Journal of School of Public Health and

Anthropology is concerned with description and interpretation of various aspects of social life it is an attempt to understand and assess the origin of different social phenomena. In this research we have studied the abortion beliefs and behaviors of women in reproductive age, and we also tried to explain how these beliefs and behaviors were changing with time. Considering the in-depth nature of anthropological research, Azarbayejan, an old and traditional neighborhood in downtown Tehran was chosen as the setting for this work. Besides the local women who came from different backgrounds we interviewed other groups of people for their views on reproductive health. These included health care professionals, community health liaison workers, psychologists and marriage guidance counselors, social workers, midwives and physicians. The individual in-depth interviews were completed by a simultaneous literature and document review. It became apparent that women’s beliefs on abortion form a wide spectrum, from outright condemnation to complete acceptance. Also in spite of the illicit and socially forbidden nature of abortion, there are widely different types of behavior among women. A host of medications, from herbal/traditional to modern, are being used for inducing abortion. Histories taken from patients have revealed many of these behaviors and their varieties. Existence of a certain type of behavior is an indication of its function in community. To conclude, in spite of these beliefs, abortion not only exists, but is often practiced in an unhealthy manner. So a more pragmatic approach (promoting quality of life) may be indicated.

We performed a cross sectional study with the aim of assessing levels of habitual physical activity and associated factors (barriers and motivators), finding the stage of change among high school girls, and exploring relationships between physical activity and the following set of factors: age, parent education, type of school attended, knowledge, and attitude. 457 girls in the 1SI to 3rd grade of high school with a mean age of 15.6 (%95.3 cases were 14th to below 17Ih years old) in Tehran&aposs second region of educational office district were selected via proportional-to-size and cluster sampling methods. These girls attended 4 different types of facilities (public and private high schools / public and private vocational schools). The data were gathered through self-administered questionnaires. Our results indicated that %58.6 of students were in pre-contemplation and contemplation stages, while 24.7% were in action and maintenance stages of change.
The mean level of physical activity at work (in school) was 2.22, which was significantly lower than 2.75- the minimum acceptable level of physical activity at work (p<0.00 ). The mean level of sport activity was 2.73, significantly (p<0.001) higher than 2.33 (minimum acceptable level of sport activity). The mean level of physical activity at leisure time was 2.50, which had no significant difference with the minimum acceptable level of 2.50. (Note: all max. acceptable level is 5).
The most important barriers identified were: time constraints, lack of companions, lack of suitably located facilities and a general state of lassitude.
The most important motivators were individual interest, desire to lose weight, company of friends, and support of parents. The level of exercise did not show a significant relationship with age, probably because of the limited range of age categories enrolled in this study. Levels of physical activity at work and sport activity (p=0.004 for ph.act.work and p=0.012 for sport) showed a significant positive relationship with the mother&aposs level of education. No significant relationships were found between any type of physical activity and the father&aposs education. The level of sport activity in private high schools was significantly (p=0.005) higher than in public high schools. On the other hand no significant differences were observed between levels of physical activity in private or public high schools compared to private or public vocational schools. Only sport activity had a significant positive relationship with higher knowledge (p=0.005) and attitude (pO.OOl).
The majority of our population (%58.6) was in pre-cont. and cont. level of stage of change. Therefore more emphasis should be placed on improving health education. We must also teach our teenagers to organize their leisure time so they can do some simple and inexpensive physical activities like brisk walking between home and school or while shopping.

Measuring of service quality is the basic prerequisite for improving quality. Patients&apos expectations and perceptions of service quality play an important role in the choice of hospital, loyalty to organization and behavioral intention. A first step towards improvement would be to determine areas of quality that are most defective. Studies show that consumers are in close contact with service providers, and they are involved in the service process. Therefore, this group can measure services quality better than any other group. This study was conducted to measure service quality based on patients&apos expectations and perceptions in Zanjan hospitals.
The cross-sectional design was used in this research. For data collection, SERVQUAL questionnaire was employed. To ensure the reliability of the questionnaire, the internal consistency reliability test (Cronbach alpha) was performed.
Findings: Cronbach alpha for service quality was .94. Results show that the assurance (knowledge, experience and ability to maintain patients&apos confidence and trust) was rated as the most important dimension. (SQ mean = -1.3). There were differences between patients&apos expectations and perceptions in all the dimensions.
the assurance dimension constitutes the most serious problem facing hospitals. It is recommended that physicians thoroughly explain the disease condition to patients, and that patients should be treated with dignity and respect.