Journal of Health Sciences and Surveillance System
Volume:12 Issue: 2, Apr 2024

Sexual dysfunction is one of the most prevalent complaints in men over 50 years old, which can negatively affect marital life and self-esteem. Consumption of oral drugs has various limitations, and they have serious interactions with other oral agents.

In this review article, the main traditional Persian medicine (TPM) sources were reviewed for topical suggestions for the treatment of men with sexual dysfunction. In addition, the herbal medicines and their constituents were reviewed in electronic databases including PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Sciences.

In TPM sources, various agents in oil, decoction, dry powder, suppository, and enema preparations are suggested to treat decreased libido, premature ejaculation, and erectile dysfunction. These preparations often include volatile agents that enhance percutaneous absorption. Accordingly, the literature review suggested that the mechanisms of these remedies could be related to enhancing the regional blood flow to the genitalia, inducing venous smooth muscle relaxation and increasing the tonicity of pelvic floor muscles.

TPM suggestions in treating sexual dysfunction in men can ignite new ideas for further research based on the proposed mechanisms of action.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a significant public health issue, especially in developing countries. This study aimed to provide a systematic review and meta-analysis of IPV among married Iranian women.

In this systematic review and meta-analysis, following PRISMA guidelines, eight electronic databases were searched for quantitative articles, with the target population of married Iranian women. Articles from 2010 to 2020 were extracted and assessed with an 8-scored checklist for risk of bias. Different types of IPV include mental, physical, and sexual types. Heterogeneity was assessed with I2 and Q tests. Random effect model was used for meta-analysis. Factors such as income, education, employment, mean age, urbanization, and human development index (HDI) were assessed within homogenous groups.

Thirty-four studies (19,445 participants) were included. The mean age of women was 33.4 years. The overall prevalence of past-year IPV was estimated at 62.6% (CI: 53.6-71.5). Mental, physical, and sexual violence were estimated at 59% (CI: 53.7- 64.4), 30.8% (CI: 26.2-35.4), and 29% (CI: 22.4-35.5), respectively. The results revealed that a negative correlation existed between the occurrence of violence and higher education, higher HDI indices for regions, and employment.

The findings of this study indicate that IPV exists in high proportions in Iran. Improving the economic situation, increasing education, and raising public awareness through social media are the preventive factors.

Obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are considered as the main causes of liver-associatedmorbidity and mortality. Antioxidant administration was proposed as a remedy for liver problems such as steatohepatitis. This systematic review aimed to examine the effects of supplementation with various forms of Vitamin E on liver enzymes.

To find relevant articles, in our systematic review article, we searched PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Cochrane library, and Web of Science up to 20 MAY, 2021. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the effects of vitamin E supplementation, in isolation or combined with other nutrients, on liver health were included. After excluding irrelevant records, 21 studies remained.

According to the results of the included studies, vitamin E, especially α-Tocopherol or its co-supplementation with other antioxidants, at specific dosage could possibly have positive effects on improving liver functions and levels of Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) enzymes.

Vitamin E,could possibly have positive effects on improving the liver function and the levels of ALT and AST enzymes.

Thyroid neoplasia is the most common endocrine malignancy worldwide. Fine-needle aspiration biopsy of thyroid nodules has a low sensitivity in distinguishing between benign and malignant lesions. Evaluation of the rate of expression and diagnostic value of immunohistochemical biomarkers in differentiating between benign and malignant thyroid lesions and different types of malignant lesions is the main purpose of this study.

Sixty articles were reviewed in this systematic review and meta-analysis study. The rate of detection of various immunohistochemistry (IHC) biomarkers in several thyroid lesions was examined by meta-analysis. Specificity, sensitivity, positive and negative likelihood ratios, and confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated for each marker. The accuracy of each test was evaluated by calculating the diagnostic odds ratio (DOR). ROC (receiver operating characteristic) analysis was performed for three markers.

Sensitivity and specificity of CK-19, Gal-3, and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) for detection of thyroid malignancies were 81% and 73%, 82% and 81%, and 77% and 83 %, respectively. The combination of these three markers showed the sensitivity of 85%, specificity of 97%, and diagnostic odds ratio of 95.1. Additionally, uPAR, Sialyl Lewis X, MIB-1, and Hector Battifora mesothelial-1. (HBME-1) can effectively differentiate the follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma (FVPTC) from follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC) as they are significantly more common in FVPTCs (P<0.05).

We showed that CK-19, Gal-3, and CEA had an important and statistically significant role in differentiating between benign and malignant thyroid lesions. In addition, according to our results, urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR), Sialyl Lewis X, MIB-1, and HBME-1 can effectively differentiate FVPTC from FTC with acceptable sensitivity and specificity.

Although medical errors in the clinical system are a common cause of lawsuits against physicians, ethical violations have been reported at an alarming pace. We conducted this study to determine the frequency of ethical issues related to patientphysician relationships in registered complaints in three teaching hospitals in Kerman, Iran, from 2015 to 2018. In this cross-sectional study, we extracted data from all complaint cases registered in the complaints offices. The data were categorized according to ethical issues in the physicianpatient relationship including breaching confidentiality, not telling the truth to the patient, not obtaining informed consent, abandoning further treatment, causing unnecessary expenses, violating privacy, and not respecting the patient; then, we compared them according to our objectives using SPSS software. The results showed that 51.7% of the physicians who had been sued were male, and 30.2% of all of them were general surgeons. The most common ethical issues were related to not respecting the patient (49.7%), abandoning further treatment (25.5%), not telling the truth to the patient (14.1%), and not obtaining informed consent (5.4%). The complaints received in three teaching hospitals can reveal the disregard for ethical codes, and irresponsible behavior among healthcare providers may endanger the patients’ safety and increase the likelihood of injury in these hospitals. Further studies are recommended to determine the factors that influence ethical violation in the healthcare setting.

Sarcopenia, an age-related decline in muscle mass, strength, and function, contributes to various adverse health outcomes and physical impairments. This study aimed to investigate the association between sarcopenia components and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among communitydwelling older adults. In this cross-sectional study, 501 adults aged 65 years or older participated. Sarcopenia was diagnosed according to the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS) guideline. Muscle mass was measured by bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), muscle strength by hand dynamometer, and physical function by 4-m gait speed. The HRQoL was assessed using 12 item shortform healthy survey (SF-12) questionnaire. There was a significant relationship between the sarcopenia and demographic characteristics (educational levels and smoking habits). After adjustment for age, sex, Body Mass Index, education level, smoking habits, and number of comorbidities, a significant relationship was observed between sarcopenia and physical components of HRQoL. According to multivariate linear regression, low muscle mass was negatively related to physical aspects of HRQoL. Low handgrip strength (HGS) and gait speed (GS) were inversely correlated to both physical and mental components of HRQoL. Our study highlighted the adverse impact of sarcopenia on HRQoL in elderly population. Reduction in muscle strength and physical performance not only affected physical aspects but also were linked with mental components of HRQoL. Therefore, it seems HGS and GS might be good indicators affecting all aspects of HRQoL in the elderly groups.

Recent evidence suggests that mental health is associated with dentistry. The aim of the current research was to probe different types of anxiety disorders and phobias in accordance with new changes in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM5) in pediatric dentistry. This is a cross-sectional descriptive study. In this research, 282 children aged 7 to 13 years old, and one of their parents who referred to the dental clinic of School of Dentistry of Shiraz completed Youth Anxiety Measure (YAM-I and YAM-II). Result of children and parents’ opinions showed a high rate of different types of anxiety (24.4% and 22%) and phobia (27.7% and 27.3%) disorders (P<0.001). Based on children and their parent’s reports, there were no significant differences between the girls and boys in different types of anxiety disorders. Also, no significant differences were observed between the two groups in different types of phobias except for the blood type from the child’s report and the blood and animal type from the parent’s report. Children who had an unpleasant dental experience showed higher anxiety disorders and the results from the parents also confirmed this idea (P<0.001). There was a great deal of agreement between children and their parent’s opinions about anxiety disorders (P<0.001). Due to the high rate of anxiety disorders in children, especially in those with unpleasant dental experiences, identification and treatment of these disorders can increase referrals to dentists and consequently improve the oral health.

The quality and manner of couples’ communication in sexual matters is one of the most important and effective variables on the couples’ sexual health and satisfaction. The aim of this study was to discover the factors affecting the couples’ sexual communication from the perspective of couples’ therapists, couples, and research. The present study was conducted qualitatively using the grounded theory method that has three statistical population. In the research section, electronic resources, books, dissertations, and valid journals were used. In interviewing all the Iranian couple therapists and interviewing all couples who were referred to counseling centers in Mashhad, purposeful sampling was used. Data were collected using semi-structured and interactive interviews. For the validity of the data, after saturation, 2 more people were added, and the interview continued. Finally, 13 couple therapists and 21 couples were interviewed. MAXQDA20 software was used for data analysis. In the text analysis of the interviews with couple therapists, in open coding 62 categories and in axial coding 14 categories; in interviews with couples, in open coding 56 categories and in axial coding 14 categories; and in qualitative analysis of research, in open coding 42 categories and in axial coding 13 categories were obtained. Finally, with the use of triangulation, three main categories of couple, individual, and situation were identified. According to the results obtained, couple therapists are advised to have a combination of multidimensional attitudes towards the couples’ sexual communication and pay attention to it in therapeutic and educational sessions.

Technical efficiency, which is measured by calculating the ratio of products to resources, is the most important factor in assessing the efficiency status of organizations. Data envelopment analysis is useful to measure the efficiency score of all the units which have homogeneous input resources and output products and to rank them. The aim of this study was to measure and compare the efficiency of health performance in medical universities in Iran. The present research is a cross-sectional study to measure the efficiency of health performance using the national information of the health system of Iran. Input data include hospital beds, specialists, general physicians, dentists, pharmacists, nurses, midwives, computerised topography scan and magnetic resonance imagination devices, and Gini Index; also, the output data include pregnancy care coverage, infant mortality rate, low birth weight, and in-patient days. These data were attained from the annual Ministry of Health and Medical Education report in 2017 for 46 medical universities. To estimate the efficiency of health performance of each medical university using data envelopment analysis, we designed an input-oriented model with Variable Returns to Scale in GAMS 28.2.0. The effect of contextual factors on the efficiency score was calculated using the Tobit Regression model. Results showed that only 19 (41%) medical universities were on the efficiency frontier. The highest mean of efficiency score was attributed to eastern areas, followed by the western and northern areas, and the worst status was related to southern parts of the country. The efficiency scores of universities located in northern areas were closer, while there was more difference among the efficiency scores of the universities of central areas of the country. Tobit regression shows that significant factors inefficiency include life expectancy and medical university class. The results of this study emphasized the differences in the performance efficiency of medical universities. Considering the inefficiency of smaller universities, we need to make careful decisions in establishing new universities in small cities.

Bipolar mood disorder (BMD) with a lifetime history of Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) characterized by a particularly neuropsychological profile. This study aimed to clarify whether there is a difference between BMD patients with ADHD and BMD patients without ADHD in terms of neuropsychological functioning.

This is a cross-sectional study with 68 samples (24 patients had BMD with ADHD and 44 patients had BMD) selected based on the target sampling during a year (March 2014 to March 2015). Tower of London (ToL) task, Conners’ Continuous Performance Test (CPT), and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) were used for assessing neuropsychological functioning in participants. All statistical analyses were performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16 software.

The results revealed that the BMD with ADHD group was not more impaired than the BMD group on two measures of executive functioning TOL and CPT. The BMD in the ADHD group was more impaired than the BMD group on WCST.

This study will be effective in understanding whether the cognitive flexibility impairments often detected in adult BMD are partially the result of lifetime ADHD.

Strengthening primary health care services for the elderly is vital. In this regard, adequate and sustainable financing is necessary for primary health care. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the methods of financing primary health care for the elderly in Iran in 2021. This is a mixed method cross-sectional study carried out in 2021 with a combination of quantitative and qualitative data. The sample size was estimated to be 254 subjects. Sampling was done in a stratified manner. The studied variables were the result of a comparative study and interview. In this study, to measure the construct validity, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis method was used. Data were analyzed using SPSS-21 and AMOS-24 software. The results of exploratory factor analysis showed that all variables had factor loadings above 0.3. The results of the second-order confirmatory factor analysis showed that all the items of primary health care financing for the elderly were approved. These items include the allocation of GDP to cover part of the costs of old age care, tax collection, social insurance coverage for the disabled and retired, allocation of subsidies to vulnerable groups, private and supplementary insurances, transfer of employee insurance premiums to medical funds to cover the health and medical expenses in old age, the use of municipal and governorate budgets, and incentive policies. The results showed that the use of municipal and governorate budgets and incentive policies had the highest (0.726) and the lowest (0.531) standard coefficients, respectively. The findings of the study show that the construct validity of the designed model has a good level. Using this model by managers, policymakers, and health planners can improve the financing of primary health care services for the elderly and thus meet their health needs.

Traditional medicine refers to a set of indigenous or acquired health care practices outside the mainstream health care system in any country. A wide range of people use traditional and complementary medicine in Iran, and due to its ancient Persian origin, it is known as Persian Medicine (PM). PM is used for a wide range of people and diseases because it comprises various treatment strategies. Thus, the familiarity of healthcare providers with it seems essential for them.

This quasi-experimental study was conducted to investigate the effect of PM education on the knowledge, attitude, and practice of medical sciences students in Iran. In this study, an educational intervention on knowledge, attitude, and practice of Persian medicine was conducted on medical sciences students in the fifth-largest region of health education in Iran. The data were collected from 99 medical sciences students. The knowledge of these participants was evaluated and compared before and after the courses by a questionnaire scored using 5-point Likert scale.

The mean score of selected students was 25.28 before starting the course, but after completing the course, their mean score of knowledge changed significantly and reached 31.03. Although, after the course, the use and attitude of theseparticipants increased, these rises were statistically significant in a few items.

Overall, the findings of our study indicated that this course had a practical impact on medical science students’ knowledge, practice, and attitude toward PM. Accordingly, this course will improve the insight of future healthcare providers about PM.

The present study aimed to determine the factors affecting the decision of hearing-impaired adults to perform cochlear implantation (CI) and the impact of each factor on the results of hearing quality, speech understanding, spatial hearing, and quality of life (QoL) after implantation. In this cross-sectional study, thirty-nine adults with CI completed the Speech, Spatial, and Hearing Quality Scale (SSQ), Quality of Life Standard (SF-12), and Tinnitus Handicap Index (THI) questionnaires. One-way ANOVA and two-step cluster analysis with Schwarz’s Bayesian information criterion as clustering criterion were used to analyze the data. There was a significant difference between males and females in the total score of QoL, physical health, and age of hearing loss (HL) diagnosis, but not in the SSQ questionnaire. In the mental health of all participants, a significant difference was observed in two levels of THI. Age at implantation and income, age of HL diagnosis, duration of CI, degree of tinnitus, and level of education (literacy) play an important role in QoL, speech comprehension, spatial hearing, mental health, and SSQ, respectively. Some patients’ decisions for CI surgery consisted of tinnitus before implantation, age, sex, income, and QoL. Some demographic factors are effective in the process of a person’s decision to perform implantation. Besides other implant factors in adult CI candidacy, considering the person’s decision may lead to realistic expectations from the surgery and related results, which can be attended to in counseling before implantation.

Patient satisfaction is defined as the extent to which patients feel that their needs and expectations are being met by the services provided. A good number of HIV patients often drop out of treatment programs because they are not satisfied with some aspects of the services provided. This study assessed and compared HIV patients’ satisfaction with health services provided at public and privately owned tertiary health institutions in Ogun State, Nigeria. This is a facility-based 2-center (a government-funded and a privately funded), cross-sectional comparative study carried out among HIV-positive patients who received care at these two tertiary hospitals. HIV patients’ satisfaction was assessed using PSQ III. Two hundred patients were recruited from each institution. A comparison of mean satisfaction scores was done using the student’s t-test. Logistic regression analysis was used to predict the factors associated with patients’ satisfaction. The mean ages of study participants were 42.25±10.81 and 44.04±9.97 for public and private health facilities, respectively (t=-1.717 P=0.087). The mean satisfaction scores of the private health facility (3.48+0.42) were higher compared to those of the public health facility (3.29±0.54) (t=-3.912, P=0.000). Also, more patients in the private health facility were satisfied with the care received compared to the public health facility in six domains out of the seven domains studied. Patients’ satisfaction evaluation should be done periodically in health facilities to continually identify the gaps in service delivery and monitor progress towards the ending of HIV/ AIDS epidemics which is one of the targets of the sustainable development goals.