مجله علوم پزشکی صدرا
سال یازدهم شماره 3 (تابستان 1402)

Mental fatigue usually occurs after long-term cognitive activities, reducing cognitive performance and leading to motor coordination changes. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of Swedish relaxation massage on reducing mental fatigue and enhancing knee strength and Proprioception in university female athletes. In this study, 16 female physical education athletes were randomly selected as a sample based on the inclusion criteria and subjected to the mental fatigue protocol (45 minutes of cognitive activity). Active and passive knee proprioception was evaluated with an inclinometer before and after mental fatigue, and knee extension strength was evaluated with a manual dynamometer. After 48 hours, the subjects underwent a Swedish relaxation massage. Immediately following the massage session, assessments were conducted to measure mental fatigue and the second post-test. A repeated measures analysis of variance test was employed to examine the intra-group changes over time. The findings showed a significant difference between the subjects' mean scores of active Proprioception, passive Proprioception, and knee extension strength in comparing the post-test of mental fatigue with the post-test of Swedish relaxation massage (P<0.05). The present study's findings showed that Swedish relaxation massage can be used as an effective intervention in controlling mental fatigue. Therefore, this intervention can be used to prevent sports injuries of athletes, especially amateur athletes, where mental fatigue is common.

Addiction negatively affects health, safety, economy, family structure, and human society. The delicate spirits of students at this age quickly become disturbed and deprive them of decision-making power. Therefore, this research aims to determine the effect of life skills training on students' attitudes toward drug and alcohol abuse. This research has an experimental pre-test and post-test design with a control group. One hundred twenty secondary school students of Mobarake City were selected by multi-stage cluster sampling. Sixty people participated in the experimental group and 60 in the control group. The groups were determined through random sampling. Half of the subjects were assigned to the first group (experimental group), where life skills training was provided as the independent variable. The other half of the subjects were assigned to the second group (control group) without any independent variable applied to them. The data analysis for the research study was conducted using SPSS 2021 statistical software. The analysis involved two sections: descriptive analysis and inferential analysis. a covariance statistical test was utilized as part of the inferential analysis. The hypothesis that "life skills training can change students' attitudes towards drug and alcohol abuse" has been confirmed. The analysis indicates a significant difference in students' attitudes based on the demographic characteristics of gender, age, having or not having an addicted family member, and having or not having an addicted friend. The life skills training program has effectively changed attitudes towards addiction among the male and female students in Mobarake City. Life skills training generally prevents smoking, alcoholic beverages, drug abuse, delinquency, aggression, and many other negative behaviors.

This research aimed to provide a model for empowering the academic staff members to enhance medical sciences.

This research had a mixed-method design (qualitative and quantitative). The statistical population for the qualitative part included start-up experts, and the quantitative part included all academic staff members working in the medical units of the Islamic Azad University of Tehran. In the qualitative part of the study, a purposive sampling approach was utilized to select participants. On the other hand, a randomly clustered sampling technique was employed for the quantitative part to ensure a representative sample.   The research tool consisted of a semi-structured interview and a researcher-made Likert-scale questionnaire. T-test and multivariate regression were computed using SPSS 23.

The effect of various components on empowerment, listed in order of priority based on the beta coefficients, is as follows: marketing and commercialization of knowledge (β=0.354), attracting business elites (β=0.306), knowledge sharing (β=0.265), analysis of financial risk (β=0.143), formation of business support association (β=0.111), value design and use of new technologies (β=0.075), financial and legal support of the government (0.066) =β), environmental changes (β=0.056), increasing value-creating activities (β=0.044), infrastructure provision (β=0.037), and discussion about startups (β=0.024).

The effectiveness of business activities in the competitive landscape of launching start-ups is enhanced through the empowerment of academic staff members. Empowered academic staff members enable managers to clearly understand their organization's position and make informed decisions in response to the prevailing conditions. This empowerment enables them to identify the appropriate application areas and take strategic steps towards developing medical knowledge.

This study aimed to develop a model for developing higher education management in educational centers affiliated with Iranian universities of medical sciences during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is an applied-descriptive survey with a mixed-method approach. Two hundred forty-two people were selected with cluster random sampling. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire with two parts: the personal characteristics and the examination of the importance of higher education management indicators according to the indicators, dimensions, and components identified in the qualitative section and literature review. This questionnaire consists of 60 items, demonstrating a reliability coefficient 0.79, as assessed by Cronbach’s alpha. In terms of content validity, it achieved a score of 0.49. After determining the dimensions and components with SPSS MAXQDA 2023 and LISREL 2022, qualitative data were analyzed with factor analysis. The qualitative part includes the technology development, the expansion of virtual education, increasing the learning quality, the efficiency of the educational system, the expansion of research and access to scientific resources, the expansion of international relations, capital optimization, the flexibility of education, monitoring, and evaluation. The KMO (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of sampling) measure yielded a value greater than 0.7, indicating that the dataset is suitable for exploratory factor analysis. The most influential dimensions were the scientific development of educational content (β=0.770), the use of technology in empowerment (β=0.560), the explanation of the educational system (β=0.550), and educational monitoring and evaluation (β = 0.330). Explaining the educational system, monitoring, and evaluating higher education management were necessary to empower students.

This research aimed to investigate the factors affecting human resources development in social welfare based on the Delphi approach. In three rounds, this descriptive study was conducted with the Delphi technique. The statistical population was the faculty members and human resources experts in Sistan and Baluchistan province; 20 people were selected through purposive sampling. The constituent elements of human resources development in social welfare were identified during a library and internet survey. Reliable internet databases, such as Emerald, Elsevier, and Science Direct, were searched, and articles in this field were studied. The experts survey utilized a five-point rating scale ranging from completely inappropriate (1), unsuitable (2), relatively suitable (3), suitable (4), and completely suitable (5). Experts confirmed the content validity of the survey. Kendall's coefficient was employed to assess the level of agreement among the experts. The aim was to identify the dimensions, indicators, and components of the human resources development model in social welfare. To achieve this, the Department of Cooperative, Labor, and Social Welfare and several experts' opinions were sought and considered. Ten dimensions (social-cultural, creativity, job knowledge, organizational knowledge, intellectual, decision-making skills, communication skills, technological, behavioral, and competencies) and 35 components were identified. According to the current research on the components of resource development, any activity based on the development of employees in this sector will lead to significant results in promoting public services.

Diabetes and its consequences increase the health system costs. Therefore, prevention and early diagnosis can reduce the cost and consequences. The studies have emphasized the role of education in treatment and people’s awareness of prevention and early diagnosis. Thus, the present study aimed to assess the awareness of people referring to Shiraz health centers with diabetes.

This cross-sectional study was conducted on 270 people aged 12-65 Y/O referred to Shiraz health centers in Iran in 2019. Participants completed an 18-item questionnaire with subscales of demographic data, general information about patients, causes and factors of diabetes, symptoms and diagnosis, prevention and treatment, and consequences and problems. Furthermore, other information, such as the presence of diabetic patients in the family and sources of information, was recorded. Data were analyzed using SPSS software-21.

The participants’ mean age was 33.96±10.05; 54.82% were female, and 45.18% were male. The main sources of information were friends and relatives. The mean score of awareness was calculated to be 15.18±5.03. Statistical tests revealed a significant relationship between job, educational levels, age, and source of information with the score of awareness (P<0.001), while this relationship with gender (P=0.068), marital status (P=0.196), and family history (P=0.060) was insignificant.

Overall, public awareness of diabetes in Shiraz was found to be moderate. Moreover, it is observed that men, married individuals, as well as older and less educated people exhibited lower levels of awareness. Hence, it is recommended that these factors be taken into account when designing health system programs aimed at educating all communities about diabetes.

Considering the priority of supporting vulnerable groups when fighting against COVID-19, the present study aimed to evaluate the levels of COVID-19-induced anxiety and depression in two vulnerable groups: medical staff and pregnant women. The present study is a descriptive cross-sectional study performed on 140 treatment staff and 338 pregnant women. The questionnaire used in this study includes demographic characteristics and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale- modified. Univariate and multiple linear regression analysis and analysis of variance were used to identify the effect of variables on anxiety and depression. Among the staff, 88.6% were women. The mean and standard deviation of their COVID-19-induced anxiety and depression were 12.76 ± 1.78 and 7.75 ± 2.27, respectively. The staff exhibited high levels of abnormal anxiety, with 92.9% reporting symptoms. In contrast, the prevalence of abnormal depression among the staff was lower, with only 11.4% reporting symptoms. Marital status (p=0.05) and exercise (p=0.03) significantly affected the covid-19-induced depression of the medical staff. The mean and standard deviation of COVID-19-induced anxiety and depression in pregnant women were 10.53 ± 2.04 and 11.15 ± 2.09, respectively, and these scores were significantly different compared to the medical staff groups. Vulnerable groups had high levels of anxiety and depression associated with COVID-19. Nurses prioritized psychological programs targeting anxiety reduction, while pregnant women prioritized psychological programs addressing depression reduction.

The dimensions of human existence typically encompass the physical, social, and psychological aspects. However, researchers have discovered that to enhance overall health, individuals also require the inclusion of a fourth dimension: spiritual health. This study aims to identify different dimensions of spiritual health affecting physical health rehabilitation in patients with COVID-19. This qualitative research used the thematic analysis method based on an interpretive-constructive paradigm. The participants included 22 patients with COVID-19 quarantined at home and treated by home medical service institutions. Data for the study were collected through semi-structured interviews, while the analysis of the collected data employed Brown and Clark's six-step method. Through an iterative process of continuous interaction and data reduction, 200 concepts or codes, 22 sub-themes, and six overarching themes (or main themes) emerged. Based on the findings of this study, various aspects of the attitude toward spiritual health were found to improve the health of people affected by COVID-19. These dimensions encompass six main themes: "God-centered", "self-improvement", "spiritual lifestyle", "religious alienation", "spiritualism" and "spiritual well-being". These themes stem from the spiritual health of the individuals. Given the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is notable that spiritual tools played a significant role in promoting the recovery of individuals' health and spiritual well-being. Therefore, it becomes feasible to incorporate spiritual health interventions alongside conventional treatments for disease management. Additionally, it is crucial to prioritize training both healthcare staff and patients in this regard.

Caring for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) presents numerous challenges that can significantly impact caregivers. These challenges necessitate interventions to increase perceived social support and improve life expectancy. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to conduct a case study to examine the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy in enhancing perceived social support and life expectancy among caregivers of patients diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

The research method is semi-experimental with a single-subject design, in which A B design was used. This research performed ten measurements (3 times as a baseline, four times during treatment, and three times in the follow-up phase). The research community comprised caregivers of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients referred to the Isfahan Neuropathy Support Association in the first half of 2011. Two individuals were selected using convenience sapling. The research tools were the Multiple Social Perceived Support Scale (MSPSS) and Life Expectancy Scale (LES). The treatment sessions, based on acceptance and commitment, were conducted over eight sessions, with each session lasting 90 minutes. These sessions took place on a weekly basis for two individuals affiliated with the Society for the Support of Neuropathy Patients. The data analysis was performed using shape and visual analysis techniques.

The results showed that Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is effective in perceived social support (42.79%) and life expectancy (43.77%) of caregivers of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is a functional intervention to improve the perceived social support and life expectancy of caregivers of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).