Shiraz Emedical Journal
Volume:22 Issue: 9, Sep 2021

Climate change as a global threat has affected all aspects of society, including health. This study aimed to identify the role of climate change factors on cardiovascular diseases. Evidence Acquisition: The current narrative review study searched the databases including EMBASE, PubMed, Science Direct, Ovid, Cochrane Library, Magiran, and SID using Persian and English keywords such as ‘climate change’, ‘cold wave’, ‘heat wave’, ‘temperature decrease’, ‘temperature rise’, ‘heart disease’, ‘heart attack’, and ‘heart failure’ from the beginning of 2000 to the end of 2019.

Previous studies have shown that physical factors affect health and contribute to conditions such as cardiovascular disease and even death. Additionally, a relationship can be found between temperature decrease and heart diseases in the literature, while recent studies have shown that temperature rise is directly related to heart diseases.

Due to increased greenhouse gas emissions and the increase in temperature, the world is witnessing a massive climate change. Considering the increase in the incidence and mortality rates due to heart diseases and the role of climate change in this increase, health policymakers need to focus on setting guidelines for reducing the complications of these diseases in high-risk groups based on the relevant studies.

The present study aimed at evaluating the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following childbirth and its sociodemographic and obstetrics predictors.

The current cross sectional study was conducted from April to November 2017 by the random sampling method on 365 women aged 18 - 35 years whose last childbirth occurred within 38 - 42 weeks of gestation and gave birth 10 - 16 weeks before the initiation of the study, in Baneh City, Kurdistan Province, Iran. The research tools included a sociodemographic and obstetrics characteristics questionnaire and a checklist of PTSD for DSM-IV. For data analysis, independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, and multiple linear regression with backward stepwise selection were employed.

The prevalence of PTSD following childbirth was 47.7%. Themean±standard deviation of PTSD following childbirth was 13.6 ±10.9, out of the attainable score of 0 - 51. The variables, including income status, number of children, desired route of delivery, and the type of recent delivery, were identified as predictors and accounted for 34% of the variance of PTSD adjusted for other variables.

Considering the high prevalence of PTSD following childbirth, to improve the childbirth experience, well-adjusted interventions should be planned to prevent PTSD after delivery

Adequate oral health awareness and practices of special needs caregivers play a pivotal role in maintaining the optimal oral health of their dependents.

The current study aimed at assessing the level of oral health awareness and practices of special needs caregivers in Qatif, the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.

The current cross-sectional descriptive study collected information by a self-administered questionnaire about awareness and practices of oral health in caregivers. The questionnaire consisted of four parts covering the caregiver demographic information, the awareness of oral health habits and conditions, awareness of dental visits and treatments, and knowledge and sources of information. Statistical analyses included descriptive and bivariate analysis using the Chi-square test, where P-values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.

There was an overall response rate of 27% (n = 186 out of 700). The majority (64.5%, n = 120) of the caregivers were female, 70.4% (n = 121) were educated up to a minimum of high school level. Up to 81.2% (n = 151) of the caregivers reported that dependents routinely brushed their teeth. Also, 84.9% (n = 158) of the caregivers knew about fluoride, and 77.8% (n = 123) understood that it helps prevent tooth decay. About three-quarters of the caregivers (n = 142) had taken their dependents to the dentist; 35.9% (n = 51) reported dental visits within the last six months. The most predominant information resources were dentists (54.6%, n = 83), TV and media (47.4%, n = 72), and the Internet (46.1%, n = 70). Caregivers’ level of education was the only factor that had a significant relationship with oral health awareness (P = 0.018).

The majority of the caregivers have a good awareness of proper oral health practices. Given the significant influence of the educational level of caregivers in oral health awareness, it is essential to ensure that they have any relevant education to improve their dependents’ oral health.

Hysterectomy is a common surgery among women in which the uterus, cervix, and sometimes ovaries and fallopian tubes are removed. As women’s reproductive organs are important to their sexual image, hysterectomy can affect their psychological status, personal interactions, and especially marital adjustment and sexual function. Moreover, sexual function and marital adjustment can be affected by women’s thoughts about their body image.

The current study aimed at comparing marital adjustment and sexual function in women’s job, focusing on the moderating role of body image.

This causal-comparative study was conducted among 200 women (100 with hysterectomy and 100 without hysterectomy) recruited via the purposive sampling method. The cases were assigned into two groups of control and study based on their age range, level of education, marital status, and lack of chronic mental and physical disorders. Data collection instruments were the female sexual function index (FSFI), dyadic adjustment scales (DAS), the body image concern inventory (BICI), and a demographic checklist.

Independent t-test showed that the total score of marital adjustment (t = -6.108, P = 0.001) and each of its subscales, dyadic agreement (t = -4.44, P = 0.001), marital satisfaction (t = -5.98; P = 0.001), dyadic cohesion (t = -4.38, P = 0.001), expressing affection (t = -5.91; P = 0.001), and sexual function (t = -6.55, P = 0.001) were significantly lower in women undergoing hysterectomy than in those not undergoing hysterectomy. However, according to regression analysis and results of bootstrapping, the upper and lower bounds of the effect of body image on marital adjustment and sexual function were within the overlapping section. Hence, these effects were similar in both groups of the study [95% confidence interval (CI)], and the differences were insignificant.

According to the study, marital adjustment and sexual function decrease after hysterectomy. Therefore, specialist treatment and family counseling interventions seem to be essential in order to improve sexual performance andmarital adjustment in women who underwent hysterectomy.

During the postpartum period, due to the lack of knowledge about postpartum complications and care, women, especially primiparous women, lack the adequate skills to adapt to new conditions and have no confidence to care for themselves and their infants. The early mothers’ assessment, education, counseling, and nursing interventions can increase their adaptation and reduce their incompatible responses to their infant and partner.

This study aimed to examine the effect of early self-care based education program on primiparous women’s selfevaluation.

A randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted from May to October 2018 on 58 primiparous women referred to the Neonatal Screening Center in Karaj (IRAN). A random allocation method was applied to select intervention and control groups. The data were collected using a three-part questionnaire consisting of general, developmental, and health deviation postpartum evaluationmade by researchers. The intervention group received three education sessions throughout the 3 - 5, 10 - 15, and 17 - 22 days after childbirth. The control group received routine postpartum care. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics (such as mean, standard deviation, and absolute frequency) and statistical tests (including t-test, paired t-test, and chi-square) or non-parametric statistical tests (e.g., the Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney test) using SPSS version 19.

Before the intervention, there was no statistically significant difference in themean total self-evaluation scores between the intervention (131.269±12.742) and control (137±9.600) groups (P-value = 0.073), but six weeks after delivery, a significant difference was observed in the mean self-evaluation scores between the intervention (149.692 ± 7.625) and control (122.923 ± 11.495) groups (P-value < 0.001).

The results of this study showed that early self-care education program was effective for primiparous women’s selfevaluation and increased the postpartum adaptation of the women.

Salivary gland tumors include a wide variety of benign and malignant tumors in the oral and maxillofacial region. Although these tumors are not common, they are not rare. The prevalence of these tumors varies with regard to age, gender, and their location in the body.

This study aimed to evaluate the frequency of benign and malignant salivary gland tumors in patients referred to three referral hospitals in Tehran, Iran.

This retrospective cross-sectional study examined the demographic and pathologic records of the patients with salivary gland tumors submitted to the Department of Pathology of Amir Alam, Loghman Hakim, and Shohada Hospitals from 2005 to 2016. In this study, the histological variants of salivary gland tumors and clinical parameters such as age, gender, and the location of the tumor were examined. The clinical data were analyzed using SPSS software version 21.

Of 137632 patient records, 1180 cases were salivary gland tumors. Pleomorphic adenoma in 794 cases (67.3%) and adenoid cystic carcinoma in 109 cases (9.2%) were the most common tumors, respectively. Salivary gland tumors were more common in males, and the participants’ mean age was 42.86 ± 16.5 years. The most common site was parotid and minor salivary glands, with 937 (79.4%) and 137 (12%) cases, respectively.

In this study, themost common benign tumor was pleomorphic adenoma in the parotid gland, and themost common malignant tumor was adenoid cystic carcinoma in themajor salivary glands. Furthermore, benign tumors weremore frequent than malignant tumors.

Dysmenorrhea or painful menstruation is the most common periodic pain in women, which includes primary and secondary types. One of the possible factors affecting the severity of dysmenorrhea is the presence or absence of social support.

Due to the high prevalence of dysmenorrhea and its undesirable consequences on the quality of personal, social, and academic life of students, this study aimed to evaluate the association between severity of dysmenorrhea and social support among female students of Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Iran.

Using purposeful sampling method, this cross-sectional and descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 286 female students of Ilam University of Medical Sciences (age range: 18 - 28 years) in 2018. Data collection tools included demographic information form, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) to determine pain severity, and standardized Social Support Questionnaire (SSQ) to assess social support. Descriptive statistics (frequency and mean) and analytical statistics (Pearson’s correlation coefficient) were used for data analysis in SPSS software version 16.

The mean age of the samples was 21.62 ± 2.10 years, and the mean age of menarche was 13.57 ±1.33 years. The prevalence of primary dysmenorrhea was 86% among the samples, with 8% of them having low social support, 39.2% moderate social support, and 52.8% high social support. There was a significant association between social support and severity of dysmenorrhea so that Pearson’s correlation coefficient showed an inverse association between the two variables (r = -0.187, P = 0.002).

The inverse association between the severity of dysmenorrhea and the level of social support highlighted the need for planning to create and enhance social support by family and community and reduce the effects that dysmenorrhea can have on physical, mental, and social health of individuals.

There is no consensus regarding closure or non-closure of peritoneum in laparotomy, and this topic remains a controversy among surgeons.

This clinical trial aimed to compare short-term and long-term benefits of peritoneal closure with non-closure in an academic medical center.

In this double-blinded two-arm parallel-group randomized trial, 124 patients undergoing laparotomy with midline incision were assessed from March 2019 to September 2019 at Imam Hossein Medical Center, Tehran, Iran. We used the Rand function of the Excel software to randomly assign 62 patients to the peritoneal closure group and 62 patients to the non-closure group. The patients were evaluated for short-term complications including wound-related fever, infection, need for analgesics, pain in the first 2, 6, 24, and 48 hours postoperatively according to the Visual Analogue scale (VAS), duration of hospitalization, as well as long-term complications including incisional hernia and intraperitoneal adhesion one year after the surgery. Statistical analysis was carried out with SPSS version 22 software.

The non-closure peritoneum group had a lower rate of wound-related fever, infection, and analgesic need than the peritoneal closure group, but these differences were not statistically significant (P = 0.488, P = 0.455, and P = 0.062, respectively). The adhesion rate and incisional hernia incidence one year after the surgery were not significantly different between the two groups (P = 0.363, P = 0.586). Pain intensity was significantly lower in the non-closure group than in the closure group in the first two, six, and 24 hours (P = 0.008, P = 0.004, and P = 0.047, respectively) but not significantly at 48 hours (P = 0.146).

Peritoneum closure after non-emergency, non-infected laparotomy increases the postoperative pain while it has no benefit for long-term complications like incisional hernia or intra-peritoneal adhesion.

The current study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of a topical herbal extract, Boswellia carterii (BC), on pain relief and functional improvement in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) versus placebo in a randomized, controlled trial (RCT).

The current study was conducted on 36 patients with mild or moderate levels of bilateral CTS (both hands were involved in all the subjects). Subjects were randomly assigned into two groups receiving either topical oleogel of BC or placebo for six weeks. All the patients were instructed to use wrist splinting; 29 subjects completed the study. The efficacy of topical BC in symptom relief and functional improvement of CTS was evaluated two and six weeks after the intervention using the Visual Analogue scale (VAS) for pain, pain-free grip strength (PFGS), Nerve Conduction study (NCS), and Boston CTS questionnaire (BQ).

The subjects in both groups had similar demographics and baseline clinical features. The topical use of BC oleogel led to a significant improvement in VAS scores, symptoms severity score (SSS), functional status scale (FSS), and PFGS in comparison with the baseline level. The baseline VAS score of the intervention group was 5.7 ± 2.9, which decreased to 3.4 ± 1.5 two weeks and 2.7 ± 2.1 six weeks after the intervention (P-value = 0.001). SSS decreased from 29.53 ± 9.4 to 20.93 ± 6.4 and 18.80 ± 6.8 in the same follow-up time points, respectively (P-value = 0.001). The corresponding figures related to FSS were 18.35 ± 6.1, 15.07 ± 7.0, and 12.93 ± 3.79, respectively (P-value = 0.007). PFGS was 6.9 ± 2.6 at pre-intervention, which increased to 7.29 ± 1.7 and 7.65 ± 1.8 two and six weeks after treatment, respectively (P-value = 0.01). Except for grip-strength, the improvement was significantly superior to that of the placebo group. Both VAS and SSS indicated that the topical oleogel of BC achieved a better symptom relief than placebo. On the other hand, no remarkable preference was observed between the two groups in terms of improvement in electrodiagnostic parameters (P i 0.05).

According to the current study findings, the topical application of BC oleogel among patients with CTS improved pain and functional status, remarkably more than placebo. However, no significant changes were observed in electrodiagnostic parameters.

Today, a new disease, called coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has affected the entire world, especially in the economic aspect. This disease has severely disrupted the global economy. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to investigate how people’s income was affected by the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran. We used an online questionnaire in the Persian language, which was available from April 18 to April 28, 2020. The survey asked the participants about their job and income during the COVID-19 pandemic as compared to the pre-COVID period. Fifty-seven percepts of participants were unemployed or experienced a drop in their income during the COVID-19 outbreak. Therefore, the global economy should be supportive of people during epidemics.