en Gastroentrology Gastroentrology Original Article Original Article <p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family:times new roman,times,serif">&nbsp;<strong><em><span style="color:blue">Background: </span></em></strong>Among all cancers, malignancies of gastrointestinal tract are the most common cancer among Iranian population. Dietary behavior is thought to be the most important risk factor in gastric cancer. Fear and perceived severity are two important constructs of the protection motivation theory (PMT). Despite the evidence of the impact of these two constructs in modifying dietary habits against gastric cancer, their efficiency is not well established. Therefore, the present study was designed to determine the efficiency of the mentioned constructs.</span></p> <p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family:times new roman,times,serif"><strong><em><span style="color:blue">Methods:</span></em></strong> This cross-sectional study was performed on 360 participants (180 males and 180 females) aged over 30 years old who presented to health centers in Babol, Iran in 2014. They were selected by a cluster sampling method in a population covered by health centers in Babol. Data collection was done using a questionnaire with acceptable reliability and validity, designed by a researcher based&nbsp;on two constructs of protection motivation theory. The data were analyzed by SPSS Version 20 using descriptive and analytical statistics such as ANOVA, linear and logistic regression analysis.</span></p> <p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family:times new roman,times,serif"><strong><em><span style="color:blue">Results:</span></em></strong> The participants who entered in the study achieved 38.6 and 69.7% of the scores of fear and perceived severity, respectively. There was a significant difference between perceived severity with level of education (p<0.05). There was a significant inverse correlation between perceived severity with nutritional high risk behavior associated with gastric cancer in the significant level of 0.05 (r=-0.165). The constructs of perceived severity and fear predicted 38% of the variance of nutritional high risk behaviors associated with gastric cancer.</span></p> <p dir="ltr"><span style="font-family:times new roman,times,serif"><strong><em><span style="color:blue">Conclusion: </span></em></strong>Constructs of fear and perceived severity of protection motivation theory with predicting 38% of the variance of nutritional high risk behaviors had an effective role against gastric cancer and may help in the design and implementation of educational programs for the prevention of gastric cancer.</span></p> Perceived Severity, Fear, Gastric Cancer, Protection Motivation Theory 201 208 http://caspjim.com/browse.php?a_code=A-10-196-2&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Mohamad Hosein Baghiani-Moghadam baghianimoghadam@yahoo.com 10031947532846005405 10031947532846005405 No Department of Health Education and Promotion, Shahid Sadoughi Yazd University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran Seyed Jalil Seyedi-Andi dr.seyedi1390@gmail.com 10031947532846005406 10031947532846005406 Yes Department of Health Education and Promotion, Shahid Sadoughi Yazd University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran Seyed Javad Shokri-Shirvani javadshokry@gmail.com 10031947532846005407 10031947532846005407 No Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran Sorayya Khafri khafri@yahoo.com 10031947532846005408 10031947532846005408 No Department of Statistics, Faculty of Medicine, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran Reza Ghadimi rezaghadimi@yahoo.com 10031947532846005409 10031947532846005409 No Social determinants of Health research center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran Hadi Parsian parsian@yahoo.com 10031947532846005410 10031947532846005410 No Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran