جستجوی مقالات مرتبط با کلیدواژه « COVID-19 » در نشریات گروه « پزشکی »

The coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) is one of the most important public health issues, and the evaluation and improvement of COVID-19 health literacy and self-care can be effective in preventing its spread. This study was conducted to investigate the health literacy of COVID-19 and its relationship with self-care among the health ambassadors of Urmia in 2021.

In this descriptive-analytical study, 400 health ambassadors of Urmia were selected using the cluster random sampling method. The data-gathering tool was a questionnaire, including questions about self-care, COVID-19 health literacy, and demographic information. The data were analyzed by SPSS 19 using analysis of variance and regression tests.

COVID-19-related health literacy was reported to be at a good level (63.5%) in most health ambassadors. In addition, it had a statistically significant relationship with the level of education and economic status. Similarly, there was a significant relationship between self-care and demographic characteristics such as age, gender, level of education, occupation, and economic status (P>0.05). On the other hand, according to data analysis results, with an increase in health literacy related to COVID-19, regression modeling could predict 22% of self-care behaviors in the participants of the present study.

Overall, there is a need for interventions by healthcare professionals for training to increase health literacy related to COVID-19 that results in self-care and adoption of health behaviors in health ambassadors, given the significance of COVID-19-related health literacy and its effects on self-care in these ambassadors.

The findings of this study can be presented to the Deputy of Health and healthcare providers so that actions can be taken to promote health literacy and self-care and prevent similar epidemics.

COVID-19, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, has been associated with damage to multiple organ systems. One of the noteworthy aspects of the virus is its effect on male fertility and the reproductive system. We aimed to overview the involved molecular pathways to prospect the virus's effects on male reproductive tissue, spermatogenesis, and semen parameters.

PubMed and Scopus databases (papers published from 2020 to 2023) were searched for studies reporting the impact of COVID-19 on the related pathways associated with the male reproductive system at the level of cells, and 98 articles were reviewed.

The effects of COVID-19 may arise directly due to the virus's attacks on the male reproductive system or may be due to an undesirable overreaction of the immune response, such as cytokines storm or fewer. Renin-Angiotensin System and PI3K/AKT signaling pathway are also involved; counts and sperm motility were decreased, although approximately recovery was observed in survivals within months. Contrasting the drugs used for treating COVID-19 that had contradictory effects regarding vaccines, it seems there is no tangible adverse effect on male fertility.

The impact of SARS-CoV-2 on male fertility and the reproductive system is notable due to the presence of two major host factors, ACE2 and TMPRSS2, and involving the related pathways. It is possible that these organs could be involved, leading to effects on future generations. Understanding the process may provide a clue for managing the efficacies.

 Since the past, the use of medicinal plants in the treatment of many diseases has attracted people's attention. The outbreak of the Covid-19 disease since December 2019 may have led to stress and anxiety due to its unknown nature. The present study aims to investigat the recognition, amount of consumption, source of preparation and effectiveness of sedative medicinal plants in reducing stress caused by the spread of this disease from the perspective of the people of Khouzestan, Isfahan, Markazi and Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari provinces.

 The present research is an applied cross-sectional-analytical type that was conducted at one point in time (Spring 2019). The research tool was a researcher-made online questionnaire with 10 general items, 23 specialized items and 12 items regarding the names of commonly used plants. Questionnaires were randomly distributed in four selected provinces. Data was analysed by SPSS 22 software.

Ethical Considerations:

 In this study, criteria concerned with moral principles as confidentiality, personal satisfaction and freedom of participants in cooperation or non-cooperation during the study process have been observed.

The findings of one-sample t-test showed that the most effective factor in the use of sedative medicinal plants was the preference for the use and therir effectiveness compared to chemical drugs. The results showed that the residence province had a significant effect on the item"sedative medicinal plants had a significant effect in reducing the stress of the corona crisis in me" and the people of the Markazi province had the highest average. Ginger (3.61), thyme (3.43) and cinnamon (3.42) were the most consumed herbs among the people, which seems that in addition to the goal of reducing anxiety, increasing the immune system was also one of the reasons for using them which is also consistent to the results of t -test. Also, the findings showed that people considered Attari as the main source of supply.

 People in different provinces had different knowledge of sedative plants and used them to reduce the stress of this disease.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a global rise in sleep disorders, serving as a critical indicator of societal mental health. This study aims to examine the trends in health information searches related to sleep disorders during the first seven months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran, comparing these trends with the same period two years prior.

This descriptive study analyzed the internet search behavior of Iranians seeking health information between 2017 and 2022. Data were collected on sleep disorder-related searches during the initial seven months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran using Google Trends. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was employed to compare the volume and percentage of searches related to sleep disorders during the pandemic with those in the corresponding periods of the previous years. Additionally, Pearson's correlation was used to assess the relationship between the daily trends in COVID-19-related deaths and the volume of internet searches concerning sleep disorders.

The volume of searches related to sleep disorders significantly increased (p<0.001) during the first seven months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran compared to the same period in the two preceding years. These searches initially exhibited an upward trend, followed by a decline, eventually stabilizing. A strong (r = 0.8) and significant (p<0.05) correlation was observed between the number of sleep disorder-related searches and the number of COVID-19-related deaths during the early months of the pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to a marked increase in searches for information on sleep disorders, potentially driven by heightened anxiety and lifestyle changes during this period.

Coronaviruses were discovered in 1960. Large-sized living organisms from the Coronaviridae family, with single-stranded RNA of animal origin. Coronaviruses in humans can cause mild respiratory illness or severe respiratory illness. In 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. The aim of this study is to use the Jaccard similarity coefficient to determine the similarity of COVID-19 behavior patterns in different seasons of the year.

This study used machine learning systems and similarity metrics to determine the behavior pattern of COVID-19 in different seasons of the year. The location of research was the Mousa ibn Ja'far Hospital in Mashhad, and the time was from May 2020 to August 2021. The symptoms of affected patients were compared with the compiled dataset, and the similarity of patients was prepared in a similarity matrix, and the Jaccard correlation coefficient was calculated on the data. Finally, the analysis of strains from the beginning of emergence to the latest strain was examined. The performance indicators of the algorithm in the Jaccard similarity method showed a recall metric with a value of 0.94, a precision metric with a value of 1, an F1 score with a value of 0.86, and remove accuracy metric with a value of 0.76. The most important factors in the investigation include white blood cells, platelets, RT-PCR, CT SCAN, shortness of breath, fever, SPO2, and respiratory rate.

The transmission of the COVID-19 virus depends on several factors, including human interaction. The evidence of the collected data shows that people with COVID-19 have low lymphocyte count and it is very consistent with the results of recent studies. Due to the lack of a dataset, a comparative study was conducted and a dataset was collected.

This study, leveraging machine learning algorithms, identified a clear seasonal correlation in the spread of COVID-19. Considering geographical and seasonal variations among patients, distinct symptoms were observed in each season corresponding to the prevalent strain during that period.

Mucormycosis is a rare and aggressive opportunistic fungal infection that has grown significantly in recent years. This infection is rarely seen in healthy people. Mucormycosis usually appears as an acute infection with manifestations in the rhino-cerebral, pulmonary and skin areas, and sometimes its manifestations can be seen as a widespread infection. The special importance of mucormycosis is due to its high mortality rate, which leads to death in 75 to 80 percent of cases. The specific susceptibility of some patients to mucormycosis points to the importance of iron absorption in the pathogenesis of mucormycosis, therefore, we decided to investigate the relationship between serum iron and ferritin levels and mucormycosis disease in patients with underlying factors predisposing to COVID-19.

This study is a case-control type, in which patients with mucormycosis after contracting COVID-19 and also with a history of diabetes mellitus as the case group and patients with COVID-19 and a history of diabetes mellitus are considered as the control group and the serum level of iron and ferritin will be measured and compared in both groups and the outcome of the study will be determined based on the obtained results.The study took place in hospitals of the Kermanshah university of medical sciences in the Kermanshah city from March 2021 to March 2022.

In this study, 38 patients were examined in two groups of patients with mucormycosis along with COVID-19 and diabetes in the case group and patients with  COVID-19 and diabetes in the control group with an average age of 63 years. In this study, there was no significant difference between the average age in the two studied groups. However, a significant difference was observed between serum iron and ferritin levels in two groups.

Hyperferritinemia is considered not only as an indicator of the systemic inflammatory process in the infection of COVID-19, but also indicates an increase in free iron level, which, as a result, contributes to the growth and spread of the fungus (mucormycosis).

Nurses on the frontline of fight against COVID-19 faced with many stressors. The unpredictability of the situation and the seriousness of the risk can lead to intolerance of uncertainty (IU) in them. Nurses with IU perceive uncertainties about COVID-19 as distressing and stressful, and experience severe anxiety and worry. Anxiety in such situations leads to cognitive avoidance, rumination or other maladaptive coping strategies. The present study aims to determine the IU status during the COVID-19 pandemic in nurses working in teaching hospitals in Tehran, Iran.

This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in 2020 on 240 nurses working in the coronavirus wards of teaching hospitals affiliated to Iran University of Medical Sciences, whowere selected by a census sampling method and based on the inclusion criteria. A demographic form and Freeston et al.’s intolerance of uncertainty scale (IUS) were completed by them. Data analysis was performed in SPSS software, version 16, using descriptive and inferential statistics.

The mean score of IU was 62.58±20.36. The stress dimension of IUS showed the highest score (2.49±0.78) while the dimension of inability to take action showed the lowest score (2.15±0.80). The COVID-19 infection was significantly associated with IU (P=0.048).

The nurses working in the coronavirus wards of selected teaching hospitals had IU during the COVID-19 pandemic such that they had more IU regarding stress, but the amount of IU was not so high that can make them unable to perform their duties. Providing education to nurses on how to break the cycle of anxiety and IU, changing their beliefs about IU, reducing their negative orientation to problems, controlling and monitoring their performance, and facilitating the provision of care can help optimize nursing care and achieve quality patient care during health-related crises.

The spread of COVID-19 pandemic caused anxiety in the medical staff, especially nurses, which contributed to many physical and mental problems in them. The relationship between cognitive flexibility and COVID-19-related anxiety is still unknown. This study aims to measure the relationship between cognitive flexibility and COVID-19-related anxiety in nurses, and find the related factors.

This is a descriptive-analytical study with a cross-sectional design that was conducted in 2021 on 120 male and female nurses working in one of the hospitals affiliated to Arak University of Medical Sciences. Sampling was done using a stratified and random sampling method for three months. The cognitive flexibility inventory (CFI) and the corona disease anxiety scale (CDAS) were employed to collect data. Data analysis was performed in SPSS software, version 23, using independent t-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA) , and Pearson correlation test.

The mean total score of CDAS was 21.09±3.96, ranged from 12 to 32. The mean total score of CFI was 52.78±9.97, ranged from 30 to 81. Based on Pearson’s correlation test results, there was no significant relationship between cognitive flexibility and COVID-19-related anxiety (p>0.05). The mean scores of CFI and CDAS were not significantly different based on age, number of children, work experience, physical activity level, and educational level; however, nurses with permanent employment (P=0.007) and female nurses (P=0.03) had higher cognitive flexibility, and married nurses had lower anxiety (P=0.021).

There is no significant relationship between cognitive flexibility and COVID-19-related anxiety in nurses. The personality traits such as cognitive flexibility is not enough to reduce the high level of anxiety caused the pandemics such as COVID-19 and it requires multiple measures and strategies.

One of the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic was its impact on marital relations. In health workers, including midwives, who have longer and more contact with mothers who may be infected with COVID-19, the fear of transmitting the virus to their partners is more. This fear can affect their personal lives, including sexual relationships and sexual health. This study aims to determine the relationship of the fear of COVID-19 with sexual function and sexual satisfaction in midwives working in teaching hospitals in Tehran, Iran.

This cross-sectional study was conducted on 122 midwives working in teaching affiliated to Iran University of Medical Sciences. They were selected using a census method from May 13 to August 6, 2022. Data collection tools included a demographic/ COVID-19-related form, Ahurso’s fear of COVID-19 scale, female sexual function index (FSFI) and sexual satisfaction index. Data were analyzed in SPSS software, version 24. 

The mean age of participants was 32.21 ± 6.27 years. Most of them had a bachelor’s degree. Sexual satisfaction had no significant relationship with any demographic factors (P>0.05). There was a negative and significant correlation (weak) between fear of COVID-19 and sexual satisfaction (r=-0.214, P=0.019). Also, there was a negative and significant correlation (moderate) between the fear of COVID-19 and sexual function (r=-0.450, P<0.001).

It seems that the fear of COVID-19 is related to sexual function and sexual satisfaction of Iranian married midwives. Therefore, during similar pandemics in the future, midwives need support such as receiving more personal protective equipment and stress management and resilience training workshops .