The Effect of Educational Program on Quality of Life in Menopausal Women: A Clinical Trial

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the effect of Educational program on quality of life (QOL) in menopausal women in 2016 in Hamadan, Iran. METHODS: In this clinical trial study, 100 postmenopausal women were randomly selected and allocated to case and control group (50 per group). Data collection tool included questionnaires of demographic information and Menopause QOL, which were completed by the samples before the intervention. In the case group, education program was run during 5 sessions for 45 to 60 minutes. Immediately and Three months after intervention, information were collected using questionnaire in both groups and they were analyzed using SPSS 16 software. RESULTS: The menopause women in both intervention and control groups had similar demographics. There was not a significant difference in the QOL mean scores in before of the intervention between the two groups of intervention and control in all dimension of QOL. There was a significantly difference in the mean of QOL scores between the two groups in immediately after the intervention and 3 months after the intervention in dimension of vasomotor, psychosocial, sexual and physical (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study recommend that a unit in health and treatment centers be established for training menopausal women about health care by holding didactic classes.

The Association between Body Mass Index and Hot Flash in Midlife Women: A Meta-analysis

OBJECTIVES: The association between body mass index (BMI) and hot flash risk has not been specifically clarifies yet. This meta-analysis was, therefore, conducted to estimate the association between overweight and obesity and hot flash risk. METHODS: We searched PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus for observational studies addressing the association between BMI and hot flash until August 2015. Data were independently extracted and analyzed using 95% odds ratio (OR), and confidence intervals (CI) based on the random-effects models. RESULTS: We identified 2,244 references and conducted seven studies with 4,219 participants. The association between hot flash and overweight was estimated 1.13 (95% CI: 0.97-1.32) and that of obesity was estimated 1.79 (95% CI: 1.52-2.11). No evidence of heterogeneity and publication bias was observed. CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis demonstrated that, though not to a great extent, obesity does increase the risk of hot flash. The findings from this meta-analysis indicated that obesity is associated with an increased risk of hot flash. Further large prospective cohort studies are required to provide convincing evidence as to whether or not BMI is associated with an increased risk of hot flashes.

Quality of Life in Postmenopausal Women in Iran: A Population-based Study

OBJECTIVES: Menopause can have psychological, physical, and vasomotor symptoms along with sexual dysfunction and these symptoms can affect the quality of life (QOL). The purpose of this research was to determine and association the effective factors on QOL among postmenopausal Iranian women. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2015 on 300 postmenopausal women in Hamadan, Iran. We used the Menopause-Specific QOL questionnaire (MENQOL) for measuring QOL in postmenopausal women. SPSS version 16 was used for data analysis. RESULTS: The mean scores of QOL for vasomotor, psychosocial, physical, and sexual domains were 11.65 ± 5.93, 19.36 ± 1.20, 39.12 ± 1.95 and 11.02 ± 5.66, respectively. Higher scores had worse QOL. Using MENQOL scores, our study showed significant differences in QOL based on age, education level, financial status, number of children, employment, and body mass index (BMI). CONCLUSION: Menopause causes a decrease in QOL, which is dependent to age, work, BMI, financial status and number of children variables. Therefore, it is necessary to develop effective intervention programs to improve QOL in postmenopausal women.

[Effect of health education program on the depression of patients after coronary artery bypass surgery]

Depression is reported as a side effect of coronary artery bypass graft surgery and is associated with an elevated risk of mortality and morbidity. This study aimed to assess the protection effect of health education on this disease. In this quasi-experimental study conducted in 2007, 54 patients were selected following bypass surgery in the Isfahan Cardiovascular Research Center. The patients were randomly assigned into the intervention and control groups. In addition to Cardiac Depression Scale Inventory, the researcher-made questionnaires were employed to evaluate the patients' knowledge, attitude, skills and self-helping behaviors before and after the study. The education planning program contained nine training sessions [60 to 90 minutes each] educational sessions per week. The follow up procedure took 2 months following the program. Data analysis was carried out using SPSS software and t[2], independent-t and Mann-Whitney tests. After presenting educational intervention, the mean score of knowledge, attitude, skills and self-helping behaviors increased significantly [P<0.001]. The mean score of depression showed no significant difference in two groups before education while this dropped significantly in the intervention group after education compared to the control group [P<0.001]. Here, there was a significant difference [P<0.001] in self-judgment, mood, hopelessness and exhaustion dimensions in two groups. The findings of the study revealed that health education program is significantly effective in enhancing preventive behaviors and decreasing depression level in patients recovered from coronary artery bypass surgery