Payesh
Year:2013 | Volume:12 | Issue:6|Papers Count:15

Objective (s): Human development is about the realization of human potentials. The aim of this study was to understand the relation of human development index and its subsets on maternal mortality.Methods: This was a descriptive analysis of information derived from Human Development database and the World Health Organization data from 1990 to 2010 for 135 countries.Results: The average maternal mortality rate in 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2010 for the Asia, Europe, Africa, America and the Pacific were 202, 23, 637, 134 and 12 (in 100000live births), respectively. The highest human development index was reported for Oceania with the value of 0.882 and the lowest reported for Africa with the value of 0.430. From 1990 to 2008 the average maternal mortality rate has fallen 2.1 percent annually.Correlation between maternal mortality and the human development index were -0.879. The maternal mortality rates were correlated with life expectancy, per capita income and education -0.886, -0.515 and -0.827. (P value <0.01) There was also a significant relationship between livings in different continents and maternal mortality (P value <0.05).Conclusion: Human development index is one of the best indicators and predictor for understanding health in different countries. Improving these indicators might improve maternal health.

Objective (s): Depression is a common mental disorder. In Iran it counts third for the disease burden. A systematic review of the literature was carried out to collect data on the existing evidence on the topic in Iran.Methods: The search strategy included a combination of key words ‘depression’ and ‘Iran’. The intention was to review all full publications that have been appeared in Persian and English language biomedical journals during the last ten years (2000-2010).Results: A total of 56 papers (44 papers in Persian and 12 papers in English) were intensified and reviewed. Overall the prevalence of depression reported to vary from 6% to 73% in different populations. Females reported higher depression compared to males (about twice). Depression in rural areas was higher than urban areas. Widowed reported higher depression. There were a considerable number of papers on female depression and infertility (16 out of 56 papers).Conclusion: The findings from this rapid systematic review suggest that in general the prevalence of depression in Iran especially among some populations is high. It seems that the future attempt should be focused on risk factors, prevention strategies and perhaps timely treatment of patients.

Objective (s): The objective of this study was to calculating the costs of radiology in four teaching hospitals affiliated to Ardebil University of Medical Sciences, Ardebil, Iran.Methods: This was a cross- sectional study for calculating the costs of radiology services by using activity based costing technique in radiology departments of four selected hospitals. The Data were extracted from existing documents in hospital to calculate total cost of the radiology services.Results: The direct costs including the cost of films and personnel were the major cost of radiology services. When the mean cost for two preceding years were studied, the average unit costs were 102737, 96422, 90968 and 8914 Rials in Imam Khomeini, Alavi, Dr. Fatemi and Bou-Ali hospitals at first year and 112530, 10820, 107242 and 10325 in second years.Conclusion: It seems that unnecessary referrals and financial administration of hospitals in terms of planning and allocating of resources led to increasing average radiology services costs.

Objective (s): To translate and validate the ‘Climate Innovation Questionnaire’ in Iran.Methods: A team of professionals evaluated the content validity. Internal consistency of questions was assessed by the Cronbach's alpha. Twenty experts and faculty members responded to the questionnaire twice within 2-week intervals and test-retest was performed to calculate interclass correlation (ICC).Results: Eleven professionals evaluated content validity. The Cronbach's alpha for all areas of the questionnaire (vision and strategic objectives, risk and acceptance of failures, interdisciplinary or inter-professional teams, college relations, measuring innovation, transparency and honesty and appropriate behavior with faculty members and staffs) had acceptable internal consistency. The ICC in all areas was over 0.7 except for interdisciplinary teams, or between professional relations at the university, appropriate behavior with faculty members and staffs, and transparency and honesty.Conclusion: The present translation of the ‘Innovation Climate Questionnaire’ showed appropriate reliability and validity and can be used in assessing innovation infrastructure in Iranian organizations.

Objective (s): This study was, designed to evaluate the effect of an educational program on postpartum depression among primiparous women.Methods: This was a quasi-experimental study carried out in two urban health centers in Sanandaj, Iran. The intervention group received an educational program on postpartum depression in three sessions: 10-14 days, 6 and 8 weeks after delivery. Each session that lasted for 20 minutes. In addition, booklets were circulated to mothers for guidance. The control group (mothers) only received the routine postpartum care. Both groups completed The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale 8 and 12 weeks after delivery and were compared between two groups.Results: There was no significant difference between the two groups at baseline. However, there was a significant difference between depression scores in two groups one month after intervention (P=0.001).Conclusion: The results showed that the educational program among primiparous mothers was effective.

Objective (s): Sleep disturbance is a common complains during pregnancy and occur as a result of physiologic, hormonal, and physical changes associated with pregnancy. This study aimed to determine prevalence of sleep disorders in the pregnant women.Methods: This was a cross sectional study of 312 pregnant women aged 20 to 40 years old in Maku, Azarbyejan, Iran. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index was used to collect the data. Descriptive and analytical statistics were used to explore the data.Results: The means score sleep quality was 7.78 (SD=± 3.14) and prevalence of sleep disturbance in pregnant women was 87.2 %. There were significant relationship between sleep disorder and excessive sleeping and fatigue, urinary frequency, husband smoking and education.Conclusion: The findings suggest that a high proportion of pregnant women suffer from sleep disturbance. It seems that providing necessary care for these women is essential.

Objective (s): Postmenopausal women are at risk for developing cardiovascular disease because metabolic changes occur after menopause. This study was performed to compare the effects of two types of surgical and natural menopause on metabolic syndrome and its components 3 to 4 years before and after menopause.Methods: This was a retrospective study. Of 5191 women of the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study (TLGS), 437 postmenopausal women aged 20-60 years were selected (373 natural menopause and 64 surgically menopause) and followed up for approximately 9 years. Data was collected using the TLGS questionnaires.Results: During the follow-up period, changes in metabolic and biochemical profiles were compared between surgically and natural menopause women. The incidences of metabolic syndrome in surgical menopause and natural menopause were 15.6 and 9.9% respectively at follow up period. The means systolic blood pressure and serum LDL levels in natural menopause were significantly higher than in surgically menopausal women.Conclusion: It seems the metabolic disorders associated with menopause differ in surgically and natural menopause women, with age being the most influential factor. Postmenopausal aging women should have regular checkups.

Objective (s): To investigate the relationship between dietary intake of iron, zinc, calcium, maternal serum concentration of iron, zinc, calcium, lead and pregnancy outcomes.Methods: This paper presents the design, and methodology applied in the current study. In a prospective longitudinal study, 1033 pregnant women from 10 hospitals in Tehran were followed up from 14 to 20 weeks of pregnancy to 24 hours after delivery.Results: Questionnaire data, anthropometric measurements and blood samples were collected and the follow-up for adverse pregnancy outcomes estimated.Conclusion: The important features distinguishing this study from previous ones are discussed. This paper provides important information on micronutrients and pregnancy outcomes. In addition, it is hoped that the findings of this study will help health care providers to make evidence based decisions about micronutrients supplementation during pregnancy.

Objective (s): Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common chronic endocrine disorder. It has significant and diverse clinical consequences including reproductive, metabolic, psychological morbidity. The study aimed to investigate about women’s experiences and quality of life.Methods: This was an exploratory qualitative and quantitative sequential study. Semi-structured open-ended interviews were conducted with 23 women with polycystic ovary syndrome aged 18 to 40 years. The research was carried out at a reproductive endocrinology research center affiliated to Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. Interviews were continued to reach data saturation. All interviews were recorded and transcribed. Then content analysis was used to explore the data.Results: Women indicated several factors that affected their quality of life including physical problems, mental dimensions and issues related to role functioning. Physical problems were included obesity, hirsutism, hair loss, acne, menstrual disorders, and general health disorders. The mental, emotional, cognitive and social dimensions were included depression, hopelessness, fear and anxiety, disgruntle, introversion, low self-esteem, feelings of shame and embarrassment, poor sense of self and humiliation relative to peers, being abnormal, feeling of weakness, mental engagement and poor concentration, inability of problem solving and planning, lingering isolationism and withdrawal, inability to express their problems, blame by husband because of infertility and limitations of participating in public gatherings. The role functioning was included limitations in gender related roles, loss of characteristics of feminity and appearance of masculinity and disorder of marital relationship.Conclusion: The findings suggest women who suffer from PCOS require special support in various aspects of their care. Indeed these women should receive optimal care and support.

Objective (s): The purpose of this cross sectional study was to assess quality of life in nurses working in Zanjan, Iran.Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in university hospitals in Zanjan. 241 nurses of eight teaching hospitals were selected through cluster sampling with probability proportional to size in 2011. The participants were asked to fill in a demographic and professional data sheet, and the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36).Results: There was significant correlation between age, marital statuse, sex, disability and QOL; and 3 work related factors: type of overtime hours, experience, job interest. QOL in the nurses was less optimal in comparison with the general population norms.Conclusion: The results suggest that nursing job plays a significant role in QOL of the nurses. Accordingly, interventional programs designed to target relieving occupational stress, adjusting behavioral habits and increasing coping resources may be useful to improve QOL among medical professionals.

Objective (s): Diabetes is the most common metabolic disease with an increasing prevalence throughout the world due to the changes in life style. Appropriate self-care promotes the life condition of people with chronic illnesses, and reduces the side effects of such diseases and it has been proved that the perception of the patient about her/his efficacy in self-care is one of the most important factors in her/his success, so this study was designed to develop a scale for evaluating self-efficacy for self-care in middle-aged patients (30-60 years old) with type II diabetes.Methods: This was a two-phase study that was conducted during 2009 to 2011 in Tehran, Iran. First, an item pool was prepared according to the literature, focus group discussions, and expert panel. In the quantitative part of the study; content, face and construct validity using factor analysis (both exploratory and confirmatory) were performed and reliability (internal consistency and test-retest) was determined for assessing the psychometric properties of the scale.Results: A 21-item questionnaire was developed through the qualitative phase. In face and content validity process 3 items were dropped. Exploratory factor analysis loaded 17 items with a five-factor solution (nutrition, physical activity, self-monitoring of blood glucose, foot care and smoking) that jointly accounted for 67.4% of observed variance. The confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fit to the data. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient indicated a good consistency (a=0.85), and test-retest of the scale with 2-weeks interval confirmed appropriate stability for the scale (ICC=0.81).Conclusion: The findings showed the designed questionnaire can assess the self-efficacy for self-care in middle-aged (30-60 years old) patients with type II diabetes. It is a short and easy to use questionnaire and contains the 5 most important diabetes related behaviors which need self-efficacy for self-care.

Objective (s): To explore predictors of the sedentary behavior, this current descriptive, analytical study was developed among a sample of adolescents in Tabriz, Iran.Methods: Information on adolescent sedentary behaviors including TV viewing, video game playing and physical activity was collected by using A modified version of the Adolescent Physical Activity and Recall Questionnaire (APARQ). In addition an anonymous self-administrated questionnaire used to collect data on demographic characteristics, perceived family support and self-efficacy. Logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the association between sedentary behavior and independent variables including gender, psychosocial predictors and modrate, vigorouse physical activity.Results: In all 402 adolescent students were studied. The mean age of students was 12.93 (SD=0.49) years; and 51.5 % was female. Overall the mean time of sedentary behaviors on adolescents was 193.55 (SD=99.15) minutes/day, this figure for girls and boys were 170.25 (SD=89.20) and 218.25 (SD=103.34) minutes/day (P<0.001) respectively. The results obtained from multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that male gender (OR=3.01, 95%CI=1.64-4.64, P<0.001), mother employment (OR=2.36, 95%CI=1.19-4.67, P=0.013), self-efficacy (OR=1.10, 95% CI=0.94-0.99, P=0.006) were the most significant contributing factors to the high level of sedentary behavior on adolescents. Gender, mother employment and low perceived self-efficacy were recognized as the main predictors of attaching to sedentary behaviors.Conclusion: It seems that sedentary behaviors independent on adolescent physical activity levels are a psycho environmental problem. Specefic preventive programe should be developed independendly on adolescent moderate, vigrouse physical activity.