Effect of Health Belief Model-Based Peer Education on Premenstrual Syndrome

This study aims to examine the effect of peer education based on the Health Belief Model(HBM) on university students' coping skills with premenstrual syndrome (PMS). PMS is acommon health problem that lowers women's quality of life and negatively affects theirsocial and academic performance. The study will be conducted with 56 female studentsstudying at Istanbul Atlas University, utilizing a randomized controlled design.Following the administration of a pre‐test, participants diagnosed with PMS will berandomly assigned to either the intervention or control groups. The intervention groupwill be taught strategies for coping with PMS symptoms through peer education, while thecontrol group will only receive an educational brochure.The training sessions will be structured framework of the Health Belief Model and willcover topics such as the definition, causes, and risk factors of PMS, as well as healthylifestyle habits (nutrition, exercise, stress management). Data will be collected usingpre‐test and post‐test methods, and changes in PMS symptoms will be analyzed using SPSSsoftware. The study is expected to increase students' awareness of PMS and strengthentheir ability to cope with symptoms as a result of peer education.The study duration is planned for 12 months and is projected to be conducted between 2025and 2026. The intervention group will receive peer education based on the Health BeliefModel framework covering topics such as the causes, symptoms, and risk factors of PMS.The training will be delivered in a classroom setting as two sessions conducted biweekly.Lecture, group discussions, and audiovisual materials will be used as educationalmethods.Personal Information Form and the Premenstrual Syndrome Scale will be used as datacollection tools. The scale will be first administered in the pre‐test to evaluate theseverity of the participants' PMS symptoms. Following random assignment, the scale willbe administered three times prior to three menstrual cycles for both intervention andcontrol groups. The obtained data will be analyzed using SPSS software, and differencesbetween groups will be evaluated using independent samples t‐test and analysis ofvariance (ANOVA). The statistical significance level will be accepted as p<0.05.The findings to be obtained from this study are expected to demonstrate the potential ofthe peer education method to increase PMS awareness and strengthen coping skills withsymptoms. The results of the research aim to contribute to the development of healtheducation programs targeted toward university students.