مجله پایش
سال بیست و دوم شماره 6 (پیاپی 112، آذر و دی 1402)

The "pre-marriage education program" is one of the strategies to strengthen the family foundation in Iran. The present study was carried out with the support of the Iran Ministry of Health and Medical Education to evaluate this program. This paper presents the results obtained on knowledge and satisfaction of couples.

This was an interventional study on a sample of couples participating in a pre-marriage education program. The intervention was offered via in-person and virtual (online and offline) aproaches. Ninety-six centers of pre-marriage education through country were selected by simple random sampling. A convince sample of 15 couples (15 men and 15 women) was thought for each center. Data was collected by two questionnaires and analyzed using the SPSS-18 software.

A total of 2868 people were entered into the study. Pre-marriage education led to an increase in knowledge. The mean score of knowledge changed from 8.78 (SD = 1.693) to 9.34 (SD = 1.639) (P<0.001). The results showed that education has led to a statistically significant increase in the knowledge score of people who participated in in-person and online classes, while offline classes had no effect on increasing the knowledge of couples. Education increased knowledge of employed and unemployed people at all educational levels. Education also increased knowledge in most age groups, but it had no effect on the age group of 46-55 years. Most participants (87.1%) had "high and very high satisfaction" with timing, and overall satisfaction by 90.3% reported as high and very high. About 60% of people reported that the duration of the classes was appropriate. Overall satisfaction of women were more than men. Younger age groups had higher overall satisfaction than other age groups. The satisfaction of the unemployed was more than employed couples. People with higher education had the highest overall satisfaction with the program.

The results showed that the "pre-marriage education program" in achieving short-term goals was successful. Evaluating the effect of the program on long-term goals (such as the effect on marriage outcomes) requires a different study design.

Objective (s): 

Awareness of risk factors for cardiovascular diseases is essential for prevention. The current study aimed to assess cardiovascular self- assessment and self-care among Iranian adults before and after an intervention. Self-assessment and self-care play important roles in improving the population health.

This was a before-after interventional study on a sample of middle-age (30 to 59 years old) samples who randomly were assigned to the intervention and control groups. The intervention group received an educational program while the control grouped received nothing. The study groups completed a self–assessment and a self–care questionnaires at two points in time: once before the study commence and once six months after intervention.  The study compared the self–assessment and self–care using Chi square and logistic regression analyses.

In all 1470 participants were studied. About 66% were female, and about 90% were married. In all instances the intervention group showed improvements compared to the control group (P<0.05). For instance, knowledge on cardio vascular health assessment, detecting cardio vascular risk factors and action to prevent risk factors all were improved among intervention group compared to control group (p<0.05). 

The continuous implementation of this health program could play an important role in maintaining and improving the cardiovascular health. Additional studies are needed to assess the long-term effects of the intervention.

In Iran, half of all deaths and 79% of deaths from non-communicable diseases are attributed to cardiovascular diseases. On the other hand, more than 76% of the total burden of diseases and the first cause of catastrophic health expenses in Iran are related to these diseases. This study was conducted with the aim of determining the status and trend of providing cardiovascular disease risk assessment services by gender, in order to carry out the necessary interventions in the comprehensive health service centers of Ardabil province, Iran.

The present descriptive study was conducted in Ardabil University of Medical Sciences. It used the data available in the registration system of the Health Network. The research population consisted of all men and women aged between 40 and 80 who visited the comprehensive health service centers to perform risk assessment of cardiovascular strokes in the province from 2018 to the end of 2022. The data were entered into Excel software. FORCAST function was used to predict the future through a linear regression analysis. To compare the final results, which is actually a reduction in mortality due to cardiovascular diseases, the difference test of two mortality rates due to cardiovascular diseases was used in 2018 and march 2023.

The results showed a relatively high prevalence of some risk factors for cardiovascular diseases including history of hypertension, diabetes, abdominal obesity, suspected diabetes, lipid disorder, body mass index of 30 and above in women. Also, the results of the study showed that 38.3% of men and 61.72% of women were at the risk level of 10-20%, 34.8% of men and 65.2% of women were at the risk level of 20-30%, and 28.9% of men and 71.1% of women were at the risk level above 30%.

Women were more at risk of cardiovascular diseases and complications than men. Knowing the common risk factors in the region helps to focus interventions on effective prevention and treatment measures and to adopt evidence-informed policies in order to reduce these risk factors.

Colorectal cancer is a significant global health issue, but early diagnosis can greatly increase the chances of successful treatment. The purpose of this study was to identify factors that influence early diagnosis of colorectal cancer, using a preventive health model.

This cross-sectional study involved 300 individuals over the age of 50 who were referred to the clinics of teaching hospitals in Qom, Iran in 2022. The convenience sampling method was utilized, and data was collected using the Preventive Health Model (PHM) Scale. Descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression were employed for data analysis.

The mean age of the participants was 57.67±10.68 years, with 48.8% being male. A majority (76.2%) of the participants had no knowledge about early diagnosis of colorectal cancer, and only 11% had attended for early diagnosis. The study revealed a significant positive correlation between age (OR: 1.01; 95% CI: 1.00, 1.10), positive family history of cancer (OR: 1.05; 95% CI: 1.01, 1.10), knowledge (OR: 3.15; 95% CI: 1.41, 7.06), and social influence (OR: 1.32; 95% CI: 1.01, 1.77) with early diagnosis of colorectal cancer.

The findings suggest that knowledge, age, positive family history of cancer, and social influence are important factors in the early diagnosis of colorectal cancer. The findings can be utilized to develop policies and educational programs aimed at promoting early diagnosis behaviors.

Objective (s):

 COVID-19 vaccination is considering to be the ideal solution for the COVID-19 control. This study aimed to investigate the factors affected the COVID-19 vaccination in Iran.

This cross-sectional study included a sample of Iranian men and women over 18 years of age who agreed to participate in the study. A cluster sampling method was used, and the data was collected in 2021 through a self-designed questionnaire via telephone survey. Logistic regression was performed to investigate the influencing factors on vaccination.

Among 2649 participants from 31 provinces of Iran, about 88% had a history of injecting at least one dose of vaccine. The odds ratio of corona vaccine injection was similar among women and men. Age and marital status showed no significant effect on this ratio. The odds ratio of corona vaccine injection in people living in cities was about 40% less than people living in rural areas. Furthermore, the odds ratio of COVID-19 vaccination increased by about 11 times for each unit increase in positive attitude toward vaccination.

The findings indicated that overall those who were employed, students, and people with lower income and living in rural areas were more likely to be vaccinated. It seems that distribution and availability of vaccines by government was acceptable for quick and adequate coverage of vaccination in Iran.

Many employees present at work when they are sick, and it is high among medical professionals. The effect of presentism was confirmed on the well-being of nurses, professional burnout and dissatisfaction. The excessive demand to nurses highlights the need to ensure a resilient workforce. Resilience is considered as a personal capacity that enables nurses to adapt to the demands of the workplace. This study was aimed to investigate critical care nurses presentism and its relationship with their resilience

 This was a descriptive in which 300 critical care nurses was selected randomly and responded to the research questions, including resilience and presentism questionnaires in addition to demographic variables. Data were collected online and the SPSS software was used for analysis.

 The findings showed that half of the nurses were in their fourth decade of life; 87% were women and the majority have a bachelor's degree. The majority believed that the scheduling was not done according to their request. Almost half of had an average level of presentism; and the resilience of the majority was also above average. After removing the effect of confounding variables, there was a relationship between presentism and resilience in the regression model (p<0.001). According to the coefficient of determination, the regression model could predict %91 of variance.

 According to the results of the present study, managers are advised to take steps to improve the quality of care by planning to reduce presentism while increasing the resilience of nurses.

The present study was conducted aiming to assess the effect of fear caused by COVID-19 on health-promoting lifestyle through the mediation role of anxiety.

This was a cross-sectional study on a sample of employees of government organizations in Ahvaz, Iran in 2021. The required data were collected using a multi-part questionnaire including demographic information, health-promoting lifestyle assessment questionnaire, fear of the corona virus questionnaire, and the anxiety scale for the corona virus. Data were analyzed using path analysis and bootstrap test was used to check the mediating role of variables.

In total 384 employees were entered into the study. The mean age of participants was 40.74 ± 6.07 years ranging from 24 to 60. The results showed that there was a positive and significant correlation between the fear of COVID-19 and Covid-19 anxiety (P<0.01). There was a negative and significant correlation between health-promoting lifestyle and both fear and anxiety caused by Corona (P<0.01). Based on the findings the fear caused by Corona and the health-promoting lifestyle had a statistically significant relationship directly and through the anxiety of the Corona disease (P<0.001).

The findings suggest that Corona anxiety mediates the relationship between fear of corona and health-promoting lifestyle. In general, with the increase in the fear of corona, the anxiety of corona disease increases and as a result, the health-promoting lifestyle decreases.

Objective (s):

 The outbreak of Covid-19 induced many psychological consequences on various segments of society, including nurses. Fear and anxiety caused by the Covid-19 epidemic in nurses, in addition to triggering mental disorders, could reduce the quality of services and increase the costs of the health system. Therefore, this study was performed to assess anxiety of Iranian nurses during the corona epidemic.

This meta-analysis included all published papers reporting on anxiety in Iranian nurses during the corona epidemic. Heterogeneity of studies was evaluated using theI2 index and the probability of diffusion in diffusion by Egger test and meta-regression model to evaluate the variables suspected of heterogeneity at a significance level of 0.05. Finally, 15 articles were analyzed using CMA software.

Based on the random-effects model, the mean and standard deviation of the anxiety of Iranian nurses during the corona pandemic was equal to 21.96 ± 3.18 (10.17-15.71; 95% confidence interval).  The highest mean and standard deviation of nurses' anxiety in 2020 was equal to 44.08 ± 0.76 (42.58- 45.57; 95% confidence interval) and the lowest mean and standard deviation of nurses' anxiety in 2020 was equal to 4.37 ± 0.38 (3.60 -5.13; 95% confidence interval). There was also a significant relationship between sample size and anxiety of Iranian nurses during the corona epidemic (P <0.05).

The results showed that nurses suffered from anxiety during the corona epidemic. The findings suggest there is need to take appropriate preventive measures among nurses during such crisis.

This study was conducted to determine the satisfaction of patients admitted to medical centers in Ilam in 2020-2021.

This was a cross-sectional study of 200 patients who admitted with Covid-19 in medical centers of Ilam, Iran, from December 21, 2020 to March 21, 2021. Data collected using a questionnaire on demographic information and symptoms, a short form Quality from the Patient's Perspective (QPP-12) and Patient Satisfaction Index (PSI). The data was analyzed using SPSS version 22.

The mean age of patients was 49.62±15.05. The mean quality score of hospital care from the patients' point of view was 46.99±5.83, and in 83% of cases, the quality of care was optimal. Also, the mean satisfaction score of the patients was 3.47±0.34 and 87% of the patients expressed moderate satisfaction. Patient satisfaction and quality of care showed a positive and significant relationship P<0.001).

The quality of care can play an important role in improved patients’ satisfaction.

In the case of abnormal Pap smear, colposcopy is recommended. Women referred for colposcopy experience high levels of stress. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of supportive counseling on stress reduction in women undergoing colposcopy.

This quasi-experimental study was performed on 72 women undergoing colposcopy in Ardabil, Iran. Participants were randomly assigned into two groups. The intervention group received supportive counseling during three sessions ‎every three days. The control group only received a pamphlet containing information on colposcopy. The data were collected using perceived stress scale. Independent t-test, and ANCOVA were used to analyze the data.

There was no significant difference in demographic and obstetrics characteristics of the participants (P> 0.05). Before counseling, the mean score (SD) of stress in the intervention group was 35 (4.24) and it was 33.54 (5.13) in the control group (P= 0.217). After counseling, the mean score of stress was not significantly different between the two groups [AMD: 0.93, 95% CI: -1.40 to 3.27, p =0.428].

Supportive counseling could not reduce the stress. Using other stress management strategies such as cognitive restructuring and mindfulness in women undergoing colposcopy might worth for suggeting the future studies.

Dear Editor, The spirituality makes a person understand the meaning and purpose of his/her life and achieve satisfaction and happiness. Spirituality causes more harmony between physical, mental and social dimensions of health and increases the adaptability of a person to the surrounding world, improves his attitude towards the world, and reduces negative emotions and tensions. The medical education system is responsible for training medical sciences’ students and preparing them to work in the health system and should consider education and training students in spirituality. The institutionalization of spirituality in the medical education primarily leads to the improvement of health and the reduction of students' anxiety and depression. There are also positive correlation between spirituality and mental health, quality of life, satisfaction and commitment of healthcare workers. Also, studies proved the positive role of spirituality in increasing hope, improving quality of life and reducing depression and stress of patients. Therefore, the concepts, principles and techniques of strengthening spirituality should be taught to medical students (knowledge), so that they gain sufficient motivation for spiritual care of themselves and others (attitude) and by applying these knowledge and skills meet the spiritual needs of patients (performance).

Monkeypox (MPX) is an emerging zoonotic virus of the genus Orthopoxvirus that can occasionally be transmitted to humans. With globalization and high-speed spread around the world, MPX has distributed across continents, has risen to the top of the world concerns. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, recent outbreaks of the virus have raised concerns about serious comorbidities, and risks to the fertility of those affected. The virus can be transmitted through contact with an infected animal, virus-contaminated surfaces, or an infected person through body fluids (including vertical transmission), wounds, respiratory droplets, respiratory secretions, skin lesions, or significantly through semen and vaginal fluid. Understanding the pathophysiology will help determine the mechanism of action of monkeypox virus. Many questions about monkeypox remain unanswered. A deeper understanding of these issues will help develop preventive and therapeutic approaches to viral infertility and sexually transmitted infections. But since contamination of semen with other viruses can have adverse effects on male fertility, until all aspects of the disease are known, it is recommended to take precautions during sexual activity to reduce the risk of contracting monkeypox.