Effect of an educational intervention based on self-efficacy theory and health literacy skills on preventive behaviors of urinary tract infection in pregnant women: A quasi-experimental study

Objective The impact of self-efficacy and health literacy skills on pregnant women's adherence to urinary tract infection (UTI) preventive behaviors is inadequately investigated. Thus, the present study explored whether an educational intervention based on self-efficacy and health literacy skills managed to improve UTI preventive behaviors among pregnant women. Methods A quasi-experimental study was conducted from January to July 2021 among pregnant women residing in Mashhad, Iran. To this aim, 110 pregnant women at a gestational age of 12-18 weeks were randomly assigned to a control (n = 55) and an intervention group (n = 55) and completed all questionnaires during the intervention and the 3-month follow-up. The intervention group received the full training program, comprising six 2-hourly training sessions. Results Most women were from low-income families (69.1%), were housewives (74.5%) with high school education or lower (63.6%). The theory-based intervention had a significant effect (P < 0<middle dot>05) on UTI preventive behavior outcomes (i.e., clothing habits, nutrition, urination, health, and sexual behaviors) in the intervention group compared with the control group after intervention, and in their variation from baseline to follow-up in all scores. Conclusions An educational intervention based on health literacy skills and self-efficacy could be an effective theory-based intervention to improve UTI preventive behaviors and reduce recurrent UTI and complications.