Effects of an Osteoporosis Prevention Program Based on Health Belief Model Among Females

Background: Several studies reported the efficacy of osteoporosis prevention interventions in improvement of people’s preventive behaviors. However, there are reports that the interventions were not successful in altering osteoporosis health beliefs and preventive behaviors. Objectives: The current study aimed to assess the effect of a program based on health beliefs model (HBM) on females’ health beliefs and performances about osteoporosis preventive behaviors. Patients and Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted on 120 patients registered in two healthcare centers of Fasa, Fars Province, Iran in 2014. A questionnaire including demographic information and HBM constructs was employed to measure the females’ beliefs regarding nutrition and walking performance in prevention of osteoporosis bone mineral density (BMD) measured at the lumbar spine and femur before, immediately after the intervention, and six months after the intervention. Data were analyzed using Chi-square, independent samples t-, Mann-Whitney U tests and repeated measures ANOVA. Results: Immediately and six months after the intervention, a significant increase was found in the intervention group’s health beliefs, nutrition, and walking performances to prevent osteoporosis. Six months after the intervention, lumbar spine BMD T-score increased to 0.127 ± 0.061 in the intervention group but reduced to -0.043 ± 0.059 in the control group. Also, hip BMD T-score increased to 0.125 ± 0.088 in the intervention group, but decreased to -0.028 ± 0.052 in control group. Conclusions: The current study showed the effectiveness of HBM in adoption of nutrition and walking behaviors as well as the increase of bone density to prevent osteoporosis

Evaluation of quality of life in patients with coronary artery bypass surgery using controlled clinical trial

Quality of life has emerged as an important concept and outcome in health and health care. This study was performed to evaluate the ability of the health education program to improve quality of life of patients with coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG). In pre operation period, 70 patients were randomized in two groups, experimental and control group (35 patients in each). The demographic information, SF-36 and Nottingham Health Profile questionnaire were administered before surgery to all patients. Patients in the experimental group received the educational intervention according to Mico's education planning model. These patients were followed up to 1-month. At result, SF-36, Nottingham Health Profile questionnaires were administered 1-month after education by patients again. Significant improvements in quality of life between two groups, as measured by the Nottingham Health Profile, were seen in energy (P < 0.001), pain (P < 0.006), emotional reaction (P < 0.00001), sleep (P < 0.01), physical mobility (P < 0.00001) and total average quality of life (P < 0.00001). Significant improvements in quality of life between two groups, as measured by the SF-36, were seen in physical function (P < 0.00001), role limitations resulting from emotional status (P < 0.007), role limitations resulting from physical status (P < 0.05), mental health (P < 0.03), vitality (P < 0.02) and total average quality of life (P < 0.02). The findings demonstrate that health education result is improved quality of life for patients with CABG. © 2007 Tehran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

Does relaxation education in anxious primigravid Iranian women influence adverse pregnancy outcomes? A randomized controlled trial

Context: Maternal anxiety and stress are found to be predictors of adverse pregnancy outcomes, including low birth weight and prematurity. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to determine whether relaxation education in anxious pregnant Iranian women in their first pregnancy affects selected pregnancy outcomes, including birth weight, preterm birth, and surgical delivery rate. SUBJECTS: A total of 110 obstetrically and medically low-risk primigravid women in Iran with a high anxiety level demonstrated by Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory were randomly assigned into experimental and control groups. METHOD: In this randomized controlled trial, the experimental group received routine prenatal care along with 7-week applied relaxation training sessions, while the control group received only routine prenatal care. Anxiety and perceived stress were measured by preeducational and posteducational intervention. Data related to pregnancy outcomes include birth weight, gestational age at birth, and type of delivery. RESULTS: Significant reductions in low birth weight, cesarean section, and/or instrumental extraction were found in the experimental group compared with the control group. No significant differences were found in the rate of preterm birth. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest beneficial effects of nurse-led relaxation education sessions during the prenatal period. This intervention could serve as a resource for improving pregnancy outcomes in women with high anxiety. © 2006 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc

Introducing a new measure for assessing self-efficacy in response to air pollution hazards for pregnant women

A self-efficacy instrument should be condition-specific. There are several instruments for measuring self-efficacy, but none are air pollution-specific. This study aimed to develop a self-efficacy measure for assessing pregnant women's responses to air pollution hazards. A random sample of pregnant women aged between 18 and 35 years attending three prenatal care centers were entered into the study. Prenatal care centers randomly selected from a list of centers located in different geographical regions of Tehran, Iran. After careful consideration and performing content and face validity, a 4-item measure was developed and participants completed the questionnaire. Reliability was estimated using internal consistency and validity was assessed by performing confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and known group comparison. In all 200 eligible pregnant women were studied. The mean age of participants was 26.9 (SD = 4.8) years and it was 27.9 (SD = 9.1) weeks for gestational age. The findings showed almost perfect results for both content validity ratio (CVR = 1) and content validity index (CVI = 1). The confirmatory factor analysis indicated a good fit to the data, and known group comparison revealed satisfying results. Internal consistency as measured by the Cronbach's alpha coefficient was found to be 0.74. In general, the findings suggest that this new generated scale is a reliable and valid specific measure of self-efficacy in response to air pollution hazards for pregnant women. However, further studies are needed to establish stronger psychometric properties for the questionnaire. © 2013 Araban et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

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

No abstract available

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

Changes in self-efficacy and decisional balance following an intervention to increase consumption of calcium-rich foods

In this randomized control study the changes in Transtheoretical Model (TTM; Prochaska & DiClemente, 1983) constructs (Self-Efficacy, Decisional Balance) after a tailored stagebased education program to increase calcium consumption in 40-65-year-old women were investigated. Postintervention, significantly more of the experimental group in comparison to the control group improved their calcium consumption stage of change. In the experimental group self-efficacy and pros of calcium consumption increased and cons decreased for those who had positive progression in stages of change but these constructs remained unchanged in individuals in the control group. The tailored education based on the TTM is an effective method of assisting women to progress through the calcium-rich foods consumption stages of change and can cause more actualized results for self-efficacy, pros and cons in the manner predicted by TTM

Design and determine validity and reliability of safety locus of control scale in Isfahan Steel Company workers

Background and aimsThe degree to which a person perceives that the outcomes of the situations they experience are under their personal control is a psychological variable known asLocus of Control (LOC). Safety LOC is the construct that specifically address the internal andexternal LOC in industrial domain. Previous research suggest that safety locus of control can be assessed and used to predict safe behaviors.The main aim of this study was designing, validating, and determining the reliability of safety locus of control scale.MethodsFour hundred workers of Isfahan Steel Company participated in this study. The reliability coefficients were calculated in two different methods: test-retest and Cronbach alpha. In order to survey validity of the scale we used three methods including face validity, content validity and construct validity.ResultsWe established the content validity of the Persian translation by translating (and then back-translating) each item from the English version into the Persian version. Exploratory principal components analysis yielded a three-factor structure that explaining a considerable proportion of the total variance (63.5). Moreover the fit indices of the Confirmatory FactorAnalysis turn out were sufficient to support three-factor structure. In addition, the reliability results were acceptable, too.ConclusionIn most studies, designing, validating and determining the reliability of scales are time consuming and costly and if there are valid and reliable scales in different topics, could avoid repetitious works in researches.The results showed that the reliability and validity of Safety Locus of Control was acceptable and respectable and is suggested as an applicable scale forindustrial psychology and safety studies in Iran

"EFFECT OF A HEALTH EDUCATION PROGRAM ON QUALITY OF LIFE IN PATIENTS UNDERGOING CORONARY ARTERY BYPASS SURGERY "

Quality of life has emerged as an important concept and outcome in health and health care. This study was performed to evaluate the ability of the health education program to improve quality of life of patients with coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG). In pre operation period, 70 patients were randomized in two groups, experimental and control group (35 patients in each). The demographic information, SF-36 and Nottingham Health Profile questionnaire were administered before surgery to all patients. Patients in the experimental group received the educational intervention according to Mico’s education planning model. These patients were followed up to 1-month. At result, SF-36, Nottingham Health Profile questionnaires were administered 1-month after education by patients again. Significant improvements in quality of life between two groups, as measured by the Nottingham Health Profile, were seen in energy (P &lt; 0.001), pain (P &lt; 0.006), emotional reaction (P &lt; 0.00001), sleep (P &lt; 0.01), physical mobility (P &lt; 0.00001) and total average quality of life (P &lt; 0.00001). Significant improvements in quality of life between two groups, as measured by the SF-36, were seen in physical function (P &lt; 0.00001), role limitations resulting from emotional status (P &lt; 0.007), role limitations resulting from physical status (P &lt; 0.05), mental health (P &lt; 0.03), vitality (P &lt; 0.02) and total average quality of life (P &lt; 0.02). The findings demonstrate that health education result is improved quality of life for patients with CABG

Perceived stress, self-efficacy and its relations to psychological well-being status in Iranian male high school students

Psychological stress has been found to be associated with a variety of ailments and health outcomes in adolescents. This study investigated the relationships between perceived stress, general self-efficacy and mental health status among Iranian male adolescents recruited from midtown high schools in Tehran who studied in 12th grade (N = 148). Pupils completed three questionnaires for assessing perceived stress (PSS-14; Cohen, Kamarck, & Mermelstein, 1983), general self-efficacy (GSE; Schwarzer & Jerusalem, 1995) and psychological well-being (GHQ-28; Goldberg & Hillier, 1979). Statistical analysis revealed that greater stress was associated with lower general self-efficacy and lower mental health status. A significant inverse relationship between self-efficacy and general health was found among these students. Results are discussed in relation to their implications for effective mental health education (e.g., stress management training) for adolescents. © Society for Personality Research (Inc.)