Current Research in Medical Sciences
Volume:7 Issue: 2, Autumn-Winter 2023

Nurses who are involved in the caring of COVID-19 patients, are at risk of mental distress. The present study was conducted with the purpose of demonstrating the relationship between stress, anxiety, depression and characteristics of nurses who provide care to COVID-19 patients.

This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted using the census method from May to June, 2020 on 224 clinical nurses who were working in hospitals affiliated with Babol University of Medical Sciences and were involved in caring for COVID-19 patients. The data collection instruments included the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale - 21 items (DASS-21) and the individual characteristic questionnaire. Bivariate and multivariate binary logistic regressions were computed to identify the associated factors.

The mean and the standard deviation for stress, anxiety and depression scores were 9.47±7.30, 9.29±7.51 and 8.84±7.22 respectively. 17.4% had stress, 54% had anxiety and 43% had a degree of depression. There were significant relationships between the nurses’ stress level and characteristics including age (OR =3.009, 95%CI 1.46–6.16, P=0.003), having children (OR=0.26, 95%CI 0.11-0.63, P=0.003), work experience (OR=4.50, 95% CI 2.17-9.96, P=0.000) and employment status (OR=0.39, 95% CI 0.16-0.95, P=0.04). Moreover, along with these characteristics, job satisfaction (OR =3.03, 95%CI 5.64– 1.63, P=0.000), level of physical activities (OR =0.26, 95%CI 0.08–0.82, P=0.02), exercising (OR =2.27, 95%CI 1.31-3.90, P=0.003) and violence in the workplace (OR =0.27, 95%CI 0.12– 0.56, P=0.001) also had significant relationships with the nurses’ anxiety level. Furthermore, the relationships between the nurses’ level of depression and characteristics including age (OR =2.07, 95%CI 1.15 – 3.72, P=0.014), work experience (OR =21.79, 95%CI 1.04 – 3.10, P=0.03), job satisfaction (OR=3.03, 95%CI 1.63–5.64, P=0.000), exercising (OR =1.76, 95%CI 1.02–3.04, P=0.04), having chronic diseases (OR =0.35, 95%CI 0.15–0.81, P=0.014), violence in the workplace (OR =0.39, 95%CI 0.20–0.75, P=0.005) and sleep (OR =1.77, 95%CI 1.00–3.16, P=0.050) were significant.

The authorities should consider a number of the individual characteristics of nurses including age, work experience, gender, marital status, having children, job satisfaction, sleep, violence in the workplace and history of chronic disease in their planning and provide psychological support for them. Psychological support services may be needed for nurses in order to protect and promote their mental

The COVID-19 disease is linked with several maternal and infant complications. Here, we conducted a study to examine the characteristics and outcomes of pregnant women who were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) due to COVID-19 complications.

We performed a retrospective cohort study of symptomatic pregnant women with COVID-19 who were hospitalized at Ayatollah Rouhani Hospital, in Babol, northern Iran, from March 2019 to September 2021. We used a checklist to collect data from patient records, including maternal characteristics (age, body mass, gestational age, parity, blood type, residence, education, and comorbidities), disease symptoms, and laboratory criteria at admission and then compared these variables between pregnant women who required intensive care unit (ICU) admission and those who did not. We used SPSS 20 for data analysis and considered P<0.05 as significant.

We included 215 symptomatic PCR-positive pregnant women with COVID-19 who were hospitalized. The mean age of the women was 30.63±6.09 years and the mean gestational age was 27.77±9.96 weeks. The mean hospital stay was 5.38±5.20 days, and 21 (9.8%) women were admitted to the ICU for a mean of 6.28 ± 5.84 days. The levels of LDH and D-Dimer were significantly higher in the ICU group than in the non-ICU group (P-value<0.000 and P-value=0.024, respectively). The ICU group also had a higher rate of cesarean section (P-value<0.000). There were no significant differences between the groups in terms of clinical symptoms, demographic characteristics, Moreover, none of the women hospitalized with COVID-19 had renal, hepatic, or cardiac disease. None of the infants tested positive for COVID-19 by PCR.

Our findings suggest that pregnant women with COVID-19 are not at increased risk of disease progression or ICU admission. Furthermore, we propose that monitoring the levels of D-Dimer and LDH in pregnant women with COVID-19 could be useful for predicting the severity of the disease and the need for ICU care, which may have implications for maternal and fetal outcomes.

Renal failure presents a critical concern in patients requiring colon preparation for colonoscopy, particularly in those with chronic kidney disease (CKD). In contemporary practice, polyethylene glycol (PEG) serves as a widely employed agent, while herbal alternatives like SenaGraph, standardized dry extract of Senna leaves (Cassia angustifolia L.), have demonstrated satisfactory efficacy. This study aimed to compare the quality of bowel preparation in CKD patients using low-dose PEG with and without Sena Graph.

This randomized clinical trial enrolled 122 patients with CKD who underwent colonoscopies at Imam Hussein Hospital in Tehran, Iran, during 2018 and 2019. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either PEG with SenaGraph or PEG alone. Comparative assessments included the Ottawa Score and measurements of sodium, potassium, urea, and creatinine levels.

The study findings revealed that the mean Ottawa score was deemed acceptable (Ottawa score 0 or 1) in 90.2% of patients receiving PEG with SenaGraph and in 78.7% of patients in the PEG-only group, with statistically significant difference (P = 0.049). Alterations in sodium, potassium, urea, and creatinine levels showed no significant differences between the two groups (P > 0.05).

This investigation suggests that, in CKD patients requiring colonoscopy, the addition of Sena Graph to PEG could improve the efficacy of PEG. Furthermore, both agents exhibit a comparable safety profile for bowel preparation.

The utilization of gloves is essential for safeguarding hands against contamination and minimizing the risk of transmitting microorganisms to both patients and healthcare personnel. This study aimed to ascertain the prevalence of latex glove allergies and explore the associated symptoms, medical records, and contributing factors among nursing staff at Hospitals affiliated with Babol University of Medical Sciences.

In this descriptive-analytical study, the studied population included 324 (60 male and 264 female) nurses. Data was collected using a researcher-made questionnaire with confirmed validity and reliability. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 22 software at a significance level of 0.05.

A significant correlation was observed between female gender and latex glove allergies. Furthermore, 41.5% of the subjects experienced hand dermatitis, 23.2% suffered from urticaria, 10.2% exhibited upper respiratory symptoms, and 1.2% reported lower respiratory symptoms. Notably, 138 staff members with a history of atopy displayed a significant association with dermatitis and urticaria related to latex gloves. Additionally, a significant relationship was identified between the daily use of latex gloves and urticaria. Anaphylactic shock occurred in 3.4% of the staff.

The most severe reaction to latex gloves was anaphylactic shock, although it was infrequent in this study. Hand dermatitis emerged as the most prevalent symptom associated with latex allergy. Furthermore, latex glove allergies were more prevalent among staff with a history of atopy or those who used latex gloves extensively on a daily basis.

Students' self-assessment of clinical competencies can be a criterion to evaluate the students' clinical training needs. The present study aimed to investigate dental students' self-assessment of their ability in clinical competencies in the pediatric dentistry of Babol Faculty of Dentistry during the COVID-19 pandemic.

71 students participated in this correlation-descriptive study. The researcher-made questionnaire with examined validity and reliability included three parts: 1. personal characteristics, 2. self-assessment questions of students regarding their ability in clinical competencies, 3. and questions about the number of treatments performed by students. The data were entered into SPSS software (22) and were analyzed with independent t-tests, ANOVA, Spearman's correlation coefficient, and descriptive indices.

A significant correlation was observed between female gender and latex In this study, among the 12 groups of clinical competencies examined, the highest level of ability was related to the extraction of deciduous teeth (80.63 ± 20.78), and the lowest level of ability was related to treating patients with systemic problems (36.61±25.99) followed by abscess of deciduous teeth treatment (49.64±24.45) and child behavior control (58.80±21.17).

Students studying during the COVID-19 pandemic evaluated their ability to perform clinical competencies in pediatric dentistry as generally medium to high. However, competency in treating patients with systemic problems, treating abscesses of deciduous teeth, and controlling child behavior did not have a suitable rank compared to competency in other groups of clinical competencies. This issue shows the necessity of planning to compensate for not achieving educational goals in the era of COVID-19.

Covid-19 is a disease with different characteristics, ranging from symptomless carriers to death due to complications, which can induce a significant amount of stress. Resilience is very important for coping with stress and maintaining balance. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between resilience and clinical symptoms in patients with Covid-19.

This cross-sectional descriptive analytical study was conducted in 2022, with the participation of 100 patients hospitalized at Shahid Beheshti, Yahya Nejad, and Rouhani hospitals in Babol city, as well as Kausar hospital in Semnan city, who had received positive PCR test results and a definite diagnosis of Covid-19. They were selected using a convenience sampling method. Data collection tools included demographic information, a symptom checklist, clinical information, the Mini Mental Status Questionnaire (MMSE), and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC)-10.

The mean age of the patients was 53±15.3 years, and 91% of them were married. Seventy-eight percent of the patients had a headache, 83% had a cough, and 88% had dyspnea. There was no significant difference in resilience scores between patients with symptoms and those without symptoms (P>0.05). The multiple regression model revealed no significant relationship between disease symptom severity and resilience levels, even when considering the confounding variables (P>0.05).

The absence of a relationship between Covid-19 symptoms and resilience may be attributed to the complex nature of the disease and the multidimensional aspect of resilience. We suggest conducting more comprehensive research on various facets of resilience and its mechanisms of impact on diseases in diverse contexts, with larger sample sizes.

Human Papillomaviruses (HPVs) are common sexually transmitted viruses that cause health problems, including genital warts and different type of cancers. There are over 200 different types of HPV, some of which are correlated with the progress of cervical cancer. One of the HPV genes responsible for its oncogenic potential is the E6 gene. E6 is a critical protein in the life cycle of HPV and a key contributor to the development of HPV-associated cancers. Its interactions with cellular proteins lead to disruptions in key cellular pathways and the promotion of cancerous cell growth. Overall, HPV E6 represents a reassuring target for the expansion of novel therapies for the treatment of HPV-associated cancers and understanding its molecular interactions with host proteins is critical for developing targeted therapies for HPV-associated cancers. In this article, we will focus on the cancer-related mechanism and cell interaction of HPV E6.

In patients with stroke, alongside diminished level of consciousness, impaired swallowing and aspiration pneumonia are also common. In some studies, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) have caused improved swallowing and reduced incidence of aspiration pneumonia in some patients. This study has examined the effects of captopril on reducing the extent of aspiration pneumonia in stroke patients.

A total of 68 patients with brain stroke and diminished level of consciousness hospitalized in Ayatollah Rouhani Hospital, Babol were chosen and randomly assigned into captopril and placebo groups. In the captopril group, in case of blood pressure above 100/70 mmHg, captopril was prescribed with a dose of 6.25 mg three times per day. In the placebo group, vitamin C was given, and in both groups in the case of hypertension, an antihypertensive drug other than ACEI was used. Age, gender, blood pressure, potassium level, and primary underlying diseases were recorded. The two groups were compared with each other daily for 14 days in terms of severity of incidence of pneumonia as well as hemodynamic changes in potassium.

A total of 68 patients with brain stroke were included in the study in two equal 34-subject groups. The two groups had no difference in terms of age, gender, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, initial potassium level, and underlying diseases. In the captopril group, 1 (2.9%) and in the placebo group 6 (17.6%) suffered pneumonia (P < 0.046). The two groups had no significant difference in terms of systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, and serum potassium.

The results of this study indicated that captopril is effective in reducing the extent of incidence of aspiration pneumonia in brain stroke patients.