Psychometric properties of the Persian version of the sexual and reproductive health needs assessment questionnaire

No tools to assess women's general sexual and reproductive health needs have been validated in the Iranian context. This study in Sari in Mazandaran province of the Islamic Republic of Iran was conducted to evaluate the psychometric properties of a Persian version of the Sexual and Reproductive Health Needs Assessment Questionnaire [first developed for the International Organization for Migration and United Nations Population Fund]. The Persian version of the questionnaire was found to have adequate face and content validity [quantitative and qualitative] for assessing sexual and reproductive health needs among women [content validity index = 0.88]. The test-retest reliability showed that, except for the domain of sexually transmitted infections, all domains of the questionnaire had an acceptable reliability [intra-class correlation coefficients > 0.5]. This questionnaire is a valid tool for assessing the sexual and reproductive health needs of Iranian women and planning/designing strategies to meet them

Client and health workers perceptions on family planning services

In order to achieve maximum client satisfaction, family planning must incorporate the client's views and perception; this in turn depends heavily on the cultural and religious context. This qualitative study was performed with the aim of assessing the need for family planning services in various client groups. Focus Group Discussions [FGD] were conducted with four different categories of clients attending primary health care centers in Southern Tehran, Iran. The study also involved group interviews with Liaison Health Workers. Clients generally complained of problems such as the crowding of people inside health centers, inconvenient working hours, disrespectful staff members, poor client education, counseling, and contraceptive complications. Most clients expressed the need for higher education and quality services. Liaison workers listed their main problems as inadequate staffing, limited attendance time, client overload, the community's negative attitude towards state-run health facilities, and common misperceptions regarding various contraceptive modalities. Suggestions for improving quality of services included identification of common goals for staff and clients, providing adequate consultation courses for client and staff members, improving the general atmosphere of the clinic, reducing waiting time, and improving clinic access

[Risk of preeclampsia in planned and unplanned pregnancies: a comparative study]

To determine and compare the risk of preeclampsia in planned versus unplanned pregnancies in Tehran, Iran. We studied 1800 pregnant women attending the urban and rural health centers of Shahr-e-Rey in Tehran for their routine prenatal care. The subjects were divided into 2 groups: Group a consisted of women with planned pregnancy and group B included women with unplanned pregnancy. Inclusion criteria were: gestational age less than 28 weeks at the time of entering the study and consent to take part in the research. Both groups were followed through their prenatal care and up to their delivery. The occurrence of preeclampsia was ascertained by the presence symptoms [hypertension and edema] in the prenatal visits. Hypertension was defined as systolic blood pressure > 140 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure > 90 mmHg measured on 2 separate occasions, at least 6 hours apart. There were 23 cases of preeclampsia in Group A [2.5%] and 37 cases in Group B [4%]. The difference between the two groups was not statistically significant [P=0.066, Odds ratio=1.635, 95% CI=0.96-2.77]. In multiple logistic regression analysis, there was no significant relationship between unplanned pregnancy and preeclampsia [P-value=0.081, Odds ratio=1.603, 95% CI=0.943-2.724]. There was no significant relationship between unplanned pregnancy and preeclampsia. As there is not enough evidence in the literature to support this finding, larger studies are recommended to evaluate the relationship between unplanned and preeclampsia

Design of a PLC system for automatic I-123 production

Design of the production system for Iodine-123 has begun recently in nuclear research centre of agricultural and medicine [NRCAM]. The production system consists of pipes for xenon gas transfer, equipped with 10 valves, 3 heaters, fluid nitrogen and 2 vacuum pumps. In the first prototype the function of elements was being done manually by an operator. Because dispensing radiopharmaceuticals manually involves receiving radiation dose by operators, therefore, automation is very important step in radiopharmaceutical production. The automatic system for production of Iodine-123 is PLC /135u Siemens, which is designed and installed for the first time in Iran. The PLC was connected to the production system through relays. By programming the CPU of the PLC, start up and control of the production procedure was executed automatically. Automation leads to reduced presence of operator for Iodine-123 production. We were also able to record storage and transfer of materials and minimize risk of error. Automation in production of radiopharmaceutical may lead to reduced radiation dose to personnel and achieved better dispensing precision