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Background & Aim: Breast milk provides many healthy nutrients to infants. Support provided by health care provider has positive effects on duration of breastfeeding. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of telephone counseling on continuity and duration of breastfeeding among primiparus women.

Methods & Materials: This clinical trial was conducted on 140 primiparus women referred to the selected health centers of Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2010. The participants were randlomly allocated into two equal groups (each: 70 indviduals). The participants in the intervention group received telephone counseling by one of the researchers. The control group received routine care. Data were collected using a questionnaire including demographic characteristics and a breastfeeding check list. Exclusive breastfeeding rates were recorded one and three months after childbirth in both groups. Also, the continuity and duration of exclusive breastfeeding were recored three months after childbirth in both groups. Data were analyzed using the Chi-square test, Fisher&aposs exact test, standard logistic regression and linear regression in the SPSS-16 and the Win Pepi.

Results: The average duration of exclusive breastfeeding in the intervention group (8.05±3.99) was significantly more than the control group (6.23±4.03) (P=0.008). In the third month of delivery, continuity of exclusive breastfeeding in the intervention group was more than the control group (P=0.03). Results also showed that telephone counseling was effective in the duration of exclusive breastfeeding (P=0.02).

Conclusion: Telephone counseling was effective in continuity and duration of exclusive breastfeeding. Using this inexpensive and easy method can help to increase exclusive breastfeeding, especially in primiparus women.

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Background & Aim: Epilepsy is the most common chronic neurological disease after headache. About half of the patients with epilepsy do not properly adhere to medication regimens, which leads to a lack of control over seizures, increased treatment costs, and even increased mortality rate in these patients. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of telephone education on medication adherence in patients with epilepsy.
Methods & Materials: In this quasi-experimental study, 60 patients referred to neurology clinic of Valiasr Hospital in Zanjan in 2019 were selected by the convenience sampling method, and were randomly divided into either control or experimental groups. The Morisky drug adherence Questionnaire was used for data collection. At the beginning of the study and after completing the questionnaires, a face-to-face training session was held for the study participants. Then, telephone education was performed for the experimental group for two months and no intervention for the control group. Two months after the intervention, all the patients completed the questionnaire again. Finally, the collected data were analyzed through the SPSS software version 25 using descriptive (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (Chi-square, Fisher's exact test, independent t-test and paired t-test).
Results: Before the intervention, there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of individual characteristics and medication adherence scores (P<0.05); But two months after the intervention, a statistically significant difference was observed in the mean score of medication adherence between the two control and experimental groups so that the patients in the experimental group had higher scores of medication adherence (P<0.001).
Conclusion: The results of this study showed the usefulness of using the telephone education method in improving the medication adherence of patients with epilepsy. Therefore, it is recommended that this method be used in the training program for these patients. In addition, further studies are needed on the comparison of the effectiveness of telephone education with other methods of telemedicine such as cyberspace and online education.
 

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Background & Aim: Due to the importance of breastfeeding in the health of premature infants, the present study was conducted with the aim of determining the effect of telephone counseling on the continuity and breastfeeding status of mothers with late preterm infants.
Methods & Materials: In this randomized controlled trial, 65 eligible mothers from Ahvaz in 2019-2020 were selected using the convenience sampling method and divided into two intervention and control groups using block randomization (with block sizes of 4). The routine care was provided for the control group. The intervention group received a daily telephone support counseling for 14 days after discharge. Data were collected using a questionnaire on the continuity of breastfeeding and breastfeeding status at the pre-counseling phase and then monthly up to four months after discharge. Data were analyzed using chi-square test, independent t-tests and Kaplan Meyer survival analysis at a significance level of 0.05 through the SPSS software version 16.
Results: According to Kaplan Meyer survival analysis, the rate of exclusive breastfeeding interruption in the control group was higher than that of in the intervention group (5 vs. 8) but it was not statistically significant. Improvement of breastfeeding status one month after discharge was significantly different between the two groups (P=0.048).
Conclusion: The results showed that telephone support counseling was effective in improving breastfeeding status up to the first month after discharge. Continuous telephone support counseling can be a good approach to improving breastfeeding and its continuity in the first month after discharge.
Clinical trial registry: IRCT20150731023423N13

 

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Background & Aim: Health-related behaviors of patients with myocardial infarction (MI) are highly affected by their illness perceptions, and education is one of the ways to enhance illness perception. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to compare the effect of multimedia and telephone education on illness perception in patients with MI after discharge.
Methods & Materials: A randomized clinical trial was conducted on 32 patients with MI who were discharged in 2019-2020 in Gonabad and Mashhad. The samples were selected by the convenience sampling method and randomly assigned to the multimedia or telephone groups. The educational content was similar for both groups, and was provided as a conversation for the telephone group, and as video, audio, and image for the multimedia group. The Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (Brief. IPQ) was completed by the patients on the first day and the sixth week after discharge. Data were analyzed through the SPSS software version 20 using Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, independent t-test, Paired t-test and Levene's test, at a significance level of P<0.05.
Results: The results showed that the average score for the components of illness perception after the intervention compared to before the intervention in the both groups had a significant increase (P<0.05), but no significant difference was observed in the comparison between the two groups (P>0.05).
Conclusion: Both multimedia and telephone training methods improve illness perception in the patients. Therefore, the trainer is suggested to choose the type of training according to individual differences and facilities of the recipient, and health managers should apply appropriate policies for patients with MI to benefit from telenursing care after discharge.
Clinical trial registry: IRCT20190607043834N1