Journal of Translational Medical Research

Background and Aim: Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women in most countries of the world. One of the most important diagnostic measures for early diagnosis is breast self-examination (B.S.E.). The present study aimed at determining the effect of health training on knowledge, attitude, and practice of female teachers in Yazd intermediate schools on breast cancer.
Materials and Methods: In this quasi-experimental study , pre/post health education data gathering concerning 140 female teachers in Yazd intermediate schools was performed through questionnaires. Data analysis was carried out using SPSS statistical software and McNemar statistical test at significant level P≤0.05
Results: This study showed that B.S.E training was effective on knowledge, attitude, and practice of the subjects. In all the features, the difference was significant at the level P<0.001. No statistically significant relationship was observed between demographical factors (age, education, and work experience) and health training effect on the subjects' knowledge, attitude, and practice. It was found that before training 62.86% of the women did not perform B.S.E due to lack of familiarity with correct methods; but, after training this decreased to 33.57% (P=0.000).
Conclusion: Generally speaking, it is important to note that the simplest, cheapest, and the most important method in early diagnosis of breast cancer is breast examination of patients by themselves and, also, by physicians. Paying attention to this matter is very helpful in screening and early diagnosis of breast cancer

Background and Aim: Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer among Iranian women. Early diagnosis of the disease is vitally important in successful treating of it and reducing its mortality and care-cost burden. In our country,the major causes of mortality and other unfavorable complications of the disease are due to late referring of women. So far, the nature of this behavior has not been studied. The present qualitative study was done on a number of Tehran women to clarify the concepts of breast cancer control and prevention and factors affecting this procedure. Materials and Methods: A content analysis with a qualitative approach (Grounded Theory) was conducted in depth on 31 women through semi-structured (individual and group) interviews. Data collection continued to saturation point .Data analysis was done by means of constant comparative analysis method, using theoretical sampling and constant comparison analysis Results: The study was done on 31 females aged 49±8.05, of whom 54.8% were in employment and 45.1% were housewives. Education level was average in 48.3% of the cases and 27% of them were married. Individual and social factors were the two effective categories that shaped the women’s behavior , which regarded women’s early detecting behavior and respective factors were classified into 3 categories: Inappropriate attitude toward behavior, Inadequate risk-perception , and inefficient perceived data. The mentioned concepts are the same obstacles and frustrations which may occur in detecting breast-cancer behavioral procedure, together with a shade of subjective behavior. Conclusions: Controlling is a multidimensional concept which has individual and social aspects but individual intentional rate is higher. After final analysis of the obtained data, inappropriate attitude towards control and prevention of breast cancer was taken as the central variable and conscious persuasion was recognized as the corrective factor. Health promotion of women, who make up half of the active population of the country, is one of the requirements of stable development and planning appropriate methods to warn women of health risks is among health education missions. The indispensable factor in this respect is attention to women's attitude construct and qualitative studies seem to define behavioral situations better than quantitative methods and, thus, help planning educational interventions. Therefore, it is suggested that defining the concept of breast-cancer control and prevention according to routine quantitative methods and comparing it with the results of the present study should be taken into account.

Background and Aim: Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer among women, because one out of every seven women is prone to develop breast cancer. Early diagnosis of the disease has an effective role in its treatment. One of the screening methods is Breast Self-Examination (BSE). If this simple method is taught to women, they can diagnose malignant tumors in their breasts in 90 percent of cases and receive due treatment. This study was done to investigate the effects of various educational methods on knowledge, attitude, and practice of women regarding BSE and compare these effects. Materials and Methods: In this quasi-experimental study 90 ladies over 40 years referring to Tehran Shahid Kalantari clinic were divided into three equal groups. One group (30 women) was taken as the control group and the other two as the cases. The following educational methods were applied to the two case groups respectively: A group discussion method, B. eclectic method (i.e. films, lectures, face-to-face-instruction, etc.). Data collection tools were a questionnaire consisting of demographic queries, KAP (knowledge, attitude, and practice) questions and a check-list for visible BSE performing on the part of the cases. The obtained data was analysed by means of the statistical software of SPSS, using parametrical statistical tests (i.e. one-way variance analysis, paired-t) and non-parametrical tests (W., C., and 2) and P≤0.05 was taken as the significant level. Results: This research indicated that education by means of both methods raises the level of knowledge, attitude and practice in ladies regarding BSE (P<0.0001). Besides analysis of variances showed that KAP level had a significant difference compared with that of the control group (P<0.0001) .Correlation test showed no significant difference between demographic characteristics on one side and level of KAP on the other. Conclusion: Considering the findings about the effect of instruction on KAP of women with respect to BSE, using any of available facilities such as individual or group education as well as audio- visual methods in health care centers would be advantageous.

Background and Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of education of proper oral hygiene via virtual reality simulation on the dental plaque in high school students.
Materials and Methods: This study was carried out on 90 high school students who were selected randomly and then divided into three groups. Group one was the first intervention group (VR) that was introduced to oral hygiene through virtual reality training in one session (n=30). Group two was the second intervention group (Verbal) that was introduced to oral hygiene through verbal training in one session (n=30). Group three was the control group that received no training (n=30). Plaque index (PI) was recorded both before and after the intervention (after one month) using Quigley–Hein plaque index. Data were collected and then analyzed in SPSS software (version 18) at a significance level of 0.05.
Results: In the VR group, there was a statistically significant decrease in the mean values of PI (P<0.001) after the intervention (1.92±0.77) in comparison to the baseline (2.69±0.62). Moreover, in the verbal training group, there was a statistically significant decrease in the mean values of PI (P=0.014) after the intervention (2.16±0.95), compared to the baseline (2.45±0.91). This difference was significant in the virtual reality and oral education group compared to the control group (P<0.001).
Conclusion: Based on the findings, oral health education in general and virtual reality education, in particular, are effective in the removal of dental plaque and improvement of oral health.