Investigating the Effect of Tailored Educational Program Based on Protection Motivation Theory on Mammography Adherence in Iranian Women

Background: The early diagnosis of breast cancer through mammography is effective in reducing death. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the effect of an educational program based on the protection motivation theory (PMT) on mammography adherence among women in Yazd, Iran. Methods: In this experimental study, 144 women referring to the clinic were randomly assigned to test and control groups. The data collection tool was a valid and reliable researcher-made questionnaire with 56 items and 8 dimensions. The educational program was held in the form of 6 sessions for the test group, which included PMT–based essays, infographics, and videos. The 12-week follow-up period continued as telephone consultation, and then the data were collected and analyzed by SPSS software version 21 with a 95% confidence interval. Results: The results showed that in the pre-training phase, the Mann-Whitney U statistical test did not reveal a significant difference between the two groups of women in terms of the mean mammography intention score (Z=2523.000, P value=0.775). Based on the results of the Wilcoxon test before and after the intervention, the protection motivation of women for mammography for the next month showed a significant difference in the test group. Furthermore, none of the women in the two groups were referred for mammography three months after the implementation of the training. In addition, the McNemar test results did not indicate a significant difference regarding mammography behavior in the two groups before and after the educational intervention. Conclusion: According to the results, the protection motivation of the majority of the women in the test group was in the stages of possible and definitive referral for mammography after the educational intervention, which indicates the effectiveness of the tailored educational program. In this study, all the constructs of the PMT act as interconnected building blocks with logical action and interaction to promote mammography adherence in women in Yazd.