Educational needs in premarital counseling: viewpoints of couples referring to health care centers in Mashhad

In recent years, premarital programs are considered important in order to promote the quality of married life. This study was performed to determine the educational needs in premarital stages from the viewpoints of married couples referring to health care centers of Mashhad. This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on 223 couples [n = 446] referring to health centers in Mashhad during the years 2006-2007. The data gathering tool was a questionnaire containing 2 forms. The first form included 8 demographic questions and 4 questions related to samples' viewpoints about the way of holding sessions. The second form included 47 questions on 7 areas including fertility, family planning, congenital diseases, prevalent cancer prevention, sexual relationships, relationship with spouse and family, and Islamic and legal issues and 2 open questions were dedicated to other viewpoints of couples. Descriptive statistics and t-test were used for analyzing the data. The need to education in all areas was higher than average in both groups. Comparing the scores in 7 areas showed no significant difference between males and females. The most important need in both groups was concerning the relationship with spouse and family [3.97 +/- 0.067 in females and 3.95 +/- 0.077 in males]. Couples have a tendency for more education in the field of relationship with spouse and family, and are willing to increase the number of educational sessions to 3 or 4. Males and females had felt the need for providing educational programs in the mentioned priorities