Abstract:
Allergic rhinitis is a chronic disease with direct negative effects on school-aged children. For these children, enhancing self-efficacy to promote self-care and preventive behaviors is important. The purpose of this quasi-experimental research was to study the effect of program enhancing selfefficacy in self-care on preventive allergy behavior among school-aged children with allergic rhinitis. Participants were students age 8-12 with allergic rhinitis who received respiratory system and allergy care in the childrens clinic of Charoenkrung Pracharak Hospital between July and November 2563. Students who met the inclusion criteria were randomly assigned into experimental (n = 30) and control (n= 30) groups. The experimental group received a program enhancing self-efficacy in self-care. The control group received routine care. Data were collected by the researcher via a preventive allergy behavior questionnaire, which had a reliability coefficient of .80. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, paired t-tests, and independent t-tests. For the experimental group, the mean post-test score for preventive allergy behavior was significantly higher than for the control group (t 58= 10.44, p= < 001). In addition, for the experimental group, the post-test scores mean score was significantly higher than the pre-test mean score (t 29= 13.36, p< .001). Based on these results, the program enhancing self-efficacy in self-care is effective. Healthcare providers for school-aged children could use this program in appropriate contexts to promote positive preventive allergy behavior in school-aged children with allergic rhinitis and minimize the likelihood of relapse.