Exploring the barriers to Pap smear test compliance: A qualitative study for improving cervical cancer screening in the primary health care.

Background: Cervical cancer in Iran ranks as the fourth most frequent cancer among women. Pap smear (PS) is the best standard for detecting cervical cancer, but many people, even healthcare providers (HCPs), do not maintain it. HCPs play a critical role in promoting PS uptake. The purpose of the study was to explore barriers to cervical cancer PS screening compliance from the HCPs' perspective. Methods: The present qualitative content analysis was conducted through semi-structured in-depth interviews. A total of 28 HCPs were interviewed between July and August 2020. A diverse sample of HCPs was selected using purposive sampling. Data analysis was based on the five steps proposed by Graneheim and Lundman. MAXQDA (2020) was used for data analyzing. Results: Ten key sub-categories were identified and organized into three categories: individual, environmental, and socio-cultural factors. The sub-categories included inadequate risk perception, inappropriate attitude, low commitment, emotional factors, low priority over health, requirements and consequences of the test, deficiencies of health centers, organizational factors, traditions and religious believes. Conclusion: HCPs face multiple barriers for PS. Exploring and decreasing barriers of PS in HCPs may increase compliance in them and their clients because they play an influential role in instructing and persuading women to take the PS. There is need to explore these barriers and identify possible interventions to change them. Insights from this study are useful for developing policies around national PS programs, too.

Socio-ecological factors of girl child marriage: a meta-synthesis of qualitative research.

BACKGROUND: Child marriage of girls is one example of human rights violations, and is increasingly recognized as a key obstacle to global public health. Given the importance of a comprehensive understanding of the motivations for child marriage, this study aimed to identify socio-ecological factors contributing to gills child marriage. METHODS: A comprehensive search was conducted of all English-language studies measuring causes of child marriage between 2000 and October 2022 in the Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, PsycInfo, ProQuest, Poplin and Google Scholar databases. Girl child marriage is defined as a marriage under the age of 18. In this study, the CASP evaluation checklist was used to collect data. Two independent reviewers reviewed all articles. RESULTS: A total of 34 eligible qualitative articles were included. The most salient causes of child marriage among girls include low skills and knowledge, internal and external beliefs and motivations, and physical advantages at the individual level. Family characteristics and structure contribute to child marriage at the interpersonal level, while environmental and economic factors play a role at the community level. Social factors and cultural norms, as well as the shortcomings and weaknesses of legislation, are also contributing factors at the society level. CONCLUSION: The results showed that cultural beliefs supporting gender inequality and economic status were the most important causes of child marriage. These results can help policymakers and decision-makers implement strategies to reduce gender inequality to prevent child marriage.

Perceptions and determinants of oral health care among Iranian pregnant women: a qualitative study.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to gain a comprehensive understanding of the determinants that influence oral healthcare behaviours among Iranian pregnant women. STUDY DESIGN: Qualitative study. SETTING: Comprehensive health service centres. PARTICIPANTS: A sample consisting of all people involved in the process of oral care during pregnancy, 18 pregnant women, 7 midwives/healthcare workers, 3 supervisors of prenatal care services and 3 dentists) were purposefully sampled in terms of demographic characteristics. METHODS: The qualitative content analysis study conducted 31 semistructured individual interviews in 2022, utilising MAXQDA V.10. RESULTS: The participants identified 3 main categories and 11 subcategories: individual and physiological determinants (care needs, perceived importance, motivation, oral health literacy and inherent pregnancy limitations), organisational determinants (costs, access to equipment and services, review of service delivery process and professional behaviour) and social-cultural determinants (educational services and support from family and friends). CONCLUSIONS: The results can be used in interventions to improve oral healthcare for pregnant women. This study highlights the importance of addressing individual, organisational and social-cultural determinants to improve oral healthcare during pregnancy.

Prevalence of Gestational Diabetes in Iran: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Background: Pregnant women who have gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) are more prone to adverse pregnancy outcomes. We estimated the prevalence of GDM in Iran. Methods: Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Persian databases (SID, Magiran, Irandoc, and) were searched using the MeSH and non-MeSH terms in abstract, title, or keywords of articles until June 2021, with no limitation in time. Random effects models were applied to summarize the GDM prevalence in Iran. The obtained data were quantitatively analyzed to determine an effect size for each paper. The pooled effect size was introduced as prevalence and 95% confidence interval. Sensitivity analyses and subgroup analyses were done to determine heterogeneity. Publication bias was assessed by the classic fail-safe N and Egger test. Results: A total of 53 papers were considered for meta-analysis, involving 56,521 Iranians. The total GDM prevalence in Iran was 7.6% (95% CI, 6.1%-9.4%). Conclusion: This meta-analysis was the newest to estimate the GDM prevalence among Iranian women. Our results suggest a high prevalence of GDM in Iran, showing that Iran might have many GDM patients.

Exploring the conceptual framework of a health-promotion faculty from the perspective of members: a qualitative study.

OBJECTIVES: Understanding the concepts and structures of health promotion in the faculty from the perspective of its members. STUDY DESIGN: Qualitative study. SETTINGS: Faculties of Medical Sciences University. PARTICIPANTS: A sample of four main groups in the faculty (students, faculty members, staff and managers) were purposively sampled for demographic characteristics and their views on the concepts of health promotion. METHODS: A descriptive qualitative study using thematic analysis of content was conducted. Data were obtained using semistructured interviews and then analysed thematically. MAXQDA V.10 software was used to organise and code the imported interview transcripts. RESULTS: Three main categories of management policy, environmental structure and executive strategies were identified as health-promotion structures in the faculty based on the views of the interviewees. CONCLUSION: The inclusion of a health-promotion approach in university policies requires administrators' commitment to health promotion and the participation of all members and partners inside and outside the faculty to identify health needs and engagement in programmes.

Stakeholders' Experiences and Perspectives Regarding Care Quality for Women With Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: The considerable growth in the number of patients with breast cancer leads to substantial pressure on healthcare services; however, the main measures that will evaluate what is important to the key stakeholders in improving the quality of breast cancer care are not well defined. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to synthesize providers' and patients' experiences and perspectives regarding barriers and quality breast cancer care in health services. METHODS: PubMed, Scopus, MEDLINE, Web of Knowledge, and the Cochrane Library databases were searched, and articles published in English up to August 2020 were screened. Two reviewers independently screened all articles. Data were obtained directly from different stakeholder groups including patients, health providers, and professionals. RESULTS: The search strategy identified 21 eligible articles that met inclusion criteria and reported perspectives of 847 health providers and 24 601 patients regarding healthcare quality. Health providers and patients with breast cancer noted information needs, psychosocial support, responsibility for care, and coordination of care as important quality improvement characteristics of the healthcare system. CONCLUSION: Shifting to high-quality breast cancer care would likely be a complicated process, and there is a need for the cancer care services to consider important characteristics of quality cancer care as a care priority, that is, to be responsive. IMPLICATION FOR PRACTICE: Breast cancer survivorship care programs and interventions may need to consider the barriers or common challenges to care noted in this review, especially regarding information sharing and the need for social support and care cooperation.

Adolescents' Perspectives on Facilitators and Barriers to Social Health in the Family: A Qualitative Study.

BACKGROUND: Family plays the most fundamental role in the adolescent's health. A deep understanding of family characteristics, beliefs, and function about the adolescent social health provides a framework, relying on which one can perceive how this dimension of health is developed and promoted in this setting. In this study, we aimed to understand the family context that facilitates or limits adolescent social health. METHODS: Fifty-four adolescents and fifteen parents participated using a purposive sampling method. The findings were collected through semi-structured interviews and group discussions. The data was analyzed through conventional content analysis by the MAXQDA10 software. RESULTS: Healthy and unhealthy family reactions are the two main categories that facilitate and limit the adolescents' social health. Sub-categories of healthy reactions included effective guidance, cultural safeguard, and accountable interactions. The unhealthy family reactions included sub-categories of poor intergenerational perception and passive parenting. CONCLUSION: Our findings revealed that the family context of the adolescent's social health ranged from healthy to unhealthy responses. These results can contribute to improving and designing interventions for promoting the adolescent's social health. It is essential for policymakers and health experts to pay attention to the family empowerment approaches.

A Systematic Review for Evaluation of Specialized Programs for Addressing Young Women with Breast Cancer Problems.

INTRODUCTION: Breast cancer (BC) is one of the most common health concerns among women and is the leading cause of cancer-related death around the world. Women, in particular young women, face unique and complex problems with BC. Physical, psychological, emotional, educational, and long-term BC-related problems have been recognized for these vulnerable populations. Besides BC patients, their families and relatives challenge with various problems such as financial and supportive issues in supporting these patients. METHODS: The main objective of the present study was to evaluate the BC patient's major problems and describe current supportive initiatives and programs that support these patients, their advancements to date, existing challenges, and possible future actions. Data collection took place by conducting a comprehensive search on the Internet, Medline, PubMed, and Google Scholar databases. We also discuss the contingency options, which lead to improving medical and supportive care, as well as overcoming barriers to providing comprehensive and optimal care and support for these unique groups of patients. RESULTS: The result revealed that several comprehensive and well-developed BC programs and initiatives have been established around the world for providing and focusing on BC patient's clinical care, supportive care, education, survivorship, navigation, and research. However, despite considerable advancement in this area, there are still significant challenges in addressing the BC patient's needs. CONCLUSION: Evaluation of the current situation of BC patient's treatment and quality of life highlighted the importance of developing and implementing the new and most efficient healthcare programs and protocols, as well as improving and optimizing the existing ones to improve and enhance the survival rate and quality of life of BC patients.

Exploration factors on smoking among female adolescents based on the viewpoints of Iranian adolescent girls.

BACKGROUND: In recent years, the prevalence of smoking in women has increased significantly. This study aimed to explain the effective factors in the tendency to smoke in female adolescents, employing a qualitative method of content analysis in Mashhad, Iran. METHODS: The data for this conventional content analysis were obtained by conducting semi­structured interviews with 20 female adolescent smokers. For open coding, integrating codes, creating main category and subcategories, and extracting quotation associated with codes and subcategories, MAXQDA software version 10 was used. RESULTS: Based on the results of the study, one main category and six subcategories were identified to influence the decision to smoke. The main category was interconnection of psychological and gender experiences. The subcategories included self-management weakness, ignoring the side effects, gender orientation, negative psychological experiences, the attraction of cigarettes, and positive psychological experiences. CONCLUSION: Psychological and gender factors play an important role in initiating people's behavior and tendency to smoke and smoking prevention programs in educational settings need to focus efforts around what is known about young women smokers.

Attributes of Organizational Health Literacy in Health Care Centers in Iran: A Qualitative Content Analysis Study.

Organizational Health Literacy (OHL) is described as a new concept to remote health organizations to implement practices, policies, and systems that make it easier for patients to use, understand, and navigate health information to take care their own health. In Iran, there is no consensus on the attributes of OHL, and its practical implications and scope have not been evaluated. This manuscript is one of the first attempts to explain the attributes of the OHL in health care centers in Iran. This study is a content analysis survey, which was guided by the attributes of the OHL provided by Brach et al. and 26 semi-structured interviews were conducted with Iranian health professionals and employees of healthcare organizations from June 2020 to January 2021. A data analysis was performed using the MAXQDA 10 software. Across the study, ten sub-themes, 21 subcategories, and 67 codes emerged. The 10 main attributes of OHL were management, integration of health literacy in the organization, workforce, participation, range of HL skills, HL strategies, access, media variety, the role of the organization in crisis, and costs. These attributes may guide the planning of health care centers improvements and have the potential to promote health service reforms and public health policy.

Exploration the role of social, cultural and environmental factors in tendency of female adolescents to smoking based on the qualitative content analysis.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to explain the socio-cultural and environmental factors of smoking tendency in female adolescents. METHODS: This qualitative content analysis study was conducted among Iranian female adolescents in Mashhad, Iran. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews with 20 female smokers. The duration of each interview varies from 30 to 70 min. Data collection and management of data were done using MAXQADA software version 10. RESULTS: In exploration the effective socio-cultural and environmental factors in the tendency of female adolescents to smoking, six subcategories of role modeling of friends, membership in groups, parenting patterns, family modeling, the predisposing community, and the negative impact of the media were extracted. CONCLUSIONS: The results obtained in this study indicated that there is a need to formulate policies and adopt environmental and social laws to reduce smoking. The results also showed the effective role of parents in improving personal skills, creating a stress-free environment in the family, and controlling adolescent behavior. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to all social and cultural aspects in order to make the smoking prevention programs.

Predictors of preventive behavior of nosocomial infections in nursing staff: a structural equation model based on the social cognitive theory.

BACKGROUND: The occurrence of nosocomial infections remains a health threat to patients and hospital staff. This study applied social-cognitive theory for predicting determinants of nosocomial infections control behaviors in hospital nursing Staff. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 280 nurses and assistant nurses were selected by random sampling from intensive care wards including CCU, ICU, NICU, dialysis of educational hospitals in Mashhad, Iran in 2020. Data were collected using a 5-point Likert scale structural questionnaire based on social cognitive theory constructs. Using the structural equation modeling method, direct and indirect relationships of social cognitive factors on preventive behaviors of nosocomial infections were analyzed via AMOS 23.0. RESULTS: Our results showed that self-regulation, outcome expectations, and barrier constructs had a direct effect on behavior and the highest effect was related to self-regulation structure (p < 0.001). The constructs of social support, modeling, perceived environment and Task self-efficacy had an indirect effect on behavior and the most impact was related to the constructs of perceived environment (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Considering that self-regulation, outcome expectation and barriers have a significant effect on following the preventive behaviors of nosocomial infections in nursing staff. It is suggested that policymakers and planners try to reduce barriers, strengthen behavioral motivation, and empower nursing staff by teaching self-regulatory strategies.

Design and evaluation of psychometric properties of cigarette smoking tendency questionnaire for female adolescents (CTQFA).

BACKGROUND: The tendency of women to smoke has increased in recent years and the prevalence of smoking among women is increasing. The purpose of this study was to design and evaluation the psychometric properties of the smoking tendency questionnaire for Iranian female adolescents. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was performed on 604 female adolescents in Iran in 2021. The bank of questions was designed based on the qualitative study concepts and review of the literature. To perform the psychometric evaluation, steps such as face validity (qualitative), content validity (qualitative and quantitative) and construct validity (confirmatory factor analysis) were performed. The reliability of the instrument was assessed using McDonald's omega coefficient and Cronbach's alpha coefficient. RESULTS: Based on the results of psychometrics (face, content, and construct validity), the number of questions was reduced from 102 to 52, and 50 questions were removed. Finally, a questionnaire with 52 questions and 5 subscales of the tendency to experience smoking (14 items), re-experience smoking (8 items), cigarette dependence (9 items), intention to quit smoking (9 items), and smoking cessation (12 items) was approved. The content validity ratio (CVR) and content validity index (CVI) for all questions were 0.770 and 0.938, respectively. The Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega coefficients for all questions were 0.903 and 0.904, respectively. CONCLUSION: Based on the results of this questionnaire, 52 questions, and 5 subscales can be used to assess the tendency of female adolescents to cigarette smoking.

The Health Literacy Status and Its Role in Interventions in Iran: A Systematic and Meta-Analysis.

There are increasing calls for public health policies to realize the visions of a health literate society and health literacy on a global scale. However, there are still more gaps in what researchers recognize and what steps they should take to improve health literacy (HL) skills. This review aimed to measure the HL status of the Iranian population and the effect size of the underlying association between HL and other health outcomes, and to examine the effectiveness of HL interventions on improving the functional dimension of HL, self-efficacy, and health-promoting behaviors. All full text published articles written in English and Persian language were included from inception until January 2019, but the type of study is not limited. A total of 52 potentially relevant articles with data on 36,523 participants were included in this review. In the population with health conditions, the average HL score was 62.51 (95% CI: 59.95-65.08), while in the patient population, the HL score was 64.04 (95% CI: 60.64-67.45). Health literacy was positively and significantly correlated with self-care behaviors 0.42 (95% CI; 0.35-0.49), self-efficacy 0.35 (95% CI; 0.26-0.43), knowledge 0.50 (95% CI; 0.44-0.55), communication skills 0.33 (95% CI; 0.25-0.41), and health promotion behaviors 0.39 (95% CI; 0.35-0.44). The meta-analyses showed that overall, HL interventions significantly improved HL status, self-efficacy, and health promotion behaviors. Results indicate that HL status was in the range of marginal HL level in the Iranian population. Our finding highlights the beneficial impact of HL intervention on health-promoting behaviors and self-efficacy, particularly in low literacy/socioeconomic status people.

The Effect of Peer Support with Telecommunication on Subjective Well-being in Colorectal Patients: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer has a widespread impact on the psychological and physical dimensions of patients and threatens their subjective well-being. Peer support is an effective strategy to increase subjective well-being in cancer patients. This study aims to evaluate the impact of peer support through telecommunications on the subjective well-being of colorectal cancer patients. MATERIALS: This randomized clinical trial was conducted on 60 patients with colorectal cancer in Mashhad, Iran from November 2018 to April 2019. Two educational hospitals were selected through random sampling from four educational hospitals. Then, participants were randomly selected from the list of patients in each group using a block randomization method. The intervention group received the peer support program by using telephone and virtual social networks for a month. The data were collected by the Warwick-Edinburgh Subjective Well-being Scale before and after the intervention and were then analyzed through independent t-test, paired t-test, and chi-squared test using SPSS version 16. The level of significant was set at P<0.05. RESULTS: Before the intervention, the mean subjective well-being score of the patients did not show significant difference in the intervention and control groups, respectively (27.8±5.4 vs. 27.6±6.3, P=0.619). However, after the intervention, the mean subjective well-being score of the intervention group showed a significant increase compared to the control group (49.16±3.3 vs. 26.6±6.1, P<0.001). CONCLUSION: This randomized controlled trial shows that peer support interventions through telecommunication can improve the subjective well-being of patients with colorectal cancer. Therefore, this method can be used as an effective palliative approach to promote patients' subjective well-being. Trail Registration Number IRCT20190123042480N1.

National, regional, and global prevalence of cigarette smoking among women/females in the general population: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: This systematic and meta-analysis review aimed to provide an updated estimate of the prevalence of ever and current cigarette smoking in women, in geographic areas worldwide, and demonstrate a trend of the prevalence of smoking over time by using a cumulative meta-analysis. METHODS: Following PRISMA guidelines, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies published on the prevalence of ever and current cigarette smoking in women. We searched PubMed, Web of Science (ISI), Scopus, and Ovid from January 2010 to April 2020. The reference lists of the studies included in this review were also screened. Data were reviewed and extracted independently by two authors. A random effects model was used to estimate the pooled prevalence of ever and current cigarette smoking in women. Sources of heterogeneity among the studies were determined using subgroup analysis and meta-regression. RESULTS: The pooled prevalence of ever and current cigarette smoking in women was 28% and 17%, respectively. The pooled prevalence of ever cigarette smoking in adolescent girls/students of the school, adult women, pregnant women, and women with the disease was 23%, 27%, 32%, and 38%, respectively. The pooled prevalence of ever cigarette smoking in the continents of Oceania, Asia, Europe, America, and Africa was 36%, 14%, 38%, 31%, and 32%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of cigarette smoking among women is very high, which is significant in all subgroups of adolescents, adults, and pregnant women. Therefore, it is necessary to design and implement appropriate educational programs for them, especially in schools, to reduce the side effects and prevalence of smoking among women.

Enablers of and Barriers to Effective Diabetes Self-Care in Iran: A Qualitative Study.

INTRODUCTION: Self-care behaviors are the most important factor in diabetes management, and improving such behaviors is the cornerstone in helping patients to manage their illness. The current study aimed to determine interfering factors in the self-care process in patients with diabetes. METHODS: The present qualitative study with content-analysis design was performed from March 2017 to April 2019 in Mashhad, Iran. Data collection was started with sampling and continued until saturation. Data were collected through semistructured interviews. Participants comprised 21 patients with diabetes (adults with type 1 or 2 diabetes) aged 31-60 years. Data analysis was performed using the Landman method and MaxQDA 10 software. RESULTS: Qualitative content analysis showed that patients' self-care behavior was influenced by different factors and conditions. In the current study, four key themes facilitating or preventing self-care behaviors in patients with diabetes were extracted: accessibility, environmental factors, behavioral habits, and personal factors. CONCLUSION: A range of personal and environmental factors may play an important role in the formation of self-care behaviors in patients with diabetes, and providing medical, welfare, and social support to such patients can facilitate self-care behavior formation in them. On the other hand, by removing perceived barriers, patients may be better able to adhere to self-care behaviors.

The Relationship Between Health Literacy Level and Self-Care Behaviors in Patients with Diabetes.

BACKGROUND: The most important factor in controlling diabetes is self-care behaviors; improving self-care behaviors is the first step in helping patients to better control and manage their diseases and health literacy is recognized as a vital and important indicator of outcomes and costs in healthcare. Therefore, the effectiveness of health-care systems requires that people have the desirable health literacy level. Therefore, this research intended to study the relationship between health literacy levels in patients with diabetes and their self-care behaviors. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This analytical cross-sectional study was conducted during two months on 400 patients with diabetes selected using the census method in diabetes clinics in Mashhad County. Information was collected through a demographic survey questionnaire, the Health Literacy Questionnaire and a self-care behavior questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 21 and Spearman correlation coefficient, the independent t-test, and ANOVA. RESULTS: The total mean score for self-care was 33.52 (SD±13.27). There was a significant relationship between self-care and health literacy in this study (P <0.05) so that people with higher levels of self-care literacy had better self-care behaviors. There was also a significant relationship between education level and monthly income and self-care behaviors and health literacy (P <0.001). CONCLUSION: Patients received an average score for self-care behaviors. Given the impact of health literacy on patients' self-care behaviors, and considering its inclusion in educational, therapeutic, and caregiver programs, it is possible to reduce complications in patients, and improve their quality of life, by improving their self-care behaviors. Special attention should also be paid to health literacy levels of the audience when designing the related educational programs.

Design and psychometric evaluation of self-care behavior assessment tool in diabetic patients.

OBJECTIVE S: Diabetes is the most common metabolic disease with an increasing prevalence throughout the world due to the changes in lifestyle. Appropriate self-care promotes the life condition of people with chronic illnesses and reduces the side effects of such diseases, so this study was designed to develop a scale for evaluating self-care in middle-aged patients diabetes. METHODS: In this methodological study, the following 4 steps were conducted for design and psychometric measurement of the questionnaire: 1) Data collection was carried out during a supplementary cross-sectional survey of the qualitative study; 2) determining the face validity (the assessment of facility, difficulty, and ambiguity of the items and their importance for patients) and content validity of the questionnaire (the assessment of appropriateness and necessity of items by experts opinions and measuring CVR and CVI; 3) the internal consistency of the questionnaire was evaluated by determining the Cranach's alpha coefficient (α = 0.85), and 4) test-retest of the scale with a 2-weeks interval confirmed appropriate stability for the scale (ICC = 0.81). The normality of data was also evaluated using skewness and kurtosis. CFA was performed using AMOS version 24 software. RESULTS: The first version of this questionnaire was produced with 71 items, of which 27 items were deleted during the process of validity and reliability confirmation. The final version of the questionnaire was provided with 44 items. For this study, 460 samples were used to examine the psychometric properties of the self-care scale.The confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fit to the data. Before the performing CFA, KMO and Bartlett's test of sphericity were evaluated and the results indicated an adequate sample (KMO = 0.956 and Bartlett's test: χ2 = 14,288.048, df = 946, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The findings showed that the designed questionnaire could assess self-care in patients with diabetes. This is a short, easy-to-use questionnaire that helps you understand what the patient needs to perform self-care behaviors.

Relationship between self-care behaviors and health literacy among elderly women in Iran, 2015.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Self-care is a basic concept in health promotion, regarding the importance of health literacy as a key factor in self-care. This study aimed to identify the relationship between self-care behaviors and health literacy among elderly women in Iran. METHODS: This descriptive and analytic study was performed between October and December 2015. A total of 360 participants were selected from elderly women referred to health centers. Data was collected by test of functional health literacy in adults (S-TOFHLA) and a checklist for assessment of self-care behaviors, and health information seeking. Data were analyzed by SPSS software (version 22) with One-Way Analysis of Variance, and the Pearson correlation coefficient, t-test and regression test. RESULTS: The mean score of functional health literacy was 41.30±6.29. Of the participants, 73.6% had inadequate health literacy, 20.8% borderline health literacy, and 5.6% enough health literacy. The mean score of health information seeking was 1.791. Also, 31.9% of elderly women had poor self-care behaviors, 56.9% moderate, and 11.1% high. A significant difference was observed in mean score of health literacy between different levels of self-care (F=30.087, p<0.001). Based on regression analysis, health literacy and health information seeking predicted 19.9% of the variance of self-care behaviors. CONCLUSION: This study highlights the necessity of promoting health literacy and attention to its influencing factors to improve self-care ability of elderly women. In conclusion, Planning interventions to improve health literacy is essential for health promotion among elderly women.