Caspian Journal of Reproductive Medicine
Volume:3 Issue: 2, Summer-Autumn 2017

It is generally assumed that menopause and other age-related physiological changes can significantly decline the quality of life of the elderly. The aim of this study was to compare the quality of life of the elderly members of a supportive community (Jahandidgan Organization Health Center) with the non-members of the supportive community.

This study measured the level of the quality of life in 344 elderly people using the original Lipad Life Quality questionnaire for the elderly. In order to analyze the data, descriptive statistics, and chi-square test, t-test and one-way ANOVA were used.

The means for the quality of life in elderly members of supportive community and non-members were 63.9 ± 12.6 and 62.8 ± 12.5, respectively, so there was not a statistically significant difference. The quality of life of older adults was significantly correlated with the level of education, their housing status, and diseases (p<0.05).

The quality of life of the elderly is not only influenced by demographic variables, but it is also affected by various social, economic, cultural variables, and diseases. Hence, the social participation of the elderly is needed to be investigated and taken into account by policymakers.

Engaging pregnant women in selecting the delivery type has been recognized as an important factor for world health. The aim of this study was to assess the validity and reliability of the Iranian version of Low Literacy Decisional Conflict Scale (DSC-LL) in Iran.

The English version of DCS-LL was translated and administered to 54 women eligible for selecting the type of delivery. The quantity content validity, the Content Validity Rate (CVR) and Content Validity Index (CVI) were examined. The reliability of the scale was assessed by two methods of internal consistency and test–retest via intra-class correlation coefficient, and Pearson correlation coefficient.

All 10 items had CVR points ranging from 0.8 to 1.0. The scores on the four subscales of this scale revealed high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha= 0.847). Test-retest reliability via Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) (ICC=0.981) and Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r=0.083) was significant at the level of P<0.001.

The results showed that the Iranian version of DCS-LL is a valid, reliable and appropriate tool to be administered to pregnant women for selecting the type of delivery. However, further studies are needed to evaluate the influence of health literacy on this scale.

Ovarian response to gonadotropin stimulation can predict the success rate of Assisted Reproductive Technology. The purpose of this study was not only to determine the ovarian response rate in patients on whom intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) did not successfully work but also to assess the influence of factors on ovarian response.

In a retrospective study, the medical records of 220 women undergoing their first cycle of ICSI from March 2012 to October 2016 were thoroughly examined. Special attention was paid to ovarian response with regards to age, body mass index, the history of menstrual cycle, the type of infertility, the duration of infertility, and the cause of infertility with respect to measures of women’s hormones. The ovarian response expressing the number of mature MII oocytes after oocyte retrieval was regarded as “poor response” representing a yield of 1–4 oocytes, and “appropriate response” representing a yield of 5 or more oocytes.

Out of 220 infertile women, 45 subjects (20.5%) had poor response, 175 subjects (79.5%) had appropriate response to ovulation stimulation with gonadotropin. The results of indicated that lower female age (p=0.005) and lower female FSH (p=0.006) were consistent with appropriate ovarian response. After adjusting the variables, the age (age <30 years) (OR= 2.45, 95% CI= 1.19-5.07) and the female FSH (FSH <30 years) (OR= 2.59, 95% CI= 1.16-5.71) were found to be associated with an appropriate ovarian response.

It can be concluded that entering the first cycle of ICSI with FSH test and considering the age of women seem to be acceptable strategies.

Understanding prevalence of various menopausal symptoms and symptom severity in Iran will enhance reproductive health care. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence and severity of menopausal symptoms among menopausal women in Babol, Iran.

A cross sectional study was conducted on the 150 healthy postmenopausal women aged between 45–65 years in Babol city (located in Northern Iran), and cluster sampling was used as a method of sampling. The questionnaires used in this study include: symptom score card for measuring the frequency and severity of menopausal symptoms and socio demographic data.

The mean ± SD age at natural menopause was 48.5 ± 4.1 years. The most prevalent symptoms were back pain and joint pain (48.7%), anxiety and unusual tiredness (48.0%), irritability (46.7%), muscle pains (44.0%) and hot flashes (42.7%). The average overall symptom score card in the study for menopausal symptoms was 22.1 ± 9.8. The severity of symptoms was in the range of mild to moderate in 42% of samples, and 58% of samples had moderate to severe symptoms.

This study showed that more than half of the women had moderate to severe menopausal symptoms and an earlier mean age of menopause (48.5 y) for women in Babol, Iran.

It is widely assumed that Gitelman syndrome is a rare genetic disorder with such electrolyte imbalance as hypokalemia and hypomagnesaemia. The impact of hypothyroidism on Gitelman syndrome and its management is not clear. In this case study, a hypothyroid young woman referred to our endocrine clinic for muscle cramp after the hypothyroidism management. Based on Laboratory and clinical findings, the woman was diagnosed to have been suffering from Gitelman syndrome and the treatment with magnesium, potassium and oral Spironolactone began immediately. After two years of treatment, the woman experienced a successful planned pregnancy.

One interesting topic in reproductive biology is to explore the correlations between minerals and male fertility. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationships between Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg), Zinc (Zn), Copper (Cu), and Iron (Fe) and their associations with semen quality in bulls.

Ejaculates were collected from Simmental bulls. Semen quality parameters including volume, concentration, motility, sperm viability and morphology were assessed. One step dilution method was utilized for semen freezing. Progressive motility of frozen-thawed semen (PMFT) was regarded as the main criterion for dividing data into three groups: group 1 (˂ 40% motility), group 2 (40% -50% motility), and group 3 (> 50% motility). Serum mineral concentrations were determined by atomic absorption. The Serum Fe was significantly lower in “> 50%” group compared with other groups.

Semen volume was negatively correlated with PMFT (r = -0.42, p ≤ 0.05 and serum Fe (r = 0.44, p ≤ 0.05). Negative correlations were found between Zn to Cu ratio with frozen-thawed sperm abnormal morphology (r = -0.43, p ≤ 0.05) and tail abnormality and fresh sperm mid-piece abnormality(r= 0.47, p ≤ 0.05). There was also a negative correlation between Zn and frozenthawed sperm head abnormality (r= -0.57, p ≤ 0.05).

With regard to the weak positive correlations between serum Cu and frozen-thawed sperm tail abnormal morphology, it can be concluded that the excess of serum Cu may have destructive effects on normal sperm morphology.