Journal of Knowledge & Health in Basic Medical Sciences
Year:2018 | Volume:12 | Issue:4 |Papers Count:13

Introduction: Human sleep quality and quantity is related to his/her well-being. The aim of this study is to assess the factors associated with self-reported sleep quality among adults in Shahroud.Methods: In the second phase of Shahroud Eye Cohort Study (ShECS), 4737 people (45 to 69 year old) who have participated in the first phase of the ShECS, were invited to the study in 2014. In this study age, sex, marital status, economic status (low, middle and high), education, smoking, and subjective sleep quality were measured. The main question for assessing sleep quality was "During the last month, how would you rate your sleep quality overall?". The data were analyzed using a logistic regression model.Results: In this study 23.5% of women compared with 10.8% of males, and totally 18.3% (862 subjects) of them described their sleep quality as fairly bad or very bad. Females (OR=2.5; 95%CI: 2.1-3.1), moderate economic status (OR=1.2; 95%CI: 1.0-1.5) and smoking (OR=1.5; 95%CI: 1.1-1.9) were positively associated with poor sleep quality.Conclusion: The result of our study showed that women had poorer sleep quality than men and smoking is a risk factor for poor sleep quality. So environmental factors related to sleep quality can improve it.

Introduction: Non-communicable diseases are related to the risk factors such as smoking, inappropriate nutrition and lack of physical activity. The purpose of this study was to use factor analysis for obtaining the scale of combined risk factors, to rank the provinces based on it.Methods: The data of this study were included 20 risk factors according to province and sex among 15-64 year-old subjects. This data were extracted from the report of the non-communicable diseases risk factors surveillance of Iran in 2009. We used the principal component method of factor analysis for men and women, separately. Finally we ranked the provinces by calculated scores of the first factor.Results: Based on the first factor, for men, East Azerbaijan, Qom, Ardebil and Mazandaran provinces had the highest morbidity risk for non-communicable diseases and Sistan and Baluchistan, South Khorasan, Kerman and Hormozgan provinces had the lowest risk, respectively. Also, among women, Mazandaran, Qom, Kermanshah and eastern Azerbaijan provinces had the highest morbidity risk of non-communicable diseases and Sistan and Baluchistan, South Khorasan, Hormozgan provinces had the lowest risk, respectively.Conclusion: The results showed that factor analysis could show very well the risk of noncommunicable diseases in different provinces of Iran. Based on the results, the provinces which had higher incidence of morbidity of non-communicable diseases need more attention to nutrition and health education.

Introduction: The dispersion of particulate matter has been known as the most serious environmental pollutant from the cement plants. In this study, the dispersion of dust (PM10) from the stack of Doroud Cement plant was investigated using Gaussian plume model in different atmospheric conditions.Methods: In this study, westech instrument was used to measure PM10 level by gravimetric method based on ISO-9096 standard. The Gaussian plume model was used for predict PM10 concentrations in certain intervals. The results were compared with 24 hour EPA standard for PM10. The effect of meteorological parameters including temperature, wind speed and relative humidity on the PM10 dispersion were assessed.Results: The results showed that the maximum and minimum predicted concentrations in ambient air were obtained at the distance of 1800 and 500 meter from the source with concentrations of 118.12 and 53.13 mg/m3, respectively. The increment of wind speed and increasing of air stability had an important role in rising of dust in atmosphere surrounding of cement plant.Conclusion: The comparison of results with EPA standard showed that PM10 concentrations were not higher than standard during sampling period. The further field investigations to measure PM10 in upwind and downwind of cement plant and compare with the results of modeling are essential.

Introduction: Due to the high prevalence of malignancy, accurate diagnosis of thyroid nodules is important. In this study, accuracy of sonography and Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology (FNAC) in diagnosis of thyroid nodules were evaluated.Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 80 patients with thyroid nodules referred to Qazvin hospitals in 2015. Clinical information and results of sonography, cytopathology and histopathology of the nodes were recorded. SPSS software and the Kappa Coefficient were used for analysis of data. Also the area under the curve and the confidence intervals were reported using ROCK chart.Results: Sonography results of 80 patients showed 37.5% malignancy and 52.5% benign cases. Sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPP and accuracy of sonography were 100%, 65%, 100%, 89.6% and 91.25%, respectively. The diagnosis based on FNAC was as following: two Non-diagnostic cases, 47 benign cases, three cases of atypia with undetermined significance, seven cases of suspicious for a follicular neoplasm, six cases with suspicious malignancy and 15 malignancy cases. Sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPP were 100%, 87%, 95% and 100%, respectively. Also the accuracy was 96.25%.Conclusion: FNAC is more accurate than sonography and it is assumed a more cost-effective method for diagnosis of thyroid nodules.

Introduction: Uremic pruritus is one of the most common and debilitating complications of hemodialysis patients which affects 50 to 90 percent of them. Pruritus can lead to skin infections, scaling, anxiety, sleep disorders, social dysfunction and so on in patient. The aim of study was to evaluate the effect of hemodialysis with cold dialysis fluid on reducing the level of uremic pruritus in hemodialysis patients.Methods: This study was a pre and post-test double-blind clinical trial performed in summer 2012 in hemodialysis department of Fatemieh hospital, Semnan. Of all patients in the hemodialysis department, 35 people were eligible. To collect data, demographic questionnaire, medical records and itching scale were used. Patients were hemodialized three times per week and each session was four hours, for one month with standard hemodialysis(37oc) and then in the second month with cold hemodialysis(35oc). Data were analyzed by Paired t-test and Wilcoxon tests at a significant level of 5%.Results: The results showed that the mean and standard deviation of pruritus in standard and cool hemodialysis stage were 23.0±10.3 and 8.8±1.3, respectively. The data indicate that the patients' pruritus in the cold stage of hemodialysis was significantly reduced (P<0.001).Conclusion: Cold hemodialysis can relieve uremic pruritus among hemodialysis patients.

Introduction: One of the causes of fatigue among athletes is accumulation of lactic acid in the blood after a heavy activity. During fatigue, some enzymes such as lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and creatine kinase (CK) increase and subsequently cellular damage to the active muscles will occur. This is more common among athletes who reach to the maximum activity rapidly in a short time, nearly one to three minutes.Methods: In this study, 30 athlete female students were selected by seven-stage Bruce test and randomly divided into two groups of 15 with random sampling. To this end, each of the subjects who had successfully completed six stages of the seven-stage test, were selected; the first group took creatine supplementation, the second group placebo. Before the beginning of the training program, all subjects were pre-tested. After the blood test, the subjects were asked to take creatine supplement for one week, and the placebo group consumed starch powder during this time. After this period, both groups were subjected to Cunningham test and blood samples were taken again 24 hours after the test, and cellular damage indices were measured by a special kit. Statistical comparisons were performed by SPSS version 16.Results: The results of the independent t-test showed no significant difference between two groups in the delta of CK (p= 0.183). In other words, creatine supplement did not change CK level compared to the control group significantly. Also the results did not report any significant difference between two groups in the delta LDH (p=0.227). It means that creatine supplement did not have an effect on DHL level compared to the control group.Conclusion: The results suggest that a period of creatine supplementation did not change the levels of CK and LDH and so further studies are needed.

Introduction: According to importance of complimentary therapies, The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of four-week aerobic physical activity in water on clinical signs and amount of Tumor Necrosis Factor alpha (TNF- a) and Interleukin 10 (IL-10) in serum levels of animal model of multiple sclerosis (MS) via inducing experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE).Methods: A total number of 80 female Syrian mice from the race of C57BL/6, aging 10 to 12 weeks and weighing 20±2 gram were divided into eight groups of 10, including: control, swimming, MS, MS+swimming, MS+interferon beta (INF- a), MS+interferon beta+swimming, MS+solvent, and MS+solvent+swimming environment. On post-immunization day 9, animals received IFN (150 IU/g) or were subjected to swimming daily for 4 weeks. Weight and clinical score were monitored daily and recorded in all groups. Finally blood samples were taken from the heart and the factors were measured by ELISA. The data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA.Results: According to clinical signs diagrams, there was seen significant difference between MS+swimming, MS+interferon beta, MS+interferon beta+swimming with MS group (P=0.001). Also, Based on the scores of clinical signs, the severity of injury in MS groups compared to active subjects had a average score of 2 to 3, indicating control and reduction of the progression of demyelin lesions resulting from the effect of exercise in water.Conclusion: These findings suggest that probably swimming is more effective than IFN to alter clinical signs and the level of TNF- α and IL-10 in the serum of EAE-induced mice. Therefore we conclude that regular moderate exercise could be helpful beside the medical therapies to attenuate the MS disorders.

Introduction: Pain is a common problemamong patients after hysterectomy and patient health status and recovery process is severely affected. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the effect of foot massage on pain of patients after hysterectomy.Methods: This study is a clinical trial with two groups. Sixty patients with hysterectomy were eligible to enter the study by random sampling from two hospitals including Shariati and Valiasr hospitals in Tehran in 2012 (30 interventions, 30 controls) and they were randomly assigned to two groups by drawing a color card. The intervention group received foot massage for 20 minutes once a day during the two consecutive days after surgery. The control group received routine care without intervention. Before and after 30 minutes of intervention or routine care, the pain was measured by visual analogue pain scale (VAS). Data were analyzed by independent t-test, chi-square and Fisher exact test.Results: It was seen that the mean difference of scores before and after the two sessions of massage in the intervention group was 2.56 and in the control group was 1.01. The result of the comparison of the two groups showed significant difference (P<0.001) which could be due to the foot massage effect.Conclusion: Foot massage can be useful as an effective nursing intervention in controlling pain after hysterectomy.

Introduction: Most elderly people with chronic diseases use multiple medications simultaneously, and therefore adherence to the drug is important among these people. This study was designed to assess the validity and reliability of the Persian version of Self-Efficacy for Appropriate Medication Use Scale (SEAMS).Methods: In this study, 30 elderly people aged 60 and older were eligible to enter the study by random sampling from health centers in Gonbad-e-Kavus based on medical records codes. Demographic data, MMSE questionnaire and SEAMS scale were completed by participants. Besides the face and content validity of the questionnaire, reliability and internal consistency of the SEAMS scale were evaluated using Cronbach's alpha, split-half and test-retest methods by SPSS software version 18.Results: The Average age of participants was 67.9 years. The face validity was studied qualitatively (interview with 10 elderly in the target group) and content validity (expert panel) was confirmed. The internal consistency was 0.81 by Cronbach's alpha and 0.77 by split-half method. Also, the external reliability was assessed by test-retest method and Pearson correlation coefficient was 0.97.Conclusion: According to the results, the SEAMS scale has a good validity and reliability among elderly in Iran. Therefore, it is recommended for evaluating adherence to treatment among elderly with chronic diseases.

Introduction: Hospitals as the centers that consume the most resource of health system, based on their function have difference performance and efficiency. The purpose of this study was to assess the efficiency of hospitals in Semnan province using data envelopment analysis with input nature.Methods: This research is an applied one in terms of purpose and a survey and descriptive one in terms of nature. The data envelopment analysis technique, the cover form, and the input nature with the assumption of variable returns versus the scale, was used. relative efficiency of 13 hospitals in Semnan province were analyzed between 1394and 1395. The necessary information was extracted from scientific documents, and the data related to input and output indices were collected from vice chancellor for Administration and TUMS. The collected data were then analyzed by GAMS.Results: The averages efficiency of hospitals, during the years 1393-1395, were 0.81, 0.82, and 0.76, respectively. 0.38 percent of hospitals had constant return to scale, 0.38 percent had decreasing return to scale and 0.23 percent of them had increasing return to scale. Therefore, 0.76 percent of hospitals did not have the capacity to develop beyond the status quo.Conclusion: Most hospitals are not efficient. The performance of inefficient hospitals can be improved following the patterns used by reference hospitals and also by better financial and human resources management. This research introduces a functional pattern to senior managers of the health sector, enabling them to have more accurate planning for capacity development and resource saving.