ABSTRACT
Background: Women's empowerment was defined as their ability to achieve awareness and control their personal, social, economic and political forces aiming at taking measures in order to improve their lives. This study aimed to compare the empowerment of the married women in medical sciences university in social, economic and familial domains in three cities, IRAN
Methods: This was a descriptive-analytical study conducted in 2016 on 399 married and employed women. Data collection instrument was a four-part questionnaire consisting of demographic, social, economic and familial domains and made by researchers. Collected data were analyzed using SPSS, version 16. Using paired t-test for intra-group and Chi-square and t-test for between groups comparisons. The significance level was set at<0.0
Results: The total score of empowerment in Rasht [126.34 +/- 17.51] was more than the two cities of Shiraz [123.46 +/- 15.62] and Bandar Abbas [123.42 +/- 12.34]. There was a significant relationship between the mean score of the total empowerment and monthly income of the participants in Bandar Abbas [P=0.04], and job of their husbands in Rasht [P=0.004]. The mean score of family empowerment of the women was significantly interrelated with the number of their children in Rasht [P=0.001], and with the education of the participants' husbands in Shiraz [P=0.002]
Conclusion: The score of social empowerment in Rasht was more than two other cities. In economic domain, the scores of Rasht and Bandar Abbas were more than those of Shiraz. Scores of Rasht and Shiraz were more than Bandar Abbas in the familial domain. It is useful to carry out qualitative studies aiming at determining the effects of various factors on women's empowerment and strategies for improving it
ABSTRACT
Premature rupture of membranes [PROM] affects 10-20% of all pregnancies, occuring in approximately 30% to 40% of preterm deliveries. Vitamin C has a role in collagen metabolism and increases resistance maintenance of the chorioamniotic membranes. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between vitamin C supplementation with PROM and preterm delivery. This clinical-trial study carried out from Jan to Jul 2006 at Hafez and Shoushtari Hospitals of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. This study was approved by the local committee of medical ethics. Pregnant women [n=117] with 20 weeks gestational age, randomly divided into two groups 57 in the case group and 60 in the control group and evaluated every 4 weeks, from 20 to 36 weeks of pregnancy. At each evaluation, a vaginal examination was performed, to rule out bacterial vaginosis infection. The case group received a chewing tablet of 100 mg vitamin C daily. PROM and preterm delivery was recorded for each group as indicator of the protective effect of vitamin C supplementation. PROM occurred in 5 [8.77%] and 22 [36.67%] pregnancies in the case and control group respectively [p<0.001]. Four patients [7.41%] in the case group and 18 pregnant women [32.08%] in the control group delivered at term with PROM [p=0.001]. One woman [33.30%] in the case group and 4 women [57.10%] in the control group delivered due to PROM at term [p> 0.5]. Supplementation of vitamin C after 20 weeks of gestation prevents PROM