Erratum: Determinants of health volunteer training in natural hazard management in Iran

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Why Iranian married women use withdrawal instead of oral contraceptives? A qualitative study from Iran

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Withdrawal as a method of birth control is still used in Iran. The aim of this study was to explore married women's perspectives and attitudes on withdrawal use instead of oral contraceptive (OC) in Tehran, Iran.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This was a qualitative study. Participants were 50 married women, not currently pregnant, not desiring pregnancy and who had been using withdrawal for contraception. Face-to face interviews were conducted to collect data. Content analysis was performed to analyze the data.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Four major themes were extracted from the interviews: advantages, disadvantages, barriers for OC use, and husband-related factors. Advantages of withdrawal use were identified as: easy to use, convenient, ease of access, natural. Even those participants who had experienced unwanted pregnancy while using withdrawal, relied on withdrawal as their contraceptive method. Disadvantages of OC included concerns about side effects. Barriers related to use of OC included the need for medical advice, vaginal examination and daily use. Husband-related factors included: the husband wanted to be the primary decision maker on the number of children and that he preferred withdrawal.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Health providers should address misunderstandings that exist about OC and highlight the non-contraceptive health benefits of OC to balance the information provided for women. We suggest that not only women but also their spouses be advised in family planning programs.</p

Development and validation of psychosocial determinants measures of physical activity among Iranian adolescent girls

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The present study aimed at assessing the psychometric properties of psychosocial determinants of physical activity-related measures in Iranian adolescent girls.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Several measures of psychosocial determinants of physical activity were translated from English into Persian using the back-translation technique. These translated measures were administered to 512 ninth and tenth-grade Iranian high school students.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results of a series of factor analysis showed that the self-efficacy scale contained a single factor, the social support scale contained two factors: family support and friend support, the physical activity 'pros & cons' scale contained two factors: physical activity pros scale and physical activity cons scale, the change strategies scale contained a single factor, the environment scale also contained a single factor. Chronbach's alphas, mean inter-item correlations and test-retest coefficients showed that these solutions were reliable. </p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These preliminary results provide support for using the mentioned scales to measure psychosocial determinants of physical activity in Iranian adolescent girls.</p