Shiraz Emedical Journal
Volume:24 Issue: 6, Jun 2023

Context: 

The number of people with dementia is increasing dramatically. With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, digital screening tests can play a significant role in the remote and timely detection of people with dementia. This study aimed to review digital cognitive tests for dementia screening.

We searchedWeb of Science, ProQuest, PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane using related terms such as “dementia,” “mobile,” “digital,” “computer,” and “cognitive assessment,” leading to the emergence of 1,348 articles. Titles, abstracts, and full texts were screened to select the relevant articles based on inclusion/exclusion criteria. Study characteristics and digital test features such as diagnostic performance and deploying platforms were extracted from selected articles. The risk of bias and reporting quality were evaluated in the included studies.

Out of 1,348 identified articles, 32 were eligible for inclusion. We categorized digital cognitive tests into 3 groups based on deploying platforms: 1) Mobile-based screening tests (59.5%), 2) desktop-based screening tests (28%), and 3) web-based screening tests (12.5%).

Digital cognitive tests, especially mobile-based screening tests, facilitate the timely diagnosis of dementia. The development of AI-based screening tests and the use of technologies such as virtual reality and chatbots will set a bright future in the early detection of dementia.

Despite the implementation of the Health Transformation Plan in recent years, the cesarean section (CS) rate has increased in private and public centers in Iran. Accordingly, Iran is the first among the four countries in the world with the highest CS rate.

The present study aimed to investigate the non-obstetric causes of CS in mothers who were referred to the Medical Services Commission of Alborz province, Iran, to review their requests for CS.

In this cross-sectional study, 312 subjects were selected based on a census of all clients by the Midwifery Office of Alborz province, whose requests for CS for non-obstetric reasons were submitted to the Medical Services Commission in 2020. The information in this study was collected using a researcher-made questionnaire containing 26 items in two sociodemographic and medical sections.

The highest frequency of sociodemographic factors was observed for the age range of 20 - 30 years (n = 163, 52.2%), the educational level of diploma and higher (n = 236, 75.6%), urban residence (n = 274, 87.8%), and no complementary insurance (n = 258, 82.7%). The frequency distribution of the non-obstetric reasons of the participants was reported as 83 (26.6%), 60 (19.2%), 25 (8%), 24 (7.7%), 20 (6.4%), 14 (4.5%), and 86 (27.6%) for lumbar disc disease, eye diseases, repeat CS, genital warts, in vitro fertilization, fear of childbirth pain, and other causes, respectively. There was a significant association between the reason for requesting CS and the age group (P < 0.001), the type of insurance (P = 0.043), and the mother’s educational level (P < 0.001).

In the present study, mostof thewomenin the youngeragegroupandnon-employees requested aCS for non-obstetric reasons.

 Anxiety and depression in patients with asthma have been linked to frequent exacerbations, increased use of healthcare resources, and poor asthma control.

 In the current study, we examined the correlations between asthma and symptoms of depression/anxiety in adolescents with asthma referred to Masih Daneshvari and Mofid hospitals during 2020 - 2021.

 The current observational, cross-sectional study was conducted by administering the Spence Children Anxiety Scale and a demographic information checklist among 105 subjects. Asthma severity was measured using forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), FEV1/forced vital capacity (FVC), the number of short-acting β-2 agonists used per week or month, the number of night awakenings per week or month, having asthma symptoms in daily activities, the number of asthma attacks needing oral corticosteroids per year, and the number of disease exacerbations per week or month. Data were analyzed, and the correlation between the variables was investigated through linear regression and ordinal logistic regression.

 Patients with a mean age of 11.3 ± 2.5 years showed a mean overall anxiety score of 14 ± 9 out of 114. There was a significant negative correlation between the overall score of anxiety disorders and FEV1 and FEV1/FVC (P < 0.001). There was also a direct correlation between the overall score of anxiety disorders and the frequency of using β-2 agonists, the number of night awakenings, interference with normal functions, and exacerbation frequency (P < 0.001).

 Our findings indicated a significant association between anxiety disorders and asthma in children. Considering the high prevalence of asthma in Iran than the global average, studying the underlying mechanisms of anxiety and psychological and environmental variables in children with asthma can aid in developing effective psychological therapies.

Different countries have used different methods to reduce trauma-related mortality and its complications.

Splint is a temporary and conventional method of fixing an injured organ. Therefore, evaluating the quality of life in trauma patients with splint immobilization is important.

This prospective study was performed on 287 trauma patients with splint immobilization in two baseline periods and one month later in Haft-e-Tir and Rasoul-e-Akram hospitals. The Data collection tool was the SF-36 quality of life questionnaire. Paired t-test was used to assess the changes in the quality of life. SPSS version 21 was used for statistical analysis.

The mean quality of life in the study’s first phase was 76.31 ± 9.42, and one month after splint immobilization was 76.13 ± 8.98, and there was no significant difference between the two phases. The Splint immobilization of the patients significantly affected the quality of life in 5 out of 8 dimensions. Still, the intervention increased the scores in 3 dimensions and decreased scores in 2 dimensions. The results showed that social performance (P = 0.01), energy and vitality (P < 0.001), and emotional health (P < 0.001) increased, and physical performance (P = 0.01) and general health (P = 0.001) decreased, and they were significantly different in the two phases. There were no significant differences between emotional limitation, physical limitation, and pain in the two phases of the study.

Splint immobilization of patients improved the quality of life in 5 out of 8 dimensions. After a month, the trauma-related mental and physical shock did not disappear, and even the patients were more sensitive to quality-of-life questions due to time spent with splint immobilization and familiarity with its limitations. The patients tried to reflect on their dissatisfaction with splint immobilization.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected humanity in all life areas, particularly stress levels and mental health issues.

The present research aimed to explore the knowledge, stress level, social distancing, and mental health of the students at the University of Medicine in Albania during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We conducted ananonymousonline-based validated survey.We used the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS10) and the perception of COVID-19’s impact (PCI) on well-being. The study’s inclusion criteria included having access to the Internet and being a student at the University of Medicine in Tirana, Albania.We used the statistical package SPSS 26.0 in this study. To analyze numeric variables, we used descriptive statistics and the chi-square test to analyze cross-tabulations of the survey response data for categorical variables.

Out of 521 students participating in our study (median age = 20 (1.3) years), 484 (92.9%) were female, and 37 (7.1%) were male; 62.4% had an adequate understanding of the transmission ways of COVID-19 (P = 0.0002); 16.8% of the students reported that social distancing had a significant impact on their psychological status, while 6.33% reported a moderate impact, with a statistically significant difference between the two groups (P = 0.0001). Concerning the students’ approach to trusted sources of information during the COVID-19 pandemic, 85.4% reported that they trusted information from friends, 11.1% from the World Health Organization (WHO), and 2.1% from the government (P = 0.0001). We observed a positive correlation according to Pearson chi-square and the likelihood ratio tests between treatment for health problems and health risks of the COVID-19 pandemic (P = 0.0041); 4.4% of students have reported being treated for mental health issues during the COVID-19-related quarantine period (P = 0.0002).

Future lockdown strategies should consider the detrimental effects on student mental health. Based on the findings of our study, the COVID-19 pandemic caused significant distress among students. Universities should also adopt a creative and supportive approach to encourage and tackle students’ mental health problems during a pandemic.