The effectiveness of training mothers with regard to pediculosis preventive behavior among school students: A Protection Motivation Theory study.

BACKGROUND OBJECTIVES: Lice infestation is considered as a reemerging problem as well as a health challenge. Based on Protection Motivation Theory, the present study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of training mothers in regard to pediculosis preventive behavior among school students. METHODS: In a critical trial, 180 mothers of primary school daughters were assessed in two study groups in the Iranian city of Qom in 2021. They received training intervention in a course of four ninety-minute sessions during four weeks. After six months, the post-test questionnaire and the checklist were completed by them. The data were gathered using a valid and reliable questionnaire. Finally, data analysis was performed using SPSS 20. RESULTS: After the training intervention, a significant difference was observed within the intervention group in scores of the prevention motivation constructs (P<0.001). Besides, there was a significant difference between the mean scores of the preventive behavior of the mothers and daughters in the intervention group before the training intervention and six months after it (P<0.001). However, no significant difference was seen before and after the intervention in the control group (P>0.05). Additionally, no significant differences were observed between the intervention and control groups (P<0.001) in terms of comparing the mean score differences of all the constructs of protection motivation theory, the mothers' behavior and the daughters' behavior checklist. INTERPRETATION CONCLUSION: The results indicate the effectiveness of training mothers based on Protection Motivation Theory in regard to pediculosis. Therefore, it seems that in developing training programs, utilizing this theory could prove useful to bring about changes in the individuals' behavior regarding the prevention of pediculosis.

Prediction of Addiction Relapse Based on Perceived Social Support and Childhood Trauma.

Background: The adverse effects of addiction relapse have always been major challenges in addiction treatment. Perceived social support and childhood trauma are determinants of drug addiction and relapse prevention. The current study aimed to predict drug addiction relapse based on perceived social support and childhood trauma in drug addiction treatment centers in Qom, Iran. Methods: The present study examined 320 individuals, who visited drug addiction treatment centers in Qom, Iran and were selected using the purposive sampling method. The data collection tools included a demographic information questionnaire, the Social Support Scale, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ-SF), and the Addiction Relapse Frequency Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS 20 and independent t-tests, analysis of variance (ANOVA), Pearson test, and multivariate regression. Findings: The research results indicated that 49.4% (n=158) of cases used opium. The results of multivariate regression of the factors related to addiction relapse indicated that the childhood trauma score had a significant effect on the relapse of more than 3 times in a way that childhood trauma increased the relapse rate of more than 3 times by 13%, but social support caused a significant reduction in the relapse rate of more than 3 times. Conclusion: The research findings indicated that addiction relapse had a significant relationship with childhood trauma and perceived social support. The results can be a guide for future studies to expand psychological knowledge about the determinants of the treatment and prevention of addiction relapse and help to develop psychological explanations of this disorder.

The first report of Vibrio fluvialis isolated from a clinical sample in Iran.

Background and Objectives: Vibrio fluvialis is a Gram-negative, bacillus-shaped, curved bacterium known as an emerging pathogen. There are reports of outbreaks caused by this bacterium worldwide. Iran, especially Qom province, is an endemic region for gastrointestinal diseases caused by Vibrio species. So, the aim was to isolate V. fluvialis from clinical and environmental samples. Materials and Methods: During six months, 363 clinical and surface water samples were evaluated. The samples were cultured on specific media, and all incubated for 24 hours at 37°C. Suspicious colonies were evaluated by Gram staining and biochemical tests. The BD Phoenix automated microbiology system was used for the final confirmation of the isolated bacteria. Evaluation of antibiotic resistance of isolated strains was also performed according to CLSI standard. Results: Eight cases (2.2%) of V. fluvialis, including seven from surface water samples (87.5%) and one from clinical samples (12.5%), were isolated. Based on antimicrobial susceptibility testing, all V. fluvialis isolates were susceptible to amikacin, gentamicin, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, ciprofloxacin, tetracycline, ceftazidime, and chloramphenicol. High-level resistance to ampicillin and amoxicillin/clavulanate was also observed. V. fluvialis-infected patient had a mild fever, watery diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, and abdominal cramps that were manifested after drinking contaminated water or eating contaminated vegetables. The patient's symptoms recovered without antibiotic therapy after four days, resulting in self-limiting disease. Conclusion: The current study is the first human case of V. fluvialis infection isolated in Iran. Therefore, monitoring of water and food samples should be done routinely.

Measles Elimination Successful and Its Relevant Challenges in Iran.

Measles is an infectious childhood disease with some death annually. The expansion of the coverage of vaccination plan has significantly reduced the mortality rate of this disease. Given that the endemic measles virus is not transmitted in the country and based on Regional Verification Commission (RVC) for Measles and Rubella Elimination has declared that measles and rubella have been eliminated in three countries of Eastern Mediterranean Region including Islamic Republic of Iran, Bahrain, and Oman. Therefore, to continue and preventing from reemerging of measles in Iran, it is essential to maintaining the immunization programs, diagnose, and investigate all suspicious cases and outbreaks. This article investigates the challenges facing to measles after elimination declaration in Iran. However, the elimination of these diseases to be sustainable needs a vigorous case identification protocol and contact follow up.

Life After Myocardial Infarction: A Qualitative Study on Experiences of Kurdish Patients Affected by Iran-Iraq War.

BACKGROUND: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a major cause of death globally. Myocardial infarction (MI) secondary to CAD affects patients' quality of life and their lifestyle. The experience of war can affect people's perception of phenomena. Given the scarcity of information in Kurdish patients with MI, the current study was designed to explore the lived experiences of individuals after MI in Kurdish patients affected by Iran-Iraq war. METHODS: This interpretive-phenomenological study was conducted on eleven patients with MI (9 men, 2 women) at Imam Ali Hospital, Center for Heart Diseases, in Kermanshah, Iran, considering MI as a phenomenon. Data was collected by a semi-structured interview and analyzed using the Van Mannen method. We employed the Lincoln and Guba criteria to examine the credibility, confirmability, dependability, and transferability of data. MAXQDA software was used for data management. We followed the COREQ checklist to ensure the rigor of our study. RESULTS: Four themes and ten sub-themes were emerged as (1) "changes in the quality of life" including (a) negative physical outcomes, (b) mental effects, (c) social support, (d) adopting healthy behaviors, (e) increase or decrease in self-efficiency, (f) previous experience, and (g) developing future behaviors; (2) "bodily perceptions and medical care" including (a) medical care: saving or terminating life?, (b) a new message from the heart; (3) "returning to spirituality against death" including (a) spirituality as a guiding principle, (b) accepting death as an eventual destiny; and (4) denial. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that MI could change the quality of physical and mental health of the person, anywhere from deterioration to full recovery. Furthermore, the influence of spirituality and previous experience of war to overcome the complications of MI has been discussed, leading to either acceptance or denial of MI, and the consequences.

Effect of educational intervention on promoting self-care in hemodialysis patients: Applying the self-efficacy theory.

BACKGROUND: Hemodialysis patients experience many issues in self-care behavior. Patients require to control of manage the issue to improve the self-care. Educational intervention to behavior change can be effective on self-care behavior. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of an educational intervention, based on the self-Efficacy theory on promoting self-care in hemodialysis patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventy hemodialysis patients recruited in this study and divided randomly into intervention group (n = 35) and control group (n = 35) with convenience sampling in 2016 from Qom city, Iran. Data were collected before and 3 months after education using demographic questionnaire, self-efficacy, a valid researcher-made questionnaire regarding to awareness and self-care. The educational intervention was performed for the intervention group in 4 1-h sessions over 2 months. The data were analyzed through Paired t-test, Independent t-test, Chi-square, and Mann-Whitney at the significant level of 0.05. RESULTS: While variables in two groups did not show significant difference before education (P > 0.05), a significant increase was observed in variables of self-efficacy (P < 0.001), awareness (P < 0.001), and self-care dimensions (P < 0.05) between two groups after 3 months education. CONCLUSION: The results of this research suggested that employing educational programs based on the self-efficacy theory can lead to the improvement of the self-care behaviors in hemodialysis patients.

Relationship between perceived social support and self-care behavior in type 2 diabetics: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Social support is one of the most effective factors on the diabetic self-care. This study aimed to assess social support and its relationship to self-care in type 2 diabetic patients in Qom, Iran. STUDY DESIGN: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 325 diabetics attending the Diabetes Mellitus Association. METHODS: Patients who meet inclusion and exclusion criteria were selected using random sampling method. Data were collected by the Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, with hemoglobin A1C test. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and independent t-test, analysis of variance, Pearson correlation, and linear regression test, using 0.05 as the critical significance level, provided by SPSS software. RESULTS: The mean and standard deviation of self-care and social support scores were 4.31 ± 2.7 and 50.32 ± 11.09, respectively. The mean level of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1C) of patients was 7.54. There was a significant difference between mean score of self-care behaviors and social support according to gender and marital status (P < 0.05). The regression analysis showed that disease duration was the only variable which had a significant effect on the level of HbA1C (P < 0.001). Pearson correlation coefficient indicated that self-care and social support significantly correlated (r = 0.489, P > 0.001) and also predictive power of social support was 0.28. Self-care was significantly better in diabetics with HbA1C ≤7%. Patients who had higher HbA1C felt less, but not significant, social support. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicated the relationship between social support and self-care behaviors in type 2 diabetic patients. Interventions that focus on improving the social support and self-care of diabetic control may be more effective in improving glycemic control.

Exploring the feelings of Iranian women of reproductive age about health care seeking behavior: a qualitative study.

Background: Despite the important role of feelings in health care seeking behavior (HCSB), this subject has not yet been adequately investigated. HCSB-related feelings begin with the onset of disease symptoms and persist in different forms after treatment. The aim of current study was to explore the feelings that women of reproductive age experience when they seek health care. Methods: In this deductive, qualitative content analysis, participants were selected by purposeful sampling. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 17 women of reproductive age and 5 health care staffs in Qom, Iran were carried out until data saturation was achieved. Qualitative data were concurrently analyzed by deductive content analysis, using the Health Promotion Model (HPM). The MAXQDA10 software was used to manage qualitative data analysis. Results: Three main categories were drawn from data to explain the HCSB-related feelings of participants consisting of (1) feeling of inner satisfaction with the treatment with 2 subcategories including "peace of mind" and "feeling alive", (2) multiple roles of fear with 5 subcategories including "fear about the consequences of delay", "fear of having hidden diseases", "fear of unknown experiences", "fear of hearing bad news" and "fear of medical errors" and (3)uncomfortable feelings with 3 subcategories including "feeling uneasy when attending health facility", "feeling embarrassed" and "feeling worthless due to dealing the doctor". Conclusion: This study revealed that the inner feelings of women varied widely, ranging from positive or motivating feelings to negative or inhibitory ones, given their experiences with the formal health care system and the current situation of medical and health services. Highlighting patients' perceived inner satisfaction and reducing fear and uncomfortable feelings by adopting culture-based practical strategies can enhance women's HCSB.

The effect of team-based learning on public health students' educational outcomes.

BACKGROUND: The educational environment has been confirmed as crucial factor for active learning. Team-based learning (TBL) is an interactive teaching method which improves students' perceptions and performance. OBJECTIVES: The comparison of the team-based learning method through lecture-based approach on health education curriculum in public health students. METHODS: A quasi-experimental study was conducted among 23 public health students of bachelor degree and 14 public health students of associate degree to teach communication and Health Education in Qom University of Medical Sciences from January 2015 to Jun 2016. Students of bachelor degree selected TBL and students of associate degree preferred the traditional lecture-based method. In the current study, educational outcomes were defined as educational environment and academic performance. At the last session of the semester, the educational environment and academic performance of both groups were evaluated. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 20.0 using Chi-square and Mann-Whitney test. RESULTS: The mean and standard deviation of individual test score between the two groups showed significant difference based on Mann-Whitney results (P = 0.036). The mean of final examination score in TBL group was significantly higher than the traditional lecture group (P < 0.021, Mann-Whitney). Our findings showed that in TBL group, 78.3% of students' perceptions were in very favorable condition while it was only 28.6% for students of the traditional method. CONCLUSIONS: TBL method improves students' perceptions about each area of educational atmosphere and also provides opportunities to innovate which lead to active teamwork among learners, and it can effectively enhance students' academic performance.

Prevalence of Asymptomatic Brucellosis in Children 7 to 12 Years Old.

Background. Brucellosis is one of the most common diseases of humans and animals and its clinical manifestations differ from asymptomatic infection to chronic illness associated with recurrence of symptoms. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of brucellosis in asymptomatic children 7 to 12 years old in Kahak, Iran. Methods. In this study, 186 children 7 to 12 years old were evaluated. Demographic data and exposure to the brucellosis agent were recorded and blood samples for the Wright, Coombs, and 2ME tests were collected. All the study subjects were followed up for one year about the appearance of symptoms. Results. The mean age was 10 ± 1.72 years and 51% were boys. Family history was positive for brucellosis in 15% of children. A total of 8 children were brucellosis seropositive and, in subsequent follow-up, 6 of them showed the disease symptoms. Conclusion. This study showed that approximately 4.3% of children in endemic areas can have asymptomatic brucellosis and many of these children may be symptomatic in short term.

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders in truck drivers and official workers.

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are common among drivers and official workers. Musculoskeletal disorders are frequent causes of absenteeism in many countries. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and risk factors associated with these symptoms. A total of 346 workers and truck drivers were participated in this case-control study. All the participants were interviewed using a self- administered questionnaire containing demographic data and a Nordic questionnaire about presence site and characteristics of pain. Then the data were gathered, and the prevalence of the mentioned parameters and the relationship between variables in the questionnaire were analyzed statistically. The results of this study revealed that 78.6% out of truck drivers and 55.5% out of official workers had musculoskeletal disorders in on-year and there was a significant difference between two groups in this regard (P<0.001). On the whole, the most common symptoms were neck 47 (27.2%), followed by lumbar pain 42 (24.3%) in truck drivers and knee 63 (36.4%) and lumbar symptom 21 (12.1%) in one-year in official workers. In this study, musculoskeletal disorders showed statistically significant association with work duration, age and BMI (P<0.001). Within the limits of this study, it can be concluded that the musculoskeletal troubles have a high frequency among the drivers and official workers. Both groups usually remain on a prolonged uncomfortable postures and high static muscle load which may imply a risk for development of the troubles.

Associations between Self-medication, Health Literacy, and Self-perceived Health Status: A Community-Based Study.

BACKGROUND: Although the frequency of self-medication has been well-documented in the public health literature, but no study has examined the relationship between health literacy and self-medication yet. This study was aimed to investigating the relationship between health literacy and self-medication in a community-based study. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 924 adults to survey association between health literacy and self-medication among peoples in Ardabil city in 2014 who were selected using a multi-stage random sampling method. Health literacy was measured by the test of functional health literacy in adults and general health status was measured by the 12-item General Health Questionnaire, and self-reported self-medication (overall, sedative, antibiotic and herbal) in last 3 months was assessed. All statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS version 18 and a P < 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: The mean age and weight of respondents were 37 years and 74.7 kg, respectively. The prevalence of self-medication was 61.6%, and the percentage of self-administering antibiotics, sedative, and herbal medicines were 40%, 54.4%, and 59.1% in the last 3 months, respectively. Significant relationship was found between of total health literacy and general health status with self-medication. The prevalence of self-medication among participants with poor and very poor self-rated physical and mental health was significantly higher than other participants (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Self-medication had a significant relationship with health literacy and health status. Therefore, the design and implementation of training programs are necessary to increase the perception on the risk of self-medication.

The relationship between blood pressure and the structures of Pender's health promotion model in rural hypertensive patients.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: Perception is the most important predictor of behavior and there is a strong relation and correlation between behavior and believes. Thus, to improve self-care behaviors of patients, it is required to fully understand their perceptions about behavior. This paper aimed to assess the prediction power of health promotion model of systolic blood pressure (SBP) as the result of self-care behavior in rural hypertensive. METHODS: This cross-sectional study has been carried out through random multistage sampling on 671 rural patients under the coverage of health center of Ardebil city in 2013. Data were collected through reliable and valid questionnaire based on the health promotion model in eight sectors. For data analysis, Pearson correlation statistical tests, multivariate linear regression, ANOVA and independent t-test were used and for confirmatory factor analysis, SPSS 18 and AMOS 18 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) were used. RESULTS: The results showed significant negative correlation between self-efficacy, perceived benefits, situational influences, affects related to behavior and commitment to action structures with SBP and showed a positive significant correlation between perceived barriers and SBP. Furthermore, age and body mass had direct significant relation with SBP. The age of patients showed inverse significant correlation with self-efficacy, perceived benefits, affects related to behavior, interpersonal influences and commitment and showed a direct significant correlation with perceived barriers, means that by increase of age, the perceived barriers also increased. The structures of health promotion model have in overall the prediction power of 71.4% of SBP changes. CONCLUSION: The diet perceptions of patients, the same as health promotion model, has good predictive power of SBP, especially the structures of perceived benefits and self-efficacy have inverse meaningful relation with systole blood pressure and predicted a higher percentage of this variable.

Predicting of perceived self efficacy in the amount of macronutrients intake in women with metabolic syndrome - 2012.

INTRODUCTION: Metabolic syndrome is a collection of metabolic disorders, which can increase the mortality rates from 20% to 80%. One of strategies to control the disease is the attention to the dietary habits. Compliance with proper diet is one of the major challenges in the management of this syndrome. Due to this fact, that the patient is responsible for the adjustment of the daily diet, it is important to identify the factors affecting the adoption of nutritional self-care. Besides, self-efficacy is considered as an important pre-requisite for this behavior because it acts as an independent part of the basic skills. This study was carried out with the purpose of determining the predictive role of perceived self-efficacy on macronutrients intake in women with metabolic syndrome. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this descriptive study with correlational nature in 2012, there were 329 patients with the metabolic syndrome. The patients were covered by Isfahan oil industry medical centers and selected by a systematic method. In order to gather information on perceived self-efficacy, the questionnaires constructed by the researchers were used and the validity and reliability had been confirmed by the calculation of content validity indexand content validity ratio values and the indices of internal consistency and stability of the tool. The 24-h dietary recall questionnaire was also used for 3 days in order to investigate the nutritional behavior. The obtained data from the dietary recall questionnaire were analyzed by the N4 nutritional software. In this study, AMOS software version 16 was used for the structural model fitting by using the generalized least squares method besides the SPSS statistical software version 16. RESULTS: THESE AVERAGES OBTAINED FROM THE RESULTS: 2512.37 kcal energy intake, 70.95 g protein, 420 g carbohydrates and 61.61 g of fat per day. The mean of perceived self-efficacy score was 47.89. The Pearson correlation coefficient was indicated a significant inverse relationship between the perceived self-efficacy and intake of macronutrients in the metabolic syndrome. The most direct effect of the coefficient of perceived self-efficacy was observed on fat and carbohydrate intake (P < 0.05 and ß = -0.592) and (P < 0.05 and ß = -0.395). CONCLUSIONS: The amount of energy, carbohydrate, fat and protein were more than the recommended dietary allowances levels and the amount of self-efficacy was moderate. The present study showed that perceived self-efficacy provided a useful framework to understand and predict adherence to dietary self-care behaviors in patients with metabolic syndrome.

Can health promotion model constructs predict nutritional behavior among diabetic patients?

Since, the nutritional behavior is a complicated process in which various factors play the role, this study aimed at specifying the effective factors in nutritional behavior of diabetic patients based on Health Promotion Model. This paper reviews the published articles from 2000 to the beginning of 2012, using the various data banks and search engines such as PubMed, ProQuest, Scopus, Elsevier, and the key words" perceived benefits and barriers, perceived self-efficacy, social support, activity related affect, situational influences, commitment to plan of action, immediate competing demands and diabetes, self-caring and diabetes. Unfavorable self-care situation especially, inappropriate nutritional behavior is related to some effective modifiable factors. Perceived benefits and self-efficacy regarding behaviors play a major role in the nutritional behaviors. Social support especially, spouses' support has a significant role in this regard. Moreover, there is a reverse relationship between perceived barriers and nutritional self-care. In addition, behavioral feelings, situational influences, commitment to plan of action and immediate competing demands and preferences can also impact and overshadow the nutritional self-care. Following the relationship between constructs of Health Promotion Model and nutritional behavior the constructs of this model can be utilized as the basis for educational intervention among diabetes.

The effectiveness of nutrition education program based on health belief model compared with traditional training.

INTRODUCTION: This study was aimed to compare the effect of nutrition educational program based on HBM with traditional education recommended weight gain among pregnant women in Gonabad. Target population was pregnant women who were resided in Gonabad and went to urban health care centers for prenatal cares. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 110 pregnant women (case group: 54, control group: 56) were selected who had come to this centers in the first stage of prenatal care (6th -10th week of pregnancy) in 1388 and were consequently classified in case and control group. There is no significant difference for age, education, number of parity, history of abortion and job between case and control groups. RESULTS: There was no significant differences in nutritional behavior mean score before intervention in case (74.42 ± 12.78) and control (77.14 ± 15.35) groups (P value = 0.82, independent t- test); but after education, intervention was significant in nutritional behavior between two groups (P value = 0.01, independent t-test); DISCUSSION: after intervention, there also was significant difference in HBM structures mean score in case group compare with control group and the highest rise in score was related to perceived benefits (15.13 increment).

Review the key role of self-efficacy in diabetes care.

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS: Diabetes is one of the chronic and prevalent diseases in the world. Diabetic patients' number has increased 7 times during last 20 years. If this current situation continues, diabetic patients' population will be 350 millions ones in 2030. It means that 7 millions people will be added annually. Up to now, different uncontrollable factors have been monitored in self-caring of this disease for managing and preventing from its early and late side effects. This research is conducted to study the role of self-efficacy as a determinant agent in self-caring of diabetic patients. STUDY METHOD: This is a narrative review study in which various information banks and search motors such as PubMed, ProQuest, SCOPUS, Elsevier were reviewed. Diabetes, self-care and self efficacy keywords from cross sectional, cohort, clinical experimental studies and systematic review were also used in the study construction. Iranian Banks such as IRANMEDEX, MEDLINE and also different articles from domestic research and scientific magazines were selected. Time spectrum of reviewed studies was supposed to be published from 1990 up to 2011. RESULTS: Self-care situation among diabetic patients not only is unsatisfactory but also the studies' results show that self-efficacy rate is low among them. The findings of the studies prove that there is a direct relation between self-efficacy and self-care in the patients in a way that this construct owns the predictability power of self-care behavior. CONCLUSION: Self-caring has a significant role in controlling of diabetes disease. Self-efficacy can induce motivation directly take health promoting behavior through efficacy expectations. It also affects motivation, indirectly, through perceived barriers and determining commitment or stability for following function map. So, self-efficacy is very important in changing self-care behavior process.

Structural role of perceived benefits and barriers to self-care in patients with diabetes.

INTRODUCTION AND GOAL: In diseases and disorders such as diabetes, treatment and disease management depends mostly on patient's performance. So, self-care is very important in these patients and they can affect their own welfare, functional capabilities, and disease processes by achieving self-care skills. Nowadays, we know that self care follows individual, psychological and social factors which its recognition can assist health care providing systems to carry out educational programs. This study aimed to investigate the role of perceived benefits and barriers in doing self-care behaviors among diabetic patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study is a narrative review and articles with sectional, cohort, and interventional, clinical trial, qualitative and narrative designs were chosen using databases and academic search engines such as PubMed, SCOPUS, ProQuest, Elsevier and key words like self-care diabetes, perceived benefits and barriers. Persian articles were also selected using databases like IRANMEDEX, MEDLIB, as well as searching the articles in sites of domestic scientific magazines. RESULTS: Reviewed articles' findings show the average situation of perceived benefits and barriers in diabetic patients regarding self-care. Qualified blood sugar (glucose) control, weight control, happiness feeling and expenses reduction are the most important perceived benefits. The most significant perceived barriers in self-care consist of lack of family support, shame feeling, forgetfulness and not being able to ignore foods' flavor. CONCLUSION: Perceived benefits and barriers, as central constructs in some patterns and theories of behavior change, were related to self-care, so that it was directly related to perceived benefits and reversely related to perceived barriers. Therefore, these two constructs can be considered as strategies for promoting self-care behaviors in diabetic patients.

Importance of social support in diabetes care.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Diabetes is one of the major concerns in the third millennium, affecting more people every day. The prevalence of this disease in Iran is reported to be high (about 7.7%). The most important method to control this disease and prevent its complications is self-care. According to various studies, this method has not found its proper place among patients with diabetes due to several reasons. The present study was aimed at determining the relationship between social support, especially family support, and self-care behavior of diabetes patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was a narrative review in which the relevant papers of cross-sectional, cohort, clinical trial, and systematic review designs were selected using databases and scientific search engines such as PubMed, ProQuest, SCOPUS, and Elsevier, with the keywords diabetes, social support, and self-care. Moreover, Persian papers were selected from MEDLAB and IRANMEDEX databases and through searching the websites of original research papers published in Iran. All the papers published from 1990 to 2011 were reviewed. RESULTS: The results of the study indicated that the status of self-care and social support in patients with diabetes was not favorable. All the studied papers showed that there was a positive relationship between social support and self-care behavior. Also, some studies pointed to the positive effect of social support, especially family support and more specifically support from the spouse, on controlling blood sugar level and HbA1c. CONCLUSION: As social support can predict the health promoting behavior, this concept is also capable of predicting self-care behavior of patients with diabetes. Therefore, getting the family members, especially the spouse, involved in self-care behavior can be of significant importance in providing health care to patients with diabetes.