Journal of

Background and Aim: Lack of information on how to protect and prevent cutaneos leishmaniasis plays an important role in the susceptibility to the disease. Therefore, preventive measures will be effective if the parents have awareness about the disease. This study was aimed to invetigate the effects of educational interventions on mother’s knowledge and attitude towards cutaneous leishmaniasis.

Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, 120 married women who were 15 years of age or older and were referred to Ab-o-Bargh Health Center in Mashhad were recruited. The participants were divided into three groups: participation in an educational lecture, participation in an educational group discussion session, and a control, non-intervention group. A researcher-developed questionnaire including questions on demographic data, and developed knowledge and attitude towards cutaneous leishmaniasis were used for data gathering. The evaluation of educational intervention effects were assessed before, immediately after the interventions, and one month after the educational interventions.

Results: Before the intervention, there was no significant difference in the mean of awareness scores between the three groups (P=0.71). However, there was a significant difference in awareness scores between the three groups immediately after the intervention. The observed scores did not change significantly after one month (P=0.001). Also, there was there was a significant difference in the rate of attitude score towards cutaneous leishmaniasis after the intervention between three groups (P=0.001).

Conclusion: Individual and group educational interventions regarding cutaneous leishmaniasis were effective to increase the knowledge and improve the attitude of the participants towards the disease. We recommend to apply effective educational interventions like group discussions to improve the mothers' knowledge and their insights about cutaneous leishmaniasis.

Background and Aim: One of the most important characteristics of women and girls is their eagerness for showing their beauty, which is commonly achieved by using cosmetics and doing makeup. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of cosmetics use among high school and university students girls in Yazd city and to measure their  knowledge, attitude and practices.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 400 female high school and university students in Yazd city in 2016. Data were gathered using a four-part questionnaire, which was designed to collect demographic data of the participants as well as, items needed for assessment of knowledge, attitudes, and practice of the participants about using cosmetics. The collected data were described and analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA) version 22. Independent t, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and chi square tests were used for statistical analyses.

Results:  The mean scores of knowledge, attitude and practices of the participants showed that the mean knowledge score of them was related to the age, level of education of parents, parent's occupation and household income (P<0.05). The mean attitude score of the participants was also related to the age, level of education of parents, and parent's occupation (P<0.05). The mean practices score of the participants was related to the age, level of education of parents, and parent's occupation as well (P<0.05). Those who did not use cosmetics, had a more proper attitude towards using cosmetics (P=0.01).

Conclusion: This study demonstrated that the use of cosmetics among female high school and university students in Yazd was high. Proper training in appropriate use of the cosmetics is needed.