Journal of Isfahan Medical School
Year:2023 | Volume:41 | Issue:720|Papers Count:3

Background: This study aimed to investigate the radiological (deformity) and clinical outcomes following two types of medical or surgical treatments in children with spinal trauma.Methods: This study was conducted as a retrospective cohort study containing patients from a 13 years period (2007-2019). Patients under 18 years of age who underwent medical or surgical treatment in one trauma center due to spine trauma in the thoracic and/or lumbar parts were evaluated and followed up. Demographic characteristics, mechanism of injury, clinical, radiological conditions and type of treatment were extracted from medical records. At the time of follow-up, after evaluating the neurological status and spine imaging, the primary and secondary characteristics of the patients were compared.Findings: A total of 79 patients with an average age of 14.36 ± 3.5 years were included in this study and followed up for an average of 36 months. The fracture was single level in 42 patients and the most common form was compression. Primary neurological deficit was present in 14% of patients, of which 2.6% had incomplete deficit and the rest had paraplegic manifestations. Thirty eight patients were treated surgically. More than one third of patients with neurological deficit at the initial examination, finally had neurological improvement and regained independence in performing personal activities. Finally 2.53% of patients had scoliosis at the time of follow-up. Scoliosis was more common in patients who underwent surgery. Multiple level fractures were associated with lower amounts of thoracic kyphosis.Conclusion: It appears that using the Thoracolumbar Injury Classification and Severity Scale (TLICS) with a more surgical threshold for decision making would be benefical.

Background: The high prevalence of dementia worldwide and its assosiated psychological consequences, including caregiving burden and compassion fatigue, puts the mental health of their caregivers at risk. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of emotion efficacy therapy on caregiving burden and compassion fatigue in caregivers of patients with dementia.Methods: This was a semi-experimental research of pre-test-post-test type with a control group, which was conducted in 2022 among caregivers of dementia patients referred to neurology clinics in Isfahan city. Thirty participants were selected through purposeful sampling, based on inclusion and exclusion criteria and randomly assigned to either the experimental or control group. The experimental group received eight weekly 90-minute sessions of emotional efficiency therapy. The research tool was Zarit's burden of care and Stamm's professional life quality questionnaires. After analyzing the data, it was done with repeated measures variance analysis.Findings: The effect of EET on reducing caregiving burden and compassion fatigue in the post-test is 16.1% and 17.4%, respectively. The effect of EET on caregiving burden and compassion fatigue variables in the follow-up phase is 15.2% and 15.6%, respectively. The difference between the two groups is not significant in the pre-test stage, but in the post-test and follow-up stages, a significant difference has been obtained between the control group and the test in both variables.Conclusion: Emotion efficacy therapy significantly reduces caregiving burden and compassion fatigue in caregivers of patients with dementia.

Background: The present study was conducted to determine the relationship between personality traits, demographic factors, current substance/medication use, and physical activity with academic burnout among medical students, and examine the moderating role of physical activity in the association between personality traits and academic burnout.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, implemented in Zahedan city in 2018, a total of 400 medical students from the four stages of basic sciences, physiopathology, stagership, and internship were selected by quota sampling method and evaluated using demographic information form, Baecke Physical Activity Questionnaire, Temperament and Character Inventory, and Breso’s Academic Burnout Questionnaire. In order to analyze the data, descriptive and inferential statistical tests (including Kruskal-Wallis test, Spearman's correlation coefficient, and hierarchical regression analysis).Findings: 156 men and 244 women participated in this study. The overall frequency of current substance/medication use and academic burnout were reported to be 27.5 and 25.8 percent, respectively. The obtained results showed that physical activity, persistence, and cooperativeness negatively correlated with academic burnout, while years in medical school, substance/medication use, and novelty seeking positively related to academic burnout. Regression analysis further revealed a moderating effect of physical activity on the relationship between novelty seeking and academic burnout.Conclusion: It seems that addressing factors such as personality differences, years in medical school, current substance/medications use, and orientation towards regular physical activities could significantly impact the levels of burnout among medical students’.