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Background@#In Iran, 82% of breast cancer cases are diagnosed in late stages, resulting in low survival rates. In the present study, the Stages of Change Theory and Health Belief Model were used as theoretical frameworks for assessing Women Health Volunteer readiness to act on different breast cancer screening behaviors. @*Methods@#A total of 1,410 Women Health Volunteers were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. The breast self-examination (BSE) and mammography stages of change were measured independently. A standardized questionnaire based on the Health Belief Model was used to assess their beliefs about breast cancer screening methods. A path analysis using PASW SPSS ver. 18.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) was used to test the effects of individual beliefs on breast cancer screening stages of change. @*Results@#Most participants were classified in the pre-contemplation stage of breast cancer screening behaviors. Perceived barriers, benefits, and susceptibility emerged as BSE stages of change predictors. No beliefs were significant mammography stages of change predictors. @*Conclusion@#Iranian Women Health Volunteers had a very low adherence to common BSE and mammography practices. Healthy beliefs have a strong association with the stages of change for performing BSE, but not for mammography. The impact of health beliefs on an individual’s readiness to act on different breast cancer screening methods may vary with respect to the type of screening method.
ABSTRACT
Background@#In Iran, 82% of breast cancer cases are diagnosed in late stages, resulting in low survival rates. In the present study, the Stages of Change Theory and Health Belief Model were used as theoretical frameworks for assessing Women Health Volunteer readiness to act on different breast cancer screening behaviors. @*Methods@#A total of 1,410 Women Health Volunteers were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. The breast self-examination (BSE) and mammography stages of change were measured independently. A standardized questionnaire based on the Health Belief Model was used to assess their beliefs about breast cancer screening methods. A path analysis using PASW SPSS ver. 18.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) was used to test the effects of individual beliefs on breast cancer screening stages of change. @*Results@#Most participants were classified in the pre-contemplation stage of breast cancer screening behaviors. Perceived barriers, benefits, and susceptibility emerged as BSE stages of change predictors. No beliefs were significant mammography stages of change predictors. @*Conclusion@#Iranian Women Health Volunteers had a very low adherence to common BSE and mammography practices. Healthy beliefs have a strong association with the stages of change for performing BSE, but not for mammography. The impact of health beliefs on an individual’s readiness to act on different breast cancer screening methods may vary with respect to the type of screening method.
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PURPOSE: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a gynecological endocrine disorder that is characterized by disturbances in ovarian blood flow and angiogenesis. The aim of this study was to determine the association of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) serum levels with the body mass index (BMI) in patients with PCOS compared with healthy subjects. METHODS: The study was conducted with 80 subjects in 3 PCOS groups, including normal weight, overweight, and obese PCOS groups, and a control group of healthy subjects (n=20). The participants in all groups completed a questionnaire comprising sociodemographic and obstetric questions. The PCOS diagnosis in the study subjects was confirmed based on the Rotterdam criteria, BMI was determined according to the World Health Organization guidelines, and the lipid accumulation product index was calculated for all groups. Venous blood samples were collected from all participants after fasting to measure the serum levels of fasting blood glucose (FBG), lipids, insulin, VEGF, TSP-1, and leptin. RESULTS: Our findings showed that the serum VEGF level was significantly higher in the normal BMI PCOS group than that in the control group (P=0.03), and the TSP-1 level was significantly lower in the obese PCOS group than that in the control group (P=0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated that alterations in VEGF and TSP-1 concentrations are dependent on BMI. Because abnormal ovarian angiogenesis is considered to be the main feature of PCOS, the study of ovarian angiogenic imbalance is proposed as a new tool for PCOS diagnosis and management.
Subject(s)
Humans , Blood Glucose , Body Mass Index , Case-Control Studies , Diagnosis , Fasting , Healthy Volunteers , Insulin , Leptin , Lipid Accumulation Product , Overweight , Polycystic Ovary Syndrome , Thrombospondin 1 , Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A , World Health OrganizationABSTRACT
Chest tube removal pain is one of the most important complications after open heart surgery. The removal of a chest tube is a painful and frightening experience and should be managed with as little pain and distress as possible. The aim of this study is to assess the effect of beloved person's voice on chest tube removal pain in patients undergoing open heart surgery. 128 patients were randomly assigned to two groups: one group listened to beloved person's voice during the procedure, and the other did not. Since pain was measured by linguistic terms, a fuzzy logistic regression was applied for modeling. After controlling for the potential confounders, based on fuzzy logistic regression, the beloved person's voice reduced the risk of pain. Therefore, using beloved person's voice could be effective, inexpensive and safe for distraction and reduction of pain
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Background: Pregnancy complications are one of the major public health concerns. One of the main causes of preventable complications is the absence of or inadequate provision of prenatal care. The present study was conducted to investigate whether Extended Parallel Process Model's constructs can predict the utilization of prenatal care services
Methods: The present longitudinal prospective study was conducted on 192 pregnant women selected through the multi-stage sampling of health facilities in Qeshm, Hormozgan province, from April to June 2015. Participants were followed up from the first half of pregnancy until their childbirth to assess adequate or inadequate/non-utilization of prenatal care services. Data were collected using the structured Risk Behavior Diagnosis Scale. The analysis of the data was carried out in SPSS-22 using one-way ANOVA, linear regression and logistic regression analysis. The level of significance was set at 0.05
Results: Totally, 178 pregnant women with a mean age of 25.31+/-5.42 completed the study. Perceived self-efficacy [OR=25.23; P<0.001] and perceived susceptibility [OR=0.048; P<0.001] were two predictors of the intention to utilize prenatal care. Husband's occupation in the labor market [OR=0.43; P=0.02], unwanted pregnancy [OR=0.352; P<0.001], and the need to care for the minors or elderly at home [OR=0.35; P=0.045] were associated with lower odds of receiving prenatal care
Conclusion: The model showed that when perceived efficacy of the prenatal care services overcame the perceived threat, the likelihood of prenatal care usage will increase. This study identified some modifiable factors associated with prenatal care usage by women, providing key targets for appropriate clinical interventions
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Background: Factors that influence men's childbearing intentions have been relatively unexplored in the literature
Objective: This study aimed to determine the influencing factors about the first childbearing timing decisions of men
Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 300 men who were referred to private and governmental healthcare centers in Shahrood, Iran were randomly recruited from April to September 2014. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire, the Quality of Life Questionnaire; ENRICH Marital Satisfaction Questionnaire, Synder's Hope Scale, and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support
Results: After removing the statistically insignificant paths, men's age at marriage had the highest direct effect [beta=0.86] on their first childbearing decision. Marital satisfaction [beta=-0.09], social support [beta=0.06], economic status [beta=0.06], and quality of life [beta=-0.08] were other effective factors on men's first childbearing decisions. Moreover, marital satisfaction and social support had significant indirect effects on men's childbearing decisions [beta=-0.04 and -0.01, respectively]
Conclusion: Many factors, including personal factors [age at marriage and quality of life], family factors [marital satisfaction], and social factors [social support], can affect men's decision to have a child. Policymakers are hence required to develop strategies to promote the socioeconomic and family conditions of the couples and to encourage them to have as many children as they desire at an appropriate time
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Assessment of patient readiness for weaning from mechanical ventilation is an important of phase in the weaning process. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of the nurse-directed patient readiness assessment for weaning on duration of mechanical ventilation in the intensive care unit. In this clinical trial study, 50 intensive care units patients who needed mechanical ventilation for more than 48 hours were selected using convenient sampling method, and randomly divided into two 25-person groups. Burn's weaning readiness assessment questionnaire were used for intervention group, and the control group were weaned from the system according to routine method of the unit. The findings were analyzed with the aid of descriptive statistical methods, independent t-tests, chi-square and Pearson's correlation. Significance level was considered to be 0.05. The mean duration of mechanical ventilation in the intervention group was significantly lower than that of the control group [p<0.03]. Also, there was a significant inverse relationship between Burn's checklist scores and the duration of mechanical ventilation [p<0.04, r=-0.263]. The results of this study showed that assessment of the patient's readiness for weaning from mechanical ventilation by nurse is a safe method in day time and shortens the duration of mechanical ventilation in intensive care units compared to the routine methods
Subject(s)
Humans , Respiration, Artificial , Nurses , Intensive Care Units , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
Weaning decision for the patients on a mechanical ventilation [MV] device is often made based on personal judgments and experiences, which results in longer MV length of stay and higher costs. Therefore, the present study aimed to the effect of application of Burn's wean assessment program on MV length of stay among the patients hospitalized in intensive care units [ICUs]. This is a clinical trial in which 50 patients connected to mechanical ventilators for more than 48 h were selected through convenient sampling and were randomly divided into two groups of 25 subjects. Burn's wean assessment program was employed in study group, while weaning was assessed by a physician in control group. The findings were analyzed by descriptive [frequency distribution, mean and SD] and inferential [independent t test, Chi square, Fisher's exact test, and Mann Whitney] statistical tests. The findings showed that length of MV was 134.2 [20.5] h which was significantly less than the control [P = 0.03]. The results showed that application of Burn's wean assessment by the nurses to assess patients' readiness for weaning from the ventilator is a safe method in day time and shortens the length of MV in ICUs compared to the routine methods.
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In medical research, longitudinal studies are widely used to describe the disease process and effectiveness of treatment. In these studies individual outcomes are recorded in different sections. Many of the medical findings are characterized by ordinal scale. Because of the relationship between ordinal responses and the structure of longitudinal studies, special statistical methods are used. In this paper, we describe and compare different statistical methods, and recommend the most appropriate method to analyze the effect of drug therapy for psychologically disturbed patients with oral lichen planus. In this study, the data of a clinical trial on 45 patients with oral lichen planus conducted in Mashhad Dental School was used. The outcome was defined as an ordinal scale using cumulative logit link function. Data was analyzed by fixed and random effects model. The results showed that random effect models were more accurate than the fixed effects model. Time and mental disorder showed significant effects on both the random effects model and fixed effects model. Treatment had no significant effect on random effects model; while it exhibited a significant effect on the fixed effects model. To analyze longitudinal ordinal data, random effects model is recommended rather than fixed effect model