Journal of Research and Health
Year:2013 | Volume:3 | Issue:1|Papers Count:8

Today, “Computer Decision Support Systems” are designed and used in various fields of science. In this new atmosphere, “Expert Systems”, as a sub-branch of Artificial Intelligence, play a central role. In Expert Systems, decisions are made by the computer. Expert Systems are knowledge-based systems that initially acquire knowledge from an expert person, and then transfer it to the computer, so that by making decisions based on the data collected, they can be of help to humans. So far, many Expert Systems have been presented in various fields like industry, control, space, financial decisions, etc.Expert Systems have also found their way into medicine. For example; Dendral software program (1965) to describe and express molecular structure, MYCIN software (1976) for diagnosis of coronary heart diseases, VM for monitoring Intensive Care patients, CADCUCEUS for diagnosing internal medicine related diseases, BLUEBOX for diagnosis and treatment of depression, as well as systems that detect acidic electrolytes, and management of anesthesia education.

Adolescence is fraught with physical and psychological changes, including trait level changes in major domains of personality. Trying to adapt a person with physical and emotional mood changes may cause a negative influence on the development of mental disorders in adolescents. Thus, a plan should be developed for awareness in relation to these modifications until the needs of adolescents in the sensitive period are met. The purpose of the quasi-experimental study was to investigate the effect of puberty mental health training on fear of body image and adjustment in male second graders at high schools in Ahvaz. This study attended by 30 students (15 in experimental and 15 control groups) who had a fear of body image and low adjustment. We used multi-stage random sampling method. For the boys of the experimental group, mental health training were designed and implemented in eight sessions for two months. After the meetings, the two variables of fear of body image and adjustment were measured with Littleton, Axsom, and Pury body image concern inventory and Sinha and Singh Adjustment Inventory for high School Students. Difference in mean scores of fear of body image (P<0.001) and adjustment (P<0.001) in case group was statistically significant compared with the control group. The education with planning and better coordination between psychologists and schools for all students in the puberty age be implemented so that to prevent and control the crises, which may endanger the future of the juvenile, proper action should be taken.

AIDS is a medical health phenomenon who’s social, cultural and economic dimensions are very widespread. Little information about this disease is emerging because of its recent development. Regarding the youth and adolescent, these are the groups most at risk of infection to AIDS, and the only means of controlling the disease is education and increasing knowledge. So, this study is aimed at comparing the effect of two methods of film display and educational booklets on the knowledge and attitude of girl students towards AIDS. This study was a semi-experimental study, 600 girl students from among girl students of Zahedan city were chosen using cluster sampling in 2009. They were divided into 3 groups (showing movies, educational booklet and control). The data were collected by a structured questionnaire in two stages, before and after the intervention. The obtained data were analyzed by SPSS software V.15 at significant level of 0.05. In order to compare the level of knowledge before and after the intervention, Chi-square and Exact Fisher tests were employed. There was a significant difference in level of knowledge between the groups before and after intervention (P=0.00), attitude of showing movies group was more positive than that of the other two groups (P=0.001). In conclusion, for improving the knowledge about AIDS, showing movie method is more effective than the booklet method in girl students.

Social capital as a concept which is related to social contextand as a new element besides other factors like environmental, Genetic and individual factors has attracted interests of professional and authorities in national and international levels. This approach has attracted attentions in low-income countries which have source limitations for interventions. This paper introduces concepts regarding social capital and health relationship, and a review on experimental and theoretical literature as well. A review research conducted by reviewing scientific databases on the net. The study includes English & Persian papers published thought 1990-2009 which studied empirically or theoretically the relationship between social capital (and its components) and physical or mental health. Empirical results shows some evidence for the positive relationship between the two, but in some social contexts, factors like poverty, violence and individual differences (like gender) may result in decreasing of intensity of or disappearing the relationship. There are three main theoretical mechanisms to explain the relationship: promoting pro-Health behavior, facilitating access to services and the effect of psychological process. Finally critics and limitations in the study of social capital and health relation is explained.

Community assessment is a process in which the active participation of community members develops strategies and programs to address the strengths and weaknesses of the community and prioritize and solve them. This study is aimed to assess society and determine its health priorities in order to establish operational plan to solve its problems with population participation. This research is based on the MPH training courses and North Carolina models that were conducted in two main phases: The first phase was a descriptive study. The second phase focused on target population’s viewpoint by qualitative methods that were conducted by focus group discussions and individual in-depth interviews. The purpose of this step was to determine community problems priorities in order to reach data saturation by semi-structured interviews and group meetings with 80 members of urban population aged 15 to 65 years old. Extracted problems were prioritized using the Hanlon method. Improper disposal of sewage, urban sewage disposal, lack of recreational spaces and sports, stray dogs, narrow streets, lack of medical facilities in hospitals, forced and early marriages for girls, use non-native and disqualified managers, high prevalence of depression among the youth and lack of capital and natural resources were recognized as main problems in the studied society. Utilization of community assessment methods based on the problems recognition models in urban health system can be used as an effective tool in promoting community health through underlying weaknesses and strengths and leading capitals towards prioritized problems.

The present study aimed at determining the effectiveness of Stress management training using cognitive - behavioral strategies on social adjustment of depressed women. 40 Samples were selected from among patients with depression disorders referring to counseling centers and psychiatric clinics of Isfahan. Samples were randomly placed in two intervention and control groups 20 each. The intervention group received eight 90 minutes sessions of stress management training using cognitive-behavioral method. Both groups were asked to fill in cooper's stress and bell's adjustment Inventory Questionnaires both before the intervention and one month after. The data collected were analyzed using covariance analysis. Results indicated an equality of variance in stress and social adjustment variables. The intervention group Showed a significant difference between pre-test and post-test scores on stress and social adjustment levels (P<0.001). There also existed a Significance difference between post-test adjusted means of both groups regarding stress (F=12.45, P<0.001) and social adjustment (F=6.88, P=0.01). It is concluded that Stress management training using cognitive-behavioral strategies plays a major role in correcting social information processing patterns and consequently in the formation of social adjustment in the patients under study.

Adolescence is the most important stage of every individual, and puberty is one of the most critical phenomena of this period. According to the important role of parents in helping children for safe and healthy transition of this stage, and the first step in educational program is need assessment of target group so, this study aimed to determine effect of need assessment-based education on father's attitude toward puberty health in male adolescents. This study is a quasi-experimental and the field trial. After determining fathers’ educational needs by separate descriptive survey, a one-day educational workshop was planned. 30 subjects were randomly selected. Fathers' opinion measured by a researcher-made questionnaire and compared, before and after intervention. The data were analyzed by statistical software SPSS using Chi-square, paired t-test and Wilcoxon. The results indicates that there was a significant difference between total mean score as well as level of knowledge in pre-and post-intervention (P<0.001). There was a significant difference between total mean score of opinion about psychological-behavioral health and physical and sexual health in pre-and post-intervention (P<0.001), but level of opinion have no significant difference in before and after intervention (P=0.4). The results showed that needs assessment-based educational program can promote the opinion of parents about puberty period in male adolescents. This makes them better able to help their children for healthy transition of this critical period.

When patients are at high risk of dying, their families experience burdens such as decision making on treatment choices and concern about the patient's condition that can cause the families' psychological symptoms. The aim of this study was to assess the main psychological reaction of the patients' family members in intensive care units. This analytical study was conducted by using Depression, Anxiety and Stress questionnaire (DASS 42) on 244 family members of patients hospitalized in intensive care units in Zahedan hospitals. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, statistical t-test, Kruskal-Wallis, and regression using the statistical software SPSS-16. Overall, 68%, 57.3% and 46.7 percent of the patients' family members had moderate to very severe anxiety, depression and stress, respectively. The mean score of depression, anxiety and stress in the ICU wards were significantly higher than that in CCU wards (P=0.001). The results of multivariate regression also showed that the only type of ward (ICU, CCU) can be a good predictor of psychological reactions of the family members of patients. Considering the fact that the admission of family members in hospitals, especially in the intensive care units, causes overwhelming psychological tension, the factors related to stress, anxiety and depression in the family members must be identified. To reduce the psychological reactions of family members, communication and psychological support through the use of family-centered care is necessary.