Barriers to pap smear test for the second time in women referring to health care centers in the South of Tehran: a qualitative approach

Background: Cervical cancer is a preventable disease with a regular screening program. Many studies have reported a large number of barriers that women had for the first time, but this study decided to find other barriers for the second time pap smear

Methods: In this qualitative research, data were gathered through in-depth interviews and expressed through conventional content analysis in the form of constant comparison. The participants were 15 women with family profile at 30 health care centers who lived in the south of Tehran and had done Pap smear for one time but didn't do it for the second time

Results: Three main themes emerged from the analysis of the interviews: negative experiences of the first Pap test were as follows: results of the first time test, readiness for performing the test, getting the test itself, and the site of the first Pap test. Personal barriers to getting the second Pap test were: inattention to time, physical barriers to the second Pap test, and inhibitory beliefs. Perceived social barriers to getting the second Pap test with two sub-themes included social supports and abstract norms

Conclusion: This study provided other barriers about Pap smear including lack of the spouse's support, the role of health care providers and physicians in screening program for early diagnosis in women

Assisted reproductive technology in Iran: the first national report on centers, 2011

Background: Due to the worldwide increase in infertility, it is both necessary and im-portant to have assisted reproductive technology [ART] registries. In Iran, donation and surrogacy programs are approved by decrees from religious scholars. ART has been used since 1984 in Iran and the first Iranian infant conceived by gamete intra-fallopian transfer [GIFT] was born in 1989. This report, however, is the first national report on Iranian ART centers

Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study, conducted under the supervision of the Iranian Ministry of Health, presented a summary of the numbers and percentages of centers that provided infertility services in Iran, as well as the status of ART in Iran during 2011

Results: A total of 52 centers reported treatment cycles and performed approximately 29000 intrauterine insemination [IUI], in addition to 35000 in vitro fertilization [IVF] and intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection [ICSI] cycles

Conclusion: Iran has considerable potential to provide IVF services for both Iranians as well as other nationalities throughout the region. This proves the need for a national center that will implement a registry system

Development of strategies to reduce cesarean delivery rates in Iran 2012-2014: a mixed methods study

With the change in population policy from birth control toward encouraging birth and population growth in Iran, repeated cesarean deliveries as a main reason of cesarean section are associated with more potential adverse consequences. The aim of this research was to explore effective strategies to reduce cesarean delivery rates in Iran. A mixed methodological study was designed and implemented. First, using a qualitative approach, concepts and influencing factors of increased cesarean delivery were explored. Based on the findings of this phase of the study, a questionnaire including the proposed strategies to reduce cesarean delivery was developed. Then in a quantitative phase, the questionnaire was assessed by key informants from across the country and evaluated to obtain more effective strategies to reduce cesarean delivery. Ten participants in the qualitative study included policy makers from the Ministry of Health, obstetricians, midwives and anthropologists. In the next step, 141 participants from private and public hospitals, insurance experts, Academic Associations of Midwifery, and policy makers in Maternity Health Affairs of Ministry of Health were invited to assess and provide feedback on the strategies that work to reduce cesarean deliveries. Qualitative data analysis showed four concept related to increased cesarean delivery rates including; "standardization", "education", "amending regulations", and "performance supervision". Effective strategies extracted from qualitative data were rated by participants then, using ACCEPT derived from A as attainability, C as costing, C as complication, E as effectiveness, P as popularity, and T as timing table 19 strategies were detected as priorities. Although developing effective strategies to reduce cesarean delivery rates is complex process because of the multi-factorial nature of increased cesarean deliveries, in this study we have achieved strategies that in the context of Iran could work

population-based study on infertility and its influencing factors in four selected provinces in Iran [2008-2010]

Background: Infertility has a varied impact on multiple dimensions of health and functioning of women

Objective: We aimed to identify the burden of infertility and its influencing factors based on a population based study conducted in four provinces of Iran

Materials and Methods: A sample of 1126 women, aged 18-45 years, was selected using the multi stage, stratified probability sampling procedure; those met the eligibility criteria were invited for further comprehensive interview. This study used the definition of infertility proposed by World Health Organization "the woman has never conceived despite cohabitation and exposure to pregnancy for a period of 1 year"

Results: The overall prevalence of lifetime infertility and current primary infertility were 21.1% [95% CI: 18.4- 23.8] and 6.4% [95% CI: 4.8-8] respectively. The probability of first pregnancy at the end of 2 years of marriage was 94% for all ever-married women. Infertility were observed as significantly higher among women age 31-35 [OR: 4.6; 95% CI: 1.9-11.5; p=0.001] and women with more than 9 years of education [OR: 2.8; 95% CI: 1.5-3.3; p<0.0001]

Conclusion: The necessities of modern living have compelled many women to postpone childbearing to their late reproductive years; however they must be informed of being at risk of infertility with ageing

Evaluation of sexual attitude and sexual function in menopausal age; a population based cross-sectional study

Menopause and its physical, hormonal and psychosocial changes could affect women's sexual function. There are controversial results regarding relationship between sexual attitudes and function. We aimed to evaluate sexual attitudes and sexual function among Iranian menopausal age women. This population based cross-sectional study was carried out on 225 menopausal women, aged 45-65 years. Based on a self-made questionnaire data were collected about women's socio-demographic characteristics, attitudes regarding sexuality and sexual function. Data were analyzed using SPSS and sexual function was compared between three groups of women who had positive, medium and negative attitudes regarding sexuality. The mean age of women was 53.11 +/- 4.56 years. Seventy percent of them had at least one sexual problem. Feeling of dyspareunia was significantly different between three categories of attitudes regarding sexuality [p=0.03]. Comparing data obtained on their attitudes, sexual desire, orgasm and dyspareunia demonstrated significant differences [p=0.03, 0.04, and 0.04 respectively]. Attitude regarding sexual function has a great impact on sexual activity of postmenopausal women that need to be considered in their health care programming

[Prevalence of female sexual dysfunction and its correlated factors: a population based study]

Objective [s]: To determine the prevalence of sexual dysfunction and its effective factors in a community based study among reproductive aged women

Methods: In the present study, 784 married women, lived in urban area of Ghazvin, Golestan, Kermanshah and Hormozgan provinces, were recruited using stratified, multistage probability cluster sampling method. The sexual dysfunction was assessed using a standard questionnaire

Results: The study results demonstrated that 27.3% of women had various degrees of sexual dysfunction; 0.8%,% 20.3% and 6.3% of women had sever, moderate and mild dysfunction, respectively. Sexual desire, sexual arousal and lubrication were disturbed in 35.6%, 39.9% and18.9% of women, respectively. Furthermore 27.3% of women had orgasm's problem and 15.2% of participants were unsatisfied with sexual activity, dyspareunia was reported by 56.1% of women. There is a statistical significant relationship between sexual dysfunction with duration of the marriage, the level of attractiveness in the perspective of the husband, the overall satisfaction of common life and the ability for sexual expression

Conclusion: Sexual dysfunction is prevalent among Iranian women, as a result providing its educational facilities and counseling center is a priority for women's health