BACKGROUND Breast self-examination is an important, inexpensive and easy method to detect breast cancer and is recommended monthly for women who are twenty years old and above. This study aimed to investigate the stages of changes, breast self-examination practice and related beliefs in women of Gilan-e Gharb city. MATERIALS AND METHODS The present study was conducted with the participation of 299 literate women of Gilan-e Gharb city in 2015. The data were collected using a questionnaire including demographics, health beliefs and stages of behaviour change and questions related to the breast self-examination. A ten-step checklist was used to measure the accuracy of breast self-examination. The reliability and validity of the instruments were assessed and verified using appropriate methods. The data were analysed by SPSS 19 using the measure of descriptive statistics, T-test, Chi-square, Pearson correlation coefficient and regression. RESULTS The mean age of participants was 32.9 ± 6.1 years. Generally, the distribution of individuals according to the breast self-exam stages was as follows: Pre-contemplation 22.1%, contemplation 25.7%, preparation 22.9%, action 4.3% and maintenance 25%. People who conducted a regular breast self-examination had higher self-efficacy, perceived susceptibility and accuracy scores (p<.005). Stages of change, self-efficacy and perceived barriers were the most important predictors of breast self-exam in this study (p-value= .001). CONCLUSION The results showed that the majority of the participants do not implement regular breast self-examination and has been placed in passive stages of behaviour change. Stages of change, self-efficacy and perceived barriers were the most important predictors of breast self-exam in this study.

BACKGROUND Quality of Life is a personal interpretation about the life status in the context of culture and value system. The quality of life of midwives working in the health care system requires special attention. The present study was conducted with an aim to investigate the quality of life of midwives working in clinics and maternity hospitals in northwest of Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS This cross-sectional study was conducted with participation of 70 midwives working in health centers and maternity hospitals in Maragheh. The data collection tool in the present study was Quality of Life Quality Questionnaire of the World Health Organization (WHOQOL-BREF-26). The collected data was analysed using software SPSS version 16 and Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney and Pearson correlation descriptive tests. The significance level was considered 0.05. RESULTS The mean age of the subjects was 31.18 years with a standard deviation of 7.74. The mean and standard deviation of the overall quality of life score was 74.54±17.06 from 100. The highest and lowest scores were related to the domain of the physical health (71.34±14.14) and environmental health (61.77±14.87), respectively. A significant difference was found between the mean scores of the domains of the quality of life and employment type. Spearman correlation test showed that a statistically significant correlation was found between the physical health, mental health and total score of quality of life and age. CONCLUSION The results of the present study showed that the average quality of life score of subjects was higher than mean and was moderate. It is suggested that midwives receive training on the factors affecting the quality of life to become empowered to enhance their quality of life and the health of themselves and their clients.