دکتر کیان نوروزی تبریزی

The rapid advancement of information and communication technology has impacted all sectors, including healthcare. With the proliferation of electronic sources providing health information, it is essential to ensure that older individuals have adequate e-health literacy. This study aimed to determine the e-health literacy level and its influencing factors among older people living in the community.

This cross-sectional correlational study included 210 elderly individuals aged over 60 living in the Tehran community. They were selected using a multi-stage sampling method in 2024. The data was gathered using the Persian version of the e-health literacy scale (P-eHEALS), which participants completed. Furthermore, additional personal and demographic variables were collected to explore their relation to e-health literacy. Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS version 23.

Participants' mean e-health literacy score was 23.2±8.67, which was below average. Having a chronic illness was significantly associated with lower e-health literacy levels (p<0.05). The level of education and daily technology use were significant predictors of e-health literacy (P<0.001).

Identifying and assessing the level of e-health literacy among older individuals and the factors associated with e-health literacy can be the initial step in developing strategies to enhance their health literacy. There is an urgent need to strengthen e-health skills and improve e-health literacy, particularly among the elderly, those with low education, those with less frequent technology use, and those with chronic diseases.

Following the emergence of population aging phenomenon in the world, “successful aging” as a quality concept has recently attracted the attention of many researchers and policy makers; yet it seems that there is no single and clear definition of it presented in the literature. This study aims to analyze the concept of successful aging.

The study was conducted with Walker and Avant’s 8-step approach. For this purpose, articles meeting the inclusion criteria were selected through searching the SID, Magiran, Noormags, ISI, Pubmed, Scopus and Proquest databases and using the keywords of aging, successful aging and related concepts during the years 2000-2022. Then they were analyzed using Graneheim and Lundman's content analysis method to extract the successful aging concept's applications, characteristics, antecedents and consequences.

The content analysis of 83 selected articles revealed the characteristics of successful aging in the following seven categories: 1) "manageable process", 2) "multi-dimensional and comprehensive", 3) "socio-cultural context-bounded", 4) "enjoyment of physical, psychological and social health", 5) "non-dependence on others", 6) "happiness", and 7) "continuity and active participation in different fields of life".

A comprehensive definition of successful aging was presented using the identified characteristics, antecedents and consequences, which can help to better understand this concept, recognize its various dimensions, and ultimately, plan for its realization.

 Nowadays, in the Post-COVID-19 period, paying attention to related psychological issues, such as loneliness and subsequent death anxiety among the elderly, is of particular importance. This study was conducted to determine the relationship of loneliness with death anxiety in the Post-COVID-19 era among the Older People in Ilam Province in 2023.

 In this cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study, 384 elderly men and women in Ilam province were included in the study after checking the inclusion criteria by cluster and simple random sampling methods. To collect data, demographic information questionnaires, the UCLA Loneliness Scale (Version 3), and Templer's Death Anxiety (DAS) were used. The obtained data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis, and Spearman's correlation coefficient tests in SPSS version 22 software with a significance level of P< 0.05.

 The mean and standard deviation of loneliness and death anxiety scores were 51.88 ± 14.17 and 10.93 ± 4.55, respectively. A significant direct relationship was found between loneliness and death anxiety. Also, there was a significant direct correlation between age with loneliness (r = 0.29) and death anxiety (r = 0.88) and a significant inverse correlation between the number of children with death anxiety (r = -0.1). There was a statistically significant difference between loneliness and death anxiety with gender, insurance status, residence, and housemate segregation, and there was also a statistically significant difference between death anxiety with marital status, education level, underlying disease, and experiencing a stressful event.

 Considering the positive relationship between loneliness and death anxiety and the influencing factors in this study, health policymakers must plan to reduce loneliness and subsequent death anxiety in the elderly while paying attention to these factors.

One of the important dimensions of self-care in nurses is the spiritual dimension, but the concept of spiritual self-care is not well defined. Therefore, this study analyzed this concept to provide a clear definition.

This research was conducted to analyze the concept of nurses’ spiritual self-care using Walker's and Avant's eight-step approach. SID, Magiran, ISI, Pubmed, Scopus, and Iranmedex databases were searched using the keywords: nurse's self-care, spiritual self-care, and nurse spiritual self-care between 2000 and 2022. Then, eligible articles were selected and analyzed using the content analysis method of Graneheim and Landman.

The analysis of the data revealed that internal self-crystallization and behavior based on spiritual manifestation are among the characteristics of the nurses' spiritual self-care concept. It emerged from the antecedents of facing a lot of pressure and stress, understanding the spiritual nature of the nursing profession and a spiritual work environment, and led to consequences such as nursing spiritual self-polishing, resiliency, and effective nursing care.

The results of this study provide a comprehensive definition of spiritual self-care in nurses and show that spiritual self-care in nurses is a self-centered care process that leads to more nurses' attention to strengthening the inner spiritual dimensions. It also helps to provide effective care for patients in difficult and stressful professional situations.

In nursing homes, intergenerational relationships has of particular importance because people of different ages and from different generations interact with each other. Health care workers, including nurses, can cover a wide range of intergenerational relationships in the form of care provided to the elderly. Despite the importance of intergenerational relationship among the elderly, the related challenges in nursing homes in Iran have not been studied yet. Therefore, this study aims to identify the factors affecting intergenerational relationships in nursing homes in Iran.

 This is a qualitative study that was conducted in three nursing homes in Tehran, Iran using the grounded theory method. Participants were 13 older residents and 8 employees working in nursing homes (Five nurses, one supervisor, one psychologist and one nursing home manager) who were recruited purposively. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data and sorted by constant comparison method. Data analysis was performed using Strauss and Corbin’s grounded theory method.

 Data analysis yielded five main categories. “Intergenerational tensions” was the main variable. The causal condition for this variable was titled “Tensions based on psychological factors”. The contextual factors in nursing homes were in a group titled “defective platform of intergenerational relationships”. The intervening factors included facilitators of and barriers to intergenerational relationships. Strategies was titled “Efforts to preserve existence” and consequences were titled “living with insecurity”.

 Generational differences between nursing home residents and staffs make it difficult to establish effective relationships between them which can cause poor quality care. The findings can help nursing home managers to apply strategies to remove barriers to intergenerational relationships and know how to improve these relationships and create greater cohesion between generations so that it can lead to better care and subsequently improved quality of life in the elderly.

Surgery is very sensitive in the elderly and more important than the surgery itself is the quality of its recovery, which is very important in determining its predictors in geriatric nursing. The aim of this study was to determine the quality of recovery after surgery and its predictors in the elderly undergoing surgery at Imam Hossein Hospital in Tehran in 1400.

The present study was a descriptive-analytical study in which the research community consisted of the elderly candidates for surgery at Imam Hossein Hospital in Tehran in the first half of 1400. 250 eligible elderly were included in the study through available sampling and for data collection, the elderly demographic information questionnaire and the 40-item QOR questionnaire were used. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 20 using descriptive and inferential statistical tests.

Most of the elderly participants were male, married, illiterate and with a mean age of 67.94±7.05 years. 88.4% had a history of previous hospitalization and 64.8% had a history of previous surgery. 72% had at least one underlying disease, the most common disease being diabetes (36%). The mean score of the total quality of recovery was 104.39 ±18.16 (Moderate). Among the dimensions, physical independence with a score of 2.84 was the highest and emotional status with a score of 2.29 and pain with a score of 2.61 received the lowest score of 5. Multiple linear regressions showed that age, number of surgeries, delirium, marital status, housing status, cohabitation status, education and type of surgery are the most important factors affecting the quality of postoperative recovery.

It is very important to pay attention to the quality of recovery after surgery, especially in the elderly. Maintaining and improving the status quo in the present study by focusing on the predictive factors obtained can be helpful.

This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between health literacy and the quality of life of hemodialysis patients.

The present study was conducted by descriptive-correlation and cross-sectional method in 1399 in Ardabil, Iran. The statistical population included 450 hemodialysis patients covered by Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, from which a sample of 140 people was selected based on Cochran's formula. Patients who were treated more than 3 a month, having hemodialysis one to three times a week were included. Failure to respond to all items of the questionnaire and reluctance and lack of motivation to respond to the questionnaires were the criteria for exclusion. Data collection tools included health literacy and quality of life questionnaires. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS software version 20.

39% of patients had low health literacy, 41% had moderate and only 20% of patients had high health literacy, also 35% of patients had low quality of life, 42% had a moderate quality of life, and 23% had a high quality of life. The results of the Pearson and Spearman tests showed that there is a significant relationship between health literacy and the quality of life of hemodialysis patients (P <0.05).

The results of this study showed that the level of health literacy is insufficient and there is a significant relationship between health literacy and the quality of life of hemodialysis patients; Therefore, due to the insufficient level of health literacy among patients, it is necessary to pay more attention to health literacy in quality of life improvement programs.

In the elderly, the rate of adherence to the medication regimen and the rate of remembering how to correctly prescribe medication is low due to old age and memory loss, which leads to poor therapeutic results. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between anticoagulants knowledge and adherence to treatment in elderly cardiac patients with atrial fibrillation.

This cross-sectional study was performed on 110 elderly patients aged 60 to 89 years with atrial fibrillation admitted to the Cardiac and Intensive Care Unit of Tohid Hospital in Sanandaj, Iran in 2020. The volunteers were included by available sampling method. Morisky Medication Adherence Scale-8 (MMAS-8) and Anticoagulation Knowledge Tool (AKT) was used to assess the level of anticoagulant knowledge. The reliability of the AKT was confirmed by retesting by 15 patients after one month; the correlation coefficient was 99.4. For determination the reliability of AKT, the questionnaire was provided to cardiologists and nurses. The validity and reliability of the MMAS-8 have been proven in previous studies.

The mean level of anticoagulant knowledge in elderly patients was 17.82±9.36 which is in the intermediate range. The mean score of adherences to treatment in this study was 6±1.54 which is in the intermediate range, too. There is a direct and significant relationship between anticoagulant knowledge and adherence to treatment (P=0.02).

The mean score of patients' knowledge about anticoagulants was moderate. Adherence to medication regimen and anticoagulants knowledge were higher in elderly with higher education than others. Applying training programs for the elderly in a simple and understandable way in this field can be helpful.

Care provision for Alzheimer's patients is associated with many challenges. Caregivers face high levels of care burden which leads to their reduced quality of life. Therefore, the current paper aims to investigate the relationship between care burden, care preparedness and the quality of life in the home caregivers of the elderly with the Alzheimer's disease.

This was a descriptive analysis research on 150 caregivers visiting Iran Alzheimer's Association, selected through simple random sampling and the table of random numbers. The instruments used in the study consisted of a care burden standard questionnaire, care preparedness questionnaire and caregivers’ quality of life questionnaire. Data was analyzed using SPSS V25 and statistical tests including independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation and simultaneous multiple regression analysis, with a significance level of 0.05.

According to the descriptive findings, the mean score (standard deviation) was calculated to be 17.31 (6.05) for the variable care preparedness, 28.62 (7.66) for care burden and 28.23 (2.48) for caregivers' quality of life. The results showed significant direct relationships between the age of caregivers and care burden, and also between the care preparedness and caregivers' quality of life. Moreover, there were significant negative relationships between care preparedness and care burden, and also between care burden and caregivers’ quality of life (p-value < 0.05).

Care preparedness is a predictor of care burden. An increase in care preparedness reduces caregivers' burden. Moreover, care preparedness and care burden are significant predictors of caregivers' quality of life. An increase in care preparedness causes an increase in caregivers’ quality of life and an increase in care burden reduces caregivers’ quality of life.

Today, aging and related issues are of particular importance and to achieve active elderly must pay attention to all physical, psychological, social and spiritual aspects of life of this group. Ageing anxiety is one of the components that affect physical and mental health as well as quality of life in old age and even before that. The aim of this study was Investigating the prevalence of ageing anxiety and the factors affecting it among students of selected universities Yazd in 2020.

This cross-sectional study was performed in selected universities Yazd in 2020. 210 students of Yazd University of Medical Sciences (fields of medicine, nursing and public health engineering) and students of Yazd University (fields of electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, management and law) were selected by stratified sampling method with equal volume. Data collection instruments were Demographic questionnaire and Ageing anxiety scale(AAS) that its validity and reliability was established. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 24. Mean, standard deviation or quarters were used to describe quantitative variables commensurate with the data distribution. Frequency and percentage tables were used for qualitative variables of classification .Pearson and Chi-square tests were used to analyze the data and determine the correlation between the variables. Finally, the variables that were significant in univariate analysis entered the final multivariate regression model.

It examines the level of Ageing anxiety based on the four components of fear of elderly, psychological anxiety, physical appearance and fear of loss. The average Ageing anxiety among medical students in the field of medicine was 67.51 with a standard deviation of 13.02, in the field of nursing 60.9 with a standard deviation of 9.8 and in the field of public health engineering 47.33 with a standard deviation of 9.86. The average Ageing anxiety among the field of electrical engineering 63.8 with a standard deviation of 9.46, in the field of mechanical engineering 66.18 with a standard deviation of 10.56, in the field of management 62.45 with a standard deviation of 9.06 and in the field of law 63.5 with a standard deviation of 12.43. By comparing the two groups, the results of the amount of Ageing anxiety can be analyzed as follows: the rate of this type of Ageing anxiety among the non-medical group with a total average of 64.19 with a standard deviation of 10.24, higher than the medical group with a total average of 62.80 with a deviation The criterion was 11.68.

The findings of this study indicate that the incidence of Ageing anxiety among students of non-medical sciences is higher than medical sciences. Identifying, modifying and controlling the factors affecting it, as well as providing solutions to deal with it can help build a healthy and dynamic society and increase life expectancy among young adults.

Cataract is one of the main reasons for visual acuity reduction in elderly. Like any other surgery, the elderly who are candidates for cataract surgery, experience a great deal of anxiety, having adverse effects on them, mentally and physiologically. Training interventions are a common and suitable type of nursing intervention having neither cast nor side effects. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of preparation-for-surgery training on the anxiety of the elderly before cataract surgery.

 This was a randomized clinical trial. Fifty old patients were selected from October 2020 to February 2021 using a targeted sampling method. They then divided randomly into two groups in the selected hospitals in Semnan, Iran. The intervention group took the training through the designed short film while the control group did not. The film included some information about the preparation before surgery, getting familiar with the environment and facilities of the surgery room, a part of surgical operation, recovery environment, some information about post-surgical cares, and times of subsequent visits of the doctor. The data were analyzed by SPSS v16 software using independent t-test, paired t-test, chi-square, and analysis of covariance.

 The mean score of the anxiety in the intervention and control groups had a significant difference (p<0.05). Also, the covariance analysis showed that there was no significant difference between the two groups in the anxiety reduction in the post-test.

 The findings suggest that the nurses are better at using other training methods such as pamphlets or face-to-face training along with film screening training.

Nursing is one of the jobs that is associated with many problems and stressors in the workplace and family. The aim of this study was to determine the correlation between work-family conflict and happiness in the nursing staff of the selected Social Security hospital.

The present study was descriptive-correlational. The statistical population of this study was all employees of nurses working in a selected social security hospital.  210 nursing staff were selected by using non-random and quota sampling method. The study used demographic questionnaire, “Work-Family Conflict Scale” (WFCS) and the “Oxford Happiness Questionnaire” (OHQ), which had validity and reliability confirmed in previous studies. Data were analyzed using SPSS.24.

The mean scores of work-family conflict and happiness were reported to be 39.89 and 118.62, respectively. 52.6% of nursing staff participating in the study have a high level of conflict between work and family. Happiness correlation with the family-job conflict variable was significant and inverse, but it was not significant with the job-family conflict variable. (P<0/05).

Due to the significant correlation between happiness and work-family conflict, it is recommended to focus more on hospital staff and create a suitable supportive environment to enhance happiness.

Elderly Demographic change will have a significant impact on societies. Locomotive disorders are common and important cause of disability and reduced quality of life in old age. Recognizing screening methods, can be early detection Locomotive syndrome (LS), prevented the incidence, prevalence and disability caused by this syndrome. The aim of this study is to integrative review of screening methods for LS in the elderly.

In this review study, searches in international and national databases and journals: Science Direct, PubMed, Scopus, Irandoc, SID, with keywords Locomotive syndrome, Locomotive disorder, screening tool, assessment tool, physical performance test, from 2000 to 2018were extracted and reviewed.

from 70 related articles, 19 English articles were reviewed. Methods and tests used to assess, evaluate and LS screening in 19 Articles related to the purpose of this study include evaluation method of 9 - Physical and 3 questionnaire or Evaluation Checklist. These include: stand up test, one-leg standing test (with open eye), two-steps test, 5-times-sit-to-stand test, 6-walking time, the 10-m gait time, measuring back muscles strength and grip strength, timed up-and-Go (TUG Test), maximum stride, self-check list (Loco-check), questionnaires GLFS-25 and GLFS-5.

In this study, screening methods of LS described. Because of the importance of the LS, using the perfect screening methods recommended in elders, for timely detection of LS.