Effects of Web-Based Ovarian Cancer Awareness Education on Women's Health Beliefs and Risk-Reducing Behaviors

This study is a two-arm, parallel-group randomized controlled trial with baseline and follow-up assessments. It will evaluate the effects of a web-based ovarian cancer awareness education program based on the Health Belief Model on women's ovarian cancer awareness, health beliefs, and risk-reducing behaviors. The study will recruit women attending the gynecology outpatient clinic at Izmir University of Health Sciences Tepecik Training and Research Hospital, Turkey. A total of 80 participants will be allocated to the intervention and control groups, with 40 participants in each group. After informed consent and baseline assessments, participants will be randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio using computer-generated simple randomization. Randomization will be performed by a researcher other than the researcher delivering the intervention. Participants will not be told whether their assigned group is designated as the intervention or control group. All participants will receive information about the educational website. However, because access to the website will be provided at different times, participant masking cannot be assured. The researcher performing the statistical analysis will receive data with the groups coded as A and B, and the meaning of these codes will not be disclosed until the analysis is completed. Participants in the intervention group will receive individual usernames and passwords to access the educational website. They will be asked to complete seven sequential modules within four weeks. The modules will cover female reproductive organs, gynecological cancers, ovarian cancer and its risk factors, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment, protective factors and risk-reducing behaviors, and perceived barriers and possible solutions. The educational program will address perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, self-efficacy, and cues to action within the Health Belief Model. Participants will complete each module before proceeding to the next. Module completion will be monitored through the website's administrative panel. An ovarian cancer awareness education guide will also be sent through WhatsApp. Weekly messages and telephone contact will support completion of the program. Participants in the control group will continue to receive routine gynecological care, including clinical assessment, counseling, and diagnostic or treatment services as needed. To maintain contact and reduce loss to follow-up, they will receive weekly educational messages through WhatsApp about general reproductive health topics other than ovarian cancer. They will not have access to the ovarian cancer educational website during the follow-up period. After their final assessment, they will receive the ovarian cancer education guide and access to the website. Both groups will complete assessments at baseline and three months after the end of the four-week education period, approximately four months after baseline. The control group will follow the same assessment schedule. Data collection instruments will include a participant information form, the Ovarian Cancer Awareness Scale, the Cancer Screening Perception Scale, and the Ovarian Cancer Risk-Reducing Behaviors Form. Website usability will be evaluated using the System Usability Scale among participants who use the educational platform. The analysis will examine changes over time and differences between the intervention and control groups in ovarian cancer awareness, health beliefs, and risk-reducing behaviors.