using the theory of planned behavior to predict sexual issues between treatment staff and postmenopausal women: a mixed methods analysis

Background: the theory of planned behavior (tpb) is an effective framework for identifying behavior and related influencing factors. objectives: the aim of this study was to develop and psychometrically test a new scale using tpb, comprising two types of measurement [direct and belief-based (indirect)], to assess treatment staff's intention to converse on sexual issues with postmenopausal women. methods: this is a mixed exploratory-sequential study with three phases: a qualitative stage, an instrument development phase, and phase 3 (predictability of the tpb-based model). the first stage included a qualitative section performed using the content analysis method on 27 participants (13 midwives and 14 general practitioners). in the instrument development stage, questions were designed based on the findings of the qualitative stage. it was administered to a sample of 10 individuals to evaluate face and content validity. in the third stage of the study, a correlational study was used to predict sexual discussion behavior based on tpb in a sample of 208 individuals. data analysis was performed using amos software and spss. results: from data analysis, 226 codes, 54 sub-categories, and 18 categories were obtained, which were classified under the themes of attitude, perceived behavioral control, intention, and behavior. in the instrument development stage, 121 questions and five factors were developed based on tpb. in the third stage of the study, structural analysis showed that the five-factor model (including attitude, abstract norms, perceived behavioral control, intention, and behavior) had a sufficient fit [adjusted goodness-of-fit index (agfi) = 0.89, root mean square error of approximation (rmsea) = 0.07, comparative fit index (cfi) = 0.9, goodness-of-fit index (gfi) = 0.94], and the degree of freedom was equal to 2.87 in chi-square. attitude had positive and significant effects, and perceived behavioral control had significant negative effects on the intention to discuss sexual issues. behavioral intention had positive and significant effects on the studied behavior, but perceived behavioral control had negative and significant effects on the behavior. the multiple predicted coefficient value (r2) was 24% and 37% for the intention to talk about sexual issues and start talking about sexual issues, respectively. conclusions: the questionnaire on predicting conversation on sexual issues by the medical staff demonstrated good predictive power.