Psychometric properties of the Persian version of the sexual and reproductive health needs assessment questionnaire

No tools to assess women's general sexual and reproductive health needs have been validated in the Iranian context. This study in Sari in Mazandaran province of the Islamic Republic of Iran was conducted to evaluate the psychometric properties of a Persian version of the Sexual and Reproductive Health Needs Assessment Questionnaire [first developed for the International Organization for Migration and United Nations Population Fund]. The Persian version of the questionnaire was found to have adequate face and content validity [quantitative and qualitative] for assessing sexual and reproductive health needs among women [content validity index = 0.88]. The test-retest reliability showed that, except for the domain of sexually transmitted infections, all domains of the questionnaire had an acceptable reliability [intra-class correlation coefficients > 0.5]. This questionnaire is a valid tool for assessing the sexual and reproductive health needs of Iranian women and planning/designing strategies to meet them

Effective parameters on biodiesel production from feather fat oil as a cost-effective feedstock

Using low-cost feedstocks such as rendered animal fats in biodiesel production willreducebiodieselexpenditures. One of the low-cost feedstocksfor biodiesel production could be the fat extracted from poultry feathers producedin slaughterhouses abundantly. This paper describes a new and environmentally friendly process for developing biodiesel production technology from feather waste produced in poultry industry. In this research the crude oil of poultry feather fat was extracted by soxhlet method using hexane as a solvent. The data resulted from gas chromatography [GC] revealed these percentages for fatty acid compositions: myristic acid [3%], palmitic acid [30%], stearic acid [22%], oleic acid [8.1%], linoleic acid [3%] and arachidonic acid [7%].In this experimental research, the effects of some parameters such as alcohol to oil molar ratio [4:1,6:1, 8:1], catalyst concentration [0.75,1 and 1.25% w/w] and the transesterification reaction time[40,60 andSOmin] on the percentage offatty acids conversioninto methyl ester[biodiesel] are studied. The results show increasing catalyst concentration up to 1% causes the oil to biodiesel conversion percentage having an upward trend and then adownward trend byincreasing catalyst concentration up to 1.25%. With increasing molar ratio from 4:1 to 6:1 and then 8:1, oil to biodiesel conversion percentage increased 16% and2%, respectively. Ultimatelythe optimum point defined by response surface method [RSM] forproducing biodiesel from feather fat is calculated catalyst concentration of 1 wt%, 7.24:1 molar ratio and in 75 minutes resulting in conversion percentage of 97.62

[Smoking stages, prevalence of drug abuse and role of associated psychological and social factors: a study on male high school students in Ilam City]

There are limited information about prevalence of smoking, drug abuse and its associated factors amongst Iranian students. The present study aimed to determine prevalence of smoking and drug abuse amongst male high school students in Ilam and the role of associated psychological and social factors. Overall, 1000 male high school students were recruited using a multi-stage sampling method. A self-administered questionnaire was used for data gathering. Chi-square test and logistic regression model were used for univariate, multivariate and interactions analyses. Mean age of students was 16.2 years. The prevalence of experimenter and regular smokers were 11.4% [95% CI: 9.3% -13.4%] and 1.3% [95% CI: 0.5%-2.0%] respectively. Prevalence rates of alcohol, opium, Tramadol, Hashish, Ecstasy and methamphetamine abuses were 11.1% [9.1%-13.0%], 2.8% [1.7%-3.8%], 7.6% [5.9%-9.2%], 3.3% [2.1%-4.4%], 2.7% [1.6%-3.7%], and 2.1% [1.1%-3.0%] respectively. The logistic regression model showed a significant relationship between having a smoker friend [AOR: 1.99], self-injury [AOR: 2.35], peer pressure [AOR: 2.37] and Tramadol abuse [AOR: 3.00] and different stages of smoking. None of the considered interactions had significant effect. Although, prevalence of smoking in Ilam high school students was less than the corresponding reports from other provinces in Iran, drugs abuse followed the same pattern as the other provinces. In addition, psychosocial variables had an important role in adolescents smoking

[High risk behaviors among Iranian motorcyclists: a qualitative study]

To explore risk behaviors among Iranian motorcyclists. This was a qualitative study based on grounded theory to identify factors influencing Iranian motorcyclists' risk behaviors. In all, 22 participants took part in the study. To collect data, two focus groups and 13 in-depth interviews with key informants were conducted in Tehran, Iran. Moreover, thirty two observations regarding motorcyclists' behaviors were assessed to increase trustworthiness of the collected data. All interviews and discussions were transcribed and analyzed. A total of 22 participants with an average age of 26.4 years shared their experience regarding motorcyclists' risk behaviors factors while riding. Among all participants, 16 participants were riders or pillions and family members of riders and 2 participants were policemen. Of all, 4 participants were female and 41.7% were single. The findings of this study revealed that personal characteristics, environmental factors, vehicle related factors and abuse of safe equipments could cause risky behaviors while riding. The findings of this study indicated that different factors might influence risky behaviors. Thus a multidimensional and comprehensive approach should be designed to prevent risky behaviors

[Effect of oral contraceptive pill on the amount of unstimulated saliva in females]

Salivary glands secrete a liquid known as saliva which plays an important role in oral homeostasis. Quantitative and qualitative variation in salivary secretion can cause dental caries and periodontal disease. The decrease of saliva may be caused by some diseases and drugs such as sjogren syndrome, and antidepressant drugs. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of oral contraceptive pills on the volume of unstimulated saliva in healthy women. In this experimental study, 85 healthy females including 35 study cases and 50 controls with the mean age of 18-25 years, referred to Ahwaz dental school, were selected. The study group had been taking oral contraceptive pill for at least 6 months, but the control group had not been taking this kind of drugs. Subjects with no past medical history, no use of medications, and no history of depression were selected as study subjects. The 2 minutes amount of collected saliva of the subjects in both groups was measured and recorded. The results were analyzed using T-test. The mean age of the study and control group was 24.42 and 24.78 years, respectively. The mean unstimulated volume of the saliva in the study group was 1.11 [ml]/2minute, while in the control group it was 1.53 [ml]/2minute. There was a significant difference in the amount of salivary secretion between the two groups [p<0.001]. According to this study, it can be concluded that, use of oral contraceptive pills can cause reduction in unstimulated salivary secretion. Therefore, good oral and dental hygiene instructions should be emphasized for these patients

reasons of lack of discharge planning performance by nurses

Discharge planning for patients, is seen as a key concept in the delivery of nursing care. Despite the advantages of discharge planning for patients, family and society, the definition and performance of this planning in hospital is ambiguous, and practically it is not performed in hospital. Therefore the objective of this study was to assess the reasons of lack of discharge planning performance by nurses. The design was a descriptive study with problem solving method, that carried out to determine the reasons of lack of discharge planning performance by nurses and introduce proper solutions to solve or reduce this problem. So a questionnaire was developed, then validated by 10 academic members. The sample of this study was 115 subgects in 3 groups: nurses, headnurses and supervisors of teaching hospitals of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. three groups mentioned 5 reasons as the main barriers of lack of discharge planning performance, that divided into 2 parts nurses' high working load with inappropriate situation of their working environment, and the lack of acquaintance of nurses, patients and their families about discharge planning, related to lack of sufficient information and in service education. Also, the structural reasons with the higest mean score [M=2.04] from the three domains were determined as the main reason of the lack of discharge planning performance. For data analysis, SPSS software was used. According to study result the importance of discharge planning to increase the quality and quantity of nursing care, the best solution determined as: formation of specialized groups with participating of education supervisors, one of clinical experienced nurses and lecturers in order to write and develop proper educational packages with students cooperation in nursing office and departments is recommended

[Effect of positioning on patient's back pain and comfort after coronary angiography]

Coronary angiography is the golden diagnostic test for coronary heart disease. After the procedure, for minimizing the complications [mostly bleeding and hematoma] patients are restricted to bed rest for 8 to 24 hours that is always accompanied by patient's back pain and discomfort. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of changing patients' position on back pain, comfort, amount of bleeding and hematoma. Subjects were randomly assigned to the experimental [changing position] and the control group. Visual analog scale was used to measure pain intensity and comfort level, and a specific ruler was used to measure the amount of bleeding and hematoma. The experimental group had significantly lower pain scores and higher comfort scores than the control group at 3, 6, 8 hours, and at the next morning after angiography [p<0.01]. Changing patient's position according to the designed protocol produced no significant increase in the amount of bleeding and hematoma compared to the control group. The results showed that changing patient's position after angiography is practically feasible, and is associated with decreased level of back pain and increased comfort level without increasing the amount of bleeding and hematoma

[Survey of causes of faculty nursing documentation]

Introduction: documentation of nursing care and procedures is an evidence of performance and quality of these cares. Failure to document could be a sign of inadequate care performance

Method and Materials: this study was carried out to determine causes of inadequate nursing documentation in wards of Shahid Beheshti Hospital, Zanjan, in 2003. This study was a descriptive survey a checklist was designed according to standard principles of nursing documentation which was validated by 10 academic members. Patients and apos files were assessed based on this checklist. Also, 20 nurses were interviewed [open question] to determine of causes of incorrect nursing documentation

Results: the results showed that 17% of items of checklist had been documented correctly, documentation's of 35.81% of these items were incomplete and 48% of items had not been documented. The interviews showed that the inadequate nursing documentation was related to inattention to these documentation's and lack of control of nursing documentation, work overload of nurses, educational problems and unawareness of legal and occupational issues

Conclusion: documentation of nursing care was inadequate. The most important causes were inattention and lack of control. Considering importance of nursing documentation, ways to solve these problems must be sought