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Objective: This study aims to examine the association of quality of life (QOL) with life satisfaction, subjective norms, general health, optimism, and attitude among university students. Participants: Respondents include 632 university students (M[subscript age] = 21.36, SD = 2.86). Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on university students in Torbat Heydariyeh, Iran. Several statistical models were tested, including hierarchical regression and path analysis, to examine the direct or indirect association between a set of important variables. Results: According to the results of path analysis, constructs of subjective norms, general health, positive attitude, optimism, and life satisfaction were significant predictors of students' QOL. Compared with other constructs, general health status (p < 0.001, R2 = 0.548) and life satisfaction (p < 0.001, R2 = 0.253) showed the strongest association with QOL. Conclusions: The results indicate that efforts to improve life satisfaction by targeting general health, subjective norms, optimism, and attitudes may provide promising ways to improve QOL.

Objective: The impact of self-efficacy and health literacy skills on pregnant women's adherence to urinary tract infection (UTI) preventive behaviors is inadequately investigated. Thus, the present study explored whether an educational intervention based on self-efficacy and health literacy skills managed to improve UTI preventive behaviors among pregnant women. Methods: A quasi-experimental study was conducted from January to July 2021 among pregnant women residing in Mashhad, Iran. To this aim, 110 pregnant women at a gestational age of 12–18 weeks were randomly assigned to a control (n = 55) and an intervention group (n = 55) and completed all questionnaires during the intervention and the 3-month follow-up. The intervention group received the full training program, comprising six 2-hourly training sessions. Results: Most women were from low-income families (69.1%), were housewives (74.5%) with high school education or lower (63.6%). The theory-based intervention had a significant effect (P < 0·05) on UTI preventive behavior outcomes (i.e., clothing habits, nutrition, urination, health, and sexual behaviors) in the intervention group compared with the control group after intervention, and in their variation from baseline to follow-up in all scores. Conclusions: An educational intervention based on health literacy skills and self-efficacy could be an effective theory-based intervention to improve UTI preventive behaviors and reduce recurrent UTI and complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction and objective: In all societies, with the increase of age bone mass also decreases. Osteoporosis is a common disease among middle-age and older persons, especially women. Therefore, the necessity of implementing strategic plans to prevent osteoporosis is significantly important. This study was designed to determine the prediction of osteoporosis preventive behaviors through the use of the Health Belief Model (HBM). Methods: This cross-sectional study was done among 402 women in Mashhad in 2014. A multi-stage cluster sampling was used. In order to gather collection a questionnaire consistent with the structures of HBM and IPAQ and FFQ was used. Data were analyzed using the SPSS16 and descriptive analysis (frequency, percentage, mean ± SD) and analysis (correlation coefficient, regression and Linear regression). The significance level was 0.5. Results: The mean age of the participants were 36.5 ± 8.1 years. Average monthly calcium intake was 14703.1 ± 8377.5 mg 63.7% of the people with lower physical activity were among inactive groups. Construct barriers perceived (p = 0.008) had a significant impact on the feeding behavior of calcium intake. Self- efficacy (p> 0.001) had a significant impact on physical activity behavior. Conclusion: The results showed that the HBM to predict well for osteoporosis preventive behaviors in women. Its use in training programs will be effective. Type of Article: Research paper.

Today, with increasing the lifespan, the importance of healthpromoting behavior and paying attention to maintaining individuals' function and autonomy are becoming increasingly evident and regular physical activity is considered as one of the important aspects of healthy lifestyle. This study aimed to apply the theory of planned behavior to predict the intention to do physical activity in the elderly. This study was conducted on the 371 elderly. A three-part questionnaire including demographic, knowledge, and theory of planned behavior questions was used. The views of the elderly were requested directly in this regard. According to the results, the elderly's mean age was 69 and the sample included 53% women. The behavior intention in this study had a positive significant correlation with all planned behavior theory constructs. The perceived behavior control construct hold the most prediction power regarding the variance of the elderly's intention of physical activity behavior. The constructs of theory could predict 26.7% of the variance of intention. Based on the results of this study, the theory of planned behavior was successful in predicting the elderly's intention to do physical activity and the necessity of paying attention to the component is emphasized to teach intention to elderly people, considering the role of the perceived behavior control construct in predicting behavior intention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction and objective: In all societies, with the increase of age bone mass also decreases. Osteoporosis is a common disease among middle-age and older persons, especially women. Therefore, the necessity of implementing strategic plans to prevent osteoporosis is significantly important. This study was designed to determine the prediction of osteoporosis preventive behaviors through the use of the Health Belief Model (HBM). Methods: This cross-sectional study was done among 402 women in Mashhad in 2014. A multi-stage cluster sampling was used. In order to gather collection a questionnaire consistent with the structures of HBM and IPAQ and FFQ was used. Data were analyzed using the SPSS16 and descriptive analysis (frequency, percentage, mean ± SD) and analysis (correlation coefficient, regression and Linear regression). The significance level was 0.5. Results: The mean age of the participants were 36.5 ± 8.1 years. Average monthly calcium intake was 14703.1 ± 8377.5 mg; 63.7% of the people with lower physical activity were among inactive groups. Construct barriers perceived (p = 0.008) had a significant impact on the feeding behavior of calcium intake. Self- efficacy (p> 0.001) had a significant impact on physical activity behavior. Conclusion: The results showed that the HBM to predict well for osteoporosis preventive behaviors in women. Its use in training programs will be effective. Paper Type: Research Article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Suicide/suicide attempt, as a major public health problem, has been included among anti-social behaviors. We aimed to investigate the epidemiology of suicide and some associated individual, family, and social factors., Methods: A historical cohort study was conducted among all cases (748 persons) reports related to suicide/suicide attempt that register in hospital reporting system and health care center in Gonabad and Bajestan, Iran, from 2009 to 2014. The required data were extracted through a checklist. Descriptive (mean and standard deviation) and analytic statistics ( t -test, Chi-square, and logistic regression) applied to analyzed data. All data were analyzed using SPSS software., Results: Of the 748 reported suicide attempters, 17 cases (2.3%) had completed suicide. The annual average incidence rate of suicide was 110.03 per 100,000 populations. The mean age of suicide attempt had significantly decreased during the time ( P =0.007). Furthermore, a significant association was observed between outcome of suicide and place of residence ( P =0.019), history of physical illnesses ( P =0.002), and method of suicide ( P =0.001)., Conclusion: Due to trend of age among suicide attempters, considering intervention programs of suicide prevention for school pupils and university students especially individuals residing in rural areas, as well as individuals suffering from physical illness would be effective to reduce the rate of suicide., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest None, (Copyright© Iranian Public Health Association & Tehran University of Medical Sciences.)