مجله سلامت و سالمندی خزر
سال ششم شماره 1 (بهار و تابستان 1400)

Nurses at the forefront were concerned about experiencing high levels of job stress due to their initiative and that of family members, lack of personal protection, and tolerance of protective cover during the Covid-19 outbreak. Tolerating this stress on a regular basis may lead to physical illness and reduced sleep quality. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between sleep quality and job stress of nurses in the Covid-19 outbreak.

In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 102 nurses working in Imam Sajjad (AS) Ramsar and Shahid Rajaei Tonekabon Hospitals were selected using an available sampling method. A questionnaire of Pittsburgh sleep quality and nurses' job stress was used to collect information. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 18 and Pearson correlation coefficient. The significance level was considered less than 0.05.

Based on the results, the average work experience of 102 nurses 27 (5.26%) males and 73 (71.6%) females was 15.14 ± 7.7 years. The mean total score of nurses' sleep quality was 15.5±8.7 (undesirable). The nurses' stress level was 82.16 ±18.98 (very high). The Pearson correlation test indicated that there was a statistically significant relationship between sleep quality and job stress (P-value=0.001).

The results showed that the quality of nurses’ sleep was unfavorable which could be due to the job stress of nurses during the COVID-19 epidemic. Nursing managers need to help improve the physical and mental health of nurses during the COVID-19 epidemic by holding workshops on coping strategies and improving sleep quality.

Vitamin D deficiency is common among Iranian women and is a significant risk factor for osteoporosis and fractures. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between serum vitamin D and femoral bone mineral density (BMD) in active and inactive elderly women.

This study was was conducted on 410 70-85-year-old women with a mean age of 78 years, referred to Ayatollah Kashani Hospital in Tehran from 2019 to 2020. After the participants completed a questionnaire containing personal information, osteoporosis and physical activity, 45 active postmenopausal women and 45 inactive postmenopausal women were selected. Serum vitamin D index of women was used as an indicator of the effect on mineral density and osteoporosis. Pearson correlation coefficient was applied to find the relationship between vitamin D and femoral BMD. Data were analyzed using SPSS 26.

According to the results, in both groups of active and inactive elderly women, there was a relationship between anthropometric indices and serum vitamin D levels with femoral BMD in active and inactive postmenopausal women (P≤0.05), but no significant relationship was found between height index in both groups (P≥0.05).

In general, the results showed that there was a significant relationship between BMD and serum vitamin D of all participants. Therefore, in adulthood and old age, this blood variable can be used to identify 70-85-year-old people at risk of osteoporosis.

Moral distress as one of the important issues affects the physical and mental health of nurses and the quality of patient care. Considering the importance of moral distress, the aim of this study was to determine moral distress and its related factors in nurses working in hospitals in Western Mazandaran.

In this descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study, 142 nurses working in two hospitals in Western Mazandaran were selected using the convenience sampling method. The data were collected using the moral distress scale (MDS) validated in Iran. The MDS included 10 questions about environmental contexts of distress, scored from very low to high and 30 questions related to moral distress factors, scored on a Likert scale from 1 (very low distress) to 7 (very distress) as well as the moral distress score was ranged from 30 to 210. The data were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics (independent t-test and Spearman correlation coefficient) through SPSS 18 at a significant level of P<0.05.

Based on the results of this study, the mean intensity of moral distress of the nurses was high (4.96±1.82). The highest percentage of moral distress was related to working and caring for the patient in unsafe conditions due to low nursing staff numbers in the ward (5.88 ± 1.34). Among the related factors, work experience, employment status and type of departments were significantly associated with moral distress.

Due to the high level of moral distress, it is necessary for nurses to adopt strategies in order to care for the patient in safe conditions. It is also suggested that more attention should be paid to the concept of moral distress in the training program of hospital nurses.

Family caregivers carry a heavy care burden when caring for the elderly with a chronic illness. Due to the fact that the care burden is affected by various factors; therefore, the aim of this study was to review the factors related to the care burden in family caregivers of the elderly with chronic diseases.

This review study was conducted through searching, Irandoc, SID, PubMed, Magiran, Google Scholar, Scopus and SienceDirect without time limitation with the keywords caregivers, family, elderly, care burden and chronic illness (in English and Persian). In the initial search, 65 articles were found so that after reviewing the inclusion and exclusion criteria, finally 36 articles were included in the study based on their relevance to the subject.

The care burden in family caregivers of the elderly with chronic diseases was influenced by factors related to caregivers (age, sex, marital status, health status, resilience and ...), factors related to patient (degree of patient dependence on caregiver, comorbidity of several chronic underlying diseases, cognitive disorders, age and...) and factors related to care (duration of care, assistance in daily living activities and…).

Considering that reducing the care burden of caregivers improves the quality of care for the elderly; hence, it is suggested that the findings of this study should be used in the development and implementation of support, educational and counseling programs to reduce the care burden.

Aging population in the world raises the need of education to prepare people for old age. Considering the decisive role of school textbooks on students' beliefs and behaviors about the elderly, the aim of this study was to investigate the status of education in terms of images and phrases related to aging in school textbooks.

This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted using citation analysis method. The study population was all elementary and first high school textbooks on aging issue. The data were analyzed using SPSS 22.

The results showed that there were images of the elderly in almost all grades and levels of education. The most number of images of the elderly were in the third-grade textbooks of the first high school (141 cases) and the lowest one was in the second grade textbooks of the elementary school. Review of textbooks in terms of using words such as aged, old, elderly, oldest old and similar words indicated that in all grades and levels of education, related and evocative words with this age group were used. The second grade of first high school textbooks had the most number (256 items) and the highest proportion of these words.

Given the number and proportion of using images and words related to aging in textbooks, a relatively good amount of dealing with the subject was observed in elementary and first high school grades. Therefore, as the aging population grows, reforming the amount and content of educational materials in schools is essential.

Mastering aging and having a successful old age mean not only not having physical and debilitating diseases, but also being mentally healthy, having good social activities and communication with others and having cognitive and motor skills. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of training of emotional self-control skills (ESCSs) on resilience in the Karaj elderly.

In this quasi-experimental study, 40 elderly people from nursing homes in Karaj were randomly selected and divided into two groups: a) training of ESCSs and b) control. With the control group, a quasi-experimental pre- and post-tests design were used. Moreover, the ESCSs were trained in the experimental group in 8 sessions of 1 to 1.5 hours, while the control group received no interventions during this period. Both groups were assessed in pre- and post-tests using the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (2003), and the results were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance.

The results showed that ESCSs training had an effect on increasing the resilience of the elderly in Karaj. Considering the ETA square, it can be said that 85.7% of these changes were due to the effect of the intervention or training of ESCSs.

The results suggest that ESCSs training is effective in influencing resilience in older people, and the skills of this training can be used to increase resilience.

Considering that retirement may cause depression, hopelessness, aimlessness in life, and as a result, dependence and lack of self-differentiation in relationships, and also that as the elderly population grows, so does their mental health, therefore; the aim of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of logotherapy and positive psychotherapy on self-differentiation and positive psychological characteristics of retired teachers in Education of Isfahan.

In this semi-experimental study, 60 retired teachers in Education of Isfahan in 2019. Data were collected using the scales of self-differentiation (Skowron and Friedlander) and positive psychological characteristics (Rashid). The data were analyzed using SPSS 23 and repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA).

Results demonstrated that logotherapy was more effective on self-differentiation than positive psychotherapy (F=3/339, P= 0/45) and there was a significant difference between these two methods (P<0/05). Moreover, positive psychotherapy was more effective than logotherapy on positive psychological characteristics (F= 4/721, P= 0/025) and there was a significant difference between these two methods (P<0/05).

Logotherapy can be used to improve or increase self-differentiation and positive psychotherapy can be applied to increase or improve the positive psychological characteristics of the elderly in educational centers, nursing homes, counseling centers and psychological clinics.

Social health and quality of life (QOL) are two very important factors whose improvement can progress the QOL of the elderly. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between physical activity with social health components and QOL indicators of the elderly.

In this descriptive and survey study, 140 elderly people of Lahijan city were selected as a sample in 2021. The Physical Activity (Sharkly), Social Health (Keys) and World Health Organization Quality of Life Brief Version (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaires were used in the current study. The data were analyzed through descriptive tests, independent group t-test, Spearman correlation coefficient and Mann-Whitney U test using SPSS 23.

The results showed that the mean age of the elderly was 66.94± 8.22. The highest (4.11) and lowest (2.58) mean scores were related to social cohesion and social solidarity, respectively. Moreover, the social health and QOL scores were 3.12 (moderately upward) and 79.05 (moderate), respectively. Therefore, there was a positive and significant relationship between physical activity with social health components and QOL indicators (p <0.05).

The results showed that sports activities in the elderly improved their social health and QOL. Hence, there is a need for effective planning and interventions in the field of exercise and physical activity for the elderly.