Exploring the Perceptions and Experiences of Women with Gestational Diabetes Regarding Their Sexual Function: A Qualitative Study

Background & aim: Gestational diabetes is is associated with some degree of sexual dysfunction in women. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the perceptions and experiences of women with gestational diabetes regarding their sexual function.Methods: This study was a qualitative research using the conventional content analysis approach and was conducted from April to December 2020 in Mazandaran Province, Iran. The participants included 15 women with gestational diabetes, six key individuals, and two husbands of women with gestational diabetes who were selected using a purposive sampling. The data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews. The content analysis approach was used based on the Graneheim and Lundman (2004) method. Guba and Lincoln's criteria including credibility, transferability, confirmability, and dependability were applied to achieve trustworthiness. MAXQDA10 software was used for data management.Results: Data analysis illustrated four themes: "sexual problems in women with gestational diabetes", "worries and problems caused by gestational diabetes", "non-comprehensive services", and " need to empower the individuals and significant others ". Conclusion: Worries and problems caused by gestational diabetes that develop in women who receive inappropriate and non-comprehensive services can affect their sexual function. Therefore the supportive role of health care providers and significant others are necessary to empower the patients to overcome their sexual problems

Religion, Spirituality and Coping with Breast Cancer: A Phenomenological Study

For downloading the full-text of this article please click here.Background and Objectives: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide and in addition to the physical complications, caused multiple mental and emotional challenges for patients. Present study was performed through phenomenological qualitative approach in a sample of Iranian women to deep exploration and better understanding of coping ways that patients use when face with cancer, with a focus on methods based on religion and spirituality based.Materials and Methods: Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews with 27 eligible patients. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using Van Manen thematic approach. Data collection and analysis were carried out simultaneously. In addition, Maxqda (Ver10) software was used for data management.Results: The mean age of participants was 50±8.77years, ranging from 32 to 68 years. About 22% of these patients had Lumpectomy (remove part of breast tissue) and others (78%), mastectomy (remove of all breast), respectively. By analyzing and extracting the primary codes from the interviews, the final codes were extracted and divided into 6  sub and 2 conceptual categories, and relation between the conceptual categories led to emerge of the study main theme “Transcendence-oriented effort to adjustment”.Conclusion: Breast cancer patients in this study predominantly employed dynamic processes and coping strategies to deal with the reality of disease that had been formed from their religious and spiritual beliefs. Therefore, it is necessary to health care providers, while maintaining respect for patients and considering their spiritual and religious beliefs, make available religious counseling in order to providing spiritual health promotion for patients.Keywords: Spirituality, Religious Attitudes, Coping, Compatibility, Breast Cancer, PhenomenologyFor downloading the full-text of this article please click here

A review on different aspects of men\'s participation in antenatal care

Background & Objective: Nowadays, the participation of men in prenatal care is emphasized by international institutions to improve the health and reduce mortality of mothers and children. The purpose of this study was to review the various aspects of men participation in prenatal care. Methods: All of the articles published since 2005 to 2016 containing full texts which were archived in SID, Medlib, Magiran, IranMedex, Google Scholar and Pubmed were searched with the keywords of “Men” and “the empowerment of women with prenatal care” in both Persian and English languages. After the initial investigation and search on the basis of sources, a total of 7 Persian and 28 English articles were included in this study. Results: The results showed that the participation of men in prenatal care exerts positive effects on mother-infant outcomes. Increasing the expectations of women and core families are of the most important reasons showing the necessity of men participation in prenatal care. However, despite the positive attitude of couples towards men's participation, barriers such as lack of awareness among men and their undefined role in the field of prenatal care, economic and cultural issues and health system problems are the obstacles for men to cooperate in prenatal care. Conclusion: Considering the important role of men in different areas of women's life and the positive effects of their participation in reproductive health of women, different strategies should be used to promote men's participation in order to introduce them to different aspects of fertility. Therefore, further research in this field seems necessary

Domestic Violence against women: Review of theories, prevalence and its effective factors

AbstractBackground and aimViolence against women is a human rights issue, but it is also a health issue and its physical, mental and social consequences can put women, family and society’s health in danger. This article aims to review domestic violence phenomenon with a psychological and social approach and estimates its prevalence.

Sexual-Reproductive Health Belief Model of college students

Sexual- reproductive health of youth is one of the most unknown aspects of our community, while the world, including our country is faced with the risk of AIDS spreading. The aim of this study was to describe Health Belief Model (HBM) of the students about sexual-reproductive health behaviors and evaluate the ability of the model in predicting related behaviors. By using quota sampling, 1117 male and female students of Qazvin Medical Science and International universities were included in the study in 1991. A self-completed questionnaire was prepared containing close questions based on HBM components including perceived threats (susceptibility and severity) of related diseases, perceived reproductive benefits and barriers and self efficacy of youth about reproductive health. A total of 645 of participants were female and 457 were male (Mean age 21.4±2.4 and 22.7±3.5, respectively). The Health Belief Model of the students showed that they perceived a moderate threat for AIDS and venereal diseases and their health outcomes. Most of them perceived the benefits of reproductive health behaviors. They believed that the ability of youth in considering reproductive health is low or moderate. However, they noted to some barriers for spreading of reproductive health in youth including inadequacy of services. Boys felt a higher level of threat for acquiring the AIDS and venereal diseases in compare to girls, but girls had a higher knowledge about these diseases and their complications. The Health Belief Model of the students with premarital intercourse behavior was not significantly different with the students without this behavior (Mann-Withney, P<0.05). Female students and the students without the history of premarital intercourse had significantly more positive attitude towards abstinence, comparing to male students and students with the history of premarital intercourse, respectively (Mann-Withney, P<0.05). Seventy five percent of students believed in respecting to ethics as the best way of prevention of AIDS and venereal diseases. HBM was successful in describing the students’ beliefs about reproductive health and related disease. However, it seemed that HBM had a limited capability in predicting reproductive health behaviors, at least for students and/or in our community. Regarding to the positive attitude of most students toward abstinence, especially among female students, it seemed that socio-cultural components are more important than threats for AIDS and venereal diseases. ‏Therefore, developing HBM by integrating the model by related cultural components is recommende

Strategies to improve quality of childbirth care

Background: Access to affordable and quality health care is one of the most important ways for reducing maternal and child mortality. The purpose of this study was to provide strategies to promote the quality of care during childbirth in Lorestan province in 2011. Materials and Methods: This research was a mixed method (quantitative, qualitative), study in which quality of 200 care during childbirth in hospitals of Lorestan Province were evaluated. Data gathered through self-made tools (Checklists prepared according to the guidelines of the ministry of health). Descriptive statistics and SPSS software were used to data analysis.In the second part of the study which was qualitative, interview with service providers, hospital officials and high-ranking officials of Lorestan university of medical sciences (decision makers) was used to discuss strategies to improve the quality of care. Results: The results showed that the care of the first stage delivery in %54.5, second stage %57 and third stage 66% were in accordance with the desired status and care in this three stages was of moderate quality. Based on the interviews, the officials who are in charge of Lorestan university of medical sciences, proposed strategies such as financial incentives and in-service training of midwives as suitable strategies to improve quality of services. Conclusion: According to the results, strategies such as financial incentives, increased use of private sector services to reduce the workload of the public sector and increase of quality and use of more in-service training, to improve the quality of services, are recommended

دین، معنویت و مقابله با سرطان پستان: یک مطالعه‌ی پدیدارشناسی

Background and Objectives: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide and in addition to the physical complications, caused multiple mental and emotional challenges for patients. Present study was performed through phenomenological qualitative approach in a sample of Iranian women to deep exploration and better understanding of coping ways that patients use when face with cancer, with a focus on methods based on religion and spirituality based. Materials and Methods: Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews with 27 eligible patients. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using Van Manen thematic approach. Data collection and analysis were carried out simultaneously. In addition, Maxqda (Ver10) software was used for data management. Results: The mean age of participants was 50±8.77years, ranging from 32 to 68 years. About 22% of these patients had Lumpectomy (remove part of breast tissue) and others (78%), mastectomy (remove of all breast), respectively. By analyzing and extracting the primary codes from the interviews, the final codes were extracted and divided into 6 &nbsp;sub and 2 conceptual categories, and relation between the conceptual categories led to emerge of the study main theme “Transcendence-oriented effort to adjustment”. Conclusion: Breast cancer patients in this study predominantly employed dynamic processes and coping strategies to deal with the reality of disease that had been formed from their religious and spiritual beliefs. Therefore, it is necessary to health care providers, while maintaining respect for patients and considering their spiritual and religious beliefs, make available religious counseling in order to providing spiritual health promotion for patients.سابقه و اهداف: سرطان پستان، شایع­ترین سرطان زنان در سراسر دنیا است و بیماران مبتلا را علاوه بر عارضه­های جسمیِ ناشی از این بیماری، با چالش­های متعدد روانی و عاطفی مواجه می­سازد. به منظور کندوکاوی عمیق برای درک بهتر راه­های مقابله با بیماری در مبتلایان به این سرطان، با تمرکز بر روش­های مبتنی بر مذهب و معنویت، مطالعه­ی حاضر با رویکرد کیفی و پدیدارشناسی بر روی نمونه­یی از زنان ایرانی انجام شد. مواد و روش‌ها: اطلاعات از طریق مصاحبه­ی نیمه ساختاریافته­­ی عمیق با 27 بیمار واجد شرایط جمع­آوری شد. مصاحبه­ها رونویسی شد و با استفاده از رویکرد تحلیل تماتیک ون منن مورد تحلیل قرار گرفت. جمع­آوری و تحلیل داده­ها نیز به­طور هم­زمان انجام یافت. همچنین برای مدیریت داده­ها از نرم­افزار مکس کیو دا (نسخه­ی شماره­ی 10) استفاده شد. یافته‌ها: میانگین سنّی شرکت­کنندگان در پژوهش، 77/8±50 سال بود که آن­ها در دامنه­ی سنّی 32 تا 68 سال بودند. در حدود 22% از این بیماران، لامپکوتومی (برداشتن بخشی از بافت پستان) و دیگران (78%)، ماستکتومی ( برداشتن همه­ی پستان) شده بودند. با بررسی و استخراج کدهای اولیه­ی حاصل از مصاحبه­ها، کدهای نهایی استخراج شد و در شش طبقه­ی فرعی و دو طبقه­ی مفهومی جای گرفت، که ارتباط بین این طبقه­های مفهومی منجر به ظهور درونمایه­ی اصلی مطالعه، به نام «تلاش تعالی­گرایانه برای سازگاری» شد. نتیجه‌گیری: مبتلایان به سرطان پستان در این مطالعه به­طور غالب از فرایندهایی پویا و راهبردهایی مقابله­یی برای کنارآمدن با واقعیت بیماری بهره می­بردند، که شکل­گرفته از آموزه­های مذهبی و باورهای معنوی آن­ها بود. بنابراین، لازم است عرضه کنندگان خدمات سلامت به این بیماران، ضمن حفظ احترام بیماران و در نظر گرفتن اعتقادات و نگرش معنوی و دینی آن­ها، امکان دسترسی به مشاوره­های مذهبی را برای ارتقای سلامت معنوی این دسته از بیماران فراهم سازند. &nbsp

Relationship between Maternal Blood Vitamin D Levels and Pregnancy Outcomes: A Review Article

Background & Objective: Vitamin D deficiency is common during pregnancy and at delivery. Recent data suggest that vitamin D deficiency in mothers is associated with some adverse pregnancy outcomes. This study is designed to determine the relationship between the low maternal serum vitamin D levels and several pregnancy outcomes such as: pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, bacterial vaginosis and caesarean section. Material & Methods: This study is a review of the observational study (descriptive and analytic) articles published during 10 years (2000-2014) in English with full text which were indexed in PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, Iranmedex, Science Direct and and the SID databases. Results: A collection of 25 observational study from 168 articles which were related to 25-hydroxyvitamin D and adverse pregnancy outcomes were studied. The results indicated that the low levels of serum 25(OH)D in pregnant women is a risk factor for pre-eclampsia, bacterial vaginosis and cesarean section, but in relation to preeclapsia this indication is focuse on the second and the third trimester of pregnancy and there is no agreement about the risk for gestational diabetes and vitamin D deficiency among all the researches. Conclusion: Several pregnancy outcomes may be related to mothers&rsquo; serum 25(OH)D levels. However there is a significant need to perform more researches such as randomized clinical trials to investigate the effect of supplementation and screening on the maternal and neonatal outcomes

The Lived Experience of Iranian Women Confronting Breast Cancer Diagnosis

Introduction: The populations who survive from breast cancer are growing; nevertheless, they mostly encounter with many cancer related problems in their life, especially after early diagnosis and have to deal with these problems. Except for the disease entity, several socio-cultural factors may affect confronting this challenge among patients and the way they deal with. Present study was carried out to prepare clear understanding of Iranian women's lived experiences confronting breast cancer diagnosis and coping ways they applied to deal with it. Methods: This study was carried out by using qualitative phenomenological design. Data gathering was done through purposive sampling using semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 18 women who survived from breast cancer. The transcribed interviews were analyzed using Van Manen’s thematic analysis approach. Results: Two main themes were emerged from the interviews including "emotional turbulence" and "threat control". The first, comprised three sub themes including uncertainty, perceived worries, and living with fears. The second included risk control, recurrence control, immediate seeking help, seeking support and resource to spirituality. Conclusion: Emotional response was the immediate reflection to cancer diagnosis. However, during post-treatment period a variety of emotions were not uncommon findings, patients' perceptions have been changing along the time and problem-focused coping strategies have replaced. Although women may experience a degree of improvement and adjustment with illness, the emotional problems are not necessarily resolved, they may continue and gradually engender positive outcomes