Background & Objective: Regular and adequate physical activity is a major factor in maintaining good health throughout entire life course. Levels of inactivity are high in all countries. Effective educational interventions are needed to promote physical activity in all populations. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of a heath education intervention on physical activity knowledge, attitude, and behavior in health volunteers of Tehran in 2008.

Methods & Materials: All active female health volunteers of Tehran, district 14 (n=100) were recruited for this experimental study. Data were gathered using a questionnaire of knowledge, attitude, and behavior regarding physical activity. The questionnaire was completed by all participants in two phases of pre- and post-intervention (four weeks after the intervention). Health education intervention strategies were presented to the intervention group during three educational sessions with one week interval between the sessions. Data were analyzed using related statistical tests.

Results: Findings showed significant statistical differences in knowledge, total physical activity rate per week, and the mean sitting time per day between the control and intervention groups after the intervention (P<0.05). While, these variables were not significantly different before the educational intervention among both groups.

Conclusion: The health education intervention presented in this study was effective in promoting knowledge, total physical activity rate per week, and mean sitting time per day among the female health volunteers.

Background & Aim: It is crucial to assess communication skills among health workers using valid culture-based instruments. This study aimed to develop and assess psychometric properties of the Interpersonal Communication Skills Scale among Zanjan Health Volunteers.

Methods & Materials: In this study, a total of 191 health volunteers participated in a self-rating assessment of the Communication Skills Scale (CSS). Moreover, 14 experts were asked to rate each item based on the relevance, clarity, and simplicity. Through a literature review, we developed an instrument with 43 items. The validity of the instrument was determined using the impact item method, content validity ratio (CVR), content validity index (CVI), face validity and exploratory factor analysis. Reliability of the instrument was reported by Alpha Cronbach coefficient. The CSS finally contained 35 items, divided into two categories: general and specific communication skills.

Results: Of 43 items, those with impact item index over 1.5, CVR over 0.51, and CVI over 0.79 were considered as valid while the rest were discarded resulting in a 35-item scale. Factor analysis was carried out to determine the relationship among the items of the CSS. Exploratory factor analysis reduced the list of items to 30, which were divided into seven groups with a minimum eigenvalue of 1 for each factor, capable of predicting 68.8% of the variance. Internal reliability of the scale was determined by alpha Cronbach coefficient (0.91).

Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that the CSS is a valid and reliable instrument for assessment of the communication skills among health volunteers in Zanjan. These findings could be used for developing similar instruments in other health worker groups.

Background & Aim: Reducing water-pipe use is among the most effective ways to reduce chronic disease and some cancers. The aim of this study was to determine effect of education based on Health Belief Model (HBM) by health volunteers on water-pipe use among women.

Methods & Materials: This Quasi-experimental study performed on 127 women who used water-pipe (63 in the intervention group and 64 in the control group) in Bushehr in 2014. The data collection tool included demographic characteristics, the HBM constructs about water-pipe use, knowledge about water-pipe complications, and behavior (frequency of water-pipe use in last week and nicotine dependence scale). Intervention group received two sessions of education based on HBM by health volunteers. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, Mann-whitney test, independent t-test, repeated measures ANOVA, and Friedman test on SPSS software version 18.

Results: Before education, both groups were similar in terms of demographic variables, the mean score of knowledge and all the HBM constructs (P>0.05). After education, the mean scores of HBM constructs and knowledge significantly increased and nicotine dependence decreased in the intervention group compared to the control group (P<0.001). After 3 months, the frequency of water-pipe smoking significantly reduced in the intervention group (P=0.007). But in the same period, there was no significant difference in term of the frequency of water-pipe smoking in the control group.

Conclusion: The results show that education based on the behavior change patterns by health volunteers can be effective in changing beliefs and reducing water-pipe use among women.