سینا احمدی

Older people experience physical and psychological changes that can negatively affect their life satisfaction and result in unhappiness. Life review therapy can be an effective intervention in increasing the positive feelings and happiness of the elderly. This study aims to determine the effects of a life review therapy program on self-actualization and happiness among older adults. 

This is a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test/post-test/follow-up design. Participants were 22 elderly people aged ≥60 years referred to a daycare center in Tehran, Iran. They were randomly divided into two intervention (n=11) and control (n=11) groups. The perma flourishing scale and the Oxford happiness questionnaire were used to collect data before, immediately after, and one month after the intervention. The life review therapy was performed according to Haight and Webester’s protocol. The collected data were analyzed in SPSS software, version 26. 

There was a significant increase in the total mean scores of happiness and flourishing scores in the intervention group immediately and one month after the intervention (P<0.001), but no significant change was reported in the control group. The mean scores of happiness and flourishing in the intervention group in the pre-test phase were 50.27 and 98.63, respectively. In the post-test and follow-up phases, these scores reached 58.27 and 57.09 for happiness and 111.63 and 104.81 for flourishing, respectively. 

The present study shows that life review intervention in can provide an opportunity for flourishing and psychological development and also an increase in the level of happiness among older adults.

Responsiveness is a main component of the health system which is related to the social characteristics of the society. The aim of this study was to evaluate the responsiveness of the health system in the slum areas of Ahvaz.

In this cross-sectional study, 385 residents of the marginal areas of Ahvaz city were selected by multi-stage sampling method Data were collected using Socio demographic-checklist and WHO responsiveness questionnaire. Data were analyzed in SPSS V22 applying descriptive statistics tests, Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis, ANOVA and t-test. 

The age range of the participants was 18 to 97 years with an average of (42.84±16.56). Women constituted 66% of the research population. 76% were married, 26% were illiterate and 4.4% had university education. 85.7 percent of participants under 5 million people. 66.2% used government service providers. 80% had health insurance and 15.1%  had supplementary insurance. Performance of in-patient services was better than outpatient services in terms of responsiveness. Aspect “Choice” received low score for outpatient and inpatient services. Almost 13% of respondents perceived some sort of discrimination while receiving inpatient service. Responsiveness of the participants in this study was significant relationship in all aspects with the type of service provider (charity/private/government), in the aspect of communication with the type of service provision (outpatient/inpatient), in the aspect of informed choice and confidentiality with the having supplementary insurance.  

Paying attention to the quality of facilities, access to social support and choice is suggested as a criterion with points for planning for change in order to improve the responsiveness of the health system in marginalized areas.

Deafness is one of the most complex sensory disorders that leads to a major decline in auditory and verbal skills. Research shows that reading books has provided patterns of communication and preverbal skills to deaf children. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of online parent-child dialogic book reading on pre-verbal and listening skills of deaf children under three years of old.

In this one-group quasi-experimental study with pre-test-post-test design, 10 hearing parents with deaf children under 3 years old with a child from the Deaf Family Association of Iran and the Deaf Center of Iran participated. The group of 10 people (parent and child) was first purposefully identified (based on inclusion criteria) and then from all the people with criteria, the people who declared their readiness to participate in the study were selected as study samples. Before starting the distance parent-child conversation reading program, the pre-verbal skills test (which included pointing, shared attention, imitation, and timing) and listening skills (small corners) were administered as a pre-test. Online reading sessions were held. For 20 sessions, three days a week, parents went online at a specific time (10 a.m. on Saturdays, Mondays, and Wednesdays), and each day a book with pictures and story-related content, book descriptions, and questions, and more WhatsApp activities. Created, placed. After the distance parent-child conversation book reading program, the test of pre-verbal skills and listening skills (small corners) were performed as a post-test for the sample group. Paired t-test was used to analyze the data.

The results of this study showed that the online parent-child dialogic book reading program caused a significant increase (p <0.005) in the post-verbal skills test score (imitation, shared attention, pointing and turning) and listening skills (p <0.005). 005) In comparison with the pre-test score of the sample group.

Parent-child dialogic book reading is one of the parent-centered programs that are important for deaf toddlers. The results showed the applicability of parent-child dialogic book reading in improving listening skills and preverbal skills of deaf children.

Priority setting helps maintain a clear focus, and according to the limitation of resources, it is necessary for reducing and controlling the burden of social problems better resource allocation. The present study aimed to identify and prioritize Iran's most critical social problems. This study was conducted in two steps. In the first step, a framework for classifying social problems was developed by reviewing the literature. Based on this framework, a list of social problems was prepared and categorized. In the second step, by studying the articles and books published in the field of social health, 20 experts in this field were selected and provided with the framework. Utilizing the Delphi method, the experts were asked to rank the mentioned list based on the three criteria including; prevalence, severity, and importance. Expert opinions were taken in three rounds. The country's social problems were categorized into three categories in order of priority. Although problems in society are numerous, the ten problems that have been assigned the highest priority in the present study are unemployment, corruption, income inequality, expensive housing, mistrust, poverty, reduction of productive investment, addiction, crime, and desperation. Planning for interventions and conducting social health research in the coming years should consider the aforementioned high-priority social problems that impose the most significant burden on society. The diverse social problems prioritized do not have exactly the same causes, consequences, and ways of control; therefore, identifying specific solutions to control them should be the next step in the process of social health planning.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of health sector evolution plan (HSEP) on the prevalence of cesarean section and vaginal delivery in public hospitals in Kermanshah province.

In the present study, cesarean section (C-section) and vaginal delivery data were collected and evaluated in 17 public hospitals from 2009 to 2019. The main variables of this study included the prevalence of C-section and the prevalence of vaginal delivery for 121 months, both were obtained by dividing the number of deliveries by C-section and vaginal delivery by the total number. Interrupted time series analysis was used to examine the effect of HSEP on the prevalence of cesarean and vaginal delivery rates.

The prevalence of C-section before and after the HSEP was 42.5% and 43.2%, respectively. Months before the intervention, the rate of C-section was increasing by 0.13%, which was statistically significant. In the first month after the intervention, the prevalence of     C-section decreased by 3.6% that was statistically significant. The share of C-section in the months after the implementation of the HSEP showed a monthly increase of 0.12% compared to before the intervention, which was statistically significant.

The results of the study showed that the HSEP has led to a significant reduction in C-section in short term, but in the months after the implementation of the plan, the prevalence of C-section has increased again.

Vaccine acceptance could seriously affect global efforts to control the Covid-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to estimate the Covid-19 vaccine acceptance and its related factors in Tehran and Kermanshah. 

A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 850 participants in Tehran and Kermanshah using the random digit dialing method. Multiple logistic regression was used to estimate the adjusted odds ratio of factors related to vaccine acceptance.

The frequency of the Covid-19 vaccine acceptance was 66.47% (95% confidence interval: 69.57%, 63.21%). Moreover, 86.02% of the participants stated that they would use any type of (Iranian / foreign) vaccine approved by the Iranian Ministry of Health. However, 13.98% of the participants stated that they only preferred foreign approved vaccines (if available). The variables of age, fatalism, and socioeconomic status had significant associations with the Covid-19 vaccine acceptance. 

Based on the results of this study, the Covid-19 vaccine acceptance was moderate. In order to achieve herd immunity by vaccination faster in our society, the strategy of prioritizing vaccination can be planned based on the related variables such as religious beliefs and fatalism, younger age groups, and people with higher socio-economic status that are willing to receive the vaccine.

In this research, poly(styrene-spiropyran) photo-responsive polymers were synthesized by free radical polymerization. For this purpose, an acrylate group was substituted on the spiropyran to allow the polymerization by the vinyl group. Different analyses such as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV-vis spectroscopy, and water contact angle analysis were used to characterize and evaluate the properties of the synthesized polymers. The results of NMR and FTIR analyses indicated the successful copolymerization of styrene and spiropyran. The optical properties of the polymers were evaluated in a chloroform solvent. The color of all solutions was changed to purple by UVA irradiation, which subsequently was eliminated by visible light with a wavelength of 590 nm. Contact angle analysis showed that with increasing spiropyran content, the contact angle of coatings increased and the surfaces were more hydrophobic. UV irradiation made the surface hydrophilic. The water contact angle changes during UV irradiation increased with increasing the spiropyran content of the coatings. As a result, the hydrophobic surface became a hydrophilic one. Therefore, photo-responsive coatings were developed using poly(styrene-spiropyran) polymers.

Food insecurity is a major public health problem, especially among older adults living in developing countries. The present study aimed at examining the prevalence, and risk and protective factors for severe food insecurity among elderly in Tehran, Iran.

In this cross-sectional study, 384 elderly people aged 60 years and older were selected from five different socioeconomic zones in Tehran, 2019, using multi-stage sampling. Food security status was assessed by the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS). Data were analyzed using simple and multiple logistic regression models in SPSS.

Among the people investigated, 37.8% were completely food secure, 24.1% were found with mild food insecurity, 22.7% reported moderate food insecurity, and 15.2% were severely food insecure. Low levels of physical activity (OR=8.7, CI 95%: 2.96-25.57), low educational levels (OR=6.15, CI 95%: 1.54-24.64), low monthly income (OR=5.63, CI 95%: 2.71-11.67), low levels of social capital (OR=3.13, CI 95%: 1.09-9.03), having oral and dental diseases (OR=2.51, CI 95%: 1.02-6.17), and male gender (OR=1.92, CI 95%: 0.89-4.11) were the risk factors, while having more children (OR=0.26, CI 95%: 0.04-1.36) was the protective factor for severe food insecurity in elderly. The predictors entered into the model could explain between 44.2% and 60.3% of the variance of the outcome.

Only one-third of the elderly were adequately food secure. Current findings could be beneficial in designing and implementing early interventions to provide food security for the elderly.

Disability is a reduction in income due to a decrease in work ability resulting from an accident or illness, which is divided into two categories: Total disability and Partial disability, according to the degree of disability and according to medical commissions. In this study, we seek to compare Non-Work Related Disability Insurance in Iran and in fifty countries worldwide. 

This study is an applied, retrospective, descriptive, comparative study designed to describe the laws of coverage, how to finance, how to qualify, and the extent of disability benefits in countries around the world.
 Findings and

This study in a comparative table, consisting of basic law, current law, type of insurance system, people covered by disability insurance, how to finance,disability insurance, how to qualify for disability insurance, disability insurance benefits, and Other disability insurance programs have been cited by countries around the world.

In present paper, after optimizing the capacity of the CCHP system equipment using the three-yearly relative annual benefit method, the CO2, CH4, CO, NOx and SOx emissions are studied. Optimization is carried out, assuming operation in the off-design points and ability to sell electricity to the network. The performance of the system will be evaluated in real conditions (under the influence of ambient temperature and pressure) and ideal, as well as two views on the production of pollutants at the place of consumption (Local) and total emissions (Global). Optimization process suggests an internal combustion engine with a nominal capacity of 2440 kW as a prime mover for the case study of the hotel, which despite the significant reduction of CO2, CO, NOx and SOx emissions in global mode, increases the CH4, CO and NOx in comparison with the traditional system at local mode by 92.5 %, 0.79 % and 84.1 %. On the other hand, the economic performance of the power unit of the CCHP system with a change in environmental conditions indicates that if the actual performance of the gas engine in the system is not considered, the system incomes will not have the required certainty.

Peripheral neuropathy has been known as the main cause of diabetic foot ulcer and limb amputation. Early diagnosis of this complication can prevent more severe morbidity as well as enormous economic costs.

Based on the duration of the disease, 110 diabetic patients were divided in two groups of less than 10 and more than 10-year history. After taking complete history about the symptoms of neuropathy, the patients were examined neurologically. Then, electrodiagnostic studies were performed on the patients.

96 patients (87/2%) had diabetic neuropathy. The prevalence of neuropathy had a significant relationship with the duration of the disease (P value= 0.004). 61 patients (55/4%) complained of neuropathic symptoms. The results of the neurological exams were abnormal in 65 patients (59.09%). The most common symptom was paresthesia (50% of patients) and the most frequent sign was abnormal Achille's reflex. 77 patients (70%) had abnormal indices in nerve conduction studies the most common of which was decrease amplitude of peroneal and sural nerves. 16 patients (14/5%) showed alterations in NCS in the absence of clinical signs or symptoms and 19 patients (17/2%) had normal NCS indices despite the presence of signs or symptoms of neuropathy.

High sensitivity of taking history and a careful neurological examination in the diagnosis of diabetic neuropathy necessitates physicians to pay more attention to clinical examinations and patient complaints, and avoid costly electrodiagnostic investigations. Thus, early diagnosis of sub-clinical neuropathy in these patients and providing them with necessary recommendations, irreversible complications such as amputation can be prevented.