Factors Involved in Iranian Women Heads of Household's Health Promotion Activities: A Grounded Theory Study

Unveiling the lead exposure attributed burden in Iran from 1990 to 2019 through the lens of the Global Burden of Disease study 2019

This study aimed to investigate the estimated burden attributed to lead exposure (LE), at the national and subnational levels from 1990 to 2019 in Iran. The burden attributed to LE was determined through the estimation of deaths, disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), years of life lost (YLLs) and years lived with disability (YLDs) using the comparative risk assessment method of Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study presenting as age-standardized per 100,000 person year (PY) with 95% uncertainty intervals (95% UI). Furthermore, the burden of each disease were recorded independently. Eventually, the age-standardized YLLs, DALYs, deaths and YLDs rates attributed to LE demonstrated a decrease of 50.7%, 48.9%, 38.0%, and 36.4%, respectively, from 1990 to 2019. The most important causes of LE burden are divided into two acute and chronic categories: acute, mainly causes mental disorders (DALYs rate of 36.0 in 2019), and chronic, results in cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) (DALYs rate of 391.8) and chronic kidney diseases (CKDs) (DALYs rate of 26.6), with CVDs bearing the most significant burden. At the sub-national level, a decrease in burden was evident in most provinces; moreover, low and low-middle SDI provinces born the highest burden. The burden increased mainly by ageing and was higher in males than females. It was concluded that although the overall decrease in the burden; still it is high, especially in low and low-middle SDI provinces, in advanced ages and in males. Among IDID, CKDs and CVDs that are the most important causes of LE-attributed burden in Iran; CVDs bear the highest burden.

Effectiveness of Nurse-led Lifestyle Modification Intervention on Obesity Among Young Women in India

Background

Obesity management in young women necessitates interventions that include dietary modification and physical exercise. High-intensity lifestyle modification is effective in managing obesity in young women.

Objectives

The study determined the effectiveness of a nurse-led lifestyle modification intervention (NLLMI) on obesity among young women in India.

Methods

The study adopted a quasi-experimental pre- and post-interventional control group research design. The study was conducted among obese young women in the communities of Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India. The participants were selected using convenient sampling technique. The sample included 150 women in the study group and 150 in the control group. The NLLMI comprising of exercises and dietary modifications were taught to the participants for 30 min three times a week for 24 weeks. Thereafter, they were encouraged to follow the diet and perform the exercises on their own for the next 12 weeks. Practice diary was maintained by the participants and they were encouraged to continue the intervention through the phone. The participants in the control group did not engage in the NLLMI until the post-test. However, they did receive the same NLLMI after the trial was over.

Results

There was a high statistically significant difference (p = 0.001) between the study group and the control group the after 12th and 24th weeks of NLLMI. The study group had a significant reduction in BMI after the intervention.

Conclusions

Young obese women may benefit from a NLLMI if they regularly follow the healthy eating habits and physical exercise.

Associations between diet quality and obesity in a nationally representative sample of Iranian households: A cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE

Research examining associations between diet quality and obesity in Iranian adults is limited by small and non-representative samples. This study examined associations between two diet quality indices and obesity risk in a nationally representative sample of Iranian adults and interactions by sex and area of residence.

METHODS

Data on 18,307 adults (mean age 37 [SD 15.2] years) were used from the Iranian National Survey 2001-2003. Two diet quality indices (Healthy Eating Index 2015, HEI-2015, and Diet Quality Index International, DQI-I) were calculated from household 24-h dietary recalls. Multi-level regression analyses were used to examine the association between household diet quality and individual-level obesity risk, with interaction terms for sex and area of residence.

RESULTS

Higher household HEI-2015 and DQI-I were associated with higher risk of obesity (HEI-2015: relative risk ratio: 1.04, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.05; DQI-I: relative risk ratio: 1.02, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.02), with stronger effect sizes in adults living in rural areas.

CONCLUSIONS

Higher diet quality (HEI-2015 and DQI-I) was associated with higher obesity risk, which was stronger in adults living in rural areas. Due to the complexity of examining these associations in a Middle Eastern country undergoing a nutrition transition, longitudinal research is needed to confirm these findings.

Challenges and opportunities confronting female-headed households in Iran: a qualitative study

Background

Female-headed households are one of the most vulnerable groups of society that confront many problems and challenges. Therefore, the present study aimed to explore the challenges and opportunities confronting female-headed households in Iran.

Methods

This qualitative study was conducted among female-headed households in Kermanshah, West of Iran, in 2019. The data were collected through Semi-structured interviews with 26 female-headed households who were selected by purposeful and theoretical sampling. Data analysis was done through conventional qualitative content analysis, and the software MAXQDA-12 was used for the management of data. The four criteria of Goba and Lincon, including credibility, confirmability, dependability, and transferability, were observed to evaluate the quality of research results.

Results

After analyzing the data, 4 main categories and 13 subcategories were obtained as follows: individual problems (role overload, role conflict, end of love, psychological problems), intra-family problems (declined independence, intra-family tension, poverty reproduction and family disability), social problems (stigma of being unattended, social insecurity, social isolation, social exclusion), positive outcomes (positive self-concept, social maturity).

Conclusion

Female-headed households face many challenges that can become a big threat or an opportunity. Therefore, their health improvement can be achieved through training and helping them to adapt to new and multifaceted roles, providing more economic support and helping them raise their social status.

Diabetes in women and health-related quality of life in the whole family: a structural equation modeling

Background

Although several studies indicate the effects of diabetes type 2 on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in female subjects, the related impact of the disease on HRQoL in their family members has rarely been the focus of the empirical research. In this study we aim to investigate associations between diabetes in women and the HRQoL in these women and their family members, using the structural equation modeling (SEM).

Methods

This family-based study was conducted on 794 women (11.1% with diabetes) as well as their spouses and children who participated in the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study (TLGS) from 2014 to 2016. Data on HRQoL were collected using the Iranian version of the Short-Form 12-Item Health Survey version 2 (SF-12v2) and the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory version™ 4.0 (PedsQL). SEM was conducted to evaluate the network of associations among studied variables. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics & AMOS version 23 software.

Results

Mean age of women was 41.37 ± 5.32 years. Diabetes in women significantly affected their mental HRQoL (β = − 0.11, P < 0.01) but showed no significant direct associations with physical and mental HRQoL in their spouses or their children. However, poor mental HRQoL in women with diabetes was associated with decrease in both physical (β = − 0.02, P = 0.013) and mental (β = − 0.03, P < 0.01) HRQoL in their spouses and total HRQoL score in children (β = − 0.02, P < 0.01).

Conclusions

Among women with diabetes type 2, beyond its effect on their mental HRQoL per se, demonstrated a negative association with the self-assessment of health status in their spouses and children. Such familial consequences are mainly attributed to the negative effect of the disease on the mental rather than the physical HRQoL in women with diabetes.

Understanding the Contextual Factors Affecting Women's Health in Sistan and Baluchestan Province in Iran: A Qualitative Study

BACKGROUND

Contextual factors impact health the same way social and cultural conditions do. Women's health, with its varying dimensions, is also under the influence of biological, societal, and cultural contexts. This typical condition has been developed along the continuum of their life cycle, bearing close correlation with their lif style. Therefore, identifying those marices within which women's health behaviors are formed is important.This study aims at exploring the contextual factors affecting women's health in Sistan and Baluchestan in Iran.

METHODS

This study was carried out using a qualitative method, on a content analysis approach. Participants were 20 middle-aged women from Zahedan who entered the study with purposive sampling method. The method of collecting data was face-to- face and through conducting semi-structured interviews. After data collection, all interviews were transcribed, andreviewed, from which categories were extracted. The semantic similarities were revised and subcategories were identified, and then the related subcategories were arranged under one category.

RESULTS

Two main categories of "features of context-based structure" and "changes in the cultural context" prove to be the basis for health behaviors in women. As for the category of "characteristics of context-based structure", individual, familial and environmental characteristics were identified, and regarding the category of "changes in the cultural context", the context-based cultural features were identified.

CONCLUSION

The findings of the study suggest that effective contextual factors influencing women's living conditions had a decisive role in their health behaviors. In fact, the context- based structure in association with the cultural changes that have occurred in the beliefs of men and women, have had a decisive role in the women's health behaviors.