jasem allahyari

This literature review was conducted to investigate determinants of readmission among Iranian people with heart failure.

Heart failure (HF) as a chronic progressive syndrome may reduce the quality of life and increase their treatment costs. The rate of readmission is relatively high in these patients, presenting a major health problem.

In the present literature review, the literature on the topic were searched out in databases PubMed, Google Scholar, Web of Science, ProQuest, Magiran, SID, and IranMedex. The terms heart failure, congestive heart failure, readmission, rehospitalization, and Iran were searched without time limit. Literature search and evaluating the articles were independently conducted by two researchers, and all eligible studies were included in the review process.

Out of 601 studies found in the initial search, seven articles meeting the inclusion criteria entered the final phase of the study and were reviewed. According to these studies, the readmission rate varied from 10.9 to 40 percent. Some of the important factors affecting the readmission rate in patients with heart failure included age, gender, education, job status, underlying disease, disease stage, poor adherence to the therapeutic regimen, insurance coverage status, and place of residence.

  Based on the results of the present study, the rate of readmission was high among Iranian patients with heart failure. It is recommended to consider interventions such as educational programs to improve patients’ awareness about this condition and their adherence to self-care activities.

Thalassemia is the most common genetic disease can affect the quality of life of patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of interventions performed to improve quality of life of patients with major thalassemia.

The present study was a systematic review. The following databases were included to identify relevant citations: Magiran, SID, ISC, IranMedex, Pubmed, Scopus, Google scholar, Web of Science, ProQuest and Cochrane using the keywords major thalassemia, quality of life, beta thalassemia, clinical research, Clinical trials based on Mesh were identified during July 2010 to July 2020. Articles were searched and extracted by two researchers independently. All articles that met the eligibility criteria were reviewed.

Out of 370 studies, finally 16 articles (5 Persian articles and 11 English articles) were reviewed, which were divided into five categories: psychological interventions (5 articles), health promotion education interventions (5 articles), and care interventions (3 articles), Empowerment interventions (2 articles) and physical activity (1 article). Most studies have confirmed the effectiveness of educational interventions in improving the quality of life of patients with major thalassemia.

Educational interventions to improve the quality of life of patients with major thalassemia can have a positive effect and improve the quality of life of these people.

Depression and anxiety are common problems with multiple complications in hemodialysis patients.

This study aimed to compare the effect of acupressure and reflexology on anxiety and depression in hemodialysis patients.

A clinical trial was carried out on 60 patients who had referred to the Special Patients Clinic, Zabol, between January and March 2017. Patients were randomly divided into three groups, acupressure group (n = 20), reflexology group (n = 20), and control group (n = 20). Data collection tools included the Spielberger State-Trait anxiety inventory (STAI) and the Beck depression inventory-II (BDI-II). Data were analyzed in SPSS-19 using descriptive and analytical statistics.

Before the intervention, there was no significant difference between the three groups in terms of depression (P = 0.051) and anxiety (P = 0.11). The comparison of the mean scores of depression and anxiety between the three groups after the intervention revealed a significant difference between the three groups in terms of both variables (P < 0.001). Statistical analysis indicated that the depression and anxiety scores differed significantly after the intervention between the two experimental groups and the control group (P < 0.001).

The results demonstrated that acupressure and reflexology could have positive impacts on mitigating the patients’ depression and anxiety. Thanks to the ease of application, these methods can be used by nurses to reduce anxiety and depression in patients undergoing hemodialysis.

 Thalassemia negatively affects key aspects of life and self-care behaviors. It is essential to promote self-care behaviors in patients with thalassemia in order to improve their functions and mitigate adverse effects.  In this context, the present study aimed to investigate the effects of self-care education on self-care behaviors of patients with major β-thalassemia based on Orem’s model.  This clinical trial investigated 60 patients with major β-thalassemia who had been admitted to Razi Hospital in Saravan, southeast of Iran, in 2017. The subjects were selected and randomly allocated to the control and experimental groups. A demographic questionnaire and a researcher-made self-care scale were used to gather data. The experimental group received individual- and group-training for 5 sessions of 30 to 45 minutes, while the control group was presented with routine instructions. After one month, the questionnaires were completed again and the data were analyzed in SPSS 23 using chi-square test and independent t-test.  The results of this study showed that administering the self-care program enhanced three aspects of self-care, including mental health, physical activities, and therapeutic measures in patients with major β-thalassemia, but no improvement was observed in terms of nutrition after the intervention (P = 0.28).  It is promising to undertake self-care interventions to improve self-care behaviors of patients with major β-thalassemia.

Diabetes as one of the serious problems in the health system is known as the silent death. An effective way to examine patients with diabetes is to evaluate self-care behaviors. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate self-care behaviors and related factors in diabetic patients referring to the diabetes clinic in Saravan, Iran, in 2017. The population of this descriptive analytic study consisted of 80 patients with diabetes type 2 referring to the diabetes clinic in Saravan selected by census method. Data were collected through demographic form and self-care behavior questionnaire. Data analysis was performed in SPSS (version 23) using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, and ANOVA. self-care mean and standard deviation were 37.87±12.03, respectively. The findings showed that patients had low, moderate, and high levels of self-care behaviors (i.e. 62.5%, 32.5%, and 3.8%, respectively). Variables, such as levels of education and job status, correlated directly with self-care behaviors (P<0/05). The findings showed that the majority of patients indicated a moderate level of self-care. Therefore, it is suggested to improve self-care behavior by offering educational programs to raise the patients’ consciences regarding the importance of self-care behavior in controlling and alleviating the complication of diabetes

The incidence of diabetes as one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality is on a growing trend. The key to diabetes treatment is to train self-care behaviors. We aimed to determine the effect of the continuous care model on self-care behaviors of diabetic patients.
This clinical trial was performed on 80 patients with diabetes who were selected through purposive sampling and randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. A demographic form and the self-care behaviors questionnaire for diabetic patients were used to collect the data. The intervention group was followed up based on the continuous care model from the beginning of July to the end of August. During this time, the control group only received the routine care. After completing the intervention, the questionnaires were completed again, and the obtained data were analyzed by Mann-Whitney and Wilcoxon statistical tests.
Mean self-care scores of patients in the control and intervention groups were 36.42 and 39.32, respectively, which did not show any significant differences (P=0.28). After the intervention, the mean self-care scores of the control and intervention groups were 37.95 and 55.22, respectively, indicating significant intergroup differences (P=0.001).
The continuous care model can be used as an effective method to promote self-care behaviors in diabetic patients.