Validity and reliability of a Persian version of a questionnaire on knowledge of health care providers about sexually transmitted infections

The aim of this study was to translate into Persian and validate a questionnaire on knowledge about sexually transmitted diseases published by Jaworski and Carey in 2007. The questionnaire was forward-translated by two bilingual translators, and both translations were discussed by an expert team. The questionnaire was then back-translated by two other bilingual translators and discussed with both of them. Two sex-segregated focus group discussions were held with 21 health care providers to evaluate the comprehensibility of the questions. The final Persian version of the questionnaire was administered to 130 randomly selected health care providers in Rasht in 2014 to assess internal consistency and convergent and discriminant validity. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients were 0.84 for the overall questionnaire, 0.75 for the cause/cure subscale and 0.74 for the general knowledge subscale. The correlation between an item and its subscale was significantly higher than its correlation with other subscales. The Persian version of the questionnaire is highly valid and reliable and can be used as a standard instrument for evaluating knowledge about sexually transmitted infections in the Islamic Republic of Iran

[Educational needs for mental health promotion in engaged youth]

Educational programs for couples' mental health promotion in marital life are a necessity. The first step in planning an educational program understands the needs of the target group. This paper reports the mental health educational needs in youth planning to marry. In a descriptive-analytical cross sectional study, 450 individuals taking part in pre-marriage education courses in Tehran were selected by randomized stratified sampling. The data was collected using a questionnaire that measured the educational needs in the area of mental health by the 5-point Likert-type scale. Data analysis was done using the SPSS-15 software, the statistical tests being the independent T-test, one-way analysis of variance [ANOVA], and the chi-square test. On the whole, the subjects' felt need for mental health education was more than moderate [3 on the Likert scale]; women expressed a higher need than men [p=0.001]. The main concern of the participants - both men and women - was How to keep romance alive in married life. The extent of need expressed for mental education was not statistically different in different socio-demographic groups of women, while worker men expressed a higher need than self-employed men [P=0.018]. Based on the findings of this study, young people planning to marry have a felt need for education in the area of mental health. It is recommended to design and implement educational programs to promote their knowledge in this area with due consideration of priorities stated by them