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Background and Objective: The pregnancy period has been conceptualized as a time of vulnerability for the women who should adjust to new difficulties and concerns.The present study aimed at determining the mental health status of pregnant women. Material and Methods: In this descriptive study, 315 pregnant women covered by Shahinshahr health care centers were assessed. We used stratified sampling method for choosing health care centers and allocated the participants by using a sampling fraction in each of the centers. The instrument was standard questionnaire of GHQ.Then the data were analyzed by Chi Square (SPSS soft ware). Results: the findings show that 44.8% of pregnant women are suspected to have mental disorders, including social dysfunction (26%), anxiety disorder (18.26%), somatization disorder (17.5%) and depressive disorder (16%).There is no significant difference between mental health of pregnant women and their demogeraghic findings (P>0.05). Conclusion: Based on the results, the mental health in pregnant women is not satisfactory, therefore it is important for primary care providers to be aware of changes in mental health status of pregnant women to help them promote their mental health.

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  Background and Objective : Spouse abuse, which has physical and psychological consequences on victims, is one of the most important health problems in many countries. The purpose of the present study was to investigate wife abuse among the women referred to health care centers of Gorgan, 2008.

  Material and Methods : The subjects of this descriptive analytical study were 300 married women selected by easy sampling. Data collection was performed by using "Spouse Abuse" questionnaire, consisting of 27 items which are related to emotional, physical and sexual domains. The validity was confirmed by faculty members and reliability by alpha cronbach (=0.86).

  Results : The results show that wife Abuse is severe (6.5%), no report of Spouse Abuse (16.5%), sexual abuse (23%), physical punishment (54.5%), and psychological abuse (82.5%). The rate of Spouse Abuse is lower in younger couples. There is significant relationship between wife Abuse and the age of women, smoking and drug abuse of their husbands (P=0.000).

  Conclusion : All kind of wife abuse has devastating health effects on women
well-being. Regarding the high rate of psychological abuse in relationships, it is necessary to consider marital counseling as a priority for mental health of families.

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  Background and Objective: Type 2 diabetes is a major public health problem with increasing morbidity and mortality. Complementary therapies are widely used by the people with diabetes. Massage therapy (MT) is an increasingly popular complementary therapy. Since few studies have been conducted on the effect of MT on people with diabetes, we aimed to investigate the effect of massage therapy on glycemic control (FBS, HBA1C) in women with diabetes.

  

  Material and Methods: this clinical trial was conducted on fifty women with type 2 diabetes selected by convenience sampling and placed randomly in treatment and control groups. The test group received 30 mins-long massage therapies in a week (10 sessions) and the control group received just standard care. Glycemic control indices including HbA1C, FBS were measured at baseline, after 10 weeks of therapy and then analyzed by paired-t test and MANOVA (p≤ 0.05) .

  

  Results: the mean and standard deviation of HBA1C of massage group (7.18±0.14) was significantly (P < 0.01) different from control (8.06±0.22) and the difference of FBS in massage group (1.46±5.28) from control (1.6±4.87) was meaningful statistically (P < 0.05).

  

  Conclusion: accordingly, massage therapy can be useful for glycemic control (FBS, HBA1C) in women with type 2 diabetes.

 

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Background and objective:­ In accordance with­ general studies, the prevalence of psychological disorders is increasing worldwide in that it is the cause of one percent of mortality  rate in the world esp. Iran. Because of susceptibility of women to psychological disorders and fewer studies in this field, this study aimed at evaluating ­mental health status of over- fifteen- year- old women in urban population of Gorgan, Iran. 

Material and Methods: In this study, 1088 women aged over 15 were selected by randomized cluster sampling. The data was collected by demographic data sheet and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28), and analyzed by Chi Square and Fisher Exact test.   

Results: Based on our findings, the prevalence of psychiatric disorders is 17.5%.­ ­Based on cut-off score of 6 for each of the four disorders, Anxiety disorder and insomnia are with the highest prevalence (5.5%) and depression is with the lowest (3.1%). The Prevalence of disorders has positive significant relationship with variables like age,­ ­marital status and family history of addiction.

Conclusion: The prevalence of present study is average compared to similar reports. Nevertheless it is a necessity to have further attention to the mental health of women and it is essential to train efficient workforce and provide appropriate facilities in order to give mental health services to both rural and urban population. 

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  Background and Objective: ­ Urinary tract infection is one of the most common bacterial infections during pregnancy and has also been implicated as a risk factor for adverse maternal and prenatal ­­outcomes. The aim of our study was to determine the relation between maternal urinary tract infection and adverse maternal, prenatal outcomes in pregnant women of Ardabil, Iran.

  Material and Methods: ­ This retrospective-case-control study was conducted on­ prenatal file records of pregnant women in Ardabil (2011). ­ ­The pregnant women ­who had a positive urine culture in their prenatal files­ (N= 211) ­were considered as a case ­group and ­232­ ones without urinary tract infection as a control. Using a research- made questionnaire, the data related to present pregnancy and prenatal information was collected and analyzed by KrusKal Wallis, Chi- Square and Fisher statistical tests.

  Results­: Maternal age of under 25 (%61.6 vs. 56.5), body mass index of more than 30 (%18.3 vs. 15.6), primigravida (%55 vs. 48.8), hypertension (%2.4 vs. 1.3), hyperemesis Gravidarum (%14.8 vs. 12.6), frequency ­and dysuria ­(%1.9 vs. 0.9), low birth weight (%95.4 vs. 93.2), congenital malformation (%3.5 vs. 1.8), artificial milk feeding (%6.5 vs. 2.7), neonatal death (%0.9 vs. 0.0) are higher in urinary infection group, however the differences are not statistically significant. Other maternal and prenatal adverse outcomes such as diabetes, pre-eclampsia , hemoglobin level, prematurity, abortion and stillbirth have not significant relation with urinary infection.

  Conclusion: Because of low level of adverse maternal or prenatal outcomes reported in our study, we conclude that screening and treatment of urinary tract infection in Ardabil health service is ­appropriate therefore, ­no change is needed for present ­screening­ or treatment processes.

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  Background and Objective: Cesarean section has some adverse effects on maternal and neonatal health . The knowledge of pregnant women about disadvantages of cesarean can affect on the use of cesarean delivery. The aim of this study is to determine the knowledge of pregnant women about disadvantages of cesarean section.

  Material and Methods: In this descriptive study, we studied 360 pregnant women referring to obstetric and gynecology clinics, via convenience sampling. ­The women who were physicians or midwives were not assessed. We used a questionnaire including demographic part and eighteen questions about knowledge. ­­The data were recorded by SPSS version 11.5 then analyzed by use of t- test and Chi square.

  Results: The mean of knowledge is (12.23­­±4.0).­ There is a significant relation between knowledge and education level (p=0.008). But it is not significant for other variables (p>­0.05).

  Conclusion: In terms of our findings, the knowledge of pregnant women is not very good about cesarean disadvantages that it can affect on the selection of delivery type. Therefore, it is a necessity for health officials to perform appropriate programs to increase the knowledge about disadvantages of cesarean section.

 

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  Background and Objective: Self-medication is one of the health predicaments, especially among pregnant women due to the risk of fetal abnormalities caused by drugs. we consider it necessary to study self - medication status in pregnant women referring to health centers in Saghez city, Iran.

  Material and Methods: This cross- sectional study was carried out in 2011. The subjects (N= 116) selected via convenience sampling were the pregnant women referring to health centers in Saghez city. The data collected by a questionnaire and interview was analyzed by using descriptive and inferential statistics.

  Results: The results indicate that 27.6% have the behavior of self- medication. The most common reason for self- medication mentioned by 47.4% is “it (medical problem) is so little considering” . Using Chi-square, there is no significant correlation between self-medication and variables such as insurance status , educational level and career status .

  Conclusion : Due to the high expenses of drugs and the side effects of over the counter­, esp. for pregnant period, which may cause abnormality, measures should be taken to educate mothers and prevent from this unsafe behavior.

 

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Background and objective: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, autoimmune, inflammatory nervous system disease. ‌It leads to the loss of myelin in the white matter of brain, spinal cord and optic nerves, and causes tiredness, muscle cramp, tremor, unsteady gait and some inability to move. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Pilates exercises and aquatic training on walking speed of women with MS.
Material and Methods: This clinical trial was conducted in 2012 on 45 women,‌ referring to MS clinic of Kashani Hospital in Isfahan. The subjects with the age of 20-40, physical disablement of 4.5 and disease duration of 8±2 years were randomly allocated to one of the three groups of Pilates exercises, aquatic training and control.‌ Training program for pilates and aquatic group was carried out in 12 weeks, three sessions per week, and each session lasted about one hour. Patients' walking speed was measured, using 25-foot walk test, before and after exercise. ‌The data was analyzed by descriptive statistics, covariance and paired comparisons of adjusted means.
Results: The adjusted mean of walking speed scores of the experimental groups are significantly different (P‌<‌0.05). ‌While, the comparison of paired means between the two groups was not significant.
Conclusion: Because of increased effect on walking speed, we recommend Pilates exercises and aquatic training as a complementary treatment alongside medicinal treatments for MS patients.

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Background and Objective: It is imperative that the application of appropriate educational methods is of paramount importance to nutrition knowledge and health of pregnant women. Hence, this study aimed at investigating the effect of lecture and group discussion on improving pregnant women's awareness. 

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Background and Objective: Carpet industry is the most important handicrafts in rural areas of Iran. Iranian carpet weavers are exposed to the risk of carpet weaving diseases and the side effects. This study aimed at assessing the health behavior of Bandar Turkmen and Aqqala carpet weavers based on the HBM, 2013.

Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 200 female carpet weavers selected via census in Bandar Turkmen and Aqqala city, Golestan province. The data was collected by a Demographic checklist and HBM questionnaire and analyzed by using Pearson correlation coefficient, One-way ANOVA, post-hoc test and independent T test (&le0.05).

Results: the mean age was 35.63±11.64 years. The perceived susceptibility was significantly correlated with perceived threat and perceived benefits (P<0. 001). Preventive behavior related to carpet weaving job diseases was insufficient among majority of the participants (78%).

Conclusion: Given their high-perceived threat and perceived benefits regarding to diseases, carpet weavers less likely do preventive measures.  Further research is needed considering interpersonal and enabling factors.

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Background and Objective: Pregnancy is often introduced as a stressful experience that may be increased, and leads to some cognitive and behavioral responses called stress. By managing stress in pregnancy period, we can reduce anxiety and prevent from much of obstetric and physical complications. This study aimed to determine the effect of cognitive-behavioral based stress management on anxiety reduction of pregnant women.

Material and Methods: This pretest-posttest quasi-experimental study was conducted on pregnant women referring to health centers in Gorgan city in 2012. Twenty-four patients with eligible criteria were divided randomly into two equal groups of experimental and control. Pre-test was performed by State- trait anxiety inventory and the intervention was administered to experimental group. After that, posttest was taken for both groups. Statistical analysis was performed by covariance.

Results: Analysis of the data shows that pregnant women experience Anxiety. Stress management training in cognitive-behavioral style significantly decrease state- trait anxiety of pregnant women.

Conclusion: Stress management training in cognitive-behavioral style has an effect on state- trait anxiety reduction of pregnant women.

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Background and Objective: Sexual self-concept (SSC) is considered as an important factor in human sexual performance. This study aimed at assessing the relationship between SSC and sexual performance in a group of Iranian married women.

Material and Methods: This correlational study was conducted on 374 married women selected via cluster random sampling in health centers of Mobarakeh, 2013. The data was collected by Multidimensional Sexual Self-concept Questionnaire (MSSCQ) and female sexual function index (FSFI), and analyzed by pearson correlation and multiple regressions.

Results: In accordance with the mean scores of positive SSC (106.32±35.03), negative SSC (36.64±5.16) and sexual performance (22.30±2.68), there was a significant correlation between positive SSC and sexual performance(r= 0.23, p<0.001), and between negative SSC and sexual performance (r= 0.38, p<0.001). Furthermore, positive SSC directly and negative SSC inversely was the predictor of sexual performance of married women.

Conclusion: Given the results, the women with higher positive SCC may have better sexual function. It seems that SCC score can be a significant predictor of women's sexual functioning.