Background: Family function is a necessary factor that influences older people’s health. The Family APGAR has been widely used to study family functions. However, there has been no Persian version of this instrument to assess family function in older people. The aim of this study was to determine the psychometric properties of the Persian version of the Family APGAR Scale to evaluate the perception of family functions.Methods: The “forward-backward” procedure was applied to translate the scale from English into Persian. The translated version was checked in terms of validity and reliability, with a sample of 281 older people selected from retirement centers. The factor structure of the scale was also tested using a confirmatory factor analysis. To test reliability, internal consistency and test–retest analyses were performed.Results: The results of the confirmatory factor analysis indicated a good structural model. Criterion-related validity was strongly supported by the pattern of association between the APGAR Scale and the social support survey. Cronbach’s α of the scale was 0.88 and test–retest reliability ranged from 0.96 to 0.98, indicating a good range of reliability.Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that the Iranian version of the Family APGAR is a valid and reliable scale to evaluate family functions in health intervention programs.

Objectives: Healthy lifestyle along with spirituality affect the physical and mental health of older adults. Regarding the older clergymen’s experience of spiritual life, this study aims to evaluate the role of health-promoting lifestyle in predicting cognitive status of older clergymen. Methods & Materials: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 190 older clergymen living in Qom, Iran who were selected using a convenience sampling method and based on the inclusion/exclusion criteria. Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile II and Mini-Mental State Exam were used to collect data. The collected data were analyzed in SPSS V. 22 software using descriptive and inferential statistics (Correlation test, linear regression analysis, independent t-test, and ANOVA). The significance level was set at 0.05. Results: The mean age of participants was 70.55±6.86. There was a significant positive relationship between health-promoting lifestyle and cognitive status (r= 0.295, P= 0.001). The results of multiple regression analysis showed that the dimensions of health responsibility and nutrition along with employment status explained almost 14% of the variance in cognitive status. Conclusion: it is necessary to pay more attention to nutrition and health responsibility in health-promoting interventions of older clergymen. Further studies with a qualitative approach are recommended to understand the mechanism of the effect of spirituality on health of older clergymen.

Background Physical activity (PA) is important for preventing falls in older age. However, most older people in Iran have not been involved in any exercise program. The aim of this study was to assess the determinants of physical activity to prevent falls using protection motivation theory (PMT) in Iranian older people.Methods The cross-sectional study was conducted in Qom, Iran, from May to October 2018. Three hundred older people were selected from retirement centers via stratified sampling method. Data was collected using the Rapid Assessment of Physical Activity, and PMT constructs scale. Data analysis was performed using multiple linear regression and descriptive statistical analysis.Results The mean (SD) age of the participants was 64.6 (5.5) and the majority were male (77.7%). Level of perceived self-efficacy of participation was low. Perceived costs and perceived rewards were negatively associated with motivation. Furthermore, protection motivation (β=0.38, P<0.0001), fear (β=0.21, P=0.001), and efficiency of response (β=0.13, P=0.026), significantly predict PA behavior. The study model explained approximately 32% of the variance in PA behavior.Conclusion The results indicated that reducing barriers to exercising might increase PA intention. Also, protection motivation and efficiency of response and fear are considered as the strongest predictors of PA behavior among older people. The results can help health care providers to develop appropriate interventions for promoting PA among older people.