Effect of health on knowledge,self‐efficacy and health behaviours of women with urinary tract infection

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common bacterial infections affecting about 40% of women in some points in their lives. UTI can cause serious potential consequences such as life‐threatening sepsis, if it is not treated by primary health care providers. Health behaviours play an important role in causing UTI. Self‐efficacy, as an important moderator of the relationship between knowledge and behaviour, is an important prerequisite for behaviour change. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of health education on knowledge, self‐efficacy and health behaviours of women with UTI. This is a quasi‐experimental study of the intervention and comparison groups, with pre‐test and post‐test design, conducted with 170 married women with UTI; referred to selected hospital laboratories in Tehran. The data collection tool was a self‐made questionnaire which was answered by both groups, prior to the intervention and 12 weeks thereafter. The intervention was performed on the intervention group samples. On the basis of the study results, after the intervention the average score of the knowledge (p = 0·002), self‐efficacy (p < 0·001) and health behaviours (p < 0·001) of the intervention group had significantly increased compared to the comparison group. The findings showed that health education was effective in promotion of the knowledge, self‐efficacy and health behaviours of women with UTI.