This study explores the potential of applying health belief models to studies of mothers who participate in newborn hearing screening (NHS) in order to establish a reference for the future research. The study was designed prospectively, with 653 effective samples enrolled between November 1991 and April 1992 and data collected using a self-constructed questionnaire. The return rate for the questionnaire was 68.6%. Main conclusions include: (1) the decision to participate in newborn hearing screening correlates in a significant manner with potential participant backgrounds and actions clues; (2) ”knowledge of NHS” and ”perceived benefits of action in NHS” were the most important factors in this study associated with NHS participation; (3) subjects who participated in the NHS demonstrated significantly higher scores in ”knowledge of NHS” and ”perceived benefits of action in NHS” than those who did not participate. Significant negative correlation was identified between education level and perceived barriers to joining NHS. Significant positive correlation was observed between education level and NHS knowledge. Also, a significant positive relationship was identified between ”perceived benefits of action in NHS” and both ”clues of inner action” and ”knowledge of NHS”. However, ”perceived barriers to NHS action” was found to share no significant relationship with any of the others. A positive relationship was also identified between ”perceived benefits of action in NHS” and both ”clues of outer action” and ”amount of information resources”; and (4) ”clues of outer action”, ”NHS knowledge”, and ”perceived benefits of NHS action” were found to be the most important indicators affecting study subjects' decision regarding whether or not to join NHS.
