Chronic Diseases Journal
Year:2019 | Volume:7 | Issue:4|Papers Count:12

BACKGROUND: Some of the oral lesions including malignant tumors of mesenchymal and epithelial origin have same clinical features. Most of them are white or red patches with undermined edge. Also, in some cases, the microscopic view of histopathologic examination is not diagnostic. So, the integration of clinical and pathological information leads to the correct diagnosis. The aim of this study was the evaluation of consistency rate between clinical and histopathological diagnosis of oral malignant tumors of mesenchymal and epithelial origin. METHODS: This cross-sectional retrospective study was performed in four centers of oral pathology of Hamedan University of Medical Sciences, Hamedan, Iran, during January to June, 2016. The data were collected using the archived files of patients. Collected data from the files included age, sex, lesion location, lesion type, and first and second clinical and histopathologic diagnosis. Finally, histopathological findings were compared with the first and second clinical diagnosis. Data were analyzed using SPSS software. RESULTS: Ninety-one and seventy-nine of studied files were related to men and women, respectively. Most frequent malignant lesion was related to squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) (52. 9%), followed by melanoma (29. 4%). The consistency rate of first and second clinical and histopathologic diagnosis was 68. 2% and 15. 2%, respectively. Higher consistency rate was observed in melanoma, SCC, and fibrosarcoma lesions. CONCLUSION: High inconsistency rate between clinical and histopathological diagnosis was found in some cases which may have originated from low diagnostic knowledge of clinicians or their misconception from misdiagnosis. Therefore, the improvement of knowledge and awareness of clinicians by conducting retraining courses is necessary.

BACKGROUND: Hypertension is an important health problem in developed countries and the risk factors of this complication are related to the individuals’ lifestyle, with most of them being modifiable. The present study was conducted with the aim to investigate the relationship between lifestyle and primary hypertension among the people referring to health centers of Tangestan Town, Iran, in 2017. METHODS: This study was a case-control study carried out on 100 patients with hypertension and 100 subjects as the control group living in the villages of Tangestan who had a health record in health centers. Data were collected through the international health promoting behaviors (HPLP-II) questionnaire and were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics in SPSS software. RESULTS: The mean and standard deviation (SD) of the body mass index (BMI) scores were 26. 27 ± 4. 09 and 26. 20 ± 4. 30 in the case and control groups, respectively, and there was no significance difference between the two groups (P > 0. 050). The mean total score of overall health promotion behavior in the case and control groups was respectively 133. 27 ± 29. 72 and 135. 84 ± 29. 39 out of 208. In the case and control groups, the highest and lowest scores in the subgroups were associated with the nutritional status and physical activity, respectively. However, there was no significant difference between the lifestyle dimensions of the two groups (P > 0. 050). CONCLUSION: Regarding overweight and lack of activity among the studied participants, it is necessary to perform the intervention based on psychological principles for the people prone to hypertension, especially those having positive history among their family members.

BACKGROUND: Adolescence is the most risky part of life for beginning of substance abuse. Substance use in adolescence can affect the rest of the person's life in addition to his youth. The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of substance abuse and its related factors among high school students in the city of Divandarreh, Kurdistan Province, Iran, in 2018. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study. The statistical population consisted of all high school students (16-18 years old) in Divandarreh City in 2018. The sample size was 386. The instruments of this study were demographic information and Zargar et al. addiction questionnaires. Data were entered into SPSS software and chi-square test was used to evaluate the analytical data. RESULTS: According to the results, 279 (75%) of students had low addiction tendency, 66 (17%) had moderate addiction tendency, and 25 (6%) tended to severe addiction. 117 students (31%) had at least one experience of using alcohol, smoking, drugs, and other substances and 53 (15%) claimed daily consumption of substances and drugs. There was a significant relationship between sex (P = 0. 001), father's education (P = 0. 028), mother's education (P = 0. 011), father's job (P = 0. 001), educational grade (P = 0. 002), economic status (P < 0. 001), and average of study (P = 0. 019) with substance abuse tendency. CONCLUSION: According to the results of this study, providing a quiet and full of confidence environment for adolescents should be one of the fundamental priorities of each family. In addition to this result, parents' educational growth leads to less willingness of children to addiction.

BACKGROUND: The main components in controlling and treating seizures are antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). Mostly, the systemic side effects of these drugs are regarded very important; however, these drugs can also cause serious mucocutaneous side effects. Carbamazepine is a drug which is used to treat epilepsy. Side effects of this drug can range from skin rash to toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) and Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS). The purpose of this study was to evaluate skin complications of carbamazepine in children with epilepsy. METHODS: This study was performed on 99 children, aged 2 months to 11 years, with the diagnosis of skin complications after taking carbamazepine. Records were examined and their initial profiles including their medical skin conditions and rashes were recorded within the checklist. Data were entered into SPSS software. Measures of central tendency and dispersion were achieved. Finally, the relationship between the drug and the cutaneous reactions of these patients was analyzed using the chi-square test. RESULTS: The most common complications among the patients were maculopapular lesions and skin erythroderma, with the prevalence of 37. 4% for each. Other types of skin lesions included papules with 14. 1%, macules with 8. 1%, and SJS with 3. 0%. A significant association (P = 0. 02) between the types of the skin lesion and the dose of carbamazepine was observed; the more the dosage was, the more severe skin lesions were. CONCLUSION: The most common cutaneous reactions to carbamazepine were erythroderma and maculopapular rash in the patients. The findings of this study also revealed that the lack of drug compliance was of high importance.

BACKGROUND: Since the concept of hope in the family members of patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) is of particular importance and the role of this concept in the health of this group of people is evident, it seems that a valid and reliable scale for measuring this concept is necessary. The purpose of this study was to design a hope measurement questionnaire for family members of patients admitted to the ICU of Besat Hospital in Sanandaj, Iran. METHODS: The families of patients in the ICUs were selected using the convenience sampling method and completed the "Hope Questionnaire" along with demographic characteristics questionnaire and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) (criterion scale). The validity of the instrument was determined by construct validity and criterion validity and the reliability was evaluated through calculation of internal correlation coefficient and test-retest. Data were analyzed by factor analysis, correlation coefficients, and Cronbach's alpha. RESULTS: The items having the most factor loading were named based on the nature and size of the variables from which the extracted factors had the most share. First factor, including 15 items alone, represented 14. 867% of the total variance and was named "Optimistic Thinking towards the Future" and the second factor, representing 14. 666% of the total variance, was named "Pessimistic Thinking towards the Future" which had 7 items. The correlation between the scores of Hope Scale and the BDI, which was performed for assessing the criterion validity of the scale (P < 0. 01). CONCLUSION: The Hope Scale helps researchers gauge the different dimensions of hope through a deeper understanding of this concept. The scale had high validity and reliability in all fields. Considering the simplicity of its application and implementation, it can be used in various researches in which hope is considered as one of the studied variables.

BACKGROUND: Addiction to stimuli causes malfunction and morphologic changes in the nervous system. Representation of these changes in exclusive functions is accompanied by contradictory findings. This study was conducted aiming to compare the executive functions of two groups of users and non-users of methamphetamine in Tehran, Iran. METHODS: This study was conducted in the form of a case– control study from October 2014 to March 2014. In this regard, 30 men who were active users of methamphetamine and 35 men who were in abstinence phase in Tehran were selected using respondent-driven sampling (RDS) method and assigned into two groups. The executive functions of the two groups were evaluated using the software version of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and the data were analyzed using t-test and chi-square test using SPSS software. RESULTS: The exclusive function index in methamphetamine users significantly decreased in comparison with the control group. Also, the preservation errors in consumer group were greater than the control group (P < 0. 050). CONCLUSION: The results of this study showed that exclusive functions in stimulant users were associated with significant damage. Considering the importance of executive functions as a mediating factor in the recurrence of consumption, it is desirable to decrease the function of this index in the treatment of dependence to methamphetamine to be on the center of clinical attention.

BACKGROUND: Early maladaptive schemas (EMSs) and difficulty in emotion regulation are mechanisms leading to dysfunctional behaviors and reduction of mental health; hence, this study aimed to compare EMSs, emotion regulation, and general health in prisoners and non-prisoners. METHODS: The research method was causal-comparative (post-event). Statistical society comprised all of prisoners and non-prisoners in Fuman City in Iran. Of them, 100 prisoners were selected using random sampling and they were compared with 100 matched non-prisoner men based on the inclusion criteria and. Non-prisoners were matched with prisoners in terms of age, job, and education level. Both groups filled out Young Early Maladaptive Schemas Questionnaire (YEMSQ), Persian version of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ-P), and 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). Data were analyzed using independent t-test and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). RESULTS: A significant difference was observed between two groups in total score of EMSs, emotion regulation, and general health (P < 0. 001). CONCLUSION: There is a significant difference between two groups in general health, maladaptive schema, and emotion regulation which indicates that EMSs, inability to regulate emotions, and low general health could play a critical role in criminal behaviors.

BACKGROUND: Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery remains the gold standard treatment for left main coronary artery and multivessel disease. In the last decade, arterial conduit clearly has had superiority over venous conduit. The aim of this study is to report and compare both types of conduit in Erbil Cardiac Center, Iraq. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was used to compare patients who received total arterial grafts (n = 25) with patients who had saphenous-vein bypass grafts (n = 25), at the point of gender, age, operation duration, postoperative complications, hospital stay, and the 6-month cardiac ejection fraction (EF) improvement. RESULTS: All patients of arterial group were men in comparison to 68% men versus 32% women in venous group; mean age of the patients was 50 years and 61 years for arterial and venous conduits, respectively. Duration of operation was 3. 97 hours and 4. 27 hours, hospital stay was 5. 42 days and 7. 20 days, and EF improvement was 11. 48% and 4. 40% for arterial and venous conduits, respectively. Although the duration of operation was not statistically significant, the total duration of hospital stay and EF improvement were statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Arterial conduit has started in the last decades. Although it technically needs more accuracy and time, it has a better outcome compared to the venous conduit.

BACKGROUND: Human errors in the medical profession can lead to irreparable errors in people's lives, damage, and heavy costs. Among health care workers, nurses spend more time with patients compared to other personnel; hence, they are more prone to human error. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify and evaluate human errors using the Standardized Plant Analysis Risk-Human Reliability Analysis (SPAR-H) method in nursing staff of a general hospital in Qazvin Province, Iran. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in a general hospital in Qazvin during last 6 months of 2016 and first 6 months of 2017. The target population in the present study was nursing groups based on their highest work experience, from each section in hospital. The SPAR-H method was used to investigate human error in the population and the collected data were analyzed using SPSS software. RESULTS: The highest error related to inappropriate venipuncture with probability of 0. 7, and the least probable error related to error in entering the numbers of vital signs with the probability of 0. 0045. CONCLUSION: Due to the sensitivity of the role of nurses in hospitals, the need for increased workforce, the use of people with higher work experience in sensitive sectors, reducing overtime even for those who volunteered to work overtime, scientific scheduling of the personnel’ s work shifts, and providing practical training such as stress control methods in case of emergencies can be effective in reducing the probability of an error.

BACKGROUND: Futures studies is a managerial tool which is also regarded as a soft knowledge to gather the information on what may happen in the future or what is more likely to happen mainly to reduce risk factors. This study aims to identify the favorable future and the most probable occurring scenarios concerning the demands in the healthcare services and medical treatments in Sanandaj City, Iran. METHODS: In this study, environmental monitoring, Delphi method, and scenario planning were utilized. To determine the drivers of content and the periphery, we used a non-structured questionnaire. A total of 12 experts in the field of medicine, management, sociology, psychology, and economics as well as health care management participated in the study. RESULTS: In the present study, in order to calculate the scenario planning and relative data analysis, we reflected on the morphology between the key factors that influenced the health care. Two important uncertainties were identified: the quality of service by suppliers and the level of attitudinal knowledge of the clients. In addition, using a cross (matrix) method, we were able to identify four passable future scenarios. CONCLUSION: Based on the findings and results of this study, Apple Health Scenario, where two uncertainties of suppliers' services of a qualitative increase status, and the increasing level of knowledge and attitude of health applicants, have the best conditions. Consequently, a favorable future will be required for health services, health and medical treatment and other future prospects will not be desirable for this matter.

BACKGROUND: Academic achievement is considered as one of the main results of the educational system and focusing on factors affecting it is of great importance. The present study was performed with the aim to determine the relationship between handedness and academic achievement in high school students in Sanandaj City, Iran, in 2016. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study the population of which included the high school students of Sanandaj and 2630 pupils were selected from among them. The study tool was the Annette's questionnaire. To measure the academic achievement, the average score of the first semester of the 2016-2017 school year of the students was used. The collected data were analyzed using the SPSS software and descriptive and statistical tests such as the Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests. RESULTS: Among the samples, 7. 7%, 87. 4%, 4. 9% were left handed, right handed, and of no handedness, respectively. The average score of handedness in the school children was 16. 75 ± 11. 99 out of 24. There was no relationship between academic achievement and handedness (P = 0. 105). CONCLUSION: The results suggested that other factors than handedness affect the success and academic achievement of the students.

A 60-year-old man was referred to our clinic with new-onset dyspepsia. Our patient was a known case of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), hypertension, diabetes mellitus type II, and coronary artery disease (CAD). On physical examination, vital signs were normal, but mild splenomegaly was noted that was confirmed by abdominal ultrasound...