The Effect of Husbands' Education Regarding Menopausal Health on Marital Satisfaction of Their Wives

OBJECTIVES: Marital satisfaction has an important effect on people's mental health. Due to the increasing average age and life expectancy of Iranian women, obtaining knowledge about sexual aspects of post-menopause women for partners can improve their health and quality of life. This study aimed to determine the effect of education for the husbands regarding menopause on marital satisfaction of their wives. METHODS: This randomized controlled trial was conducted on 100 women aged 45 to 55 years old and their husbands in Yazd in 2014. Subjects were randomly assigned to intervention group (50 couples) and control group (50 couples). The data gathering tools included two questionnaires, the first one contained questions about demographic information of women and men, and the other one was used to assess knowledge and practice in men about menopause and Enrich marital satisfaction. The second questionnaire was applied twice; before intervention and two months after that. In the intervention group an educational program in the form of three 60-minute sessions were conducted using speech, but the control group received no training. Analysis was performed through the statistical SPSS software, paired t-test, t-test and chi-square. RESULTS: In the intervention group, two months after the educational program the knowledge of menopausal health and women's marital satisfaction scores increased significantly (P<0.001). But there was no significant difference in control group. CONCLUSIONS: Training menopausal health to husbands can increase women's marital satisfaction in the period of menopausal transition. Therefore, designing and implementing educational programs for husbands is recommended.

Quality of labor support during labor

Providing appropriate and quality care for delivery process can be done in the form of the "Labor Support". This approach is one of the key factors in reducing maternal and neonatal mortality rates and fulfilling the Millennium Development Goals. It has also an important role in the promoting maternal satisfaction. This study aims at assessing mothers' view regarding the labor support quality. In this cross-sectional study, 100 women who were hospitalized in the postpartum ward of Gonabad 22 Bahman Hospital, and had normal vaginal delivery were chosen using convenience sampling method. Participants were asked to fill in the demographic questionnaire and the form of assessment quality of labor support. Data analysis was performed by SPSS11.5 software. In this study, the data showed a mean participants' age of 27/14 +/- 5/89 years and a mean admission-delivery time interval of 305/13 +/- 147/30 minutes. Results showed that 74 percent of women evaluated the emotional support as good, 93% of the women had reported that they are satisfied with physical support, and 92 percent of the participants had expressed that they were content with the instructions/information provided by the personnel. According to this study, overall satisfaction from the quality of labor support has been acceptable in Gonabad 22 Bahman Hospital. Emotional supports stood lower when compared in terms of quality to two other categories.

[Lifestyle of pregnant women living in Gonabad [Iran]]

With the onset of pregnancy, the pregnant woman undergoes many physical and mental changes which in turn cause changes in her health behavior and lifestyle. The lifestyle has long-lasting effects on the mother and infant's health during pregnancy. The descriptive and cross-sectional study aimed at studying the pregnant women's lifestyle. The participants were 115 pregnant women who were randomly selected based on stratified random sampling method from health service centers in Gonabad, Iran. The data were collected through a demographic questionnaire and a self-report questionnaire of pregnancy lifestyle. The collected data were analyzed through SPSS software version 16 at p<0.05 level of significance. The pregnant women's age average was 20 +/- 0.27 and their gestation age average was 23 +/- 0.6 weeks. 83.5% of them were housekeeper, 41.7% of them had a schooling of high school diploma, and 54.8% of them were primipara. The results obtained from different aspects of the lifestyle questionnaire during pregnancy showed that the participants' means were as follows: in food habits [7.93% +/- 0.14], in smoking [13.46 +/- 0.13], in health and physical activities [3.67 +/- 0.11], in stress control [6.71 +/- 0.17], and in safety [11.38 +/- 0.11]. The results indicated that the most desirable component of lifestyle was related to lack of drug and cigarette consumption. On the other hand, the most undesirable component was related to stress control. Regarding the findings of this research, it seems warranted to provide adequate education and information for the personnel especially in using techniques against stress and self-control in health areas and practicing physical activities properly and regularly.

[ effect of menopausal instruction for husbands on perceived social support by perimenopausal women]

To evaluate the effect of menopausal training for husbands on perceived social support by peri menopausal women. In this clinical trial, 102 women aged 45-60 years were randomly assigned in two groups in Gonabad, Iran. Demographic questionnaire and social support scale completed by all of the women and knowledge questionnaire completed by their husbands, then face to face education about menopause were scheduled for husbands in intervention group. One month later all of the women completed social support scale and their husbands completed knowledge questionnaire. The mean knowledge score of husbands in intervention group was higher after training [10.40 vs 7.35] and the difference was statistically significant [P<0.001]. Also, there was significant difference in mean of perceived social support by women before and after training sessions [10.95 vs 8.62, P=0.006]. Menopausal training for husbands increases perceived social support by menopausal women. It seems that training programs on menopause must be designed for husbands in order to enhance support in women