the effect of health education based on health belief model on performance of women regarding pap smear test in kouhdasht health centers in 2010

background: cervical cancer considered as second most common cancer after breast cancer in the world and 18 percent of total deaths in women are due to cervical cancer. cervical cancer is a preventable disease and early detection of the disease could improve  the quality of its treatment. the pap smear test is an effective screening method for diagnosis of cervical cancer. the aim of present study was to determine the effect of education based on the health belief model on women performance about pap smear test. methods: in this quasi-experimental study 70 women referred to kouhdasht health centers included and randomized in two case and control groups. data collected using a four parts questionnaire (demographic data, knowledge, health belief model components and performance). the case group participated in two health education sessions with one hour duration. data collected before and one month after education in two studied groups and obtained data analyzed using paired t- tests and independent t- test. findings: mean scores of knowledge was significantly different in the two groups after intervention (p<0.001). mean scores of the model variables (perceived susceptibility and severity, perceived benefits and barriers) had .no significant difference in the two groups before intervention but after intervention it was significant (p<0.001). before the intervention, 51 percent of women had chosen health centre staff as a cue to action, but after the intervention it reached to 100 percent in case group. before the intervention, none of the samples had done a pap smear test, but after the intervention in 34 cases (97.4 %) and only one person in the control group (2.86 %) had done the test. conclusion: based on the findings of this study, design and implement educational programs based on health belief model can increase the performance of women about pap smear test.