Despite recommendations, many middle-age adults neglect to check their blood cholesterol levels. Short message service (SMS, also known as texting) has been seldom studied for preventive education. ...We estimated how SMS can be a cost-effective method in encouraging people to check their blood cholesterol levels.
In a field trial, 3600 cell phone users (age > 30) were randomly assigned to the intervention (N: 1200) and the control groups (N: 2400). An SMS was sent to the intervention group for five rounds every two weeks, which targeted the cognitive and affective learning and finally advised the blood cholesterol level to be checked, if not checked during the past twelve months. Two weeks after the last round, both groups were asked for the time/level of their latest blood cholesterol, family history of early cardiac death and having a family member with coronary heart disease (CHD), and to report their attitude about whether annual blood sampling is worth the cost and time to prevent CHD. Moreover, the intervention group was asked if they remembered the SMS content. The cost-effectiveness was evaluated by estimating the "number needed to treat" (NNT) and calculating the cost of sending SMS to that number of people.
In the intervention group, 629 individuals (72.0%) recalled the SMS content. The factors associated with cholesterol screening during the past two years were older age, diabetes, family history of coronary disease, higher education, female gender and being non-smoker. In both groups, women were significantly more aware of their blood cholesterol level (68.7% vs. 53.6%). The relative frequency of respondents who believed it was not worth checking their cholesterol annually was significantly lower in the intervention group (P < 0.001). The intervention group was significantly more likely to check its blood cholesterol levels (OR:1.22) after adjustment for age, diabetes, family history of CHD and smoking. The NNT was estimated ≈ 25 for the general population and ≈ 11 for those who received SMS and had a family member with CHD.
We would postulate that SMS could affect people's adherence to preventive programs. Relatives of patients admitted with a diagnosis of CHD should be prioritized for superior cost-effectiveness and logistical feasibility.
With the lack of social supports, divorce has many negative psychological impacts on women. This study aimed at determining the social support in divorced women in Iran. In this cross-sectional ...survey, 285 divorced women were selected through multi-stage cluster sampling method. The most common cause expressed for divorce was drug addiction (39.3%). The mean of social networks and social support scores was 83 ± 1.69 and 65 ± 1.76, respectively. There was a direct association between age, the number of children, and years passed from divorce and social networks and social support scores. Social networks and social support scores were higher in rural and marginal regions. According to the findings of this study, the educational sessions in consulting centers to decrease the guilty feeling and other unpleased emotions resulting from divorce, and replacing them with hope and optimism, are advised.
This study aims to compare the effectiveness of uphill walking and physical therapy versus physical therapy alone on knee pain, excursion ranges, stride length, and walking speed in individuals with ...knee osteoarthritis.
In this randomized clinical trial, 30 patients with knee osteoarthritis participated. Both control and intervention groups received 10-session physical therapy. Moreover, the intervention group received an 8-degree treadmill walking at a speed of 1.1 m/s for 30 min in each session. Outcome measures, including pain, excursion ranges, stride length, and walking speed, were measured at baseline, post-treatment, and a 20-day follow-up.
Significant improvements in stride length and walking speed were observed just in the intervention group from baseline to post-treatment (p ≤ 0.001) and from baseline to follow-up (p ≤ 0.001). Furthermore, significant improvement in excursion ranges was observed just in the intervention group from baseline to follow-up (p < 0.05).
This study revealed that the addition of uphill walking to physical therapy results in stride length and walking speed improvements and that it also has persistent effects on knee ranges, stride length, and walking speed as compared with physical therapy alone.
This clinical trial was registered at irct.ir (study ID: IRCT20171115034920N1).
Implications for Rehabilitation
Stretching exercises are recommended to correct knee flexion contracture and uphill treadmill walking is a form of functional stretching.
This study shows 10 sessions of combined uphill treadmill walking and physical therapy provided superior improvements in stride length and walking speed at 10-session or 20-day follow-up, and active and passive excursion ranges at 20-day follow-up compared with physical therapy alone.
Physical therapist may consider uphill treadmill walking when designing a physical therapy for patients with knee osteoarthritis to promote the results of the rehabilitation programs.
In social marketing, at the center of the program is consumer perception. The objective of this study was to explore the viewpoints of Iranian women for tailoring interventions so as to increase ...physical activity.
The social marketing model served as the framework of the study. Qualitative data were collected via six semi-structured focus group discussions (FGDs), in 2014 in Iran. Participants were 51 women, 20 to 60 years old, selected by purposive sampling, with a maximum diversity. Qualitative content analysis of the data was conducted by researchers.
After data analysis and extracting initial codes, they were all categorized in four predefined categories of social marketing model (product, price, place and promotion) and related sub-categories. Most of the participants were inactive. Price was addressed by women as the dominant category of this study. The majority of participants emphasized the benefits of prevention of chronic diseases, fitness, staying young, and improving family relations. Most women preferred to do physical activity in a secure and enclosed female environment. And the majority of participants considered radio, television, face to face training, texting, and advertising billboards as promotional strategies.
This study provides a unique insight into consumers' values and motivations that affect consumers' decisions to adopt physical activity, in Iran. It could also help researchers to design and implement intervention programs to increase physical activity.
The Iranian National Blood Pressure Measurement Campaign (INBPMC) was conducted all over the country to raise awareness in different groups of people regarding the importance of blood pressure and ...persuading them to manage their blood pressure. The present research aimed at assessing the process and output of this campaign.
For process evaluation, 31 universities/faculties were selected. Experts from the Ministry of Health and Medical Education assessed the documentation of the campaign implementation using the designed checklist. The output was assessed by including 8274 people and through a telephone survey using the designed instructions.
The response rate of the telephone interviews was 82.74% (8274 people). It was found that 79% of the selected groups were aware of the INBPMC. Among them, 64% remembered the messages, 99% of the participants who remembered the messages agreed with those messages, and 89% of the participants who agree with the messages went for a measurement of their blood pressure. In the telephone interviews, 30% of the participants stated that they were diagnosed with hypertension, 97% of these participants received the required consultations for subsequent care, and 86% of them went to the health service centers to receive care. The process evaluation of the INBPMC indicated that the universities of medical sciences obtained 97% of the score of the checklist.
The INBPMC was successful and accomplished its objectives.
This study examined effects of a social marketing intervention to encourage people to donate blood in a southwest city of Iran. To design the intervention, the constructs of theory of planned ...behavior in 170 consistent blood donors were measured. Persuasive messages were developed, and some printed materials were prepared to transfer the message to the target segment. The trend of the percentage of consistent blood donors was measured during the first four months after the intervention. The percentage of consistent blood donors was increased significantly. The findings showed the effectiveness of the social marketing interventions for blood donation.
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