Jundishapur Journal of Chronic Disease Care
Volume:6 Issue: 1, Jan 2017

Context: In service planning, indicators such as incidence can aid the development of strategies for service provision. The current systematic review was carried out to provide a general viewpoint on incidence, geographical and age distribution of gastrointestinal (GI) cancers in Iran.
Evidence Acquisition: A detailed Science Direct, PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, Iran Medex, Magiran and SID (scientific information databases) search was made from 2005 to 2015. The basic inclusion criteria were all relevant studies focused on GI cancers incidence and epidemiologic data from Iran.
Overall incidence of cancer was 19.4 and 17.2 per 100 000 in males and females, respectively. The three most common GI cancers in males were: esophagus, stomach and colorectal and in females: colorectal, stomach and esophagus. The highest incidence rate was observed in Golestan province and in the age group over 65 years.
According to increasing incidence rate of GI cancers in Iran, development, establishment and implement of comprehensive national cancer control program should be the first priorities for health policy makers.

Cancer-related pain (CRP) and its treatments are common and the scariest problems that patients with cancer fear and negatively affect their quality of life. Despite medical intervention, the pain of cancer still remains a clinical problem. Thus, the use of complementary medicine methods such as massage therapy is essential to control pain in the patients.
It was a review type study limited to national and international studies from 1995 to 2015. Searching processes were completed by electronic databases and search engines. Finally, based on inclusion and exclusion criteria as well as the elimination of duplicate studies, nine articles were selected for final review among which five were clinical trials and four were review or meta-analysis articles.
In all five clinical trials, massage therapy reduced pain of patients with cancer, which reflects the positive effects of massage therapy in adult patients with cancer. In addition, although various methods of massage therapy were employed, with short-term and long-term periods, it still had a positive impact. Meanwhile, four review or meta-analysis studies while different in the year of study, inclusion and exclusion criteria, manifested that the results of massage therapy was an effective non-pharmacological pain control in patients with cancer.
Finally, it can be concluded that massage therapy is an effective non-pharmacological way to control pain in adult patients with cancer. Furthermore, studies in Iran on the effects of massage therapy on pain in patients with cancer are limited and much more research is needed in this area.

Context: Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) that disturbs aged males is described as the abundant, chronic progressive disorder usually associated with lower urinary tract symptoms. The alpha 1A-adrenergic receptor antagonist, tamsulosin (Flomax®/Omnic®), seems to be an appropriate management from the view point of urological surgeons. The current review aimed to evaluate the clinical pharmacological properties of tamsulosin in prostate disorders.
Evidence Acquisition: United States national library of medicine (PubMed, NLM) were searched from April 1991 to March 2016. The Mesh terms were: tamsulosin, tamsulosin pharmacokinetics in urology, tamsulosin in BPH and clinical pharmacokinetics of tamsulosin in BPH. Published clinical trials and review articles applicable to pharmacotherapy of tamsulosin in BPH were reviewed.
In patients with mild international prostate symptom score ( To treat BPH therapeutically, it is necessary to stabilize severities of the patient’s symptoms with potential side effects of the treatment. Tamsulosin blocks alpha 1-receptors in smooth muscles both in the bladder neck and prostate, which leads to relaxation and subsequently less resistance to urinary flow. By advancement of tamsulosin, pharmacotherapy strategies could provide more appropriate guideline treatments; therefore, in Isfahan, Iran, innovative medical treatment for BPH was suggested based on both pharmacological and surgical clinical trials.

Knee osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis and musculoskeletal disease. Due to low efficacy and significant side effects of synthetic drugs in the treatment of this disease, many researchers are looking for drugs that besides effectiveness have fewer side effects, and recently ginger has become one of the most popular herbal remedies in the treatment of this disease in controversial researches.
The aim of this study was to determine the effect of ginger on pain and satisfaction of patients with knee osteoarthritis.
This study was a clinical trial. A total of 90 patients with knee osteoarthritis were randomly divided to ginger and control groups. In addition, treatment was prescribed by orthopedic specialists; the ginger group received two tablets of 500 mg/day for 12 weeks. The control group only received the treatment prescribed by the orthopedic specialist. Pain was measured using a linear visual assessment scale (VAS) and satisfaction using a researcher-made questionnaire at the beginning and end of the twelfth week.
There was no significant difference between pain scores of the two groups before the intervention, yet after the intervention, pain scores declined in both groups, but it was greater in the ginger group (P = 0.001). In terms of satisfaction with treatment, a statistically significant difference was shown between the two groups (P = 0.012), so that it was higher in the group receiving ginger. On the other hand, the incidence of side effects was not statistically significant between the two groups.
The results of this study showed that ginger is effective in relieving pain in patients with knee osteoarthritis and it can be used as a safe method to improve pain in patients with knee osteoarthritis.

Leukemia is a common cancer among adults with growing prevalence in Iran. This disease affects different aspects of the patient, especially their quality of life. One of the methods to promote hygiene and health and, consequently, quality of life is to empower the family of the patient.
The effect of family-based empowerment on quality of life in patients with leukemia was studied in this research.
This study was a clinical trial conducted on 46 adult patients with leukemia together with 46 of their family members in 2015. Eligible patients were selected by the available method and randomly placed in two groups of test and control. Tools for gathering data included a demographic questionnaire about the patient and their family member and a specified questionnaire about the quality of life of patients with cancer. Family-based empowerment intervention was held for research samples in the test group based on its quadruple steps (perceived threat, self-efficiency promotion, increase of self-esteem through educational participation, and assessment) in six 90-minute sessions and a second test was conducted a month and half after the intervention. Data were analyzed using the SPSS 20 statistical software.
Results of chi-square test reflected that both groups of test and control were similar in terms of demographic information (P > 0.5). Moreover, statistical independent T-test did not show a significant difference in aspects of quality of life in test and control groups before the intervention (P = 0.98) while this test showed a significant difference in both groups after the intervention (P = 0.00), except for the spiritual aspect (p=0.2). Paired T-test indicated a significant increase in aspects of quality of life in the test group after the intervention (p=0.00) while this test reflected a reverse significant difference in general aspect of quality of life in the control group (P = 0.006).
In general, results of this research showed that implementing family-based empowerment pattern has been effective for increasing quality of life in patients with leukemia.

Females’ health is the growth indicator of countries. To maintain and promote health is essential to correct and improve lifestyle.
Accordingly, the current study aimed to determine the relationship between social support and life style.
In this cross-sectional study, 700 middle-aged females were selected by random multistage cluster sampling method in Ahvaz, Iran. The data were collected using demographic questionnaire, the personal resource questionnaire (PRQ 85- Part II perceived social support) and lifestyle questionnaire (LSQ). Data were analyzed by the Spearman correlation coefficient, ANOVA and linear regression.
Results showed significant association between total score of perceived social support and lifestyle (P > 0.001). Regression results showed a significant relationship among the variables; only variables of perceived social support, economic status, health status, family structure and education of husband were significantly associated with lifestyle (P Perceived social support has a strong and positive association with lifestyle; interventions of social support should be considered in programs to improve lifestyle in such females.

Urinary disorders are common problems in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Urinary incontinence largely affects the physical, social and emotional characteristics and activities of such patients.
The current study aimed to identify the effect of pelvic floor muscle training on urinary incontinence and its resulting stress, anxiety and depression in patients with MS.
The present clinical trial with a pre-post design was conducted on 50 patients with MS referring to the MS clinic of Imam Khomeini hospital in Tehran, Iran, selected by convenience sampling method. Participants received instructions on pelvic floor muscle exercises and then practiced for three consecutive months. The international consultation on incontinence questionnaire-urinary incontinence short form (ICIQ-UI-SF) was used to measure participant's urinary incontinence, and the 21-item depression, anxiety and stress scale (DASS-21) to measure their depression, anxiety and stress, both before the intervention and at the end of the third month of exercising. The obtained data were analyzed by SPSS16 using descriptive statistics and the dependent t test.
About 45 (90%) participants practiced pelvic floor muscle exercises until the end of the third month. The frequency and amount of urine leakage and the effect of urinary incontinence on the quality of life differed significantly in the patients after the instructions compared to the status before the intervention (P According to the findings, instructing pelvic floor muscle exercises was effective in reducing urinary incontinence and its resulting stress, anxiety and depression in patients with MS. These exercises were recommended as a non-pharmacological, non-invasive and cost-effective method to control urinary incontinence in patients with MS.

Self-management after myocardial infarction is fundamental to effective medical treatment.
The current study aimed to investigate the effects of applying the continuous care model on self-management of a sample of Iranian patients with post-myocardial infarction.
Sixty hospitalized patients were randomly allocated into control (n = 30) and intervention (n = 30) groups. Before the intervention and at the end of it, self-management of both groups was evaluated by chronic disease self-management questionnaire. The continuous care model was performed for the intervention group for three months. The data were analyzed by SPSS version 16. In addition to descriptive statistical tests, Chi-square, the exact Fisher, Willcoxon and Mann-Whitney, and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) tests were used. The significant level was set at P There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of sub-dimensions of self-management scores before the intervention (P > 0.05). At the end of the intervention, in all self-management sub-dimensions expect for shortness of breath, the status of intervention group improved significantly more than that of the control group (P The continuous care model can be considered as a useful tool to improve patients’ self-management after myocardial infarction.

Currently, studying the quality of life of patients and the level of their adaptation to their disease is considered an important issue in studies of chronic diseases. Heart failure affects the quality of life of patients in varying degrees.
The present study aimed to determine the status of quality of life of patients with heart failure and their level of adaptation to their disease.
In this descriptive-analytical study, 76 patients with heart failure who had referred to one of the specialized therapy clinics of Shushtar in Khuzestan Province during year 2015 were selected based on the convenience sampling method and inclusion criteria. The research tools for collecting the required data and information included demographic information questionnaire, minnesota quality of life questionnaire, and an assessment form designed for patients with heart failure based on four dimensions of the Roy adaptation model. The data were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics (independent t-test).
The results of this study showed that this disease leaves the greatest negative impact on the physical dimension of quality of life (32.97 ± 6.89). In addition, this disease has put the least negative impact on mental dimension of quality of life. Also, the lowest average adaptation was related to the dependence-independence dimension (28.71 ± 5.54). The results indicated that there is a significant difference between males and females in terms of physical and mental dimensions of quality if life, with lower averages of both in females (P = 0.037 and P = 0.007, respectively). The study findings also showed that different dimensions of adaptation are the same in males and females and there is no significant difference between them (P > 0.05).
The present study showed that quality of life and adaptation have a weak status in the studied patients with heart failure. By taking appropriate measures and training programs, nurses can help these patients improve their quality of life and level of adaptation to their disease.

Asthma is a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which can affect the patients’ quality of life (QoL). Nowadays, evaluating QoL and its predictors is considered a criterion for the assessment of appropriate control and cure for asthma and other chronic diseases. Knowing how well patients feel and what aspects of QoL they have no feelings for, would help make future plans in a way that their pain will be lessened.
The primary objective of the current study was to investigate the OoL among adult patients with asthma in Ahvaz, Iran in during years 2014 and 2015. The secondary objective was to determine the most powerful predictors for QoL among such patients.
In this cross-sectional study, by using the convenience sampling method, 384 patients were selected with respect to the inclusion criteria. The data collection tools fell into two parts, the first of which included demographic variables and the second part was a Mini asthma quality of life questionnaire. The data were collected by an interviewer, who interviewed patients before being visited by the specialist at the clinic.
All in all, the lowest mean QoL was obtained for emotional functions dimension. According to the findings, the majority of patients had an undesirable OoL (43.8%). Finally, the results indicated that the duration of disease was the most powerful predictor of QoL among asthmatic patients (β = -0.76, P = 0.001).
The study results indicated that adult patients with asthma did not have a desirable OoL, a fact which requires making serious plans to control the disease better and to improve the OoL. Considering the fact that the duration of disease was the most powerful predictor of OoL among asthmatic patients, it is essential for the medical team to pay special attention to the patients suffering from asthma for a longer duration.

Metabolic syndrome is a disorder that increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
The aim of the study was to evaluate some risk factors of the metabolic syndrome and food intakes among people who lived in Ahvaz City, Iran.
It was a filed study that was conducted on 211 subjects who participated in health exhibition. Socioeconomic status and ethnicity were asked by a general questionnaire. Weight, height, body mass index, waist circumference (WC) and WC to hip circumference ratio (WHR) were obtained. Blood sugar was measured by a glucometer. Systolic and diastolic blood pressures were obtained and dietary intakes were assessed by a brief instrument.
There was a significant difference in weight, height, WC, WHR and systolic blood pressure among different jobs. Workers had more intakes of cake and sweets. Arab subjects had more intakes of bread and fishes and Persians more intakes of vegetables. Soda, chocolate and candy were more consumed by Kurd ethnicity.
Job may be accounted as an important effective socioeconomic factor related to metabolic syndrome risk factors; also different cultures due to different ethnicities may have an influence on lifestyle and dietary intakes.

Lifestyle as a health promotion component contains six dimensions of stress management, health-responsibility, interpersonal relationships, spiritual growth, nutrition and physical activity. The current study aimed to determine the health-promoting lifestyle of adolescents with β-thalassemia, based on Precede model to analyze behavior.
It was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted in February 2016 on 64 adolescents with β-thalassemia and the age range of 16 - 20 years selected by census sampling method. Data were collected by two self-reporting questionnaires; health-promoting lifestyle profile (HPLP) II and a researcher-made questionnaire based on Precede model. Data were analyzed using SPSS ver. 22 by applying descriptive statistics of absolute and relative frequency distribution, central tendency, mean and standard deviation, and analytical statistics of spearman correlation and Mann-Whitney U test.
The mean age of participants was 17.98 ± 1.36 years and the mean overall score of lifestyle of adolescents under study was 106.23 ± 8.54. Based on the findings of the current study, the overall lifestyle of adolescents with β-thalassemia was correlated with their knowledge and attitude. In addition, the standardized mean score of knowledge was greater in females than males (P value = 0.05).
Overall health-promoting lifestyle of the studied adolescents with β-thalassemia was unsatisfactory. Due to the impact of adopted lifestyle on the current and future health of adolescents, it is important that the necessary measures are taken to encourage more young people with β-thalassemia to adopt a healthy lifestyle.