Background and
Objective: Hepatitis
B prevention is­ a very important issue in the young women, since it can
transfer from mother to infant. This study was aimed to determine factors
associated with preventive behaviors of hepatitis B among the high school girls
during the academic year 2005-2006 in the Arak, Iran.   Materials and Methods: This
cross-sectional study was performed in five high schools in the Arak city. A
total of 590 students from the first and second grades, who agreed to take part
in the study, enrolled using a cluster sampling method. The data were collected
by a questionnaire, including constructs of perceived severity (15 items),
perceived susceptibility (eight items), perceived barriers and benefits (seven
items), behavioral intention
(10 items), and self-efficiency (two items).   Results: The
results showed that the mean age of students was 16.27 ± 0.72 years. Only 5.4%
of students had received the hepatitis B vaccination in three intervals and
more than one quarter (28.1%) of them were never used their personal equipment
when they have gone to the barber salon. The constructs of perceived barriers
(p=0.001), perceived susceptibility (p=0.022) and self-efficacy (p=0.001) were
significantly associated with preventive behaviors of hepatitis B. The perceived
barriers (3.76±0.60) had the maximum score, while self-efficacy (2.13± 0.87)
had the minimum score.    Conclusion: Due
to the low range of preventive behaviors of hepatitis B and since these
behaviors were associated with constructs of perceived barriers, perceived
susceptibility and self-efficacy, adult girls must know about real preventive
barriers of this disease and suitable ways have to be prepared to perceive the
susceptibility of this disease and developing of self-efficiency.