Introduction: Menopause is associated with increased risk for cardiovascular diseases, weight gain, and a progressive reduction in insulin sensitivity in women. It has been postulated that this is due to diminished estradiol secretion. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of combination exercise training on body mass index, body fat percentage, heart rate, and levels of serum cortisol and estradiol in overweight and obese postmenopausal women with blood glucose disorder.

Materials and Methodgy: This semi-experimental study had a pretest-posttest design. Twenty-two untrained, sedentary, and apparently healthy postmenopausal women with the mean age of 55.7±4.82 years, mean fasting blood sugar level of 108±7.8 mg/dl, and impaired fasting blood glucose (FBS: 100-126 mg/dl) were entered into this eight-week randomized, controlled study. The participants were assigned to intervention (n=12) and control (n=10) groups. The intervention group performed combination resistance-aerobic exercise training three days a week, while the control group performed no formal exercise. Pre- and post-intervention, body mass index, body fat percentage, heart rate, and serum cortisol and estradiol levels were measured. Analysis of covariance was used to analyze the hypothesis.

Results: Body mass index, body fat percentage, resting systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and heart rate significantly reduced after training (P=0.001). Serum estradiol significantly elevated (13.21±2.95 vs 16.94±3.24 pg/ml; P=0.002) and serum cortisol significantly diminished (186.4±59.36 vs 135.19±22.4 nmol/l; P=0.001).

Conclusion: Combination resistance-aerobic exercise probably results in reduced body mass index, body fat percentage, heart rate variable, and serum cortisol; whereas it increased serum estradiol among overweight and obese postmenopausal women with impaired fasting blood glucose..

Introduction: One of the biggest challenges that the diabetic patients face with is learning how to live with diabetes and control daily blood glucose level. Therefore, patient education with the aim of patient empowerment in self-care, optimal blood glucose control, and ultimately promotion of quality of life is considered as one of the significant health indicators and important areas of diabetes care. Regarding this, the present study was conducted to investigate the effect of using jigsaw technique on adherence to drug therapy among the patients with type II diabetes mellitus. 

Material and Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted on 35 diabetic patients referring to diabetes clinic in Zabol, Iran, in 2015. The study population was selected through simple random sampling technique. The patients filled out the eight-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS) and demographic form. After performing the blood test for the measurement of hemoglobin A1c (Hba1c) level, the patients were divided into seven groups of five cases. Subsequently, three sessions of educational intervention was performed with one-week intervals using the jigsaw technique. After three months, MMAS was completed again and the Hba1c level was remeasured. The data were analyzed using SPSS 16 software.

Results: According to the results, the mean age of the participants and the mean diabetes duration were 55.48±8.86 and 11.54±5.3 years, respectively. Furthermore, the mean adherence to medication showed a significant increase in the post-intervention stage, compared to that in the pre-intervention stage (P<0.001). Additionally, the mean score of Hba1c level demonstrated a significant decrease after the intervention as compared to that before the intervention (P<0.001).

Conclusion: Regarding the obtained results, the jigsaw technique, which is an active cooperative method, can be used in patient education programs.

Introduction: Health science education can be effective and of high quality in case it is delivered as up-to-date and appropriate training methods. Applying the novel and efficient teaching methods for the health personnel will improve their training and executional role. With this background in mind, this study aimed to determine the educational efficacy of Team Member Teaching Design (TMTD), as a teaching model, on the knowledge of health personnel about diabetes.

Materials and Methods: This quasi-experimental study involving the two groups of test and control was performed on the health personnel of health houses in Birjand, South Khorasan, Iran. The 24 participants were selected using simple random sampling method. The experiment group received trainings regarding diabetes care based on the TMTD model and the individuals in control group were trained through the routine method of the health institute. The data collection tools included two researcher-made questionnaires for gathering the demographic data, as well as evaluating the knowledge of diabetes used for pre-test, post-test, and knowledge assessment. Items concerning diabetes prevention and care were developed according to the booklet of “National Program for Diabetes Control and Care”. All the obtained data were analyzed using SPSS version 20 by parametric tests of independent t-test, paired t-test, and repeated measures analysis of variance. For all the tests, P < 0.05 was considered as significant.

Results: The findings of this study indicated that there was no significant difference between the two groups of control and intervention regarding the mean scores of (P=0.668). On the other hand, the mean scores of diabetes knowledge in the two groups of intervention (20.90±0.831) and control (15.66±2.42) were significantly different (P<0.001). Therefore, a significant improvement was observed in the mean scores of diabetes knowledge in health personnel participating in the test group.

Conclusion: According to the results of present study, the TMTD model might be more efficient in enhancing the knowledge of health workers about diabetes, compared to the routine training method. Furthermore, the learners that received this training model could remember the contents better than the individuals of the control group.