Seyyed Mansour Kashfi; Tayebeh Rakhshani; Shahla Farhoodi; Zahra Motlagh; Raziyeh Bagherzadeh; Noushin Kohan
Abstract
Background: As a physiological event, menopause is an important milestone in women's lives. Numerous studies have shown the negative impact of this stage of women's lives on their quality of life.The present study aimed to assess the effectiveness of education about physical activity via social networks ...
Read More
Background: As a physiological event, menopause is an important milestone in women's lives. Numerous studies have shown the negative impact of this stage of women's lives on their quality of life.The present study aimed to assess the effectiveness of education about physical activity via social networks on the quality of life of menopausal women. Methods: This randomized controlled trial was conducted at Khormoj, Southwest of Iran, in 2018 on 54 menopausal women (27 experimental group (EG) and 27 control group (CG)). For the EG, a WhatsApp group was created and, every week, three educational written messages, clips, or pamphlets about physical activity and its importance during menopause were sent for 10 weeks. The study outcome (quality of life) was measured via Menopause-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (MENQOL) at the onset and one month after the intervention. Data were analyzed through SPSS 19, using independent and paired T-tests. Results: One month post-intervention, there was a significant difference between the EG and CG groups in the total quality of life, and vasomotor, physical and sexual dimensions compared to the CG group (p <0.05). Between the baseline and one month post-intervention, a greater increase in quality of life was observed in the EG than in the CG, giving a mean difference of -10.52 (p <0.0001). Conclusion: The present study showed that holding an educational program using the WhatsApp social network enhanced quality of life of menopausal women. Introduction Throughout their lives, women experience several stages including puberty, menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth, and menopause. Reaching any of these stages and passing through them will encounter women with situations and sometimes crises that may affect different aspects of their lives (1). Meanwhile, as a physiological event, menopause is an important milestone in women's lives; according to the definition by the World Health Organization, it refers to the cessation of menstruation for 12 months, following the loss of ovarian follicular activity (2). Various studies carried out in Iran and in the world have shown that the age of menopause could potentially depend on a variety of factors including race, genetic characteristics, socioeconomic status, fertility status, physical activity, nutrition, sexual behaviors, and diseases (3). The mean age of menopause has been estimated 50-52 years. In Iran, the mean age of menopause is 51 years (4-6). Following the incidence of menopause, changes in the hormonal, physical and metabolic processes of the woman’s body would lead to many physical, psychological, and social disorders including hot flash, sweating, palpitation, sleep disorder, irritability, lethargy, depression, amnesia, decreased eroticism, painful intercourse, and urinary symptoms (7-10). Numerous studies have shown the negative impact of this stage of women's lives on their quality of life. The results of previous studies indicated that menopause women were 3.5 times more likely to be at risk of mental disorders. They were also 5.7 and 3.2 times more likely to be at risk of physical impairment and sexual dysfunction, respectively. According to these studies, menopause could reduce the quality of a person's life regardless of the factors such as age and other demographic variables (11-14). Therefore, it seems important and inevitable to find some ways to prevent the minimization of the quality of life and to lower the symptoms and complications in menopause women to the possible extent. It seems that using non-medical methods, such as changing and improving lifestyle, can be useful for minimization of the symptoms and complications of this critical period. One of the appropriate health behaviors is to have mobility and do regular physical activities. Regular physical activity might increase the individual's ability to do his/her tasks and to feel healthy, empowered, and self-confident (15, 16). Doing regular physical activity would reduce blood glucose and blood pressure, stimulate the increase of catecholamins as well as adrenaline and noradrenaline, increase muscle strength, increase aerobic and cardiovascular endurance, and increase balance and coordination (17,18). Social networking is built on the idea of the way should people know and interact with each other. It gives people the power to share making the world more open and connected [19]. Nowadays, social networking has a vital influence on our live as it helps a lot in every aspect of life such as political,, Economic, and educational field s. Flexibility, convenience and accessibility have a vital influence on the use of social networking in education (20). The phenomenon of social media has become part of Internet culture, and published literature describing social media interventions for chronic disease management are becoming more prevalent (21). In recent years, instant messaging applications, which can be identified as mobile-based social networks, have started to become popular. Though there are a lot of instant messaging applications that can operate on mobile devices, it is seen that WhatsApp application is one of the most favored mobile-based applications (22). Ebrahimi et al. in 2017 indicated a positive role for using WhatsApp software to promote lifestyle, thus improving the level of health of women under study (23). Also, Estaji et al. conducted a study in 2016 using cellular text messaging that led to self-care promotion in hemodialysis patients under study(24). Mirghafurvand et al. conducted a study entitled “the influence of aerobic exercise program on the quality of life of pre-menopause and menopause women: a randomized, controlled clinical trial” and found that moderate aerobic exercise was effective in improving the quality of life of pre-menopause and menopause women (25). Given the influence of menopause on women's quality of life and the fact that itis considered as an indicator for assessment of health status, the present research was conducted to examine the effectiveness of education about physical activity via WhatsApp on the quality of life of menopausal women.
Seyed Mansour Kashfi; Abdolreza Moradi; Tayebeh Rakhshani; Zahra Motlagh
Abstract
Background: Human resources are considered as one of the most important production resources and the basic capital of the organization. This study aimed to investigating the relationship between job motivation and job performance of auxiliary nurses under the coverage Shoush health centers. Methods: ...
Read More
Background: Human resources are considered as one of the most important production resources and the basic capital of the organization. This study aimed to investigating the relationship between job motivation and job performance of auxiliary nurses under the coverage Shoush health centers. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on auxiliary nurses under the coverage of Shoush health centers in 2017. Auxilliary nurses were enrolled in the study using census sampling method (150 people). The data collection tools were Herzberg's job motivation questionnaire and Paterson's job performance questionnaire that were completed through the self-report method. Data were analyzed through SPSS-22 software using Pearson correlation and multiple regression tests. Results: Ninety-nine people (66%) were female and 51 (34%) were male. The average motivation and job performance of the subjects were 184.22±14.98 and 42.50±6.26, respectively. According to the results of Pearson correlation test, there was a significant relationship between motivation and job performance (r=-0.223, p=0.006). According to the results of multiple regression, personal relationships with each other and work environment conditions predicted 22 percent of changes in performance of auxiliary nurses. Conclusion: In the present study, according to the relationship between motivation and job performance of health workers, it is suggested that measures should be taken to increase motivation to improve their job performance.
Mansour Kashfi; Nahid Hatamian; Tayebeh Rakhshani
Volume 6, Issue 1 , January 2018, , Pages 23-28
Abstract
Introduction: Despite the provision of health care in Iran, brucellosis is still an endemic disease, so this study was carried out to determine the epidemiology of brucellosis in Andimeshk city during 2001-2016. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on patients with brucellosis, ...
Read More
Introduction: Despite the provision of health care in Iran, brucellosis is still an endemic disease, so this study was carried out to determine the epidemiology of brucellosis in Andimeshk city during 2001-2016. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on patients with brucellosis, which were reported by governmental and non-governmental departments and received relevant diagnostic and laboratory information after receiving reports from patients. The obtained information was entered in the survey form. Sampling was done by census. SPSS version 20 was applied for analysis of data using descriptive statistics as well as the chi-square and independent t-test; a significant level of 0.05 was considered. Results: In the study period, there were 713 patients with brucellosis in Andimeshk. There were 390 males and 324 females with a male to female ratio of 1.02:1. The age of the patients ranged from 1 to 74 years with a mean of 31.19±17.03 years. The annual incidence rate per 100,000 persons was 24.42. There was a statistically significant association (p <0.05) between sex and exposure to infected milk and cattle. Also, the results showed that there was no statistically significant association (p>0.05) between the infected milk and job, year, season and month. Conclusion: In conclusion, the findings of this study showed that the incidence of brucellosis was higher among males, young people, and dairy farmers. Therefore, continuous surveillance and efforts are required to further decrease the cases of brucellosis.
Tayebeh Rakhshani; Mansour Kashfi; Irandokht Amirian; Mohammad Reza Ebrahimi; Seyyed Saeed Hashemi Nazari
Volume 6, Issue 1 , January 2018, , Pages 29-35
Abstract
Introduction: Traffic accidents are considered a major public health problem in many parts of the world. The present study aimed to investigate the epidemiology of fatal traffic accidents in Yasouj city during the years 2014-2015. Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was carried out through a cross-sectional ...
Read More
Introduction: Traffic accidents are considered a major public health problem in many parts of the world. The present study aimed to investigate the epidemiology of fatal traffic accidents in Yasouj city during the years 2014-2015. Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was carried out through a cross-sectional method and the study population included all individuals who had died in traffic accidents in Yasouj city during 2014-2015. The source of data collection was the Legal Medicine Organization. The data were analyzed through SPSS 16,using descriptive statistics and Chi-square test. Results: The mean age of the deceased was 35.44 ± 20.99 years. The highest death rate was observed in the age groups over 25-34 years old (21.3%), 15-24 years (17.6%) and 35-44 years (17%), respectively. Most of the deceased were male (75%), single (55.4%), illiterate (44%), self-employed (29.3%) and residents of rural areas (52.3%). The ultimate cause of death of more than half of the deceased was head trauma (30.7%) and most of the deceased had died at the accident site (55.4%). 52.7% had died of collision with a passenger car. There was a significant association between the location of death and location of accident (outside/inside)(p-value=0.004); also, the result showed no significant relationship between the cause of death and location of accident (p-value <0.001) and type of vehicle (p-value <0.001).
Mansour Kashfi; Mostafa Eslahi; Tayebeh Rakhshani; Hasan Hashemi; Pejhman Baqeri; Mehdi Sharafi
Volume 6, Issue 1 , January 2018, , Pages 40-45
Abstract
Introduction: Environmental health is definitely one of the issues and challenges considered by human societies on the eve of the third millennium. Therefore, the present study was conducted to determine the knowledge, attitude and performance of the people of Fasa on segregation of municipal solid wastes ...
Read More
Introduction: Environmental health is definitely one of the issues and challenges considered by human societies on the eve of the third millennium. Therefore, the present study was conducted to determine the knowledge, attitude and performance of the people of Fasa on segregation of municipal solid wastes in 2017. Method: This cross – sectional study was conducted on 400 residents of Fasa who were selected through cluster sampling. The tool used in this study was a Lickert-spectrum questionnaire, which was essentially a combination of two standard instruments and the researcher’s field studies. The data were analyzed using the SPSS 22 software as well as descriptive statistics, Man-Whitney test and one – way ANOVA test. Results: The results of this study showed that the mean knowledge, attitude and performance of the people were 23.5±5.3, 13.5±3.0, and 21.5±2.6, respectively. 43.7% of the subjects had weak knowledge (188 people), 28.6% had moderate knowledge (123 people) and 27.7% had good knowledge (119 people). Moreover, 36.6% had weak attitude (156 people), 19.3% had moderate (85 people) and 44% had good attitude (189 people). Finally, the performance of 46% of the participants was weak (198 people), that of 30.5% was moderate (131 people), and 23.5% had good performance (101 people). The mean scores of knowledge, attitude and performance of the male and female subjects were not significantly different.
Tayebeh Rakhshani; Mansour Kashfi; Fariba Idani; Mohammad Reza Ebrahimi; Seyyed Saeed Hashemi Nazari
Volume 6, Issue 1 , January 2018, , Pages 46-51
Abstract
Introduction: Deaths from traffic accidents (RTIs) are a major public health problem in all societies, especially in the low and middle-income countries; the present study was conducted to investigate the epidemiology of fatal road traffic accidents in Ahvaz city. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study ...
Read More
Introduction: Deaths from traffic accidents (RTIs) are a major public health problem in all societies, especially in the low and middle-income countries; the present study was conducted to investigate the epidemiology of fatal road traffic accidents in Ahvaz city. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study which included all deaths from RTIs in Ahvaz province (Southwest Iran) admitted to forensic medicine during 2015-2016. ICD-10 was used as diagnostic criteria. Demographic variables as well as injury circumstance) name, surname, phone number, age, sex, season, month, day, accident location, vehicle type, status of the injured person (were recorded by trained research team in forensic medicine. Descriptive data are reported. SPSS 20 software was used for analysis of data. Results: During years 2015-2016, a total of 50 deaths occurred due to road accidents in Ahvaz province. The mean age was 34.99 ± 19.98 years. The mortality rate was higher in men (79.4%), married subjects (57.4%), illiterate ones (26.2%), self-employed subjects (34.6%) and residents of urban areas (78.8%). There were statistically significant relationships between the accident location and the place of death, and between the trauma spot and the cause of death (P <0.001). Conclusion: The results of this study showed that most of the deceased were male, married and young, so preventive measures such as precise traffic surveillance and enforcement of the regulations for safe driving are considered essential.