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Introduction: Healthcare seeking behavior is crucial for early detection and proper management of hypertension in the elderly. This study investigated the factors influencing healthcare seeking behavior among elderly hypertensive patients residing in Taft, Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study recruited 230 hypertensive individuals aged 60 and above residing in Taft, Yazd Province, Iran. Participants were randomly selected and completed a questionnaire through face-to-face interviews. The questionnaire assessed their healthcare seeking behaviors and potential influencing factors. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software. Correlation tests and linear regression analysis were employed to identify significant relationships (p < 0.05). Results: A significant majority (70%) of participants reported always paying attention to symptoms of high blood pressure. When experiencing symptoms, over half (53.9%) of the participants indicated a preference for visiting health centers, general practitioners' offices, or emergency departments. Among the factors studied, awareness (B = 0.228) emerged as the most significant positive predictor of healthcare seeking behavior (p < 0.05). Other positive influences included decision-making autonomy (B = 0.177), prior experience with healthcare services (B = 0.131), and social support (B = 0.131) – all statistically significant at p < 0.05. Conversely, barriers to healthcare seeking had a negative and significant impact (B = - 0.064, p < 0.05). Collectively, the investigated factors explained 23% of the variation observed in healthcare seeking behavior among the elderly participants (R2 = 0.23). Conclusion: This study identified awareness of hypertension as the strongest predictor of healthcare seeking behavior in elderly patients. Additionally, providing accessible and supportive healthcare services can further encourage elderly hypertensive patients to seek necessary care. Corresponding Author: Masoumeh Abbasi‑Shavazi View Orcid in Profile You can search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar Profile

Background and Purpose: Given the high prevalence of age-related diseases and physiological changes in addition to the susceptibility of the elderly to falls, this issue has become a major public health problem. This study assesses the risk of falls and related factors among the elderly living in rural areas. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 302 elderly people in rural areas of Yazd Province, Iran, using the multi-stage sampling method. They completed a multi-section questionnaire, including demographic questions and the Tinetti gait and balance scale for assessing gait and balance in the elderly. The data were entered into the SPSS software, version 20 and analyzed by the chi-square test and ordinal logistic regression model. The statistical significance level of P

Background: Studies have shown that children’s food preferences play a main role in the formation of long-term eating habits and nutritional patterns in their future lives. This study aimed to investigate food preferences of primary students in Yazd, Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 420 primary school students of Yazd, both male and female, using two-stage sampling method. The data collection tool was a self-administered questionnaire including demographic variables and food preferences checklist. The data were entered in SPSS 23 software and analyzed by Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis test. The significance level of the tests was considered as P-value < 0.05. Results: Starchy food category with the mean score of 3.70±0.44 was reported as the highest food preference and protein category (3.17±0.69) was reported as the lowest food preference among food categories in students. Gender, economic status, and body mass index (BMI) were related to students’ food preferences (P < 0.05). The median score of food preference for vegetables, fruits, and proteins in girls was higher than boys (P < 0.05), and for starchy food, fast foods, snacks, and fats was higher for boys than for girls (P < 0.01). The mean score of starchy food preference in students with lean and normal BMI was higher than students in overweight and obese group (P= 0.01). Conclusion: Starchy food and protein categories were reported as the highest and lowest food preferences among primary school students, respectively. It seems necessary to pay special attention to increase the awareness of students as well as their parents and primary schools principals about healthy foods in childhood and healthy food environments.

Background: Today, entrepreneurship development, as an important engine of economic growth, requires a high spirit of entrepreneurship. In universities, students are the mainstay of entrepreneurship. In this way, the present study has measured the entrepreneurial traits of graduate students in Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences in Yazd. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in 2020. Authors selected 235 graduate students based on quota sampling and used Cochran's formula. The research tool was a standardized questionnaire to measure entrepreneurial spirit. Data were entered into SPSS 21 statistical software and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical tests. This included independent t-test, ANOVA, and regression. Results: The total score of entrepreneurial spirit was evaluated as good with an average of 62.50 %. Among all the dimensions, the achievement seeking dimension got the highest score with an average of 75.50 %, and the independence sought dimension received the lowest score with an average of 50.50 %. There was a significant relationship between the total score of entrepreneurial spirit and marital status (p = 0.046), gender (p = 0.033), father's job (p = 0.020), and mother's job (p = 0.001). The regression model also showed that gender, age, and mother's employment are effective factors regarding the entrepreneurial spirit of students (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Planning with a focus on male and older students can strengthen the entrepreneurial spirit in the university. Of course, considering the increase in the number of female students in universities, it is vital to improve their entrepreneurial characteristics and motivate them for self-employment.

Background: Overweight and obesity are the most serious public health challenges of developed and developing countries. The prevalence of childhood obesity has increased worldwide. This study aims to identify the behavioral determinants of overweight and obesity among adolescents. Methods: This is a qualitative study with directed approach to content analysis of in-depth semi-structured interviews. A total of 27 obese and overweight students (11girls, 16 boys) were recruited in this study based on the PRECEDE model (predisposing factor). The participants were recruited using a purposive sampling method to reach the maximum variation sampling. This sampling took over 6 months in 2018 at the Ghaemshahr middle school. Content analysis approach (directed) was used to analyze the interview. Results: Five main themes and 20 sub-themes of behavioral determinant were emerged from the interview. The main themes included perceived benefit, perceived threaten, self-efficacy, cues to action, and locus of control. The subthemes included self-empowerment, motivation and diligence role, enough information and parent pressure, long term benefits, physical health, doing favorite sports, perceived susceptibility and perceived severity, and internal and external locus of control. Conclusion: Self-efficacy and perceived benefit are the most significant determinants of preventive behavior in obese and overweight students; therefore, considering these variables in students can be applied in designing an interventional program that affect obesity preventive behaviors, increase parents’ awareness and school authorities.

Abstract Background Dental and oral diseases can have negative impacts on children’s quality of life. The aim of this study was to determine the predictors of oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in the children aged 2–5 years old. Materials and methods A total number of 288 children aged between 2 and 5 years were selected and stratified by gender from three community health centres located in the city of Jahrom, south of Fars Province, Iran. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire whose validity and reliability was confirmed. The questionnaire was completed by parents/caregivers of the children. A multiple linear regression analysis was performed with quality of life as the dependent variable and, based on covariance structural analysis, evaluated the goodness of fit of the resulting structural equations models. Results The results showed that predisposing factors with a coefficient of 0.0457 (p = 0.015) and reinforcing factors ones with a coefficient of 0.2748 (p

Background: Obesity is considered as the greatest cause of chronic diseases worldwide. The prevalence rate of obesity and overweight should be recognized in the community for planning and prioritizing health problems. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of obesity and overweight and its related factors among residents of Yazd city, Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 790 participants aged 20-70 years. Participants were selected through multi-stage systematic sampling in 2018. The individuals' demographic data, and anthropometric measurements such as height and weight were measured. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, chi-square, and correlation coefficients. Results: The mean age of participants was 45.10 ± 14.56 years. According to the results, 170 (21.51%) and 280 (35.44%) participants were obese and overweight, respectively. Overweight was also associated with demographic variables of mobility, age, and income. Furthermore, a significant relationship was found between weight status and demographic variables of mobility, age, and income. Based on the results, a significant and positive correlation was observed between body mass index and age (R = 0.75, P = 0.03). Conclusion: Obesity and overweight is a major public health problem in Yazd, especially among women, older age, and low-income groups in Yazd. Therefore, appropriate plans should be designed to reduce this health problem.

Introduction: Students are predisposed to loss of general health due to the special circumstances of the education period. Considering that they constitute a significant proportion of the population, their general health status can be considered as a good basis to plan for their general health. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the general health status in students of Yazd University of Medical Sciences. Methods: In this descriptive study, 272 students of Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences in 2016 were selected by stratified random sampling method. Data collection instrument was a three-section questionnaire including demographic characteristics, lifestyle-related habits, a standard health questionnaire, and a general health questionnaire (GHQ)-28. After data collection was done, the data were analyzed using SPSS software version 16, descriptive and Independent T-test and one-way ANOVAs. Results: Findings of the study showed that 54.4% of students had a non-favorable general health status. The general health status of the students was not significantly associated with gender, education level, parents’ education level and residence status (p > 0.05). However, there was a significant difference in the variable of smoking. (p = 0.03), and this difference was more pronounced in the areas related to depression. Conclusion:Regarding the negative effects of the students' depression and smoking on their general health status, it seems that the general health of the students can be improved by providing consulting services and designing and implementing preventive action.

Aims: Considering the prevalence of anemia and iron deficiency and exposure to risk in adolescent girls, the aim of the present study was to determine the predictors of iron supplementation in high school girls using health promotion model. Instruments & Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study was carried out on 230 female students from high schools of Meybod city, Yazd province, Iran in 2017. The subjects were selected using classified random sampling method. Data were collected by the researcher-made questionnaire including demographic characteristics and health promotion model structures which was filled by self-administered. Data were analyzed using SPSS 16 software through linear regression analysis and Spearman correlation test. Findings: The mean of iron supplement consumption among 16 distributed supplements was 8.44±5.19. The perceived self-efficacy and positive emotions had the strongest correlation with iron supplement consumption (p

Background and purpose: Inhalation is one of the main ways of exposure to occupational pollutants that can cause acute and chronic respiratory complications in workers. This study aimed to identify the predictors of using respiratory protection masks among workers based on the theory of planned behavior. Materials and methods: An analytical cross-sectional design was employed. Cluster sampling was used by which 120 workers exposed to occupational dust were recruited from four sanitary ware companies in Yazd, Iran. A self-administered questionnaire was applied. The validity and reliability of the scale was previously confirmed in an exploratory study. Statistical analyses of the data included bivariate correlation and linear regression. Results: The workers used respiratory mask in 19 days of the past month and intended to use that for 22 days in the next month. The relationship between intention and behavior was the strongest. Totally, perceived behavioral control, subjective norms, and attitude variables accounted for 20.8% of the variation in behavior with subjective norms being the strongest significant predictor. Conclusion: Our results demonstrated the importance of subjective norms on using respiratory protection masks among workers. According to the relatively good identification of predictors of using respiratory protection masks, application of this theory is suggested in predicting safety related behaviors.

According to a report by world health organization (WHO) in 2018, the population of the elderly over 60 years will double from 2015 to 2050, and will increase between12% to 22%. Also, in 2050, 80 % of the elderly will be from low and middle-income countries. Though population changes toward aging has begun from developed countries such as Japan, but in the middle of the 20th century, the elderly population of Iran has reached a notable level. WHO considered hearing loss, cataract and refractive errors, back and neck pain and osteoarthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, depression and dementia as common public health problems of elderly population .It also noted environmental, social and physical conditions of individuals including homes, neighborhoods, and communities as factors of healthy aging due to their significant influence on the development and maintenance of health behaviors

The total fertility rate has declined in certain countries, dropping below the replacement level. The attitudes and desires of some families regarding having children have also shifted. To cultivate positive societal views on childbearing, there is a need for updated educational initiatives, such as a multi-theory model. Although the multi-theory model has been used in various contexts to facilitate health behavior change, with its effectiveness validated in predicting and influencing behaviors, there has been no documented use of this model in the context of fertility, either in Iran or globally. Developing fertility encouragement programs requires cultural sensitivity and attention to accepted social norms and customs, which can enhance program efficacy. We believe the Multi-Theory Model can be effective and useful in encouraging couples to increase fertility.

Introduction: Social and organizational supports are effective factors closely related to job burnout and Due to the limited studies in this area on Iranian workers, this study aims to determine the predictability of social support and organizational support in job burnout for workers in Yazd. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out among 200 textile workers in Yazd through stratified random sampling. The data were collected by the tools including demographic characteristics, questionnaires of social support, organizational support, and Maslachchr('39')s job burnout. The data were analyzed by SPSS using the Pearson correlation coefficient and the multiple linear regressions. The Significance level of tests was considered as p

Introduction and purpose: Assessment of quality of life (QOL) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients is of great importance for health researchers, health planners, and clinical specialists. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate QOL and the factors affecting it in patients with RA.Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was performed in 185 RA patients (2014) at Shariati Hospital. The participants were chosen through convenience sampling. The data collection tools included a form on demographic and clinical factors, health status (arthritis impact measurement scale2 [AIMS2]), and SF20 QOL questionnaire. Data was analyzed in SPSS 16 using descriptive, univariate, and multivariate regression analysis.Results: The patients had a mean age of 46.97±11.47 years, and most of the patients were female (80.5%), 67.6% of whom were housewives. In general, 90% of the patients had diploma or lower education. Mean of physical dimension of QOL was lower and social and role dimensions were higher than other dimensions. Univariate analysis regression showed that QOL have significant negative relationship with age, disease duration, disease activity score (DAS) and significant positive relationship with education and health status. In multivariate regression analysis, health status, DAS, and education explained 71.7% of QOL. Conclusion: Our results highlighted the influence of demographic and diseaserelated factors on QOL. Thus, they should be implemented in designing educational programs to increase QOL in RA patients.