Iranian Journal of Health Sciences
Volume:10 Issue: 4, Autumn 2022

The outbreak of coronavirus and its subsequent conditions have affected the mental health of students. One of the variables related to mental health is “meaning in life.” It enables students to endure sorrows and hardships to survive extremely difficult living conditions. Meaning in life is also inversely related to suicide and mental disorders. In this study, we intend to assess the meaning of life among students of Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran City, Iran.

In this cross-sectional study, 208 students participated. We used an internet-based data collection method between September 12 and September 24, 2021, to collect the study data. The data collection tool was a valid and reliable questionnaire concerning meaning in life. The obtained data were analyzed using descriptive (frequency, mean, standard deviation) and inferential (Fisher exact-test, independent t-test, and 1-way analysis of variance) statistics.

Among the samples, there were 146 females (70.2%). The Mean±SD age of the participants was 21.50±2.74 years. The results showed that nearly 95% of students had neither meaning in life nor were looking for a meaning that would give value to their lives.

The results of this study indicate the catastrophe that prevails among students. When students have no meaning in life and do not look for meaning, they are highly vulnerable to psychological injuries. This condition is the worst psychological state a person can experience, which could lead to a feeling of depression and higher suicide risk. Health policymakers need to think about resolving the lack of “meaning in life” among students as soon as possible.

Childhood cancer can affect the adjustment of children and their parents, especially their mothers. This study aimed to assess the correlation between the general health and illness perception of mothers of children with cancer with the quality of life of their children.

This research was a cross-sectional study conducted on 100 children with cancer and their mothers referred to Ayatollah Kashani Hospital in Shahrekord City, Iran, from 2019 to 2021. They were selected by convenience sampling. The study data were collected by the general health questionnaire, brief illness perception questionnaire, questionnaire on the quality of life (QoL) of preschool children (1-6 years old), and questionnaire on the QoL of children (aged 8-12 years). The Pearson correlation test was used for data analysis.

Among the children with cancer, 43 were girls, and 57 were boys. The Mean±SD age of the children was 7.67±3.48 years. The results of the Pearson correlation test showed a significant correlation between the general health of mothers with the QoL of preschool children (r=-0.70, P<0.001) and the QoL of primary school children (r=-0.64, P<0.001) as well as the QoL of primary school children (completed by parents) (r=-0.65, P<0.001). The correlation between illness perception and other variables, such as the quality of life of preschool children (r=0.21, P=0.19) and the QoL of primary school children (r=0.18, P=0.18), were not statistically significant.

Due to a significant correlation between mothers’ general health with the QoL of children with cancer, it is recommended that the medical and nursing team benefit from psychological interventions in this field for mothers and children with cancer.

Oral health is a critical factor in the quality of life (QoL) of older adults in relation to their nutrition, mental health, and healthy social relationships. This study aimed to investigate oral problems and psychological status of older adults referred to a hospital and its relationship with cognition status, stress, anxiety, and depression.

This cross-sectional study was conducted among 300 older adults referred to Shahid Beheshti Hospital in Shiraz City, Iran. The “Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale”, the “Abbreviated Mental Test score”, and the “General Oral Health Assessment Index” were used to collect the required data. The Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression statistical tests were used to analyze the data in SPSS v. 26. P less than 0.05 were considered significant.

The Mean±SD age of the participants was 70.1±4.6 years. Their mean±SD score of oral health was 44.83±3.91, and the mean±SD cognitive status was 9.28±0.9. The results of correlation analysis revealed a significant relationship between the dimensions of mental health (cognitive status, stress, anxiety, depression) and oral health (P<0.05). According to the multiple linear regression model, there was a significant relationship between oral health and cognitive status (P=0.002) and between oral health and stress (P=0.015).

The study’s results showed a correlation between mental health and oral health. Thus, one of the ways to improve the mental health of the elderly is to provide appropriate and timely dental intervention.

Improper distribution of health workers is a worldwide problem, especially in developing countries. The shortage of health personnel has been intensified over the past two decades as a result of the emigration of health workers from developing countries to developed ones and disparities between urban and rural regions.

This cross-sectional, quantitative, and descriptive study was conducted at the University of Sarajevo, Faculty of Health Studies, for two months. The study included 203 3rd-year and 4th-year undergraduate students of all study programs. The chi-square test was used to examine the difference between students’ attitudes about leaving according to gender, grade point, foreign language learning, and high school graduation, as well as different statements of intention to leave or stay.

Of 203 respondents, 49(24.1%) were male and 154(75.9%) were female. Thirty-four students (16.75%) stated their attitude towards the definitive departure. Also, 129 students (63.55%) were thinking about leaving after graduation, while 40 students (19.7%) wanted to continue their life in Bosnia and Herzegovina after their studies. Almost half of the female students (49.26%) and slightly more than half of the male students (14.28%) think about leaving after their studies, with a statistically significant difference between men and women who think about leaving and those who stay. The positive attitudes, which the students who are leaving, for the most part, agreed upon were the acquisition of life experience that their occupation profile was sought in other countries, and career development and professional development. The reasons why most students consider leaving the country after their studies are due to the attitude that their education and degree are more valued in other countries, higher living standards in other fields, and career development and professional development. 

To prevent the migration of health students, retention policies are needed that target immigrant staff. These policies can be extremely important in preventing the problem of a lack of quality health staff in the near future.

This research aimed to investigate the in vivo acute oral toxicity of aqueous extract of Indigofera tinctoria L. in different doses in Wistar rats.

Twenty-five male rats were divided into five groups (n=5 for each group). Group I served as the control, and the other four groups received I. tinctoria (100, 250, 500, and 1000mg/kg body weight) for 14 days. At the end of the experiment, all animals were killed, and the blood samples were collected for biochemical assay. The fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and histopathological analyses were done on different tissues.

According to the results, rats who received I. tinctoria (100mg) had lower triglyceride than the control group. Moreover, I. tinctoria administration in all groups did not change the serum glucose, creatinine, urea, and high-density lipoprotein amounts. In addition, using 100mg of the extract resulted in a lower alanine transaminase level than the control. Also, histopathology data indicated no signs of tissue toxicity and degeneration in all experimental groups. Furthermore, FTIR indicated that I. tinctoria had not changed the tissues’ protein structure.

It can be concluded that I. tinctoria can be used as colorant food up to 1000mg/kg body weight.

Nowadays, total body resistance exercise has been added to instability training and has become popular for improving health and sports performance. Resistance training is a beneficial way to improve body composition and increase muscle strength. This study aims to evaluate the effect of suspension training (total resistance exercises [TRX]) with and without electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) on body composition and muscle strength in obese women.

This quasi-experimental research is an applied study in terms of research goal. A total of 36 Class 1 obese women (mean±SD age: 30.9±5.3 years, mean±SD body mass: 95.4±9.4 kg, mean±SD height: 168.2±7.8 cm) were randomly selected from qualified volunteers and grouped randomly into three groups (n=12 for each group): EMS, TRX, and TRX-EMS. The TRX group performed 8 weeks of suspension resistance training (3 sessions per week), and the TRX-EMS group performed the TRX exercises wearing a whole-body suit that provided electrical stimulation. EMS intervention includes 3 applications of 90 min/3 days per week for 8 weeks. Data were analyzed by analysis of covariance at a significance level of 0.05 using SPSS software. 

Findings of this study demonstrate significant differences in body composition measurements among three groups after 8 weeks of interventions (P≤0.05). All three interventions increased muscle strength after 8 weeks. TRX+EMS was the most effective intervention on body composition measures (-4.3% in body mass index [BMI], -7.2% in body fat mass [BFM], and +3.6% in skeletal muscle mass [SMM]) and muscle strength (21.93% in BP-1RM and 27.4% in LP-1RM). Also, these findings may indicate that EMS was the least effective intervention on body composition and muscle strength compared with the TRX and TRX-EMS. 

According to these results, it is suggested that obese women use EMS with suspension training to lose weight and improve body composition and strength.

Visual disturbance causes problems in the orientation, balance, and movement of individuals. It is especially important in children because this is a golden age for adoring physical exercises and physical function in these people. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of 6 weeks of balance training on the static and dynamic balance of blind students.

This is a quasi-experimental study, and the subjects included 45 blind students living in Ahwaz City, Iran. The participants were selected using convenience and purposive sampling methods. A sample of 20 girls and 20 boys, aged 7-14 years, was selected and randomly divided into two control and experiment groups consisting of 20 subjects each (10 females and 10 males). The experimental group received a six-week course of balance training intervention. They have received six-week balance training program, 2 sessions of 45 minutes a week. Static balance was measured by stork test and for dynamic balance star balance test was used. The Shapiro-Wilk test was used to control the normality of data. In order to study the effect of time and between groups, repeated measures ANOVA was used. For analyzing the data SPSS software, version 25, Excel 2019 software, and in all statistic test α=0.05 was used. All analyses were done in SPSS software v. 25, Excel 2019 software. The significance level was considered at 0.05 for all tests. 

The two groups of blind student, each groups 20 subjects and mean age of 10.33 and 11.12 years in control and exercise group respectively. Comparing the groups showed that six weeks of balance training had a positive and significant effect on static balance and dynamic balance of exercise group (P<0.001). The results also showed that in the Post-test stage, the experimental group performed better in static and dynamic balance in all 8 directions compared to the control group (P<0.001). There was no significant difference between girls and boys in terms of balance.

Regarding the effect of these exercises on improving the balance of blind children, it is recommended that parents, physical education teachers, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, and all those who are in some way associated with these children, use balance training as a therapeutic plan.

Afghans are the main refugee population in Iran. Gaining insight into the precise needs of this population, their health, and wellbeing are crucial for appropriate planning and consequential interventions to improve their life experience.

A total of 20 legal Afghan refugees residing in Tehran were studied using a successfully tested questionnaire in several dimensions of physical health (including the effects of COVID-19), mental health, and socio-cultural aspects. Collected data were managed and analyzed by SPSS software, v. 25. Then, descriptive statistics and the mean response rate to the questionnaire were reported.

The localized questionnaire was successfully tested. Employment and educational opportunities, physical access to healthcare, quality of healthcare services, and social networks and support were among the positive aspects of refugees. However, weak economic status, insufficient financial resources, and inefficient healthcare insurance were the major challenges of the refugees.

We emphasize that health and living conditions-related studies on refugees should be given more weight, especially during the difficult circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Conducting comprehensive studies on refugees and assessing the health and living conditions of these populations by addressing social determinants of health is recommended.