Prerequisites of sexual health literacy promoting service: a qualitative study in Iran.

BACKGROUND: Sexual health literacy is one of the determinants of the rate, factors, and outcomes of problems associated with sexual health and reproductive. The prerequisite of having and promoting this type of literacy is the appropriate organization and access to sexual health services. The current study was conducted with the objective of describing the perceptions and experiences of health care providers and recipients of sexual health literacy promoting services. METHODS: The current qualitative study was conducted on 37 individuals in the form of 3 individual in-depth and semi-structured interviews and 4 focus group discussions (26 individuals) with service recipients (women of reproductive age), and 8 in-depth and semi-structured interviews with service providers in Amol from September 2019 to March 2020. The recorded interviews were transcribed and analyzed through content analysis. RESULTS: Data analysis resulted in the extraction of the theme titled "prerequisites of sexual health literacy promoting service" which consisted of two subthemes 'client-oriented service' and 'efficient service'. In the client-oriented service attention must be paid to the client's age, sex, needs and socio-cultural background. Efficient service is a service which is based on continuing sexual education, can reconstruct sexual attitudes, is professional, team-based, integrated into other services, and has a follow-up structure. CONCLUSIONS: The results outline the requirements for sexual health literacy promoting services which should be taken into consideration during the policymaking, planning and design of relevant health programs.

Comparing the satisfaction and efficacy of Cyclofem and contraceptive pills among females in Northern Iran: A randomized controlled trial study.

Hormonal contraceptives are the most effective method for birth control, though they may have some default or complications. This research aimed to comparison of the efficacy and satisfaction of Cyclofem with oral contraceptives (OCs) among females. A descriptive-comparative method was conducted on 80 women who were selected through cluster sampling during November 2011-December 2012. The selected subjects start using OCs or Cyclofem for the 1(st) time in their life. They evaluated in 2 times frames, at the beginning of the study and then 3 and 6 months after the contraceptive precautions. The data were collected by questionnaire. The data were analysed using parametric and nonparametric test in SPSS 16 software. The reasons for discontinuation of the methods were varied, in which 50% of the sample group were Cyclofem users who discontinued because of menstrual changes and the desire to use other methods, and 50% were the OC users whose reason was medical problems, and absent-mindedness was the last reason for 35.7% of the cases. The efficacy of the both (OCs and Cyclofem) was high and only one unwanted pregnancy occurred at the end of the 6(th) month among OC users. There was no significant difference in term of satisfaction of two groups at the end of 3-6 months (PV = 0.433). The results indicated that Cyclofem can be well used by those women who desire for an easy and effective method which is not disturbing the sexual activity and does not also need to be used daily, but the users should be consulted before using the method.

Comparison of ginger with vitamin B6 in relieving nausea and vomiting during pregnancy.

BACKGROUND: Nausea and vomiting are the most common complicated issues in pregnancy period, but they have not been paid much attention. Herb based formulations can be effectively used for the treatment nausea and vomiting observed during pregnancy. AIM: To investigate the effect of ginger in nausea and vomiting during pregnancy in comparison with vitamin B6 and placebo. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a randomized and double-blind clinical trial. The women who had nausea and vomiting and did not take any medications were included in this study. 120 women were selected by simple random sampling method, and divided into three groups and were given vitamin B6, placebo, and ginger, respectively. 97 women completed the treatment. They were given treatment for 4 days and were followed after a week. The instrument used in this study was a questionnaire, including demographic characteristic and determining severity nausea and vomiting based on the analog visual scale. Data were analyzed with SPSS software and t-test and Kruskal-Wallis test. RESULTS: There was significant difference between groups in severity of nausea and frequency of vomiting (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Ginger was effective in treating nausea and vomiting in pregnancy, but its use needs further studies to determine the proper dosage and the confirmation about the safety of this drug for a pregnant mother and her fetus.