predicting dental caries preventive behaviors among pregnant women based on self-efficacy and the theory of planned behavior

Background and objectives: pregnant women’s oral and dental hygiene is of great importance to maternal and neonatal health. this study aimed to predict dental caries preventive behaviors among pregnant women based on self-efficacy and the theory of planned behavior. methods: this cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study was conducted in 2016 on 258 pregnant women recruited from comprehensive healthcare centers in birjand, iran. sampling was done via multistage random sampling. data collection instrument was a researcher-made questionnaire developed based on self-efficacy and the theory of planned behavior. the content validity of the instrument was approved by 10 faculty members and its reliability was approved with a cronbach’s alpha of 0.77. pearson correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analysis were conducted via the spss software (v. 19.0) to analyze the data at a significance level of less than 0.05. results: the mean of participants’ age was 27.6 ± 5.1 and the mean of the decayed, missing, and filled teeth index was 5.4 ± 3.5. regression analysis showed that self-efficacy and the constructs of the theory of planned behavior explained 47% of the total variance of the intention to show dental caries preventive behaviors. the strongest predictors of behavioral intention were self-efficacy (r^2 = 0.34) and the subjective norm construct of the theory (r^2 = 0.313). conclusions: self-efficacy and subjective norm are the strongest predictors of dental caries preventive behaviors among pregnant women. the combination of self-efficacy and the theory of planned behavior can provide a useful framework for developing and implementing educational interventions for the prevention of dental caries among pregnant women and the promotion of maternal and neonatal health.