Journal of Research and Health
Volume:10 Issue: 1, Jan-Feb 2020

Development plans aimed at macro-management planning in a country significantly impact all functional fields. This study investigated the status and significance of the health sector in the first to sixth economic, social, and cultural development plans in Iran. 

This was a review study using documentary analysis method. The review was conducted with an emphasis on purposefully selected upstream information. Then, the obtained data were analyzed by the second-hand documents, including authentic reports and published studies on this topic. The data collection instrument was a researcher-made checklist. Data analysis was run using content analysis.

There has been increasing attention to the health sector issues throughout development plans. Civil engineering, pharmaceuticals supply, and population control in the first and second plans; the extension of public insurance and service ranking in the third plan; formation of the Supreme Council of Health, and attention to medical emergencies in the fourth plan; targeting subsidies in the fifth plan; and policies to encourage population increase and reduce out-of-pocket expense have been the most critical concerns in the sixth development plan. 

Failure to achieve the expected results in the plans and repeating the same text in the following plan indicates the government’s poor commitment to some plan aspects provision, especially at a particular time. Moreover, they paid insufficient attention to international trends and health promotion issues. These issues must be an urgent concern in future development plans.

The present study examined the effect of Group Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (GCBT) on inefficient beliefs and marital satisfaction in pregnant women with the Fear of First Childbirth (FoFC). 

This was a quasi-experimental study with a Pre-test-Post-test and a control group design. The study participants were pregnant women with FoFC who visited Quchan health center in 2018. The study participants were selected using a questionnaire of childbirth fear (as screening) of women with the fear of giving birth. Then, by providing an informed consent form, women volunteering to participate in the project (39 people) were randomly assigned to the experimental (20 people) and control (19 people) groups. The experimental group attended ten 90-minute GCBT sessions. Three questionnaires (Attitude to Childbirth, Jones’ Irrational Beliefs, Afrooz Marital Satisfaction) were used to obtain the required data. 

The study findings revealed that GCBT significantly affected inefficient beliefs and marital satisfaction in studied pregnant women with FoFC (P<0.001). Moreover, There was a significant difference between Pre-test and Post-test mean scores in terms of inefficient beliefs and marital satisfaction (P<0.001).

GCBT was effective in inefficient beliefs and marital satisfaction; thus, this method is recommended to improve the relationship between pregnant women and their spouses during pregnancy.

Children belong to the most vulnerable social group. Thus, children’s issues address a substantial part of the security in each community. It was necessary to develop an instrument to screen the children at risk of child abuse.

This survey was conducted on 200 elementary students of the Ahwaz City, Iran, using a self-report questionnaire. A multi-stage sampling method was used for selecting the samples. The average variances were extracted, and composite reliability along with Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was performed by LISREL for Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) approaches.

The ESEM results revealed the 8-factor structure that explained 59.47% of the total variance in the child abuse questionnaire. Findings suggested that scaring children address the most factor load (0.97), and the destruction of self-esteem addresses the lowest factor load (0.37) in child abuse. 

The Persian version of the 8-factor child abuse tool indicated acceptable psychometric properties. The Persian version of the 8-factor child abuse questionnaire should be considered in developing a research agenda for child maltreatment future studies.

Diabetes is a complex and chronic disease, i.e. associated with patients’ lifestyle and affects their quality of life. The present study examined the role of alexithymia on the relationship between social support, health-related quality of life, and glycated hemoglobin in patients with type 2 diabetes. 

This was an analytical cross-sectional study. The study participants consisted of 100 (60% females) type 2 diabetic out-patients visiting the Labbafinejad Hospital in Tehran City, Iran, between February 2013 and January 2014. Measures of data collection included the multidimensional scale of perceived social support, the diabetes-related quality of life, and alexithymia Scale. 

The results of two hierarchical linear regression analyses indicated that alexithymia moderated the relationship between perceived social support, quality of life, alexithymia scale, and HbA1c in patients. To evaluate the moderating role, two hierarchical multiple regression analyses were calculated. The obtained results suggested that alexithymia moderates the relationship between social support, health-related quality of life, and glycated hemoglobin in patients with type 2 diabetes (P>0.001). 

The study findings contribute to a better understanding of effective psychosocial factors in the quality of life and HbA1c among patients with diabetes. Therefore, developing psychological interventions is essential for these patients.

Accidents caused by children’s play equipment are a severe health threat to them. Implementing the requirements of the safety standards is necessary to ensure the safety of such equipment. The current study aimed to determine the general safety of playground equipment in general parks in Gonabad City, Iran. We also compared the level of the general safety of this equipment with national standards. 

This cross-sectional and analytical study was conducted in all the parks of Gonabad City during the autumn and winter of 2017. The required information on the playgrounds in the public parks of this city was collected by a checklist. The checklist was designed based on the general safety of playgrounds standards (national standard 1-6436) in 124 items. 

On average, 9.55 of standard requirements were not implemented in examined parks. Moreover, none of the studied parks fully complied with current standards. We observed fractures, cracks, or deformation in equipment, rough surfaces with the risk of injury, hazardous conditions due to inappropriate design that could harm children, as well as the lack of middle aggressors. These were non-compliant components observed at least 70% of the studied parks. 

Removing points with fracture and defective points, and improving the level of children’s playground is essential. The obtained data also emphasized the need for periodic safety audits and the improvement of the safety level of children’s playground equipment.

This research aimed at studying the process of substance dependence treatment in Narcotics Anonymous (NA) association. 

This qualitative study applied a narrative research technique. The study population consisted of all individuals referring to the Torbat Heydarieh NA association in 2016. The study samples were selected by purposive sampling method. Three group interviews were conducted with 10 NA participants who have treated their substance dependence and always joined the association sessions. Each interview lasted about 4 to 6 hours.

The most critical effects of attending NA sessions may be cognitive and faith-value changes, as follow: raising the awareness of self-illness, its symptoms and how to cope with it, promoting self-awareness and characteristics, and identifying the root causes leading to the condition in each person. 

The treatment is oriented towards making the inner police and consciousness in substance dependents. According to David Matza’s theory, a deviant person first neutralizes this internal assessing as well as supervising force; then, he/she commits deviance. Completing 12 personal steps is an inward process that shapes the mechanism of recovery in substance dependents.

Despite the existence of numerous tools to measure health literacy, there is no general agreement on this issue. Researchers around the world have been involved in the development of an instrument to measure health literacy. The psychometric properties of the Health Literacy for Iranian Adults (HELIA) scale have been approved in the general population; however, the validity and reliability of this indigenous questionnaire has not been explored in students. Therefore, due to demographic differences, the present study investigated this questionnaire in a sample of students for structural validity and reliability. 

This cross-sectional study was conducted on 340 dormitory students of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in 2016, in Tehran City, Iran. A single-stage cluster sampling technique was used for sampling. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was used to verify the reliability of the questionnaire and the confirmatory factor analysis was used to investigate the validity of the constructs by LISREL software. 

The mean±SD age of studied students was 22.93±4.05 years. The questionnaire had a desirable internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha coefficient: 0.77-0.90) to assess health literacy in participating students. The confirmatory factor analysis result was satisfactory for its overall fitness. (RMSEA=0.095, CFI=0.94, NFI=0.92, NNFI=0.94, SRMR=0.075, X2/df=4.09). 

The study findings revealed that HELIA is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring health literacy among students.

Elder abuse is a significant public health problem overlooked by communities. The current study investigated various abuse types prevalence and their associated factors among the elderly. 

This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in 2014. Research palpation compromised elderly covered by health hygiene centers in Kashan City, Iran. The study sample included 500 elderly individuals. We applied quota sampling with randomization for sample selection. The quota sampling size differed according to the number and gender of the subjects. Demographic data questionnaire and Heravi-Karimooi Elderly Abuse Questionnaire. The obtained data were analyzed by SPSS. Descriptive statistics, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, Chi-squared test, and Logistic Regression analysis were used for data analysis. The significance level was set at P<0.05. 

The study participants’ mean±SD age was 72.07±9.03 years. The obtained prevalence rates were as follows: emotional neglect: 29.8%, neglect of care: 35.6%, financial neglect: 37.8%, authority: 41.2%, experienced psychological abuse: 45%, financial abuse: 45.6%, physical abuse: 22.2%, and rejection: 16.6%. There were significant correlations between abuse and age (P=0.001), the number of children (P=0.001), marital status (P=0.01), the living conditions (P=0.001), having diseases (P=0.029), and having the ability to walk (P=0.001). 

The study findings are crucial in developing a national system for protecting the elderly. Furthermore, a continuing education plan is required for enforcing communication between caregivers and elders.