Journal of Preventive Medicine

Introduction: Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men after lung cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death in men. The aim of this study was to investigate and explain the preventive behaviors of prostate cancer based on the health belief model (HBM) among Military men.
Methods: This analytical cross-sectional study was conducted on 253 military men who were selected using stratified random sampling method in the Hormozgan province in 2016. Data collection was performed via a questionnaire, which included questions regarding demographic characteristics, HBM constructs, and prostate cancer preventive behaviors. Data were analyzed using descriptive (frequency, mean, and standard deviation) and analytical statistical methods (linear and Pearson regression coefficients) in SPSS software.
Results: The study showed a significant relationship between the mean scores of perceived susceptibility, benefits, and self-efficacy and the military Men's performance on adopting the preventive behaviors of prostate cancer (P–Value<0.05). Also among the health belief model constructs, perceived barriers (P–Value<0.001) and self-efficacy (P–Value<0.001) were the most important predictor of prostate cancer preventive behavior among military men.
Conclusion: This study suggests that health service professionals should pay attention to predictive constructs including perceived barriers and benefits and self-efficacy in designing and implementing health education programs regarding the prostate cancer.