rafat bakht

Considering the importance of sexual knowledge and attitude in marital life, a study was conducted to measure sex knowledge and attitude of adolescent girls on the verge of marriage and its relationship with demographic variables.

In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 130 adolescent girls were randomly selected among those who referred to the family health center of Hamedan city from November 2019 to March 2020 and filled out the Sex Knowledge and Attitude Scale (SKAS) and demographic questionnaires. One-way analysis of variance, independent t-test, and Pearson correlation coefficient were used to analyze the relationships between variables. All the tests were done using SPSS 23 software and the confidence level of 0.95 was considered in all the analyses.

Internet was the main source of sexual information in 53.2% of the girls. The average score of knowledge and sexual attitude of girls was 34.62 and 23.56, respectively. The score of sexual knowledge in 21.5% and sexual attitude in 81% of girls was lower than average (30). There was no correlation between knowledge and sexual attitude of the girls, but there was a direct and significant linear relationship of age with knowledge score (P=0.022) and with sexual attitude (P˂0.001). There was a statistically significant relationship of internet access with the mean score of sexual knowledge (P˂0.001) and with sexual attitude (P=0.003). There was a statistically significant relationship between the mean score of sexual attitude and the education level of girls (P=0.004) and the education level of their husbands (P=0.028). There was no relationship between the knowledge and sexual attitude of girls with the place of residence in the city and village and the number of their siblings and their husbands.

More than two-thirds of girls had sexual knowledge scores more than medium, but sexual attitude scores less than medium. There were relationships between sexual knowledge and attitude and age, as well as between the sexual attitude and their education and education level of their husbands.

Considering the importance of reproductive health and the major role of health literacy in health promotion, this study was conducted to explore the concepts and dimensions of women’s reproductive health literacy.

This is a qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews with 13 married women of reproductive age residing in Tehran, Iran, and 9 Ph.D.-educated health professionals.

4 themes emerged: 1) knowledge about sexual and reproductive health consisted of knowledge about physical and mental aspects of reproductive health, especially in pregnancy and sexual matters, 2) obtaining and understanding information about reproductive health, including the ability to obtain information, acquiring information, and understanding information from different sources, 3) evaluating the information about reproductive health (by assessing the validity of information sources, consulting informed people about information accuracy, and concluding from the information), and 4) using the information to improve reproductive health behaviors: by making informed decisions, general health self-care behaviors, having desirable sex by talking about their needs and desires and trying to solve sexual issues.

Reproductive health literacy, from the view of the participants, consisted of having knowledge and obtaining an understanding of correct information about reproductive health and using them as behaviors that lead to the promotion of reproductive health. Therefore, the attention of health policymakers and stakeholders to these concepts and dimensions can increase the reproductive health literacy of women in society through effective planning and strategies.

 The recognition of the influential factors in the reduction of quality of life and health status in women is essential to their empowerment.

 The present study aimed to investigate the correlations between body mass index (BMI), quality of life, the severity of menopausal symptoms in women during menopause.

 This cross-sectional study was conducted on 136 women transiting to menopause, who referred to the main health centers in Javanrood city, Iran. The subjects were selected via random sampling. MEN-QOL was used to measure the specific quality of life of the women, and the severity of menopausal symptoms was determined using the MRS questionnaire.

 BMI could significantly predict the severity of menopausal symptoms, dimensions of quality of life (vasomotor, psychosocial, physical, and sexual symptoms), and total score of quality of life during the transition to menopause (P < 0.05). In addition, a significant correlation was observed between the severity of menopausal symptoms and BMI during menopause (P = 0.002).

 According to the results, BMI could predict the quality of life and severity of menopausal symptoms in women during menopause.

Perimenopause is associated with severe changes in reproduction and hormones. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of group counseling on the severity of menopausal symptoms in the transition to menopause.

Methods & Materials: 

This clinical trial study was performed on ninety perimenopausal women in Javanrood city in 2019. Women were randomly assigned into the intervention or control groups using the block randomization method. Counseling was conducted for the intervention group in groups of 11 to 12 people in four 60-minute sessions for four consecutive weeks. After 8 weeks, the severity of menopausal symptoms was measured using the Menopause Symptoms Scale. Data were analyzed using the SPSS software version 21.

There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of menopausal symptoms scores before the intervention (P=0.86). After the group counseling, the median (Q1, Q3) of menopausal symptoms, physical, mental and genitourinary symptoms in the intervention and control groups were 17.0 (15.0, 21.5) and 21.0 (17.0, 30.5) (P<0.001), 6.0 (5.0, 8.0) and 9.0 (6.5, 11.0) (P<0.001), 6.0 (5.0, 8.0) and 8.0 (5.0, 10.0) (P=0.004), and 5.0 (4.0, 6.0) and 6.0 (5.0, 8.5) (P<0.001), respectively. These values for the intervention group were significantly lower than those in the control group.

Providing group counseling for four sessions was effective in reducing the severity of menopausal symptoms in perimenopausal women. Therefore, it is suggested that this strategy be used to promote womenchr('39')s health in the premenopausal period.