Effect of an educational intervention on knowledge, attitudes and preventive behaviours related to HIV and sexually transmitted infections in female sex workers in southern Iran: a quasi-experimental study

This quasi-experimental, before–after study was designed to assess the effect of an educational intervention on knowledge and attitudes about sexually transmitted infections, HIV and preventive behaviours among female sex workers in Shiraz, Iran. A single-group pre–post test design was used and the study was done between August and December 2009. The participants were 80 female sex workers recruited from three drop-in centers in Shiraz, with stratified random sampling. Pre-intervention knowledge was assessed by interview with a standard questionnaire. The educational intervention consisted of a lecture, face-to-face education, printed information, an educational movie, role playing and a contest. After 2 months, the effect of the intervention was evaluated (post-test). The average age of the participants was 32.6 ± 9.1 years. After the intervention, the mean score for general knowledge about HIV and sexually transmitted infections increased from 13.7 ± 0.95 (pre-test) to 19.47 ± 11.62 (post-test, p < 0.001). There were significant improvements in attitude and the number of participants who self-reported preventive behaviours such as using a condom consistently (from 45 to 63) ( p < 0.001). The results show that the educational programme was successful in increasing the participants’ HIV- and AIDS-related knowledge and attitudes, and in decreasing their risk behaviours.

Proposal for a modernized Iranian notifiable infectious diseases surveillance system: comparison with USA and Australia

This article reports on a comparative study of the national notifiable infectious diseases surveillance systems currently employed in the United States of America, Australia and the Islamic Republic of Iran, with the aim ofdeveloping a modified system specific to the needs of the Iranian health system. Features of the surveillance systems examined in each country included: official data gathering structures; types of data collected; case definition and classification criteria; data collection processes; data analysis methods; disease classification systems; data dissemination and distribution methods; data quality control; and confidentiality procedures and guidelines. After consolidating the data, a model for an Iranian notifiable infectious diseases surveillance system was developed and was tested by the Delphi method in 3 stages.