The Impact of COVID-19 on Female Sexual Function: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) not only has put populations at risk for mental and sexual health risks. This systematic review and meta-analysis was performed on published articles reporting female sexual function before and during COVID-19 pandemic in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar, Magiran and SID databases till August 2021. From the initial 3198 articles, 8 articles were included in the review. Meta-analysis showed no significant difference in total FSFI score and its domains during the COVID-19 pandemic and the pre-pandemic period. Further studies should separately evaluate the effect of lockdown on female sexual function.

Evaluation of the effect of cognitive behavioral therapy on tocophobia: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Non-medical approaches including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) have been proposed for the management of tocophobia. A new method of performing CBT is through internet. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the effect of internet-based and traditional CBT on tocophobia. A literature search was conducted on qualitative and quantitative articles from 2000 to 2019 in Pubmed, Scopus, Web of Science and Cochrane databases using search terms referring to tocophobia and CBT. Identified articles were screened in two steps; 1) title and abstract and 2) full text screening. The quality of the quantitative and qualitative studies was assessed using the quality criteria proposed by the Cochrane Collaboration and Jonna Briggs Institute (JBI) checklist respectively. Out of the 382 relevant studies, 9 studies were eligible for the review. A high level of heterogeneity was observed in the studies (I2 = 94%, P < 0.001). The meta-analysis showed that both internet-based, and traditional CBT were effective in reducing tocophobia. CBT was more effective in interventions in the Middle Eastern compared to European countries. More than five CBT sessions could significantly reduce tocophobia. Healthcare providers and midwives should have basic knowledge on physiological interventions to reduce tocophobia.

The relation between stressful life events and breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies.

PURPOSE: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women with high rate of mortality. This systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to investigate the relation between stressful life events and breast cancer. METHODS: We searched PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, and Google scholar databases from their inception until June 2018. The keywords and phrases we used in the search were (life events AND stress AND breast cancer OR neoplasm) to identify potentially relevant cohort studies that reported relative risk estimates and confidence intervals of this association. Pooled Risk ratio and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using random effects model. RESULTS: Out of 168 potentially relevant publications, 11 documents met the inclusion criteria. The results showed that history of stressful life events slightly increases the risk of breast cancer [pooled Risk Ratio: 1.11 (95% CI 1.03 to 1.19)]. CONCLUSIONS: History of stressful life events could be associated with a moderate increase in the risk of breast cancer. We advise that receiving psychological and counseling services after occurrence of stressful life events of women should be taken seriously.

Knowledge Level of Health Care Providers about Complicated Grief during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Objective: The coronavirus 2019 (COVID -19) pandemic had great psychological impact on COVID-19 patients and their families. Relatives of the deceased COVID-19 patients are at risk for complicated grief. Healthcare providers (HCPs) should be able to identify complicated grief cases. The aim of this study was to assess HCP knowledge regarding complicated grief during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method : This cross-sectional study was conducted using an online researcher-made questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed and validated before being used in this study. The questionnaire included demographic questions as well as knowledge about complicated grief and its symptoms, risk factors and management. The link to the questionnaire website was sent to HCP governmental and private sectors. Data was analyzed using the ordinal regression model by the SPSS 16 software. Results: A total of 887 HCPs (69% female and 31% male) participated in this study. Majority of the participants (594, 70%) had fair overall knowledge about complicated grief while 206 (23.2%) participants had poor knowledge. Poor knowledge level about risk factors for complicated grief was observed in 44.3% of the participants. Fair or poor knowledge about prevention and management of complicate grief was observed in 39.2% of participants. Knowledge about complicated grief had a significant positive relationship with female gender (OR: 1.55; 95% CI: 1.15-2.08) and higher education level (OR: 1.86; 95% CI: 1.37-2.54). Conclusion: Knowledge of HCPs about complicated grief was low. There is need for HCP knowledge improvement regarding complicated grief by appropriate education.

Influencing factors on women's attitudes toward menopause: a systematic review.

IMPORTANCE: Menopause is a natural stage of the reproductive life of a woman. This natural event might affect activities of daily living and cause problems for women. Positive attitudes toward menopause can improve women's quality of life and reduce the severity of menopausal symptoms. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this systematic review was to assess the factors influencing women's attitudes toward menopause. EVIDENCE REVIEW: This systematic review was conducted based on the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guideline in medical databases including PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and Google Scholar, as well as Magiran, and SID until October 2020. FINDINGS: A total of 7,512 articles were identified. Eight articles were included in the review after excluding the duplicates and screening the articles based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The majority of the studies used the Attitude Toward Menopause Scale to assess the attitudes toward menopause. This variable differed between the studies conducted in different regions and countries. Furthermore, postmenopausal women had more positive attitudes toward menopause compared with peri- or premenopausal women. Other influencing factors of attitudes toward menopause included age, menopausal symptoms, psychological and socioeconomical status, and profession and ethnicity. CONCLUSION AND RELEVANCE: The findings showed that menopausal stage, menopausal symptoms, and psychological and socioeconomic status can influence the attitude of women toward menopause. Therefore, these factors should be considered in interventions that aim to improve women's attitudes toward menopause.

The best encouraging persons in labor: A content analysis of Iranian mothers' experiences of labor support.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The process of giving birth is very stressing for the mother. Meanwhile, maternity ward staff's lack of awareness of mothers' fears make mothers feel lonely and helpless. This study aimed to explore women's perceptions of labor support during vaginal delivery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This exploratory qualitative study used qualitative content analysis to explore Iranian mothers' experiences of labor support. Data were collected using observations and semi-structured interviews with 25 individuals. The participants were recruited through a purposive sampling method. RESULTS: Three categories, including "involvement of the spouse in the labor process", "asking for a companion during labor", and "mother's self-care to cope with labor pain", emerged during data analysis. These categories were merged to form the main theme of "trying to comply with the labor process". CONCLUSION: Women believed that the presence of a companion, e.g. their husband, a family member, or a doula, during labor helped them better deal with the labor process, particularly when they felt lonely. Health care providers are expected to consider the needs of mothers and try to provide holistic support for mothers during labor pain. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: It seems that some mothers adopted particular coping strategies without receiving any relevant training. It is noteworthy that although mothers may make every effort to minimize their pain, health professionals should also practice medical approaches to help them through the process of labor.

Depression Following Hysterectomy and the Influencing Factors.

BACKGROUND: Hysterectomy is one of the most common gynecological surgeries performed worldwide. However, women undergoing this surgery often experience negative emotional reactions. OBJECTIVES: This study was done with the aim of investigating the relationship between hysterectomy and postoperative depression, three months after the procedure. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This longitudinal study was conducted in the province of Khorasan-Razavi in Iran, using multistage sampling. At first, three cities were selected from the province by cluster sampling; then, five hospitals were randomly selected from these cities. The participants included 53 women who were hysterectomy candidates in one of the five selected hospitals. The participants' demographics and hysterectomy procedure information were entered into two separate questionnaires, and the Beck depression inventory (BDI) was employed to measure their severity of depression before and three months after the surgery. The statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) version 16 was used for the statistical analysis, and a P value of < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. RESULTS: The means and standard deviations of the participants' depression scores before and three months after their hysterectomies were 13.01 ± 10.1 and 11.02 ± 10.3, respectively. Although the mean score of depression decreased three months after the hysterectomy, the difference was not statistically significant. However, a significant relationship was found between the satisfaction with the outcome of the hysterectomy and the postoperative depression score (P = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: In this study, undergoing a hysterectomy did not show a relationship with postoperative depression three months after the surgery. Moreover, the only factor related to depression following a hysterectomy was satisfaction with the surgery.

Air pollution and quality of sperm: a meta-analysis.

CONTEXT: Air pollution is common in all countries and affects reproductive functions in men and women. It particularly impacts sperm parameters in men. This meta-analysis aimed to examine the impact of air pollution on the quality of sperm. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: The scientific databases of Medline, PubMed, Scopus, Google scholar, Cochrane Library, and Elsevier were searched to identify relevant articles published between 1978 to 2013. In the first step, 76 articles were selected. These studies were ecological correlation, cohort, retrospective, cross-sectional, and case control ones that were found through electronic and hand search of references about air pollution and male infertility. The outcome measurement was the change in sperm parameters. A total of 11 articles were ultimately included in a meta-analysis to examine the impact of air pollution on sperm parameters. The authors applied meta-analysis sheets from Cochrane library, then data extraction, including mean and standard deviation of sperm parameters were calculated and finally their confidence interval (CI) were compared to CI of standard parameters. RESULTS: The CI for pooled means were as follows: 2.68 ± 0.32 for ejaculation volume (mL), 62.1 ± 15.88 for sperm concentration (million per milliliter), 39.4 ± 5.52 for sperm motility (%), 23.91 ± 13.43 for sperm morphology (%) and 49.53 ± 11.08 for sperm count. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this meta-analysis showed that air pollution reduces sperm motility, but has no impact on the other sperm parameters of spermogram.