of stroke, kidney failure, premature death and a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The aim of conducting this study was to investigate the factors associated medical Adherence of hypertension based on health belief model.
Method: The present study was a descriptive-analytical study. A total of 403 hypertensive patients with health records were enrolled in the study. Data collection questionnaire included demographic questions and health belief model structures. Data using logistic regression analysis using software was 23 SPSS.
Results:  More than half of the patients (58.8%) had poor medication adherence. Most of the subjects (87.3%) used less than three drugs. Pearson test results showed a significant relationship between drug compliance with age, education and job. Among the constructs of HBM, the highest mean was related to perceived benefits (88.93 ± 10.92) and the lowest to self-efficacy constructs (51.97 ±31.55). In the logistic regression model, three factors of awareness, guides to action and perceived barriers, confidently influence drug compliance.
Conclusion: Effective interventions based on health belief model and with emphasis on raising awareness, practice guide and removing perceived barriers can increase medication adherence in patients with hypertension.

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Background: People's health behaviors are important in determining the prevalence of the head lice infestation. This study aimed to determine the preventive behaviors of head lice infestation using the Health Belief Model (HBM) in female students of Jahrom University of Medical Sciences.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 255 female students of Jahrom University of Medical Sciences, Fars Province, South of Iran in 2021. Sampling was randomly selected from female students studying in the fields of public health, operating room, anesthesia, nursing, laboratory sciences, and medicine. The data collection tool was a four-part standard “preventive behaviors against pediculosis infection” questionnaire whose validity and reliability have been confirmed. The questionnaire was completed by the participants and the data were entered into SPSS 21 for analysis. Data analysis was performed descriptively with the report of frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation. The correlation was evaluated using Pearson correlation test. Significance level was considered less than 0.05.
Results: The mean age and number of roommates (SD) of the participants were 22.4 (1.7) and 3.35 (1.3), respectively. There was a positive and significant correlation between the perceived benefits construct and knowledge (r = 0.147, p = 0.04) and the perceived susceptibility construct (r = 0.413, p < 0.001). In addition, a positive and significant correlation was observed between the behavior with knowledge (r = 0.144, p = 0.04) and self-efficacy construct
(r = 0.167, p = 0.02). There was a significant inverse correlation between perceived barriers construct with knowledge (r = -0.265, p < 0.001) and behavior (r = -0.213, p = 0.002), as well as between self-efficacy construct and knowledge (r = -0.219, p = 0.001).
Conclusion: To improve preventive behaviors of lice infestation in students, in addition to improving people's knowledge, efforts should be made to identify and remove barriers to healthy behavior as well as improve people's perception of these barriers.

Corresponding Author: Nader Sharifi
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