Effect of an Information–Motivation–Behavioral-Skills Program on Scrub Typhus Prevention Practices Among Highland Working-Age
Keywords:
information-motivation-behavioral skills program, scrub typhus prevention, working-age, highland communitiesAbstract
This quasi-experimental study employed a two-group pretest–posttest design to compare scrub typhus preventive practice scores among working-age adults who received an Information–Motivation–Behavioral Skills (IMB) model–based program before and after the intervention, and with those who received routine health education. The participants consisted of 58 working-age adults aged 35–59 years living in the highland areas of Mae Suai District, Chiang Rai Province. They were selected through purposive sampling and assigned to an experimental group (n = 28) and a control group (n = 30). The research instruments included an IMB-based intervention program and a scrub typhus preventive practice questionnaire with a content validity index of 1.00 and a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.84. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test, and the independent samples t-test.
The results demonstrated that the experimental group had significantly higher posttest preventive practice scores than both the pretest and the control group (p < .001). These findings indicated that the IMB model–based program was effective in promoting scrub typhus preventive behaviors among working-age adults and could be applied in community settings.
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