JOURNAL OF MAZANDARAN UNIVERSITY OF MEDICAL SCIENCES
Year:2014 | Volume:24 | Issue:111|Papers Count:13

Background and purpose: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most prevalent health problems in the world and Iran. This study aimed at determining the survival rate of patients with CRC and the factors influencing it in Iranian patients.Material and Methods: A prospective cohort study was carried out in patients attending 10 state and private hospitals in Tehran during 2006-2011. In this study 1127 patients (totally 2570 individuals-year) were followed up every six months and the follow-up duration was from the definite time of CRC diagnosis until death (or censoring). Only 2% of the patients were censored. Data was analyzed using stata software, bivariate and multivariate analyses, and also Cox regression.Results: The mean age of the patients was 53.5±14 years old at the time of diagnosis. Most of the patients were older than 45 years of age (69.7%). The age at diagnosis was significantly different between men and women (P<0.03). The patients were 61.2% male and the rest were female. The rates of mortality in male and female were 96.9 and 83 in 100,000. After the diagnosis has been made 75%, 50%, and 25% had a survival rate of less than 2.72 years, 5.84 years, and longer than 13 years, respectively. In Cox model some variables including ethnicity, marital status, cancer grade, family history of caner, and smoking were the main determinants of survival.Conclusion: The mean survival time was 5.8 years after diagnosis has been made which shows more improvements compared to previous studies. This study provides some information on CRC survival rate so that action plans could be designed to prevent and control this disease.

Background and purpose: Mercury is a toxic heavy metal which causes irrevocable intense nerve-recognition disturbance to human. Excess contact to mercury causes diseases like tremor, losing sensation, decreasing vision and hearing or growth. WHO recommended the most amount of mercury absorption about 0.3 mg per week and the most concentration in water about 1mg/L. The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficiency of Lcysteinefunctionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNs) in mercury removal from aqueous solutions.Materials and methods: In this study, a single-walled carbon nanotube was used as absorbent. The effects of some parameters such as pH, absorbent dose, contact time and mercury concentration were assessed. All experiments have been done according to standard methods. The sample size was determined by Box-Benkan method.Results: The result showed that absorption rate increased by increasing of pH, contact time and mass CNTs dose. The Hg removal efficiency decreased by increasing of initial Hg concentration. The maximum and the minimum of absorption rate are 95 and 22 percent, respectively. ANOVA showed that RSM has a significant relationship for single-walled carbon nanotubes with linear conditions.Conclusion: The study demonstrated that SWCNT-Cysteine is a well absorbent for Hg removal from aqueous solutions Therefore; it can be effective for the removal of mercury from aqueous solutions.

Background and purpose: Febrile seizure is a seizure associated with fever without any evidence of intracranial infection or electrolytic disorder. Its treatment includes anticonvulsant medicines administered for preventing recurrence. In this research, treatments with diazepam and clobazam were evaluated in preventing febrile seizure recurrence among patients admitted to Taleghani Hospital.Material and Methods: The study population included 150 patients with simple febrile seizure aged between six months to six years of old. They were randomly assigned into two groups to receive either diazepam or clobazam after control of seizure. The patients received diazepam 0.33 mg/kg/ dose every 8h and clobazam in 2.5, 5, 7.5, and 10 mg/kg every 12 h. The results involving fever episodes in each 3 months, side effects of medicines and recurrence were recorded in a check list and then analyzed.Results: Among the patients 32 were excluded and 118 patients including 61 in diazepam group and 57 in clobazam group were studied. There were 62 males and 56 females in this population. The mean age was 21.05±10.10 months and 21.96±10.74 months in diazepam and clobazam groups, respectively and 21.49±10.39 in total population. There was no significant difference between the two groups in recurrence of febrile seizure (P>0.05). No significant difference was found in incidence of ataxia between the two groups. In the group receiving diazepam 45.9% of the patients had drowsiness compared to 8.8% in clobazm group (P>0.05). No significant difference was found between the studied groups for medicinal side effects including ataxia, vomiting, anorexia, and irritability (P>0.05).Conclusion: Treatment by clobazam caused recurrence and complications less than diazepam. However, more studies including larger sample sizes are required to confirm these results.

Background and purpose: The need for privacy is a basic human right. Nurses are expected to respect the patients’ privacy. This study investigated the viewpoints of patients and nurses regarding keeping the patients’ privacy during nursing care.Materials and Methods: In this cross sectional study 127 nurses and 384 patients meeting the criteria for study were selected through randomized sampling. Data was collected by a questionnaire designed by Heydari (2000) and analyzed using t-test and ANOVA in SPSS ver.18.Results: The results showed a significant difference on average score of the realm of human between nurses and patients (P<0.05). According to the studied population the levels of paying respect to human realm and private space in hospital were moderate. Significant relationships were seen in viewpoints of nurses’ considering their gender and educational level. We also found a significant correlation between the patients’ viewpoints and their level of education and place of residence.Conclusion: To enhance the quality of services provided by nurses they should consider patients’ right to privacy and care for them while respecting their privacy.

Background and purpose: Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airway associated with airway hyper responsiveness that leads to recurrent episodes of wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and coughing. Low dietary magnesium (Mg) could influence the occurrence and management of asthma. Mg is an essential element of human body, but its benefit for pulmonary function is not completely known.Material and Methods: This randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled, clinical trial was performed on 112 patients with mild and moderate persistent asthma. The diagnosis was based on clinical history and spirometric pulmonary testing. Blood samples were taken and level magnesium was measured. Participants were randomly assigned to consume either 340 mg of Mg as Mg citrate per day or placebo for two months. Each outcome was compared within treatment groups by paired t test for parametric data and the Wilcoxon signed rank test for non-parametric data. The significance level was considered as P<0.05.Results: After two months administration of oral Mg supplementation, significant changes were observed in FVC (P=0.002), FEV1 (P=0.000), FEV1/FVC ratio (P=0.000). The FVC, FEV1 have increased and the FEV1/FVC ratio value has decreased significantly.Conclusions: This study provides evidence that oral magnesium supplementation can improve lung function in patients with mild and moderate asthma.

Background and purpose: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is used for saving patients’ life and its success may increase by recognizing the aspects and factors influencing it. However, some factors are believed to be neglected. This study investigated the success of resuscitation in CPR team’s shift change.Material and Methods: During the study a total of 307 patients was under CPR and the outcome was successful in 78 cases and 20.5% of the patients discharged from hospital alive. The most popular diseases that resulted in CPR were internal diseases and cancers and the best result was obtained in poisoned cases. The rate of CPR was higher at night shifts, but there was no significant correlation between the time of shift change and the interval between these times and the outcome of CPR.Results: Our results are consistent with those of other studies in rate of success in CPR and suggest no relationship between this rate and the time of CPR team’s shift change.Conclusion: This study shown that CPR successfulness in emergency part of Imam Khomeini hospital is similar to other part of world and although changing time of CPR group's shifting is more critical, there are no statistical relationships with result of CPR.

Background and purpose: Post stroke depression is one of the common emotional disorders affecting stroke survivors. Stroke is one of neurological diseases and is a public health problem. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of possible risk factors in prevalence of post stroke depression.Material and Methods: This descriptive study was performed using relevant sampling method on 116 inpatient ischemic stroke admitted in neurology department of Boali Sina hospital in Sari. The diagnosis of brain ischemic stroke was made based on the clinical findings of a neurologist and confirmed by Brain.C.T.S and M.R.I. Frequency of depression was determined using DSM IV criteria and HADS inquiry. The risk factors were recorded after being confirmed by a physician based on paraclinical testes along with demographic information. Data was analyzed applying Chi Square and logistic regression in SPSS V.16.Results: Finding revealed that 47.4% of the patients suffered post stroke depression. Frequency of depression was significantly higher in women (29.3%) compared to that in men which was (18.1%). There was no significant relation between depression and age and educational level. But we found a significant correlation between post stroke depression and gender, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension.Conclusion: This study showed a high incidence of depression after stroke which is found to be more prominent among women. There is a significant correlation between depression and sex, diabetes, and hypertension. Early diagnosis and proper interventions can help in decreasing the rate of post stroke depression especially in women, hence, the quality of life and expectancy of life will increase in these patients.

Background and purpose: One of the most important complications of post coronary artery angioplasty is hemorrhage and hematoma. In Iran initial hemostasis is done by hand pressure in puncture site and use of sand bag and absolute immobility to maintain hemostasis. Sand bag pressure and immobility can cause considerable discomfort for patients. To reduce the complications after coronary artery angioplasty this study aimed to determine the effects of sand bags and air cushions.Material and Methods: This quasi-experimental study was performed in 80 patients candidate for angioplasty, based on inclusion and exclusion criteria who were randomly selected and randomly assigned into two groups of sandbag and air cushion. Complications after angioplasty including low back pain, fatigue, and inguinal discomfort were evaluated in both groups during a six hour rest.Results: There was no significant difference between the two groups in severity of back pain, fatigue, and discomfort in the groin immediately following the removal of the sheath. However, in later stages a significant difference was observed in sandbag group (P<0.001). This group had to receive more narcotics to relieve the pain (P=0.0025). There was no significant difference in the incidence of hematoma between the two groups (P=0.314).Conclusion: This study showed that applying air cushion to the femoral artery puncture site could lead to the possible position change in bed, no increase in hematoma and bleeding, significant reduction of back pain, patient comfort, and reduction in prescription of analgesics.

Background and purpose: Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common infections and the second cause of infection in human body. In developing countries it involves at least 250 million people annually. The main cause of this infection is gram negative bacteria such as E coli. UTI is seen in all ages and both sexes but its incidences is more in female. The base of treatment for urinary tract infection is administrating an appropriate antibiotic. Today, antibiotic resistance is considered as an important challenge in treating infections. High and unnecessary use of antibiotics especially in urinary infections resulted in resistance to some antibiotics. Therefore, this study was designed to assess the antibiotic susceptibility patterns of Ecoli strains isolated from urine samples of urinary infected patients.Material and Methods: In this study urine samples were collected applying Midstream clean catch method and cultured in blood agar and EMB medium using standard loop then incubated for 24hr in 37o.Results: During 12 months, 1147 samples were studied of which, 208 samples were reported positive. The rate of positive cultures was found higher in women and their mean age was less than that of men. The main antibiotics resistant to Escherichia coli were nalidixic acid, cotrimoxazole, and cefazolin and the most sensitivity was found with imipenem, nitrofurantoin, and piperacillin.Conclusion: According to this study, urinary infection of Ecoli is more common amongst women of younger ages. In this study Ecoli showed lower resistance to imipenem, nitrofurantoin and piperacillin. Therefore, these antibiotics are the most effective in controlling Ecoli.

Background and purpose: One of the main fields in demography is life table which requires socio-economic planning. Life expectancy is one of the main elements of life table and the changes in its process could be a good indication of the performance of health system in a country.Material and Methods: In this descriptive epidemiologic study the data was collected from Sari Health Center, 2005-2010. Then we calculated the life expectancy index using the life table -for men and women- based on mortality rates, survival probability, and the number of population during this period.Results: The study showed the maximum life expectancy among men in 2007(76.52 years) and among women in 2005 (79.68 years). We observed a significantly higher rate of life expectancy among women.Conclusion: The changes in life expectancy during six years had an ascending rate. More focuses on health indices at birth, mental health in women and reducing the number of accidents are some important factors that could increase the life expectancy in the society.