فهرست مطالب امین نخستین انصاری

Streptococcus beta group (GBS: Group B Streptococcus) is a gram-positive coccus that colonizes in the rectovaginal area. About 4.6% to 31.3% of women of childbearing age carry GBS infection. GBS colonization is a risk factor for subsequent infections in pregnant women that can be transmitted to the fetus through vertical transfer and aspiration of infected amniotic fluid. 2% of cases lead to an invasive infection in the baby. In most countries, treatment is done according to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) protocol which is based on culture results. According to studies conducted in our country, treatment is based on risk factors. Therefore, during this study, we decided to compare the results of treatment based on risk factors and treatment based on culture results and other maternal and neonatal complications in these two groups.

This case-control study was performed on 98 pregnant women aged 35 to 37 weeks who were referred to the perinatal clinic of Arash Hospital from April 2018 to the end of March 2020 and also 200 pregnant women with a GBS risk factor. Samples of rectovaginal discharge of 98 pregnant women were sent to a selected laboratory for culturing. In this group, treatment was performed based on the culture result. The control samples included 200 pregnant mothers who were treated based on risk factors without culture. Then the two groups were compared in terms of pregnancy outcomes.

Out of 98 subjects, 24 (24.5%) had positive rectovaginal culture. Individuals treated with antibiotics based on positive culture results did not show a significant difference in terms of observed pregnancy outcomes compared with the control group.

The prevalence of GBS colonization was significantly higher in patients with a history of vaginal discharge than in those without a history. Due to the small number of studies conducted in Iran, it is recommended to conduct studies with a larger sample size in order to explain a more appropriate protocol in terms of effectiveness and economics.

Impaired balance is one of the most common symptoms that occur after stroke. There are several tests for evaluating balance in neurological disorders. Brief-balance evaluation systems test (Brief-BESTest) is the short version of BESTest that assess the systems contributing to postural control. The purpose of this study was to investigate the inter- and intra-rater reliability of the Persian version of Brief-BESTest for balance evaluation in patients with stroke.
Patients with stroke recruited from the Tehran University of Medical Sciences Physiotherapy Clinics in Tehran participated in this cross-sectional study. Patients were included in the study with first ever stroke, able to follow instructions, able to walk without aid, and willingness to participate in the study. The study was conducted from August to December 2016. Two physiotherapists independently scored the videotaped performance of patients on Persian Brief-BESTest in one session for inter-rater reliability. The first physiotherapist recorded the patients’ performance on Persian Brief-BESTest after 1 week for intra-rater reliability. The physiotherapists were blinded to each other’s scores. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to assess the reliability. SPSS statistical software, version 18 (IBM, Armonk, NY, USA) was used for all analyses.
Thirty patients with stroke (10 males, 20 females, mean age 57.3±13.5 years, duration 40.7±47.3 months) participated in this study. The ICC values for inter-rater reliability and intra-rater reliability of total scores were 0.98 (95% CI: (0.95-0.99)) and 0.99 (95% CI: (0.98-0.99)), respectively. The ICC values for inter- and intra-rater reliability of each item score were 0.72-1.0, and 0.87-1.0 respectively.
The Persian version of Brief-BESTest has high inter- and intra-rater reliability for evaluation of balance in patients with stroke. Therefore, it is recommended for use by clinicians in the clinic and for research purposes in the clinical trials.