International Journal of Health Studies
Year:2018 | Volume:4 | Issue:2|Papers Count:8

among the elderly, significantly affecting other aspects of health. This study attempted to explore the extent to which the elderly benefit from social support and the contributing factors among the elderly living in Shahroud, northeastern Iran. Methods: During 2015-2016, a total of 496 elderly residents of Shahroud were selected through random cluster sampling method. Data were collected by a questionnaire for capturing demographic variables (age, sex, marital status, educational level, number of children and grandchildren, economic status, health status, diseases) and Lubben Social Network Scale (LSNS). The data were analyzed through independent t-test, simple and multiple linear regressions, and ANOVA. Results: Of the 496 elderly participants in the study, 273 (55. 3%) were female with a mean age of 67. 9± 7. 84 years old. The mean score of social support achieved by the elderly was 9. 0, ranging from 8. 19-9. 81 at the confidence interval of 95%. There was no significant relationship between age and social support (P=0. 9). However, there was a significant relationship between social support and marital status. The difference in the average score of social support in married elderly was significantly less than that of single, widow(er), and divorced elderly (P<0. 001). Conclusions: The elderly in Shahroud were poorly covered by social support. In order to improve this situation, it is crucial to devise appropriate plans on family to population scale.

Kawasaki disease is an acute febrile systemic disease with unknown etiology that often affects children younger than 5 years of age. Common symptoms are fever, noninfectious conjunctivitis, inflammation of the mucous membranes and macular skin complications. Severe abdominal pain is a non-common symptom of the disease. Abdominal pain can be reduced with medical and conservative treatment. The patient is a 4-year-old female who referred with fever and severe abdominal pain. She underwent an unnecessary appendectomy due to lack of timely diagnosis. With careful attention to the uncommon symptoms of the disease and early administration of intravenous immunoglobulin and control of coronary aneurysm, the child was discharged with good condition.

Background: Swimming pool and similar aquatic environments are polluted as a result of emitting the chemical and biological compounds produced in swimmers’ body including urine, sweat, saliva, body cells, body dust, respiratory and gastrointestinal tract microorganisms. Thus, in the present study, the concentration of chemical contaminants was investigated in swimming pools in Shahroud, Iran. Methods: This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted in 6 active swimming pools in Shahroud, Iran in summer 2016. In this study, the arameters of Paraben, Triclosan and Hydroquinone were measured in the laboratory. Water sampling was carried out every 10 days, when the pool was occupied by a large number of swimmers. Cosmetics was measured by a high-performance liquid chromatography apparatus equipped with a detector. The results were analyzed using SPSS software (ver. 15). Results: 6 swimming pools were studied in the current study. The results of the study proved the existence of cosmetic compounds like hydroquinone, PropylParaben and Triclosan with maximum average in part per billion(ppb), as for swimming pools used by the ladies, their corresponded amounts were obtained as 243, 1672. 11 and 200. 8ppb, respectively whereas for Jacuzzi, these amounts were obtained as 616. 33, 1625. 88 and 57. 92ppb, respectively. Conclusions: This study was the first study investigated the concentration of the cosmetic compounds existing in swimming pools from different areas of Iran, and the findings of the study showed that, swimming pools with high rank of health standard have a better state.

Background: Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) remain the common infections diagnosed in outpatients as well as hospitalized patients. Multi-Drug Resistance (MDR) and Extensively-Drug Resistance (XDR) in the bacteria is an alarming problem in the world. Thus, the present study was conducted to detect the etiologic agents associated with Community-Acquired Urinary Tract Infections (CA-UTIs) and investigate the antibiotic susceptibility patterns. Methods: This study was conducted on the outpatients referred to Labbafinejad Hospital Clinic, Tehran, Iran from September 2014 to March 2015. The bacterial pathogenic diversity was identified by standard laboratory methods. The antimicrobial resistance rates were determined by Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. Results: A total of 303 patients were enrolled in this study, among which 204 (67. 3%) of them were female and 99 (32. 5%) of them were male. Escherichia coli was the dominant species (69%), followed by Enterococcus faecalis (12. 8%), and Klebsiella pneumoniae (4. 6%). High resistance rate was observed to nalidixic acid (73. 8%), trimethoprim/Sulfamethoxazole (54. 3%), ciprofloxacin (54. 3%) in E. coli, and tetracycline (89. 7%) in E. faecalis strains as well as high susceptibility rate to meropenem (96. 6%), imipenem (95. 2%), amikacin (90. 4%), cefoxtin (87. 6%), and nitrofurantoin (82. 8%) in E. coli, and nitrofurantoin (100%) in E. faecalis strains. In addition, 43. 5% of the strains were found to be Multi-Drug-Resistant (MDR). Conclusions: The results of this study showed that, E. coli was the predominant uropathogen of CA-UTIs in this geographical area. It was also found that, the empirical treatment of urinary tract infections may be difficult due to high resistance to commonly used antibiotics. Continuous monitoring of MDR organisms and drug resistance patterns is needed to prevent treatment failure and reduce selective pressure. These findings suggest the use of nitrofurantoin, cefoxitin, and amikacin in this area of the country.

Background: Creativity is among the fundamental and constitutive features of humans, playing an important role in the development and growth of human beings and human civilization. The present study was conducted to investigate the creativity and factors influencing it among medical students. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 320 medical students were randomly selected using stratified random sampling. Guilford's Creativity Questionnaire was used as data collection tool. Chi-Square test, and one-way analysis of Variance were used for data analysis, and the results were presented as frequency distribution tables. Results: Most of the participants (232 students (72. 5%)) had moderate levels of creativity. The mean score was obtained as 49. 59± 5. 59, 22. 02± 3. 29, 35. 06± 4. 62, 25. 81± 3. 53, and 135. 56± 13. 80, respectively for fluency, elaboration, originality, flexibility, and overall creativity. There was no significant relationship between overall score of creativity with gender, major, educational level, and place of residence, marital status, employment, and term of study (P≥ 0. 05). However, there was a significant relationship between flexibility (P=0. 001) and marital status (P=0. 045). Conclusions: Given that about three-quarters of the participants had moderate scores while high creativity is indispensable for health care workers, educational planners need to foster this capability among the students.

Background: massage is commonly used for labor pain relief and has been the subject of research for many years. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of abdominal massage on labor pain as well as assessing the effect of breathing techniques in reducing the labor pain by massage. Methods: In this parallel-randomized clinical trial, 96 nulliparous women from were recruited from July to December 2010 and allocated into two experimental groups (massage only and massage with breathing groups) and one control group. Before allocation, an informed consent form was obtained from all the subjects. Visual Analog Scale (VAS) was used to assess the pain during active and transitional phases of labor 30and 60 min after intervention. The duration of active phase, path of delivery, episiotomy, neonatal Apgar score at 1 and 5 min and neonatal birth weight were considered as secondary outcomes of this study. Results: After 30 and 60 min of intervention in active phase, the mean VAS scores of both experimental groups significantly decreased compared to the control group (P<0. 01). No significant difference was observed in mean VAS scores after intervention on transitional phase (P>0. 05). In second stage of labor, the mean VAS scores of massage with breathing group were significantly lower than the massage and control groups (P<0. 05). Both experimental groups had significant shorter time used in active phase of labor than the control group (P<0. 05). Conclusions: Breathing techniques only strengthen the pain-relieving effect by the massage in the second stage of labor. Therefore, it is recommended to use breathing techniques, especially in the second stage of labor.

Background: Providing good health care for the elderly is one of the most important challenges of aging population. The current study was conducted to assess the willingness to work with elderly people among medical sciences students in Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on a sample of 583 students from medical universities in Tehran, Iran in 2017. A multi-stage stratified random sampling was employed to obtain the study sample. The Willingness to Work with Elderly People Scale (WEPS) was used to measure the dependent variable. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 23. Results: The study sample consisted of 583 medical sciences students with a mean age of 21. 98 (SD=3. 63) years old. The total mean score for willingness to work with the elderly in medical students was found to be 72. 07 (SD=9. 50). The results revealed a significant association between fields of study and willingness to work with older adults (F (7, 575)=2. 62, P<0. 01). Conclusions: The results of this study showed that, the willingness to work with the elderly is low among students from medical universities in Tehran, Iran.

Background: Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common bacterial infections. The most common cause is Escherichia coli. This research is done with the aim at compare effect of ciprofloxacin with nalidixic acid in the infection of different parts of the urinary tract. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 130 patients with symptoms of the urinary tract infection referred to Imam Hossain Hospital of Shahrood were studied. For the all patients, urine samples were collected by standard method and urine analysis and culture was performed. Then, positive culture samples were tested by antibiogram and the resistance rate for the two antibiotics ciprofloxacin and nalidixic acid and MBC and MIC was investigated. Results: Of the 130 patients with symptoms of UTI (fever, flank pain or tenderness and dysuria, urgency or frequency (84 patients had positive urine culture. Of all patients with positive urine, 31 cases had symptoms of pyelonephritis, 25 patients had symptoms of cystitis and 28 patients had symptoms of UTI. In antibiogram for positive urine samples, 21 pieces were resistant to ciprofloxacin and 46 pieces were resistant to nalidixic acid which significantly reduced resistance to ciprofloxacin (P=0. 005). There was no significant difference between the two antibiotics in place of clinical symptoms and drug resistance. So there was no significant difference between the two MIC and MBC in place of clinical symptoms and drug resistance. Conclusions: This study showed that ciprofloxacin is more effective in controlling infection of different parts of the urinary tract due to less drug resistance.