| Room 524-B | Cultural Wednesday, July 13, 2005 Time: 2:30 PM-4:30 PM |
Developing and testing a sexual education program for the female clients of the family planning centers in Tehran, Iran.
Shirpak, Khosro Refaie*,1, Ardebili, Hasan Eftekhar 1, Mohammad, Kazem1, Ramenzankhani , Ali2, Chinichian, Maryam1, Fotoohi, Akbar1, Seraj, Mehrnaz3, Maticka-Tyndale, Eleanor4, 1 School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Tehran, Iran2 School of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Tehran, Iran3 School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Tehran, Iran4 Sociology and Anthropology Department, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
ABSTRACT- Introduction:Iran with one of the youngest populations in the world (median age is 23.5) has no formal sexual education programs for any age group. In Iran sexual issues can not be spoken even of among educated people. In setting sex education programs health service providers face religious, political, and cultural obstacles. The objective of the study was to develop and examine the effect of a sexual education program on sexual knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of female clients of governmental family planning centers in Tehran. Method:160 women attending family planning centers in any of the 3 Tehran Health Regions were randomly assigned to one "study group" (N = 80) and one "control group" (N = 80). The study was designed as a randomized field trial. At the first stage of the study, the needs assessment used qualitative methods (Focus Group Discussion, Individual Interview and literature review). In the intervention segment, a short-term educational program (intervention) was used and a questionnaire completed by all study participants just before and 6 weeks after the intervention to elicit information regarding knowledge, attitudes and behaviours. The data was analysed by SPSS software. Results:There was no significant difference in demographic characteristics of study and control groups. We found a significantly greater increase in knowledge (median score 7 to14 and 6.3 to 6.9 in study and control group respectively) and a sizable changes in attitudes (median score 88.35 to 98.98 and 89.8 to 87.76 in study and control group respectively) in study compare to control group. For domains of behaviour, that are studied we also found fairly large and significant changes. Conclusion:This study shows that even in societies where people′s religious and cultural background and strict rules and laws seem to make sexual education an impossible task, choosing the right place and right target population as well as appropriate educational material based on the target group′s needs and their cultural and religious background can pave the road for success.
Key words: SEXUALITY, IRAN, SEX EDUCATION, FAMILY PLANNING, BEHAVIOUR