[Effects of emergency contraceptive methods education on the knowledge and attitudes of the health care staff]

According to Iranian national statistics, every year 400 to 500 thousand unwanted pregnancies occur in Iran. The emergency contraceptive methods are easily accessible and affordable for the women of this region. Regarding the important role of health care providers in representing these methods, this study is to determine the knowledge and attitudes of these staff toward required contraceptive methods. In this semi-experimental study, 216 health personnel working in south of Tehran health centers were randomly selected. Two 30- minute educational sessions were presented to the staff. The methods of education included face to face, and group discussion. At the end of each session a pamphlet was given to the staff. Data were gathered using a questionnaire before and 2-6 weeks after the education. Statistical analysis was carried out using statistical package for social sciences [SPSS]. The results showed that there were significant statistical differences between the knowledge and attitudes [P<0.001] of personnel about the emergency contraceptive methods before and after education. There was no significant relationship between demographic characteristics and attitudes of personnel. There was a significant relationship between sex [P<0.001], educational level [P<0.003], educational major [P<0.001], with knowledge after intervention. Knowledge and attitudes toward emergency contraceptive methods increased significantly after education. This finding reveals the importance of continuous education for health care staff such as midwives and physicians to facilitate successful guidance of their patients towards effective family planning

[Comparison of quality of life and depression among women with normal and high risk pregnancies]

Women with high risk pregnancy experience changes in their personal, family, and social life that affect their quality of life and mental status. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of type of pregnancy [normal or high risk] on quality of life and depression levels in pregnant women. In this case-control study, a total of 100 women [50 women with normal pregnancies and 50 women with high risk pregnancies] who referred to the prenatal clinics of Kashan Medical University were studied. Subjects were randomly selected and then allocated in the normal [control] or high risk [case] groups. Data were gathered using a three-part questionnaire that included demographic characteristics, the Short Form 36 Health Survey [SF-36] to assess the quality of life, and the Beck Depression Inventory [BDI] to assess the levels of depressive symptoms. In this study, the results revealed that the mean score of the quality of life was lower in the women with high risk pregnancy [53/20 +/- 16/83] in comparison with the women with normal pregnancy [62/18 12/48]. The mean of the BDI scores in high risk pregnancies [15/34 +/- 9/15] were significantly higher than in normal pregnancies [9/8 +/- 5/44]. Depression has strong negative correlation with quality of life in both women with high risk and normal pregnancies [P<0.001]. To sum up, it is very important to identify women that are at risk and help them to promote their quality of life

[Effect of pre-marriage counseling on the sexual health]

Regarding the increase of sexual transmitted disease, high risk behaviour and unwanted pregnancy in one hand, and myth, incorrect believes and low knowledge about sexuality in the other hand, sexual health education is one the basic compartment of health promotion. The pre-marriage counseling is one of the best opportunities to reach our aim. This was a semi-practical study. We had considered 32 case couples and 32 control couples randomly. The couples had been chosen from those, which have been contacted to the clinics of Tehran University of medical sciences. All cases had contributed to three lectures given by the researcher. The lectures were mainly based on the different aspects of sexual health, like: family plain, safe sex, different aspects of sexuality and physiologic different in men's and women's. On the other hand the control group had taken the normal lectures, which presents in the clinics which were based on the family planning and pre-marriage experiments. Both groups [cases and controls] had been asked to fill a form six months after counseling. In this form, we had included 10 questions of sexual health and 10 demographic questions. We had finally analyzed our data by SPSS software where we had used descriptive and discriminated statistics. We have obtained a considerable difference in sexual health between the two groups by Man-Whitney test [p=0.000]. The majority of case group [96.9%] showed a good sexual health whereas the most procent of control group [59.4%] had a moderate sexual health. To improve the quality of pre-marriage counseling, the content of usual lectures should be modified in addition to consider more time for these lectures. The results revealed that the pre-marriage counseling enhances the sexual health that lead to marital satisfaction

[Effect of preventive education of STD based on health belief model in the couples]

Health Promotion and Prevention of disease are two important aims of health programs. Despite many efforts which have been done for health promotion, sexually transmitted diseases is yet one of the societies health problem today. The educational and teaching efforts, can confine these infections which seems health educational models, such as health belief model; has a key role in this matter. This study was a semi - experimental survey conducted in case - control method. Sampling size included 30 couples in each group that was selected randomly. The couples in the experimental group were educated based on health belief model, during two 30 minutes educational sessions and the couples in the control group participated in the routine counseling classes. The data of this research was gathered by a questionnaire in two stages; before and 4 month after education, then was analyzed by SPSS software. The results of this study indicated that there was no significant differences between two groups in demographic characteristics and agent of health belief model [perceived susceptibility, severity, benefits and barriers of STDs]. Comparing of those two groups indicated that after education, there were significant differences between perceived susceptibility [p<0.0001], severity [p<0.0001], benefits [p<0.0001], barriers [p<0.002] and practice [p<0.009]. Findings of this study showed that education through health belief model was effective in preventing STDs. Then this educational model can be applied in educating adolescents and other people for preventing STDs