Journal of Education and Community Health
Year:2017 | Volume:4 | Issue:3 |Papers Count:8

Background and Objective: Preeclampsia (PE) is the most common complication of pregnancy and one of the top three causes of maternal death. Considering the high prevalence of PE, this study was conducted to determine the effect of nutrition training program for the prevention of PE on the nutritional behaviors of pregnant women in Pol-e dokhtar, Iran, 2017.Materials and Methods: This quasi-experimental study was carried out among 120 pregnant women in their third trimester of pregnancy referred to the healthcare centers of Pol-e dokhtar, Iran, in 2017. The participants were randomly assigned into two groups of intervention and control (60 individuals per group). The subjects were selected through cluster sampling method, and data were collected using a questionnaire developed by the researcher including questions about the participants’ demographic characteristics, knowledge, attitude, and function. Data analysis was performed using Chi-squared, Fisher’s exact test, independent samples t-test, and paired t-test by the help of SPSS software, version 16.Results: The results showed significant differences between the groups in terms of the level of knowledge, attitude, and function (P<0.001). Additionally, there was a significant difference between the pre- and post-intervention scores of knowledge, attitude, and function in the intervention group (P<0.001).Conclusion: Educational intervention was effective in the prevention of PE in pregnant women through changing their nutritional behaviors. Therefore, it is suggested to educate pregnant women; moreover, further studies are recommended to confirm the results.

Background and Objective: Standard precautions are a set of basic strategies for preventing occupational exposure in pre-hospital emergency staff. The aim of this study was to determine the predictive factors for controlling infection based on the health belief model.Materials and Methods: In a descriptive-analytic study, 84 pre-hospital emergency staff members were selected through the census sampling method in Hamadan, Iran, 2017. Data collection tool was a self-report questionnaire including sections on demographic information, awareness, health belief model constructs, and practice. To analyze the data, independent t-test, Pearson correlation coefficient, and linear regression were run in SPSS, version 21.Results: The mean age of the subjects was 31.64±7.63 years. The level of awareness about the standard precautions for infection control was poor (mean: 46.85±15.13), while the practice level was moderate (mean: 55.16±12.73). There was a significant relationship between practice and the constructs of perceived benefits, cues to action, perceived sensitivity, and perceived self-efficacy (P<0.05). Further, perceived benefits was significantly association with awareness (P=0.009). However, the results of linear regression analysis were not significant (P>0.05).Conclusion: Observance of the standard precautions for controlling infection among pre-hospital emergency staff can be improved by reinforcing the constructs of perceived benefits, perceived susceptibility, perceived self-efficacy, and cues to action.

Background and Objective: Due to the growing elderly population and the increasing age-related disabilities, considering age-related social isolation and the role of health is important. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between social isolation and health in the elderly in Tehran, Iran.Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional, correlational study was conducted in 2017 among 382 elderlies aged 65 years old and above in Tehran, Iran. The participants were selected through the multi-stage cluster sampling method. The data collection tool was Goldberg General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), Activities of Daily Living Questionnaire (ADL), and Keizer Social Health Questionnaire. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 22 using descriptive and analytical statistics and Pearson correlation coefficient.Results: Overall, 52.4% of the respondents had physical health, 56.8% had social health, and 60.5% had mental health, and the mean social isolation in the elderly was about 62%. The results of Pearson correlation coefficient indicated a significant inverse relationship between mental health (P=0.001, r=0.456) and social isolation (P=0.017, r=0.325) among the elderly. In other words, with increasing mental and social health, the sense of social isolation among the elderly is reduced.Conclusion: There is a reverse relationship between health and social isolation in the elderly and having mental and social health can have a positive impact on reducing social isolation among this vulnerable stratum.

Background and Objective: Infertility is known as an important stressor threatening the personal, marital, familial, and social stability in all cultures around the world. The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of emotionally focused couple therapy on marital commitment and couple burnout among infertile couples.Materials and Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted on 30 infertile couples referring to the private centers of infertility in Qom, Iran, from September 2015 to September 2016, using pretest-postest design with a control group. The study population was selected through purposive sampling technique, and then randomly assigned into the experimental (n=15 couples) and control experimental (n=15 couples) groups. All participants filled out the Dimensions of Commitment Inventory and Couple Burnout Measure. In addition, the couples in the experimental group attended 10 emotionally focused couple therapy sessions performed twice a week. The data were analyzed using the multivariate analysis of covariance and univariate analysis of covariance.Results: The results of the multivariate analysis of covariance showed that emotionally focused couple therapy significantly increased the posttest mean scores of marital commitment and its subscales (i.e., personal commitment, moral commitment, and structural commitment) in the experimental group (P<0.05). Additionally, according to the univariate analysis of covariance, there was a statistically significant difference between the experimental and control groups in terms of the mean scores of the couple burnout at the posttest stage (P<0.01).Conclusion: As the findings indicated, the emotionally focused couple therapy can improve marital commitment and decrease couple burnout.

Background and Objective: Lifestyle is one of the factors playing an important role in disease involvement and treatment. In this study, we aimed to compare health-promoting lifestyle between HIV-positive and HIV-negative individuals in Tehran, Iran.Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 147 HIV-positive individuals who referred to Imam Khomeini Hospital of Tehran, Iran, and 150 HIV-negative individuals during 2014 to 2016. We used the Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile II (HPLP-II) questionnaire, which encompasses six domains of health responsibility, physical activity, nutrition, interpersonal relationships, spiritual growth, and stress management. The participants were selected using the convenience sampling method. To analyze the data, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was run in SPSS, version 22.Results: MANOVA reflected a significant difference between HIV-positive and HIV-negative individuals in lifestyle (P<0.001). The two groups were different in terms of health responsibility (F [1, 245]=42.44, P<0.001) and physical activity (F [1, 245]=6.03, P<0.05), with HIV-positive obtaining lower scores than the HIV-negative patients. However, the two groups did not differ significantly with regards to the nutrition, interpersonal relationships, spiritual growth, and stress management domains (P>0.05).Conclusion: Considering the limited data on the lifestyle of HIV-positive patients in Iran, awareness regarding various lifestyle aspects of these individuals can yield valuable information to promote HIV-positive individuals’ life status and interventional programs. Future studies are recommended to focus more attention on lifestyle promotion among HIV-positive individuals.

Background and Objective: Individuals who are aware of the positive effects of kindness use it as a means for maintaining and controlling their health. We performed this study to investigate the relationship between self-compassion and health literacy in first grade high school students in Gonabad, Iran.Materials and Methods: This descriptive correlational study was conducted in 351 male and female first grade high school students in Gonabad, Iran, in 2017. The participants were recruited via the stratified random sampling method. A self-report compassion questionnaire and health literacy questionnaire were used for data collection. Pearson correlation coefficient, multiple regression, independent t-test, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) test were run for data analysis using SPSS, version 20.Results: The mean scores of health literacy and self-compassion were 77.11±17.41 and 71.6±12.9, respectively. The results showed a significant positive correlation between the students' health literacy and self-compassion (r=0.311, P<0.01). We found a significant difference in the level of health literacy between the male and female students (P=0.011). However, there was no significant difference in the level of compassion between the male and female students (P=0.109).Conclusion: This study demonstrated a significant relationship between self-compassion and health literacy. Therefore, to prevent the imposition of heavy costs and develop a culture of promoting health literacy, we recommend broadcasting audio and video programs, distributing educational flyers, as well as holding training courses and workshops.

Background and Objective: Physical activity is one of the most important aspects of health promotion and one of the predictors of death and disability worldwide. In this study, we aimed to investigate the factors related to intention to perform physical activity based on the theory of planned behavior among high school female students of Ahvaz city, Iran.Materials and Methods: This descriptive analytical study was performed among 163 high school female students randomly selected from two girls' public schools in Ahvaz, Iran, in 2016. Data were gathered using a questionnaire including demographic characteristics and the theory of planned behavior constructs including attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavior control, and intention. To analyze the data, linear regression analysis and Pearson correlation coefficient were run in SPSS, version 23.Results: The mean age of the participants was 13.76±0.89 years. The regression model showed that the attitude (b=0.46, P<0.001) and perceived behavior control (b=0.15, P<0.05) constructs were predictors of physical activity intention. This model could explain 40% of the variance in physical activity intention. Subjective norms (P<0.057, b=0.14) were not significant predictors of the intention.Conclusion: We recommend using the theory of planned behavior and paying more attention to the attitude construct, as the strongest predictor of intention, in designing educational interventions to promote physical activity among female students.