Journal of Clinical and Basic Research
Volume:2 Issue: 4, Autumn 2018

  Self-medication is a major global health problem. Regarding this issue, the elderly are one of the most vulnerable groups in the community. The aim of this study was to determine prevalence and pattern of self-medication among the elderly in Gorgan, Iran. This cross-sectional study was carried out on 550 elderly residents of Gorgan in winter of 2017. Data were collected using a questionnaire consisting of 14 questions on demographic variables and medication use. The collected data were analyzed with SPSS (version 18) using Pearson’s correlation coefficient and the chi-square test. The overall prevalence of self-medication was 76.2% among the elderly people. Self-medication was more frequent in women (82.2%), married elderly (78.2%), and those with low education level (81.3%). Moreover, the most common reasons of self-medication were common cold and cough (48%) and headache (38.9%). Analgesics (67.1%) and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (58.5%) were the most frequently used drugs for self-medication. Main derivers of self-medication were previous experience with the medication (63.7%) and the high cost of doctor's visit (54.5%). In addition, the most important sources of information about self-medication were previous prescription notes (53.2%) and previous experience with the condition (31%). Furthermore, we found a significant correlation between self-medication and some demographic variables including gender, marital status and education level (P<0.05). We demonstrated that the prevalence of self-medication, especially with analgesics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, is high among the elderly people in Gorgan, Iran. This highlights the need for preventive measures, including training programs and restriction on access to certain medications in this area.

  Hydatidiform mole is the most common form of gestational trophoblastic disease, which originates from the placenta and is categorized into complete and partial hydatidiform moles. About 10-30% of complete hydatidiform moles (CHMs) might develop into persistent trophoblastic disease. Helix pomatia agglutinin (HPA) lectin has been suggested as a marker of alteration of glycosylation in human malignancies. The aim of this study was to determine efficacy of HPA lectin as a prognostic indicator for clinical behavior of CHMs. Lectin histochemistry with biotin-conjugated HPA lectin was performed on paraffin sections of CHM tissues from 24 patients with progression to persistent trophoblastic disease (case group) and 24 patients with spontaneous regression (control group). The sections were graded according to lectin staining intensity (0-3) and the percentage of cell reactions was evaluated based on the staining grades. HPA lectin showed a mild to moderate reactivity with syncytiotrophoblasts, which was most evident in apical portion, but did not react with cytotrophoblasts and stromal cells. The mean staining intensity values did not differ significantly between the two groups (P=0.447). Based on the results, HPA lectin is not a good prognostic indicator for clinical behavior of CHMs.

  Given the high burden of traffic accidents in Iran, especially in the northern areas, and the importance of identifying the characteristics and geographic distribution of road traffic accidents (RTAs) for policymaking and planning, this study was conducted to investigate the epidemiology of RTAs and determine accident hot spots in the Golestan Province, northern Iran. This cross-sectional study was carried out on all traffic accidents in the suburban roads of the Golestan Province that were reported to the Emergency Medical Services (EMS 115) and registered in a software-based traffic accidents information management system (called SAMAH in Persian) between March 2009 and 2012. The accidents were assessed in terms of setting, time of accident, demographic characteristics of injured people, and consequences. Data were entered into SPSS (version 16) and then analyzed using independent t-test and chi-square test. The ArcGIS10 software was also used for analyzing spatial data and mapping RTAs. Overall, 10522 incidents were recorded in the system, most of which (36.2%) occurred in March 2010-2011. The frequency of RTAs in summer was almost 2-fold higher than other seasons. In addition, the frequency of RTAs was higher in the Gonbad-e-Kavous County (23.4%) and the Gorgan County (21.4%). Among the 11,415 people injured in RTAs, 9,129 (82.1 %) were male, 80.7% were transferred to hospital, and 5.9% were treated at the accident site. The mean age of injured men (29.9±14.9 years) was significantly lower than that of injured women (33.2±17 years) (P≤0.001). Moreover, 163 individuals (1.4%) died because of the RTAs, and mission was canceled in 1393 cases (12%). The most common RTA injuries were multiple traumas (34.6%), head and face injuries (28.3%), and knee and leg injuries (18.1%). We demonstrated that the rate of RTAs in the Golestan Province is high. Offering training to people, especially to younger people who at higher risk of involvement in RTAs, improving road quality and signage in hot spots, and recruitment of highly-trained EMS personnel might be beneficial for reducing the number and complications of RTAs in the province.

Evaluation of scientific productions in different fields using scientometric methods is indispensable for determine scientific trends. The purpose of this study was to perform a scientometric evaluation of Iran’s scientific productions in the field of ophthalmology. We investigated all scientific papers in the field of ophthalmology that have been indexed in the Web of Science from 2000 to the end of 2018. The VOSviewer software (version 1.6.9) was used to draw bibliometric maps considering a threshold of 20 times for the keywords used in this field of medicine. Iran ranked 19th in the world in terms of scientific production on ophthalmology (Table 1). H-Index of documents written by Iranian authors was 38, with an average citation per item of 7.13. Overall, the documents had received 7262 citations, 6.2% of were self-citation. We observed that the rate of scientific production has grown dramatically since 2014. Tehran University of Medical Sciences (37.19%) was the most prolific organization in Iran and Seyyed Hassan Ghazizadeh Hashemi (8.63%) was the most prolific Iranian author in this field. All keywords retrieved from the documents on ophthalmology were analyzed, and an ophthalmologist separated the keywords into five clusters. The most frequently used keywords in ophthalmology-related papers belonged to the clusters of Treatment of Retinal Diseases and Glaucoma with 49 appearances. Our results showed that the growth of scientific productions in the field of ophthalmology in Iran and its contribution to the global science production is favorable. However, Iranian authors are recommended to pay more attention to selection of appropriate journals for publishing their scientific papers since publishing in prestigious journals with a high impact factor subsequently increases visibility and citation rates.

  Spousal abuse, also known as domestic violence, can impose negative psychological effects on women, including a decline in psychological well-being and optimism. Hence, development of capabilities such as happiness can be helpful in coping with these outcomes. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of happiness training on the psychological well-being and optimism of pregnant women with a history of spousal abuse. In this semi-experimental study (with a pretest and posttest design), 30 pregnant women who were referred to health centers of Gorgan (Iran) in 2015 were selected via non-random sampling. The subjects were randomly divided into an experimental group (n=15) and a control group (n=15). The experimental group received 10 sessions of happiness training, but the control group received no training. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire, the Ryff's psychological well-being scale and an optimism questionnaire. Data analysis was done using the SPSS software (version 16) and descriptive and inferential statistics at significance level of 0.05. The happiness training significantly increased the level of psychological well-being and optimism. There was a significant difference in the mean score of psychological well-being and optimism between the two groups (P-value= 0.001) The findings show that happiness training significantly improves happiness and psychological well-being in women with a history of domestic violence. We recommend performing future studies with a larger study population and short- and long-term follow-ups to evaluate the effectiveness of such training over time.

  Vitiligo is a common autoimmune skin disorder, which is characterized by incomplete penetrance and genetic heterogeneity. It is classified into two types: segmental and non-segmental, and most cases suffer from non-segmental vitiligo. The disease affects about 2-10 in 1000 people in different population with no sex predilection. Furthermore, the genetics of vitiligo cannot be described by Mendelian pattern of inheritance. We herein report three female relatives (niece, aunt, grandmother) with non-segmental vitiligo in a family.
Case description: The symptoms and severity of the disease varied between the cases. Incomplete penetrance was completely evident in this family. The grandmother had not received any treatment, but the aunt and niece were receiving medication and phototherapy. However, these treatments were not beneficial for them. Currently there is no effective treatment or screening method for vitiligo. Thus, genetic counseling, risk determination and identification of other genetic contributors could be beneficial.

  Esophageal cancer (EC) is the second most common gastrointestinal cancer, and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is the dominant type of EC in Iran. One of the most important challenges in cancer management is the early diagnosis. As tumor suppressors or oncogenes, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play a vital role in tumor initiation, progression and metastasis. Recent studies have reported dysregulated expression of lncRNAs in different tumor tissues including ESCC, which may indicate its prognostic or diagnostic potential in ESCC. In this study, we investigated expression pattern of lnc-POU3F3 in ESCC. We performed quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction to assess lnc-POU3F3 expression pattern in ESCC blood samples from 32 patients with ESCC and age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Lnc-POU3F3 was significantly overexpressed in ESCC blood samples compared to normal samples. In addition, this overexpression had a significant correlation with family history (P=0.03) and TNM stage (P=0.02). According to the findings of the present study, lnc-POU3F3 may be used as a diagnostic biomarker for ESCC. However, studies with a larger sample size should be carried out to confirm this finding

  Kawasaki disease is an acute systemic vasculitis with an unknown etiology that mainly affects infants and children under five years of age. The aim of this study was to investigate the epidemiology of this disease in the Golestan Province, northeast of Iran. In this descriptive-analytical study, we evaluated all patients admitted to the Taleghani Hospital in Gorgan (capital of the Golestan Province) from September 2005 to September 2012. Characteristics of patients who met the diagnostic criteria of Kawasaki disease were recorded. Overall, 58 children (36 males and 12 females) with Kawasaki disease were included in the study. Thirty-six patients (62.06%) were under 2 years of age and the rest were over 2 years of age. The annual incidence of Kawasaki disease in the studied population was 37.39 per 100,000 children. The most common clinical manifestations were rash (68.6%) and oral mucosal changes (60.8%). The most common laboratory findings were leukocytosis (37.3%), positive C-reactive protein (88.2%), erythrocyte sedimentation rate of >35 (74.5%) and anemia (68.6%). Among 37 cases who were subjected to sonography, one case was found with splenomegaly. In this areas, Kawasaki disease is more common among children under the age of 2 years. The most common clinical manifestations of the disease are rash and oral mucosal changes.