INTRODUCTION:Orgasmic dysfunction in women is characterized by persistent or recurrent delay in or absence of orgasm following a normal sexual excitement phase. Research has shown that almost two thirds of women have concerns about their sexual relationship. Sexual dysfunction has many problems for couples; some researchers found that up to 67% of divorces related to sexual disorders.OBJECTIVE:The aim of this cross‐sectional study was to assess the prevalence and related factors of anorgasmia among reproductive age Iranian women.METHODS:This study was conducted in 2006–7 in Hesarak, Karaj, Iran. A total of 1200 women were randomly recruited to the study. Sexual satisfaction questions were prepared according to the Enrich Sexual Satisfaction Questionnaire. Orgasms were assessed according to the relevant questions in the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) questionnaire. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 11; Chi‐square, Mann–Whitney and independent t‐test were used for statistical purposes.RESULTS:This study showed that the prevalence of anorgasmia among Iranian women in Hesarak, Karaj, was 26.3%. There was a significant difference between the anorgasmic and normal orgasm groups regarding the women's age, age at marriage, duration of marriage and education during puberty (p<0.05). Some psychological factors, e.g. anxiety, fatigue, pain, feeling of guilt, anti‐masculine feelings and embarrassment in sexual relationships were higher in the anorgasmic group (p<0.001).DISCUSSION:The results of this study showed that the prevalence of anorgasmia in Hesarak is high and most of the anorgasmic women were highly unsatisfied with their sexual relationship compared to the normal orgasm group.CONCLUSION:The prevalence of anorgasmia among Iranian women in Hesarak, Karaj, is high and some socio‐demographic and psychological factors have a strong relationship with anorgasmia.

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Sepsis is a critical condition often caused by bacterial infection and associated with death and mortality. The prognosis of this disease depends on early diagnosis and proper treatment. Definite diagnosis of sepsis is positive blood culture and this test needs a long time to perform, so other biochemical parameters such as procalcitonin serum level has been introduced. To determine sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value of procalcitonin serum level at first time and 72 h after admission and to compare it with blood culture test for diagnosis of sepsis. Blood sample for blood culture, prepheral blood smear at first time and procalcitonin serum level measuring by semi quantitative method at first and 72 h after admission were sampled. Nine patients had positive blood cultures. Peripheral blood smear was positive in 38 patients, (29 patients: gram stain positive, 6 patients: gram stain negative and 3 patients: both gram positive and gram negative). At first time 76.8% had positive procalcitonin (>0.5 ng mL −1 ) and after 72 h 65% of patients had positive procalcitonin. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value of procalcitonin at the first time were 100, 16,16 and 100% and for procalcitonin after 72 h respectively were 75, 35, 15 and 90%. This study showed that sensitivity of procalcitonin serum level can be used for diagnosis of sepsis. Procalcitonin increased as severity of sepsis and this study suggests high serum level of procalcitonin after 72 h might indicate poor outcome.

Background: Communication skills of nurses include two important verbal and non-verbal communication dimensions and have of great importance in hemodialysis patients. This study aimed to investigate the effect of nursing communication skills training on satisfaction of patients undergoing hemodialysis. Methods: This quasi-experimental (pretest and posttest design) was carried out on 64 nurses working in the dialysis ward and 90 hemodialysis patients in the hospitals affiliated with Alborz University of Medical Sciences. In this study, nurses and patients were selected by convenience and randomized sampling methods, respectively. In this regard, subjects were selected from the hemodialysis wards of Bahonar, Rajaei and Shariati hospitals in Karaj. Results: Most nurses were female (76.7%) and the age range of the participants was 23-54 years. Nurses achieved a high score in all dimensions of communication skills and a high total score of communication skills after the intervention, and none of them obtained a low score. There was a significant increase in nurses' communication skills after the intervention, compared to before the intervention (106.98±4.18 and 117.97±3.35) (P<0.001). Moreover, the results showed a significant change in nurses’ perception after the intervention in various dimensions of communication skills, such as ability to receive and send messages, emotional control, listening skills, nurses' insight into the communication process and assertive communication skills, compared to before the intervention (66.90±5.15 and 95.62±5.34) (P<0.001). Conclusion: Studying communication skills in the form of educational workshops could increase these skills in nurses and clinical personnel in general. More importantly, improved communication skills in nurses could increase patient satisfaction, which is the ultimate goal of healthcare centers.