Breast cancer screening knowledge and practice among women in southeast of Iran

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. The mortality rate of breast cancer can be reduced by regular breast cancer screening program. This study was carried out to identify the knowledge and practice of women about breast cancer screening in Zahedan, southeast of Iran. In this cross-sectional study, 384 women were selected as an improbability sample of women referring to Qouds Maternity Hospital. Knowledge and practice of them about breast cancer screening were investigated through face-to-face interview based on a purposed questionnaire, and data were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics. Only 8.3% of women were aware of breast cancer screening methods. About breast self-examination 21.6% and about mammography 3.4% had good knowledge. Overall knowledge of breast cancer screening was insufficient in 67.4%. There was statistically significant relationship between knowledge of breast cancer screening and level of education, history of individual breast disease, and history of breast cancer in their families [P < 0.001]. There was statistically significant and inverse relationship between knowledge of how to examine the breasts and knowledge about mammography with age [P < 0.001]. Practices of women in Zahedan about breast cancer screening were very low. Only 4.5% of women performed breast self examination, on a regular basis, 4.1% had ever had a clinical breast examination, and%1.3 had a mammography throughout their life. Our findings suggest that knowledge and practice about breast cancer screening was relatively poor and it needs to be improved

[ effect of vacuum-compression therapy [VCT] on the diabetic foot ulcer healing]

Among the most common problems in patients with diabetes mellitus is the faulty healing of foot ulcer wounds which leads to foot or leg amputations. Many attempts were done to treat diabetic foot ulcers. This study evaluated the effect of vacuum-compression therapy [VCT] on healing diabetic foot ulcers. A single-blinded, randomized clinical trial was conducted in Zahedan in 2006. Twenty-two patients with diabetic foot ulcer limbs were used for this study through simple non-probability sampling. Patients were randomly assigned to either an experimental group or a control group. The surface area of the foot ulcer was measured stereologically based on Cavalieri's Principle after 3 weeks and before any intervention. The point counting method was chosen to measure the surface area. In addition to the conventional therapy, the experimental group was also treated with vacuum-compression therapy produced by Vasotrain [VCT]. The control group received conventional therapy only, which included debridement, systemic antibiotics, wound cleaning with normal-saline, and daily dressings. Independent-samples t-test and paired t-test allowed for comparisons between the pretreatment and post treatment test results between groups and within groups, respectively. The mean of foot ulcer surface area decreased from 48.05 +/- 10.3 mm[2] to 34.6 +/- 4.4 mm[2] in experimental group [P<0.01] and also from 59.9 +/- 14.4 mm[2] to 56.8 +/- 13.8 mm[2] in the control group [P<0.01]. The surface area of the foot ulcer in the experimental group and control group decreased by 28.4 percents and 6 percents respectively [P<0.05]. After the treatment a significant decline in the surface area of the foot ulcer was observed within the experimental group in comparison to the control group [P<0.01]. Vacuum-compression therapy enhances diabetic foot ulcer healing when used in conjunction with appropriate wound care. It is recommended that patients with diabetic foot ulcer and non-healing wounds achieve wound healing and limb preservation by using a vacuum-compression therapy