[Estimation of natural age of menopause in Iranian women: a meta-analysis study]

The mean age of menopause have been reported at the age of 51 in the world and regarding the increase in life expectancy in many countries more than a third of the life time of women i s in menopause period. The importance of menopause is due to its relationship with various diseases and quality of life. The present study was conducted to estimate the average natural age of menopause in women based on a meta-analysis study. In a meta-analysis study on all the existing articles in the natural age o f menopause in Iran, 21 articles were selected based on inclusion criteria. Begg and Egger tests fo r publication bias and Cochrane test were used to determine the heterogeneity among samples. ???? estimate of mean calculated based on Random effect model in Stata11 software. The publication bias assumption was rejected by Begg and Egger tests with significant value s equal to 0.174 and 0.446 respectively. There was a heterogeneity among samples [Q=4626.3, df=20, P<0.001]. So based on random effect model the mean age of menopause was calculated as 48.183 with 95% CI=47.457-48.91. The average age of natural menopause in Iranian women is favorable to some places of Middle East, but is less compared with developed countries and the world mean. Because of the importance of this period in women, educational programs seem to be necessary

[Factors influencing cesarean delivery method in Shiraz hospitals]

Cesarean has been defined as surgical delivery in which the infant, placenta and membranes draw out through incision made on the mother's abdomen and uterus. Al present, 50-65 percent of deliveries in Iran are achieved by cesarean method. The aim of this study was to identify factors influencing termination of pregnancy with cesarean method. In this cross-sectional study, 420 mothers, referred to Shiraz governmental and private hospitals for delivery were selected. Data collection was performed by structured questionnaire and analyzed by SPSS software. The prevalence of cesarean was 89% and 63.28% in private and governmental hospitals, respectively, with the overall prevalence of 66.4%. Age, height, BMI, socioeconomic status, null parity, acceptance in private hospitals, cesarean history, induction of labor macrosomia, shoulder dystocia and breach presentation was significantly related to cesarean section [P<0.05]. In final model, cesarean history, age after 35 and education level were the most important factor for cesarean method of delivery. Although cesarean has been identified as a savior practice of mothers and neonates in emergency situation, its prevalence is increasing, because of physicians' tendency for economical benefits, and also, of mothers' fear from labor pain. So, mothers, especially nulliparous mothers should be persuaded for having vaginal delivery, in order to avoid cesarean complications in sequential deliveries

Prevalence of unintended pregnancy and its related factors in Arak 2007

Each year over 200 million pregnancies occurring in worldwide and approximately one third of these are unintended. The present study was conducted to assess the prevalence of unintended pregnancies and its related factors in Arak [Iran]. This analytical cross- sectional study was carried out on 352 mothers who had 6-12 months neonatal. Data was collected by valid and reliable questionnaire and interview in the health centers of Arak city. The prevalence of unintended pregnancy was calculated and its related factors identified by fisher exact test, t-test, and Chi-square and logistic regression statistical tests. In this study, the prevalence of unintended pregnancy was 27.8%. Meanwhile 6.1% of these mothers had used interrupts coitus as a contraceptive. A significant relation was observed between unwanted pregnancy and age of parents, parity and husband education [P<0.05], but there was no significant association between unintended pregnancy and mother's occupation and education [P>0.05]. There was a reverse association between unintended pregnancy and prenatal care and exclusive breastfeeding as well. These results showed that extending of the education programs about contraceptive methods and disadvantages of unintended pregnancy especially for housewife and illiterate women is necessary in order to preventing unintended pregnancies its sequential outcomes