A Novel Decision Aid Improves Quality of Reproductive Decision-Making and Pregnancy Knowledge for Women with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

BACKGROUND: Women with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with poor IBD-specific reproductive knowledge experience more childlessness and fear of IBD medications in pregnancy. The Pregnancy in IBD Decision Aid (PIDA), developed by an international multidisciplinary team, offers personalized online decision support regarding pregnancy in IBD. AIMS: Assess the impact of PIDA on quality of reproductive decision-making and pregnancy-related knowledge among preconception (PC) and pregnant patients with IBD, and evaluate acceptability to patients and clinicians. METHODS: PC and pregnant patients with IBD aged 18-45 completed questionnaires pre- and post-PIDA to assess quality of decision-making (Decisional Conflict Scale (DCS); Decision Self-Efficacy Scale (DSES) and IBD-in-pregnancy knowledge (Crohn's and Colitis Pregnancy Knowledge Score (CCPKnow)). Paired t test assessed for differences pre- and post-PIDA. Patients and clinicians completed acceptability surveys. RESULTS: DCS and DSES were completed by 74 patients (42 Crohn's disease, 32 ulcerative colitis); 41 PC and 33 pregnant. DCS improved significantly post-PIDA in PC patients regarding pregnancy planning (t(40) = 4.83, p < 0.0001, Cohen's dz = 0.75) and in pregnant patients regarding medication management (t(32) = 2.37, p = 0.0242, dz = 0.41). DSES for PC patients improved significantly post-PIDA (t(40) = -3.56, p = 0.001, dz = -0.56). CCPKnow improved significantly post-PIDA in PC (t(42) = 4.93, p < 0.0001, dz = -0.75) and pregnant patients (t(32) = 5.1, p < 0.0001, dz = -0.89). PIDA was deemed optimal for length, readability, and content amount and considered highly useful by patients (n = 73) and clinicians (n = 14). CONCLUSIONS: Patients using PIDA developed an improved quality of reproductive decision-making and IBD-in-pregnancy knowledge. PIDA is an accessible tool that can empower women with IBD to make values-congruent, evidence-based decisions regarding pregnancy and may reduce voluntary childlessness.

Having breast reconstruction post-mastectomy: barriers and facilitators reported by Vietnamese- versus English-speaking women with breast cancer.

Objective: Little is known about the experience of women of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds in relation to breast reconstruction following mastectomy as treatment for their breast cancer. The aim of this study was to explore the factors that influenced Vietnamese- and English-speaking women's decisions about breast reconstruction post-mastectomy for their breast cancer, in Australia.Design: The participants in this study comprised of Vietnamese-speaking women of Vietnamese heritage, and English-speaking women from mixed ethnicities (Vietnamese included). In this qualitative study, Vietnamese-speaking and English-speaking women who had breast cancer treated by mastectomy with or without breast reconstruction participated in in-depth interviews. Interviews were undertaken in the woman's chosen language (Vietnamese or English), audio-recorded, transcribed/translated and analysed using thematic analysis.Results: Fourteen Vietnamese-speaking and 13 English-speaking patients were recruited. Participants identified age, lack of information, concerns regarding surgical procedure, fears about complications and cancer recurrence as barriers to breast reconstruction. Many more Vietnamese-speaking participants identified lack of information about breast reconstruction as a barrier compared to English-speaking participants. Both groups described the ability to wear clothing of their choice, partner influence, and the need to feel 'normal' as facilitators to having breast reconstruction. Vietnamese-speaking participants in particular identified doctor recommendation of breast reconstruction as a major facilitator.Conclusion: Lack of information about reconstruction was a persistent theme, though it was identified by more Vietnamese women as a barrier to having breast reconstruction. The results reinforce the importance of doctors' recommendations in helping particularly the Vietnamese women make an informed decision about reconstruction following mastectomy as treatment for their breast cancer.

Shared decision making in pregnancy in inflammatory bowel disease: design of a patient orientated decision aid.

BACKGROUND: Research has indicated a lack of disease-specific reproductive knowledge among patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and this has been associated with increased "voluntary childlessness". Furthermore, a lack of knowledge may contribute to inappropriate medication changes during or after pregnancy. Decision aids have been shown to support decision making in pregnancy as well as in multiple other chronic diseases. A published decision aid for pregnancy in IBD has not been identified, despite the benefit of pre-conception counselling and patient desire for a decision support tool. This study aimed to develop and test the feasibility of a decision aid encompassing reproductive decisions in the setting of IBD. METHODS: The International Patient Decision Aid Standards were implemented in the development of the Pregnancy in IBD Decision Aid (PIDA). A multi-disciplinary steering committee was formed. Patient and clinician focus groups were conducted to explore themes of importance in the reproductive decision-making processes in IBD. A PIDA prototype was designed; patient interviews were conducted to obtain further insight into patient perspectives and to test the prototype for feasibility. RESULTS: Issues considered of importance to patients and clinicians encountering decisions regarding pregnancy in the setting of IBD included fertility, conception timing, inheritance, medications, infant health, impact of surgery, contraception, nutrition and breastfeeding. Emphasis was placed on the provision of preconception counselling early in the disease course. Decisions relating to conception and medications were chosen as the current focus of PIDA, however content inclusion was broad to support use across preconception, pregnancy and post-partum phases. Favourable and constructive user feedback was received. CONCLUSIONS: The novel development of a decision aid for use in pregnancy and IBD was supported by initial user testing.

Development and Feasibility of a Web-Based Decision Aid for Patients With Ulcerative Colitis: Qualitative Pilot Study.

BACKGROUND: Shared decision making (SDM) is becoming an important part of ulcerative colitis (UC) management because of the increasing complexity of available treatment choices and their trade-offs. The use of decision aids (DA) may be effective in increasing patients' participation in UC management but their uptake has been limited due to high attrition rates and lack of a participatory approach to their design and implementation. OBJECTIVE: The primary aim of this study is to explore the perspectives of Australian patients and their clinicians regarding the feasibility and acceptability of myAID, a web-based DA, in informing treatment decisions in UC. The secondary aim is to use the findings of this pilot study to inform the design of a cluster randomized clinical trial (CRCT) to assess the efficacy of the DA compared with usual care. METHODS: myAID, a DA was designed and developed using a participatory approach by a multidisciplinary team of clinicians, patients, and nonmedical volunteers. A qualitative pilot study to evaluate the DA, involving patients with UC facing new treatment decisions and inflammatory bowel disease clinicians, was undertaken. RESULTS: A total of 11 patients with UC and 15 clinicians provided feedback on myAID. Themes explored included the following: Acceptability and usability of myAID-myAID was found to be acceptable by the majority of clinicians as a tool to facilitate SDM, uptake was thought to vary depending on clinicians' approaches to patient education and practice, potential to overcome time restrictions associated with outpatient clinics was identified, presentation of unbiased information enabling patients to digest information at their own pace was noted, and potential to provoke anxiety among patients with a new diagnosis or mild disease was raised; Perceived role and usefulness of myAID-discordance was observed between patients who prioritized voicing preferences and clinicians who prioritized treatment adherence, and myAID facilitated early discussion of medical versus surgical treatment options; Target population and timing of use-greatest benefit was perceived at the time of initiating or changing treatment and following commencement of immunosuppressive therapy; and Potential concerns and areas for improvement-some perceived that use of myAID may precipitate anxiety by increasing decisional conflict and impact the therapeutic relationship between patient and the clinician and may increase resource requirements. CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary findings suggest that patients and clinicians consider myAID as a feasible and acceptable tool to facilitate SDM for UC management. These pilot data have informed a participatory approach to the design of a CRCT, which will evaluate the clinical efficacy of myAID compared with usual care. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry ACTRN12617001246370; http://anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?ACTRN=12617001246370.

Comparison of Ultrasound-Guided Local Ozone (O2-O3) Injection vs Corticosteroid Injection in the Treatment of Chronic Plantar Fasciitis: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

OBJECTIVE: Plantar fasciitis (PF) is one of the most common causes of heel pain. The affected area is often close to the attachment of plantar fascia to calcaneus bone. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of ozone (O2-O3) injection to corticosteroid injection under ultrasound guidance for the treatment of chronic PF. DESIGN: Randomized clinical trial. SETTING: Academic University and Neuromusculoskeletal Research Center. SUBJECTS: Thirty patients with chronic PF. METHODS: The patients were randomly divided into two groups receiving methylprednisolone (15 subjects) vs ozone (O2-O3; 15 subjects). The following outcome measures were assessed before injection and then two weeks and 12 weeks after the injection in each group; morning and daily pain via visual analog scale, daily life and exercise activities via the Foot and Ankle Ability Measure, and plantar fascia thickness at insertion and 1 cm distal to its insertion into the calcaneus via ultrasound imaging. RESULTS: Intragroup changes showed significant improvement in pain, functional parameters, and sonographic findings in both groups (P < 0.05). Pain reduction (both daily and morning) and daily activity improvement were better in the corticosteroid group two weeks after injection; however, at 12 weeks, the ozone (O2-O3) group had significantly more improvement (P = 0.003, P = 0.001, and P = 0.017, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Both methods were effective in the treatment of chronic PF. Steroid injection provided a more rapid and short-term therapeutic effect. However, ozone (O2-O3) injection led to a slow and longer-lasting treatment outcome. Ozone (O2-O3) injection can be an effective treatment, with slow onset and a longer durability in the treatment of chronic PF.

Health Communication Research Informs Inflammatory Bowel Disease Practice and Research: A Narrative Review.

Background: In the absence of targeted empirical evidence on effective clinical communication in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a broad overview of existing evidence on effective communication in healthcare and available recommendations for communication in telehealth is provided and mapped onto IBD research and practice. Methods: A narrative literature review was conducted using Pubmed and Scopus databases and snowballing literature search. Results: Evidence-based relationship building strategies include communicating emotions, acknowledging and addressing patients' hesitancy, and ensuring continued support. A particular recommendation regarding telehealth interaction is to avoid long stretches of talk. Effective informational strategies include facilitating and supporting information exchange and considering patients' preferences in decision-making. In teleconsultations, clinicians should ask direct questions about patients' emotional state, clarify their understanding of patients' concerns and check patients' understanding, address at least one patient-reported outcome when discussing the recommended treatment, and shorten the consultation where possible. Strategies for maximizing effective clinical communication in the spoken communicative mode include using infographics and simple language, and assessing adherence at the beginning of the consultation. For teleconsultations, clinicians are advised to allow patients to explain the reason for their call at the beginning of the teleconsultation, probe additional concerns early and before ending the teleconsultation, and be mindful of technical issues such as voice delays. Conclusions: Use of question prompt lists, decision aids, micro-lessons, and communication training interventions for clinicians could be beneficial in IBD care. Further research into the implementation of such interventions as well as clinical communication concerns specific to IBD is warranted.

Adolescents and young adults communicating with gastroenterologists: variation in inflammatory bowel disease clinical communication.

OBJECTIVES: This study explored the variation in emerging adults' communication with gastroenterologists around the management of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). METHODS: Nineteen emerging adults with IBD aged 18-25 and seven gastroenterologists participated in the study. Outpatient specialist consultations of consenting participants were audio-recorded and transcribed. Transcribed consultations were analysed in terms of the linguistic structure of the consultations and the gastroenterologist-patient role relationship. RESULTS: Variations in the emerging adults' communication with their gastroenterologists stem partly from variation in their ability, opportunity, or need to contribute to the different phases of the consultation and partly from variations in the gastroenterologists' style of communication. Gastroenterologists differed in the construction of their role relationship with the patient, resulting in variations in employing empowering strategies including eliciting, exploring, and clarifying the patient's concerns, sharing clinical reasoning, and validating the patient experience. Variations were also observed in the length of appointments and the gastroenterologists' assessment and addressing of adherence issues. Techniques used by the gastroenterologist varied (1) from simply confirming adherence, to a comprehensive assessment of the patient's understanding of their management plan and their feedback, and (2) from use of persuasion to values calibration. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence-based consumer interventions and communication guidelines for clinicians are needed to address the identified variations in providing care to emerging adults living with chronic conditions.

Comparison of the effect of PerClot® powder and a chitosan derivative on postoperative intra-abdominal adhesions in rat animal models.

<b>Aim:</b> Centered on the significance of postoperative intra-abdominal adhesions and provided that few studies have been conducted on the role of chitosan and hemostatic derivatives in postoperative intra-abdominal adhesions, the objective of this research was to measure the effect of PerClot® (a starch-derived hemostatic compound) and ParsBand (a chitosan derivative) on postoperative intra-abdominal adhesions in the rat animal model. </br></br> <b> Methods:</b> Median laparotomy and standardized abrasion of the visceral and parietal peritoneum were conducted on a total of 27 Wistar male rats. These rats were randomly classified into 3 groups: PerClot® powder, a chitosan derivative, and a laparotomy-only control group. A relaparotomy for adhesion categorization was implemented seven days after surgery. </br></br> <b> Results:</b> The mean adhesion degree score in 3 groups was 2 ± 0.87, 2.11 ± 0.78 and 1.67 ± 0.87, respectively. There was no significant disparity between 3 groups in the mean adhesion score (P = 0.571). In comparison, there was no meaningful difference between two groups (group 1 and group 3), (group 2 and 3) and (group 1 and 2) in terms of the mean degree of adhesion (P > 0.05). </br></br> <b> Conclusions:</b> While the results of most of the studies suggest the anti-adhesive properties of chitosan and hemostatic compounds, these findings have not been met in this study. It suggests, however, that a possible explanation for the discrepancy between the experiments could be due to the use of various derivatives or the different dosage of these compounds.

Clinical communication in inflammatory bowel disease: a systematic review of the study of clinician-patient dialogue to inform research and practice.

OBJECTIVES: This systematic review aims to investigate what is currently known about the characteristics of interactions between patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and their clinicians and its effect on patient outcomes. DATA SOURCES: Scopus, PubMed, Embase, Communication Abstracts, Health & Society, Linguistics and Language Behaviour Abstracts and PsycINFO were systematically searched from inception to June 2021. STUDY ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters in English investigating the characteristics of naturally occurring interactions between clinicians that manage IBD and patients with IBD during recorded consultations were included. STUDY APPRAISAL AND SYNTHESIS METHODS: Risk of bias was assessed using a specifically developed quality assessment tool, grounded in linguistic theory and the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. A narrative synthesis guided by the linguistic concept of metafunction was performed to synthesise the findings. RESULTS: Of the 2883 abstracts reviewed five formed the basis of the review. Interactions between IBD nurses and patients have been mostly characterised in terms of information provision regarding prescribed medications without consideration of the interpersonal aspect. Discussing online medical information with nurses has been shown to improve patient satisfaction. Analyses of gastroenterologist-patient interactions have concentrated on the clinical relationship which has been shown to be disease-centred. Shared decision making in ulcerative colitis has been shown to be compromised due to lack of transparency regarding treatment goals. LIMITATIONS: This review did not include articles in languages other than English. Cumulative evidence could not be produced due to the small number of included studies and the diversity of contexts, theories and data types. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS OF KEY FINDINGS: There is a paucity of systematic research on naturally occurring clinical communication in IBD and its effect on outcomes. Further research needs to be done to address this knowledge gap. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42020169657.

The effect of a nurse-led advice line and virtual clinic on inflammatory bowel disease service delivery: an Australian study.

BACKGROUND: This retrospective cohort study investigated the economic impact of implementing a nurse-led inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) advice-line and virtual clinic on the Australian healthcare system. The advice line is a telephone and email service managed by IBD specialist nurses. The virtual clinic is a planned, formal communication between the gastroenterologist and the specialist IBD nurse the result of which is communicated to the patient electronically. METHODS: Advice line telephone calls and virtual clinic consultations registered between 1 June 2015 and 1 June 2016 were reviewed and analyzed in terms of outcome: avoidance of general practitioner (GP) consultation, IBD outpatient consultation, emergency department (ED) presentation, or hospital admission. Cost-benefit analysis was conducted to estimate financial savings. RESULTS: During the study period, 220 calls were received through the advice line and 1017 virtual clinic consultations occurred. The advice line resulted in the avoidance of 53 GP visits, 159 IBD outpatient department visits, six ED presentations, and one hospital admission. The virtual clinic resulted in the avoidance of four GP visits, 954 IBD outpatient department visits, and 58 ED presentations. This led to an estimated annual cost saving of AUD 169 376.80, with the annual costs incurred estimated to be $58 713. Thus, the annual net benefit of implementing the advice line and the virtual clinic was estimated to be $110 663.80. CONCLUSION: Specialized-IBD-nurse-led advice line and virtual clinic improves IBD patients' access to services and reduces healthcare costs. This highlights the importance of a proactive multidisciplinary approach in optimizing the care of patients with IBD.

Breast reconstruction in South Western Sydney.

BACKGROUND: The rates of breast reconstruction in Australian patients of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds are currently unknown. This retrospective study determined the rate of breast reconstruction in women who had mastectomy as treatment for breast cancer at public hospitals in South Western Sydney Local Health District (SWSLHD) - a culturally diverse health district in New South Wales, Australia - and compared the rate of reconstruction in the CALD and non-CALD populations. METHODS: The demographic and clinical data of all female patients who had mastectomy with or without reconstruction for treatment of breast cancer at the five public hospitals in SWSLHD between January 2006 and December 2015 were obtained from the clinical information department of each hospital and from electronic medical records. RESULTS: The average rate of reconstruction in SWSLHD was 9.4% for 2006-2015. Although the reconstruction rate was higher among English-speaking women (9.9%) compared to women from a CALD background (8.6%), the difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.57). The type (autologous versus implant) and timing (immediate versus delayed) of reconstruction did not differ between groups (P = 0.19 and P = 0.22, respectively). The Index of Relative Socio-Economic Disadvantage was not significantly associated with reconstruction (P = 0.74). However, younger patients were more likely to have reconstruction (P < 0.0001) and patients with adjuvant therapy were more likely to have a delayed reconstruction (P = 0.01). CONCLUSION: This study found a low breast reconstruction rate in public hospitals in SWSLHD. The reconstruction rate did not differ between CALD or English-speaking patients, or between patients from diverse socio-economic backgrounds.

Clinical communication in inflammatory bowel disease: a systematic literature review protocol.

INTRODUCTION: Evidence regarding effective communication between clinicians and patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is limited. Studies that investigate clinical communication in IBD are much fewer in number than studies that investigate the perceptions of patients and clinicians about communication in clinical encounters. The current review aims to identify, organise and summarise systematically what is currently known about (1) the characteristics of interactions between clinicians who manage IBD and patients with IBD, and (2) how clinical discussion affects health outcomes in IBD. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Scopus, PubMed, Embase, Communication Abstracts, Health & Society, Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts and PsycINFO will be systematically searched for studies that investigate the characteristics of IBD clinical interactions during recorded consultations, from earliest available dates within each database to May 2020. A specifically developed quality assessment tool, grounded in linguistic theory, will be used to critically assess the evidence. In addition, a data extraction template will be developed and utilised to provide a description of the characteristics of IBD clinical communication as well as an estimation of its effect on health outcomes in a narrative synthesis. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical review and approval is not required for this systematic review as no primary data will be collected. The results will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at academic conferences. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) on 28 April 2020 (registration number: CRD42020169657).

A Web-Based Decision Aid (myAID) to Enhance Quality of Life, Empowerment, Decision Making, and Disease Control for Patients With Ulcerative Colitis: Protocol for a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) often face complex treatment decisions. Although shared decision making (SDM) is considered important, tools to facilitate this are currently lacking for UC. A recent pilot study of a novel Web-based decision aid (DA), my Actively Informed Decision (myAID), has suggested its acceptability and feasibility for informing treatment decisions and facilitating SDM in clinical practice. OBJECTIVE: This paper describes the study protocol of the myAID study to assess the clinical impact of systematic implementation of myAID in routine UC management. METHODS: The myAID study is a multicenter, cluster randomized controlled trial (CRCT) involving 22 Australian sites that will assess the clinical efficacy of routine use of myAID (intervention) against usual care without access to myAID (control) for UC patients. Participating sites (clusters) will be randomly allocated in a 1:1 ratio between the 2 arms. Patients making a new treatment decision beyond 5-aminosalicylate agents will be eligible to participate. Patients allocated to the intervention arm will view myAID at the time of recruitment and have free access to it throughout the study period. The effect of the myAID intervention will be assessed using the results of serial Web-based questionnaires and fecal calprotectin at baseline, 2 months, 6 months, and 12 months. A Web-based questionnaire within 2-4 weeks of referral will determine early change in quality of decision making and anxiety (both arms) and intervention acceptability (intervention arm only). RESULTS: Study recruitment and funding began in October 2016, and recruitment will continue through 2020, for a minimum of 300 study participants at baseline at the current projection. The primary outcome will be health-related quality of life (Assessment of Quality of Life-8D), and secondary outcomes will include patient empowerment, quality of decision making, anxiety, work productivity and activity impairment, and disease activity. In addition, we aim to determine the predictors of UC treatment decisions and outcomes and the cost-effectiveness of implementing myAID in routine practice. Feedback obtained about myAID will be used to determine areas for improvement and barriers to its implementation. Completion of data collection and publication of study results are anticipated in 2021. CONCLUSIONS: myAID is a novel Web-based DA designed to facilitate SDM in UC management. The results of this CRCT will contribute new evidence to the literature in comparing outcomes between patients who routinely access such decision support intervention versus those who do not, across multiple large inflammatory bowel disease centers as well as community-based private practices in Australia. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry ACTRN12617001246370 http://anzctr.org.au/Trial/ Registration/TrialReview.aspx?ACTRN=12617001246370. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/15994.

Comparison of the Diagnostic and Therapeutic Efficacies of Portable Recruited Chest Radiography with Conventional Portable Radiography in Mechanically Ventilated Patients.

BACKGROUND: In mechanically ventilated patients, portable chest radiography (CXR) can provide important information for selecting the optimal therapeutic approach. This study aimed to determine the diagnostic and therapeutic efficacies of portable recruited chest radiography with maximum inspiratory volume and pause in comparison with conventional portable radiography. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This diagnostic accuracy study was conducted on 75 mechanically ventilated patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of Imam Khomeini Hospital in Sari, Iran, during 2013-2015. For every patient, in addition to conventional portable CXR, another CXR was performed with mechanical ventilator adjustments (tidal volume up to 10-12 ml/kg to maintain the inspiratory plateau pressure below 35 cmH2O and inspiratory time of 2-3 seconds). CXR was performed after 5-10 respiratory cycles, synchronized with the inspiratory pause. The radiographs were acquired using a Shimadzu portable radiography system in the anteroposterior supine position and randomly presented to two radiologists for reporting. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 63.5±14 years. Overall, 43 (57.3%) patients were male, and 32 (42.7%) were female. Therapeutic interventions were performed for only 8% of cases with conventional CXR versus 21.3% of cases with recruited CXR; the difference was found to be statistically significant (P<0.05). The diagnostic efficacy of portable recruited CXR versus conventional portable CXR was 45% versus 18.6%. Also, the therapeutic efficacy of portable recruited CXR versus conventional portable CXR was 21.3% versus 8%. CONCLUSION: Portable recruited CXR seems to be a valuable diagnostic approach for clinical decision-making, with higher diagnostic and therapeutic efficacies in mechanically ventilated patients.

A problem-based learning health literacy intervention program on improving health-promoting behaviors among girl students.

BACKGROUND: Health-promoting behaviors are essential beliefs and actions to develop and sustain the adolescent health; however, people with inadequate health literacy have poorer health status. This study aimed to determine the effect of a problem-based learning (PBL) health literacy program on improving health-promoting behaviors among female students (15-18 years) at high schools in 2018-2019. METHODS: This study was a quasi-experimental intervention one which carried out on 377 girl students using a cluster sampling method of intervention (n = 183) and control (n = 194) groups. The intervention was performed in four educational sessions of PBL health literacy program using related scenarios for 90 min. Data were collected through demographic variables, the Health Literacy Measure for Adolescents, and the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile II. Participants filled the questionnaires immediately and 3 months after the intervention in both the groups. RESULTS: There were significant differences comparing the mean score of health literacy dimensions in numeracy (P < 0.001), use (P < 0.001), communication (P < 0.001), access (P = 0.03), self-efficacy (P < 0.001), and total health literacy (P < 0.001) after intervention. These differences also observed in numeracy (P < 0.001), use (P = 0.03) and total health literacy (P < 0.001) in follow-up between the intervention and control groups. The mean scores of health-promoting lifestyle dimensions in all dimensions immediately after intervention (P < 0.001) and follow-up (P ≤ 0.006) showed significant differences between the two groups, while the intervention group revealed a higher mean scores. CONCLUSION: It seems that PBL health literacy and practicing real-life scenarios can improve the adolescent lifestyle. It is recommended to examine the effectiveness of the program for other health-related behaviors among other populations.

A Comparison of 3 Ways of Conventional Pap Smear, Liquid-Based Cytology and Colposcopy vs Cervical Biopsy for Early Diagnosis of Premalignant Lesions or Cervical Cancer in Women with Abnormal Conventional Pap Test.

The most cost effective method of prevention and detection of cervical cancer is the Pap smear. In abnormal Pap smear, colposcopy, endocervical curettage and biopsy will be done. Gold standard method in detecting cervical lesion is biopsy. Now in two ways conventional Pap smear and liquid base are routine diagnostic technique in Iran and given easily and cost-effectiveness of this method in the detection of cervical lesions to determine the sensitivity the objective of this study was compare three methods of Pap smear and colposcopy in detection of any lesion to gold standard biopsy in the positive ASC cases who referred to gynecologic Oncology Clinic of shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Science. This study is a descriptive analytic in 2009-2010 years on 150 cases of patients with Atypical Squamose Cell (ASC) results in previous pap smear ,conventional pap smear, liquid based pap smear, colposcopy and cervical biopsy had been done for all patient and finally data were analyzed with chi-square statistical test on spss ver 16 saftware. Average age of patients in this study was, 42 ± 9.9 year and reason for referring patients in 35.4% of cases was due to follow-up of abnormal results of previous Pap smear, in 30% bleeding, 12% Pain and 2.6% percent of cases was checking-up. In final results of sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) and accuracy any of the methods conventional and liquid based Pap smear and colposcopy were compared with cervical biopsy as a gold standard. The conventional Pap smear method had a sensitivity 51%, specificity 66.6%, PPV 96%, NPV was 8% and accuracy was 92%, about the liquid base Pap smear method, sensitivity was 55.3%, specificity was 77.7%, PPV was 97.5%, NPV was 10% and accuracy was 56/6%. About the colposcopy, sensitivity was70/9 % specificity 44/4%, PPV was 95.2%, NPV was 8/8% and accuracy was 69.3%. The relationship between sensitivity results of conventional Pap smear and colposcopy, with p<0.001 and between the results of sensitivity of liquid based cytology and colposcopy with p<0.01 relationship was significant. Colposcopy has the best efficacy in detecting any cervical lesion in compared with any other diagnostic technique. so that further studies with more detailed plans and bigger sample sizes are suggested for obtaining reliable result.