Development and Validation of a Clinical Guideline for Reproductive Health in Natural Disasters: A Mixed Methods Study

Background & aim: Preparing to deal with natural disasters, is important for the health of the society, and a valid clinical guideline which fits the country's conditions can lead to a reduction in complications caused by the aforementioned disasters. Therefore, the present study was conducted to develop and validate the clinical guidelines for reproductive health in natural disasters.Methods: This mixed methods study was carried out in three phases. The first phase was a structured review of literature which systematically reviewed the articles and clinical guidelines related to the reproductive health in disasters. In the second phase, a qualitative study was conducted with the content analysis approach in order to identify the needs related to women's reproductive health in disasters, and a draft clinical guide was prepared. In the third phase, the validation of the prepared draft was carried out by a group of experts using the (RAND) Research and Development technique.Results: The themes obtained included the consequences of facing a disaster and the need to provide comprehensive services. The clinical guideline  consists of 5 chapters including an introduction on the importance of reproductive health in natural disasters, general clinical guidelines, prevention of physical and mental injuries in a crisis, access to reliable sources of information and the availability of the health services provider team. Conclusion: Correct management of crisis, empowering information skills and access to service providers in crises are of particular importance. Therefore, support of health care providers and training of service providers to learn about evidence-based performance in crises and their use is a necessary step to implement the clinical guidelines prepared in the country

The Use of Flaxseed in Gynecology: A Review Article

Background & aim: Flaxseed is the richest source of lignan which is one of the main categories of phytoestrogens. In addition to the estrogenic and anti-estrogenic properties of lignan, it has non-hormonal properties as well. The treatment of menopausal hot flashes and cyclic mastalgia, the reduction in vasomotor symptoms and tumor cell growth and recurrence, the prevention of breast and ovarian cancer,  and the improvement of the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome are some of the indications of this plant. Therefore, the current study aimed to review the effect of flaxseed on the control of menopausal symptoms, premenstrual syndrome as well as breast and ovarian cancers. Methods: In this study, English keywords of mastalgia, mastodynia, ovarian neoplasm, ovarian cancer, breast neoplasm, breast cancer, hot flashes, premenstrual syndrome, flax, flaxseed, lignan, phytoestrogen, and linum usitatissimum along with their Persian equivalents were searched through databases incluing PubMed, Proquest, Scopus, Science Direct, Google Scholar, SID, and Magiran. All the selected articles were the clinical trials and case-control studies performed from 1991 to 2017. Finally, 30 English and 8 Persian studies were reviewed in this study. Results: The results obtained from most studies on this plant showed its positive effects on menopausal symptoms, breast cancer, mastalgia, and premenstrual syndrome. Conclusion: According to the results, it can be concluded that due to the high properties of this plant (i.e., the negligible side effects and safe use of it in recommended amounts), it can be used within the field of obstetrics and gynecology

Relationship between Maternal Hemoglobin Concentration in the Second Trimester of Pregnancy and Neonatal Anthropometric Indices

Introduction: Anthropometric measurements provide useful references for the care of newborns. This would ultimately lead to identifying at risk newborns and help better management. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between second trimester maternal hemoglobin values and neonatal anthropometric indices. Methods: A prospective study was performed on 150 pregnant females at 24 to 28 weeks of gestation, undergoing hemoglobin status test, in Tehran, during years 2013 to 2014. Hemoglobin concentrations in second trimesters and all anthropometric indices of the newborns (birth weight, length, and head circumference) were recorded. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, linear regression analysis and One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Data were analyzed with SPSS v21 and P < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: No correlation was found between neonatal indices and second trimester hemoglobin concentrations. When the effect of independent factors on neonatal anthropometric indices was investigated, it was determined that birth week, parity and history of low birth weight were the factors of most influence (P < 0.05). The infants of females with hemoglobin higher than 13.6 g/dl on the 24th and 28th week of pregnancy had lower anthropometric indices, yet this was not significant. Conclusions: According to our study, there was no significant relationship between mother's hemoglobin concentration during the second trimester of pregnancy and neonatal anthropometric indices

Factors associated with the involvement of women drug users in risky sexual behaviors: a narrative review.

BACKGROUND: Drug use is known as an important underlying factor in the occurrence of risky sexual behaviors. The present study was conducted to identify the factors associated with the involvement of women drug users in risky sexual behaviors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This review was conducted by searching databases of ISI Web of Science, Scopus, Science Direct, Cochrane, PubMed, Scientific Information Database (SID), the Iranian Magazine Database (Magiran), the Iranian Research Institute for Information Science and Technology (IranDoc), and the Iranian Medical Articles Database (IranMedex) and searching through the Google Scholar engine. All the articles published in English and Persian using the keywords including substance use, drug users, addiction, substance use disorders, substance-related disorders, sexual risks, high-risk sexual behavior, HIV risk behavior, unsafe sex, unprotected sex, and risky sex were searched from January 2000 to December 2020. After reviewing the articles, out of 110 articles, 21 articles were selected for final evaluation. RESULTS: Factors related to the involvement of women drug users in risky sexual behaviors were divided into five categories: individual factors, factors related to drug use, inter-personal relationships, gender discrimination, and socio-economic factors. CONCLUSIONS: The results can be used in the field of women's social harms in finding strategies and designing the necessary interventions to prevent risky sexual behaviors in women drug users in different societies and cultural contexts. Also, the results can be used by all researchers who want to study the relationship between these factors and the involvement of women drug users in risky sexual behaviors