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Background & Objective: Research utilization is an important way to extent the knowledge in nursing practice. It empowers the nursing profession. Research utilization is a new paradigm in Iran&aposs nursing care. This study aimed to assess the extent of research utilization in nursing clinical practice in Tehran, Iran.

Methods & Materials: This is a cross-sectional study. The clinical nurses with at least one year of work experience were selected through a multistage stratified sampling method. They completed a five-sectioned self-report questionnaire. The scores were categorized into high, intermediate, and low. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Chi-Square test in SPSS.

Results: Findings revealed that the research utilization in 66.9% of the nurses was low. There was significant relationships between the extent of research utilization and the level of education, professional condition, clinical setting, research activities, work shift, job satisfaction, and English language skills.

Conclusion: The majority of nurses&apos practice is not according to the research findings. We need to find appropriate strategies to enable us to utilize the research findings.

 

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Background & Aim: Pregnancy and post-partum period are accompanied by important changes in women&aposs quality of life. Patient counseling is an effective way to improve quality of life. This study aimed to assess the effect of telephone counseling on the quality of life among women with a normal vaginal delivery in Razi hospital in Marand.
Methods & Materials: In this randomized clinical trial, 260 women were recruited to the study. The participants who had met the inclusion criteria were randomly allocated in two intervention and control groups. The intervention group (n=130) received telephone counseling twice at the first week for 20 minutes and then once a week from the 2^nd week to the 6^th week. Moreover, we had provided a 24-hour hotline for women. The control group (n=130) received the routine care. Data were gathered using a demographic sheet, a postpartum problem&aposs checklist, and the SF-36 quality of life questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS-13.
Results: The results showed no significant differences in physical and mental quality of life in the first day of post-partum between two groups. The women&aposs quality of life in both physical and mental dimension were significantly higher in the intervention group in the 42^nd day after childbirth (P<0.001).
Conclusion: Telephone counseling by midwives could help to improve women&aposs quality of life in post-partum period. More studies are recommended.

 

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Background & Objective: Prenatal period is a unique opportunity to assist the women to adopt healthy behaviors. The nutritional behaviors of pregnant women affect not only their own health but also the fetal growth and development. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of nutrition education on nutritional behaviors in pregnant women.
Methods & Materials: In this randomized trial, 272 primigravida women were recruited using stratified cluster sampling method from eight family health clinics in Semnan. The participants were allocated in two groups randomly. The intervention group received the nutrition education through two 90-minute sessions with one week interval. Data were gathered using a questionnaire including demographic characteristics and nutritional behaviors at baseline and six weeks after the education. Data were analyzed in the SPSS.
Results: The results showed that there was not any significant difference in the mean score of the nutritional behaviors between two groups before the intervention. Significant difference was found between two groups after the intervention. The mean score in the intervention group was higher than in the control group (P<0.001).
Conclusion: The results of the study showed that nutrition education affected the nutritional behaviors in pregnant women. Therefore, the nutrition education should be integrated in educational topics provided for pregnant women.

 

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Background & Aim: Infants are very sensitive and special attention is needed to take care of their physical and mental health. Some studies showed that massage by parents can improve infants&apos sleep quality. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of massage with sunflower oil or sesame oil on infants&apos crying and sleep times.

Methods & Materials: This triple-blinded clinical trial was conducted on 120 infants who were 10-15 days old, full-term, single, exclusively breastfed and with no history of hospitalization. The infants were assigned randomly into three groups of sunflower oil massage, sesame oil massage and massage with no oils. Mothers administered 15 minutes of massage to their infants twice per day (morning and afternoon) for 28 days. Times of crying and sleep were measured by a parents&apos information form at baseline, and at the end of the first, second, third, and fourth weeks of the study. Data were analyzed using the repeated measures ANOVA.

Result: Within four weeks of following, decreasing pattern of infants crying time was not significant (P=0.18) however, the mean of crying time between the three groups was significant (P=0.007). The interaction effect of crying time and groups was not significant (P=0.18). Increasing pattern of infant sleep time was statistically significant in the fourth weeks of the following (P<0.001) however, the mean of sleep time between three groups was not significant (P<0.56). The interaction effect of sleeping time and groups was not significant (P<0.10).

Conclusion: Since there were not statistical significant differences between the infants&apos crying and sleep times between the three groups, and despite the fact that increasing pattern of infants sleep time is a normal pattern, it is not possible to have a proper conclusion.

 

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Background & Aim: Rapid changes experienced after child birth expose mothers to unpleasant experiences such as disturbances in sleep pattern. These experiences threaten health of mothers and infants. Some studies have shown that exercise can be an effective and non-pharmacologic method in improving sleep quality. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of exercise on sleep quality among postpartum mothers.

Methods & Materials: This was a randomized clinical trial. Eighty primiparous women aged 18-35 years were recruited from health centers in Rafsanjan in 2009. The inclusion criteria were singleton pregnancy, lack of any acute and chronic physical and mental illnesses, having healthy and term babies, and having vaginal deliveries. Participants were randomly allocated to the intervention (n=40) and control (n=40) groups. Women in the intervention group received five 30-minutes sessions of Pilates weekly for eight weeks. The PSQI instrument was used to measure the related variables at baseline, forth and eighth weeks after the deliveries. Data were analyzed using the repeated measures ANOVA.

Results: Significant improvement was seen in the intervention group within eight weeks follow-up the interaction within time and group was significant (P=0.02). Comparison of mean sleep quality between the two groups has shown that the intervention was effective (P<0.001).

Conclusion: The Pilates exercise was effective in improving quality of sleep in postpartum period.

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Background & Objective: Due to physical and mental complications, stroke causes disability in self-care and adherence to rehabilitation in patients. The purpose of this study was to assess the adherence to rehabilitation regimen in family caregivers of patients with stroke.

Methods & Materials: In this cross-sectional study, 180 family caregivers of patients with stroke were recruited to the study using convenience sampling method. The participants were asked to complete demographic sheet and the Adherence-of-Therapeutic-Regime Questionnaires during two months of stroke. Data were statistically analyzed using descriptive and inferential tests in the SPSS-16.

Results: Findings indicated that only about 10% of caregivers were in good levels of adherence to the rehabilitation regimen and about 25% of them were weak. The weaknesses of the adherence were related to rehabilitation of motion, cognitive and emotional deficiencies, and also prevention of respiratory and skin disorders.

Conclusion: According to the study, a small number of family caregivers were in appropriate level for adherence to the rehabilitation regimen. The nurses should be able to empower the family caregivers to decrease physical and psychological disorders related to stroke in patients.

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Background & Aim: Asthma is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases worldwide. About 6.5 million people suffer from asthma in Iran. The Effective strategy to control asthma is related to education. The self-management has a major role in the standard education program. This study aimed to assess the effect of education on using peak flow meter and follow up via SMS on asthma self management.

Methods & Materials: This study was a quasi-experimental controlled clinical trial. The samples included 98 patients, suffering from asthma referred to the pulmonary clinic in Imam Khomeini and Shariati hospitals. Patients were selected using convenient sampling method and were randomly assigned into the experiment (n=47) and control (n=51) groups through blocking method. Two educational sessions were held in the experiment group about how-to-use peak flow meter. Accordingly, the patients in the experiment group sent their peak flow rates via SMS to the researcher within 12 weeks. The researchers provided feedback to the patients about their asthma control via phone, weekly. Patients in the control group did not receive any education. Data were collected using the Asthma Control Test before and three months after the intervention. Data were analyzed using the statistical tests of Chi-square, Mann-Whitney, Independent t-test and Kolmogorov-Smirnov.

Results: There was a significant statistical difference between the two groups of experiment and control in terms of asthma control (P=0.002).

Conclusion: The education using peak flow meter and following up via SMS promotes asthma self-management. With regard to the significant role of nurses in patient education, educating patients with asthma by nurses is recommended at the Iranian Society of Asthma and Allergies clinics and medical centers.

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Background & Aim: Pregnancy can conflict with sexual function that can be affected by physical and psychological changes during pregnancy. The aim of this study was to compare sexual functions between nulliparous and multiparous pregnant women referred to health centers in Eastern district of Guilan.

Methods & Materials: This cross-sectional study was carried out in Guilan during 2009-2010. We used convenient sampling method to select 554 pregnant women. Data were gathered using a questionnaire including demographic characteristics, sexual function and fear of harm to fetus. The SPSS-16 was used to analyze the data by the Mann-Whitney U and Generalized linear models. The level of significance was set at 5%.

Results: There was no significant difference between nulliparous and multiparous pregnant women regarding sexual function in the first and second trimesters of pregnancy (P=0.353, P=0.251). There were significant differences between nulliparous and multiparous pregnant women regarding sexual desire (P=0.002), arousal (P=0.01), orgasm (P=0.01), pain (P=0.02) and sexual function total score (P=0.016). There was significant difference between nulliparous and multiparous pregnant women regarding sexual function (P=0.008).

Conclusion: Sexual counseling and rehabilitation programs should be compiled as part of the comprehensive care of prenatal care especially for multiparous pregnant women.

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  Background & Aim: Need assessment for promotion reproductive health is important subject and development a questionnaire is essential. Thus the aim of this study was development of questionnaire of intention to use of oral contraception in withdrawal users based on construct of Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB).

  Methods & Materials : In-depth interviews were conducted to elicit the salient beliefs relevant to oral contraception among withdrawal users. Then a cross-sectional study carried out in Tehran, Iran for validate of questionnaire. Participants recruited from attending five family planning clinics of public health services in the Eastern district of Tehran, Iran. Validity and reliability was evaluated using concurrent, content validity and Cronbach's alpha and test- retest respectively. Factor structure of the questionnaire was extracted by exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) conducted to assess how well the EFA extracted model fits observed data. The SPSS version 16 and Lisrel programs were used to analyze the data.

  Results: Reliability and validity were confirmed. The principal component analysis revealed a three-factor structure for the questionnaire including attitude, subjective norm and perceive behavior control that explained 50.4 percent of the total of variance.

  Conclusion : In general, the findings suggest that questionnaire of intention to use of oral contraception in withdrawal users based on Theory of Planned Behavior is a reliable and valid measure.

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Background & Aim: One of the assisted reproductive technologies is the use of donated oocyte. Although, the data about medical aspects of this process is available, knowledge of the psychological aspect related to this therapy is limited. Each individual's psychological aspects can be assessed by the self-concept and the self-discrepancy. Therefore, the present study aimed to assess the self-concept and self-discrepancy among women receiving and donating oocyte.

Methods & Materials: In this descriptive-analytical investigation, carried out in 2015, given the limited research population, 53 women referred to Royan infertility institute, were investigated in each of the donor and recipient groups using the available sampling method. The data were collected by three questionnaires including demographic questions, Rogers’s self-concept scale and self discrepancy scale (ideal-self discrepancy and ought-self discrepancy). The data were analyzed through the descriptive statistics, Chi-square and t-test using SPSS v.16.

Results: Results showed that the self-concept and self-discrepancy scores were poor in both the donor group and the recipient group. Scores of the recipient women (the questionnaire was reverse scored) were more than scores of the donor women. There was no significant difference between the two groups in the mean scores of self-concept (P=0.53). There was a significant difference between the two groups in the ought-self discrepancy score (P=0.02) but no significant difference was found between the two groups in the ideal-self discrepancy score (P=0.15).

Conclusion: According to the results, it should be noted that in the process of oocyte donation, only physical assessment is not enough but individuals’ psychological needs are necessary to be taken into account. So, the authorities should consider measures to assess the psychological aspects of women receiving and donating oocyte.

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Background & Aim: Women's health is important in middle age, and lifestyle, including healthy eating, has an impact on it. This research was aimed to determine the effect of an educational program based on BASNEF model on nutrition in middle-aged women.
Methods & Materials: This clinical trial was conducted on 95 women under coverage of the healthcare centers affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2016. The demographic characterizes and the BASNEF constructs regarding nutritional behavior were measured by questionnaire before and eight weeks after the intervention. The intervention was performed in three one-hour sessions. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, Chi-square and Mann-Whitney U tests using the SPSS software version 16.
Results: Before the intervention, both groups had not any significant differences in all variables and constructs. After the intervention, in the experimental group, the median and interquartile range were 10±3 for knowledge, 38±10 for attitude, 3±1 for subjective norms and 1±1 for behavioral intention. But in the control group, the scores were 6±2 for knowledge, 37±5 for attitude, 4±1 for subjective norms and 1±1 for behavioral intention. There was a significant difference between the two groups (P˂0.05). However, the scores of enabling factors were not significantly different between the two groups of intervention (3±1) and control (3±1) (P=0.4).
Conclusion: Designing and implementing the educational program based on BASNEF model not only can improve the knowledge and attitude about healthy nutrition in middle-aged women, but also modify their behavioral intention.
Clinical trial registry: IRCT2016042427566N1
 

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Background & Aim: Self-control is the capacity to organize cognitive and emotional responses in order to provide continuous and adaptive behavior with ideal standards for long-term goals. Due to the high levels of care burden of patients with chronic disease, this study aims to explain the concept of self-control in the family caregivers of patients with chronic disease based on the family-centered empowerment model.
Methods & Materials: Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 26 participants (19 caregivers, four nurses and three patients with chronic disease) from June 2016 to August 2017 in southwestern of Iran. Data were analyzed using the directed content analysis approach. The documents recording, accurate description of details, member checking, peer checking, and maximum variation of participants, were considered for ensuring the trustworthiness of the data.
Results: “Transcendental self-control” of family caregiver was explained by four conceptual categories: “caregiver insight", "value prioritization in care", "acceptance of care responsibilities" and "committed care". By predicting the potential risks of playing the care role and deeply understanding the conditions of care while paying attention to the value prioritization outcome-centered and virtue-based care, the family caregiver accepts the care burden through positive thinking and expediency and modestly offers "committed care" while having competent care experiences.
Conclusion: The explanation of self-control concept based on family-centered empowerment model in the real field creates a clear understanding of this concept and leads to "commitment care" by family caregivers of patients with chronic diseases and in turn provides a basis for reducing workload in the clinical setting.
 

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Background & Aim: Many factors affect the hypertensive patients’ quality of life. Identifying the factors related to the quality of life can help to promote the quality of life in hypertensive patients. This study aimed to determine the predictive role of illness acceptance and social, individual factors in the hypertensive patients’ quality of life.
Methods & Materials: This correlational, cross-section study was conducted in 2020-2021 on 245 hypertensive patients referred to a hypertension clinic in Lahijan selected by the convenience sampling method. Data were collected by a questionnaire, including demographic information, Acceptance of Illness Scale and the WHO's Quality of Life-Brief questionnaire. Data were analyzed by multiple linear regression at a 95% confidence level using the SPSS software version 23.
Results: The mean score for the quality of life was 65.32±12.18 (0-100) and for the acceptance of illness was 31.83±4.98 (8-40). Age, sex, employment status, marital status, monthly income, family arrangement and the acceptance of illness were identified as the predictors of quality of life in hypertensive patients (P<0.001). According to the coefficient of determination (R²=0.401), the variables of the final regression model explained about 40% of the quality-of-life changes among hypertensive patients.
Conclusion: Given that the acceptance of illness and some social, individual factors can affect the hypertensive patients’ quality of life, focus on the strategies to promote the acceptance of illness and paying attention to social, individual factors can help improve the quality of life among hypertensive patients.