[Constructs of the health belief model as predicting factors in breast self-examination]

Early diagnosis of breast lumps through breast selfexamination [BSE] is important for early detection of breast cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate factors predict the BSE behavior using Health Belief Model constructs in women referred to health centers in Bandar abbas, Iran. In this cross-sectional study, 240 eligible women were randomly selected from eight health centers. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire including demographic characteristics and Champion's Health Belief Model Scale [CHBMS]. The CHBMS measures the HBM concepts of susceptibility [3 items], seriousness [6 items], benefits [4 items], barriers [8 items] and self-efficacy [10 items]. All items were ranged in a Likert scale ranging from "strongly disagree [score: one]" to "strongly agree [score: five]". A total of 240 women took part in the study. The mean age of participants was 37.2 [SD=6.1]. Of all, 32.5% had high school education; and 95.8% were married. The results showed that 31.7% of the women had performed the BSE; however, only 7.1% had performed it regularly. Perceived BSE benefits, perceived BSE barriers and perceived BSE selfefficacy of the participants who performed the BSE were significantly higher than those who did not [P<0.03]. The results from regression analysis indicated that the perceived BSE self-efficacy and perceived BSE barriers predicted breast self-examination behavior [P<0.001]. The findings of this study indicated that perceived BSE barriers and perceived BSE self-efficacy were influencing factors in predicting the BSE behavior. Therefore, in order to improve self-efficacy and decrease the barriers, BSE training programs are strongly recommended

[Quality gap in primary healthcare services in Bandar Abbas: women's perspective]

The Service quality gap is the gap between customer expectations and the perceived quality of the service delivered. The basic step in eliminating this gap is recognizing customers' perceptions and expectations of service quality and determining the quality gap. The aim of this study was to determine the quality gap in primary healthcare services in the health centers of Bandar Abbas. This was a cross-sectional study and the target population consisted of women attending the health care centers of Bandar Abbas. We selected a total of 400 women according to the order of their attendance. The SERVQUAL measurement instrument was used to determine the gap in service quality. The instrument comprises five dimensions: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. Data were analyzed by the SPSS software. There were quality gaps in all the five dimensions of service quality. The smallest gap [-0.76] was in the assurance and the greatest gap was observed for the empathy [-0.98]. There were significant differences between the mean of service quality gap in all dimensions [P<0.0001]. The negative gap in service quality indicates that client expectations are higher than their perceptions. Thus, there is a need for improvement across all the five dimensions

[Physical activity and the stages of change: application of the Trans Theoretical Model]

The Trans theoretical Model is a behavior change model that incorporates the stages of change in physical activity behavior. The aim of this study was to determine these stages in adults living in Bandar Abbas, Iran. This was a cross sectional study. Using cluster random sampling, 1600 subjects, aged 15 years and over, were studied from April to May 2007 in Bandar Abbas, Iran. To describe different levels of behavior change, we used The Physical Activity Staging questionnaire and collected data on five stages of physical activity change, including pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, readiness and maintenance. In all, 1600 individuals with a mean age of 40.1 +/- 15.2 were studied. Among these, 724 [49.4] were men. A total of 959 individuals [59.9%] were at pre-contemplation stage and 1.3%, 3.2%, 0.5% and 35.1% were at stages of contemplation, readiness, action, and maintenance respectively. There were statistically significant differences between stages of change with regard to gender, age, and education [P < 0.001]. This study revealed the majority of participants were in pre-contemplation and contemplation stages. These findings should be considered in future studies

Quality gap of educational services in viewpoints of students in Hormozgan University of medical sciences

Higher education is growing fast and every day it becomes more and more exposed to globalization processes. The aim of this study was to determine the quality gap of educational services by using a modified SERVQUAL instrument among students in Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences. In this cross-sectional study, a total of 300 students were randomly selected from all students of Hormozgan University of Medical Science and were asked to fill a questionnaire that was designed according to SERVQUAL method. This questionnaire measures students' perceptions and expectations in five dimensions of service that consists of assurance, responsiveness, empathy, reliability and tangibles. The quality gap of educational services was determined based on differences between students' perceptions and expectations. The results demonstrated that in all of the five SERVQUAL dimensions, there was a negative quality gap. The least and the most negative quality gap mean were in reliability [-0.71] and rasponsiveness [-1.14] respectively. Also there were significant differences between perceptions and expectations of students in all of the five SERVQUAL dimensions [p<0.001]. Negative quality gap means students' expectations are more than their perceptions. So improvements are needed across all of the five dimensions