This research was guided by the Health Belief Model (HBM). The model is mainly used in health education and health promotion (Glanz, Rimer and Lewis, 2002). The underlying concept of the HBM is that health behaviour is determined by personal beliefs or perceptions about a disease and the strategies available to decrease its occurrence. Personal perception is influenced by the whole range of intrapersonal factors affecting health behaviour. Four perceptions serve as the main constructs of the model. These are perceived seriousness, perceived susceptibility, perceived benefits, and perceived barriers. Each of these perceptions individually or in combination can be used to explain health behaviour.
Perceived seriousness-this construct focuses on an individual’s belief about the seriousness or severity of a disease. While the perception of seriousness is often based on medical information or knowledge, it may also come from beliefs a person has about the difficulties a disease would create or the effects it would have on his or her life in general (McCormick- Brown, 1999).