Background and Objectives: Diabetes mellitus is among the most common causes of mortality in the world and an important risk factor for chronic kidney disease, foot amputation, ischemic heart disease ...and blindness among older adults. Diabetic patients mostly develop hyperlipidemia, which can result in cardiovascular diseases. Patient's knowledge, attitude and practices toward diet are the core center for diabetes control and affect their metabolic control and complications. In the present study, we measured nutritional knowledge, attitude and practices and their relations to serum lipids, HbA1C, and fasting blood glucose in diabetic patients of Boirahmad County, southwest of Iran, where many people encounter increasing prevalence of diabetes. Materials and Methods: 198 IDDM patients from the rural and urban areas of Boirahmad County were invited to the health centers to be checked for their fasting blood glucose, serum total cholesterol, serum HDL cholesterol, serum triglyceride and also serum glycosylated hemoglobin. Their knowledge, attitude, and practices toward the diabetic diet were assessed using a validated questionnaire. The obtained scores were classified into three categories (Poor, average, and Good) to show their knowledge, attitude and practice levels, and the serum parameters were compared between the levels to show the relevancies. Results: Our data showed that the patients' knowledge and attitude on diabetic nutrition are mostly at the average level (79.3% and 47.1%, respectively) but their practice scores are mostly at the poor level (43.8%), and just a minor proportion of the patients are at the appropriate levels (15.3, 33, and 23.1% of knowledge, attitude and practices, respectively). In addition, we found a significant reverse relationship between the patients' nutritional knowledge and serum HbA1C (p=0.003), and also between their attitude and serum triglyceride (p<0.05). Conclusions: Our data suggest that the knowledge, attitude and practices of diabetic patients in Boirahmad are not satisfying; also it is necessary to run interventional studies to find the best educational methods to improve, control and manage the diabetics in this area. Keywords: Diabetes Mellitus, Metabolic control, Knowledge, Attitude, Practice, Nutrition
: Self-medication is a serious health problem in Iran. In this quasi-experimental study with a control group, four healthcare facilities were selected and divided into intervention and control ...groups. Based on the health files of women in healthcare facilities, 192 women were selected randomly and completed a self-reported questionnaire to measure Health Belief Model constructs and self-medication. After analyzing the data, perceived susceptibility was found as the main predictive factor for self-medication, and an intervention was developed to increase it. The intervention consisted of lectures and group discussions, along with distributing pamphlets and sending short messages for four weeks. Three months later, the data was collected again and analyzed. Perceived susceptibility was improved, and self-reported behavior was reduced significantly in intervention groups compared to the control groups.
Introduction: Self-medication is one of the challenging health issues among women throughout the world and Iran. Considering the main role of mothers in promoting health within the families, women ...play a key role in this regard. This study aimed at determining the effect of an educational intervention based on the Health Belief Model (HBM) to change the women's self-medication behavior about consuming Prescription-Only Medicines (POM) in Yasuj City, Iran.
Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted with a pre-test/post-test design over 192 women under the coverage of urban healthcare centers. These participants were selected by random sampling method and divided into the intervention and control groups. After measuring the constructs of HBM, a tailored intervention was designed and implemented in four weeks. The intervention program consisted of instructional sessions, pamphlet delivery, and short messages (SMS). After three months, educational contends were reevaluated and the results were compared with the pre-intervention data for both groups.
Results: No significant difference was observed between the interventional and control groups before and after the intervention (p> 0.05). Comparison of the data collected from the questionnaires administered before and three months after the intervention showed a significant difference between the two groups regarding the perceived susceptibility construct (P = 0.001).
Conclusion: Based on the results, the HBM was effective in changing women's self-medication behavior considering the prescription-only medicines. Self-medication can be reduced by increasing the women's perceived susceptibility to medication.
Introduction: Self-medication is one of the challenging health issues among women throughout the world and Iran. Considering the main role of mothers in promoting health within the families, women ...play a key role in this regard. This study aimed at determining the effect of an educational intervention based on the Health Belief Model (HBM) to change the women's self-medication behavior about consuming Prescription-Only Medicines (POM) in Yasuj City, Iran. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted with a pre-test/post-test design over 192 women under the coverage of urban healthcare centers. These participants were selected by random sampling method and divided into the intervention and control groups. After measuring the constructs of HBM, a tailored intervention was designed and implemented in four weeks. The intervention program consisted of instructional sessions, pamphlet delivery, and short messages (SMS). After three months, educational contends were reevaluated and the results were compared with the pre-intervention data for both groups. Results: No significant difference was observed between the interventional and control groups before and after the intervention (p> 0.05). Comparison of the data collected from the questionnaires administered before and three months after the intervention showed a significant difference between the two groups regarding the perceived susceptibility construct (P = 0.001). Conclusion: Based on the results, the HBM was effective in changing women's self-medication behavior considering the prescription-only medicines. Self-medication can be reduced by increasing the women's perceived susceptibility to medication.
Introduction: Nutritional literacy is skills and the degree capacity of privates to obtain, process and understand nutrition information to make good decisions about nutrition. The use of this ...information and nutritional services leads to health promotion. This study examined the status of nutritional literacy in elementary school teachers in Yasuj and its related factors. Methods: In this Cross-Sectional study, a questionnaire of 35 items belonging to Turkey was used. After translation-retranslation and determine its validity for assessing nutritional literacy, it is used in 110 persons of elementary school teachers in Yasuj. The samples were selected by multistage stratified sampling and questionnaire was completed for them. The data were analyzed by using descriptive and analytical statistics. Findings: The average age of participants was 39.48±3.2. The results showed that the mean score of nutrition literacy for participants was 27.14± 3.2. 22.7 percent of teachers had limited or poor nutrition literacy. Teachers with less work experience and bachelor's and higher degree had more nutritional literacy scores. The least number of correct answers was related skills of food centers determination, computing skills and reading of food labels. Conclusions: Overall, according to the level of nutritional literacy in different parts of the group of teachers, it should be considered the designing of interventions to improve nutrition literacy. Because of its uniqueness in Iran, this questionnaire can be used as needs assessment tool in nutritional interventions in Iranian society.