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Background:Physical activity is one of the most important indicators of health in communities but different studies conducted in the provinces of Iran showed that inactivity is prevalent, especially among women.Objectives:Inadequate regular physical activities among women, the importance of education in promoting the physical activities, and lack of studies on the women using transtheoretical model, persuaded us to conduct this study with the aim of determining the application of transtheoretical model in promoting the physical activities among women of Isfahan.Materials and Methods:This research was a quasi-experimental study which was conducted on 141 women residing in Isfahan, Iran. They were randomly divided into case and control groups. In addition to the demographic information, their physical activities and the constructs of the transtheoretical model (stages of change, processes of change, decisional balance, and self-efficacy) were measured at 3 time points; preintervention, 3 months, and 6 months after intervention. Finally, the obtained data were analyzed through t test and repeated measures ANOVA test using SPSS version 16.Results:The results showed that education based on the transtheoretical model significantly increased physical activities in 2 aspects of intensive physical activities and walking, in the case group over the time. Also, a high percentage of people have shown progress during the stages of change, the mean of the constructs of processes of change, as well as pros and cons. On the whole, a significant difference was observed over the time in the case group (P < 0.01).Conclusions:This study showed that interventions based on the transtheoretical model can promote the physical activity behavior among women.

Background:This study aimed at investigating the impact of an educational intervention based on transtheoretical model to increase physical activity and improve metabolic syndrome indicators in women.Methods:In this quasi-experimental study, 142 women with metabolic syndrome were randomly assigned to the case and control group (each group 71 participants). SECQ (Marcus), processes of change (Marcus), decisional balance (Bandura) and self-efficacy (Nigg) questionnaires and International Physical Activities Standard Questionnaire in preintervention, 3 and 6 months after intervention were completed. Furthermore, abdominal obesity, triglycerides (TG), and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) were measured. Physical activity intervention based on transtheoretical model (TTM) was performed in the case group. Finally, data were analyzed by SPSS (16) (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) and repeated measure ANOVA, independent t-test and Freidman was used. A two-tailed P value, lower than 0.05, was considered to be statistically significant.Results:After the intervention, physical activity level increased in the intervention group, and they also progressed in stages of change, but the people in the control group had regressed. All changes in TTM constructs were significant in the intervention group during the time and differences in pros and cons were not significant in the control group. Abdominal obesity and TG has significantly reduced, and HDL has increased in the intervention group. In the control group, there was a significant increase in TGs and a decrease in HDL.Conclusions:Physical activity training based on TTM can improve physical activity and metabolic syndrome indicators in women.

BackgroundHypertension is usually symptomless, and is not seriously attended until it causes some chronic complications. Individuals’ skills in understanding and applying information about health subjects may have a substantial impact on patients’ behavior and health.Objectiveto determine the relationship between health literacy and knowledge among patients with hypertension in Isfahan province, Iran.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted on 700 patients with hypertension selected according to multistage random and quota types in Isfahan province (Iran). Data collection tools included Health Literacy for Iranian Adults (HELIA) and Hypertension Knowledge Level Scale (HK-LS), which were completed by patients. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 23 using Pearson’s correlation, one way ANOVA, and Independent-samples t-test. The significance level was set at 0.05.ResultsThe mean (SD) of participants’ age was 60.58±11.14 years. Results showed that the relationship between age and health literacy (r=−0.354, p<0.001) and knowledge (r=−0.129, p<0.001) was statistically significant. More than three quarters of participants (75.5%) are inadequate and partially adequate of health literacy. There was a significant correlation between the blood pressure knowledge and the mean score of health literacy (r=0.0407, p<0.001).ConclusionThe present study confirmed that the majority of the patients with hypertension had inadequate health literacy and there was a significant correlation between the blood pressure knowledge and the mean score of health literacy. Therefore, adequate education should be provided in health centers to increase the health literacy and knowledge about hypertension in hypertensive people. So it is suggested that future studies will be conducted on the use of various educational media in hypertensive people.

Background: The present study aimed to apply the health belief model (HBM) in breast self-examination among the female university students in Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 384 female students at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in Isfahan, Iran. Participants were selected via simple random sampling and completed the Champion's health belief model scale (CHBMS). Data analysis was performed in SPSS version 20, and the two-tailed P-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Distribution of the study population across the stages of change was as follows: pre-contemplation (n = 107; 42.8%), contemplation (n = 55; 22%), preparation (n = 32; 12.8%), action (n = 33; 13.2%), and maintenance (n = 23; 19%). Mean scores of the HBM