Zahedan Journal of Research in Medical Sciences
Volume:22 Issue: 3, Jul 2020

Cardiorespiratory Fitness (CRF) and its associated modifiable and non-modifiable health risk factors are very important in clinical studies.

This study aimed to compare health risk factors affecting CRF between Iranian and Italian male and female exercise science students. The correlation between VO2max and these factors was also evaluated.

The sample consisted of 87 sport science students from the University of Milan (25 males and 17 females) and the University of Mazandaran (20 males and 25 females) aged 23.69 ± 1.95 years. The level of Physical Activity (PA) and body composition indices were obtained as health risk factors. Then, CRF was assessed by the Bruce test. Rate Pressure Product (RPP), blood pressure, and Heart Rate (HR) were measured before, in the end, and six minutes after the end of the test.

Statistical analyses revealed significant differences in RPP, Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP) during exercise, resting SBP, and Waist-to-Height Ratio (WHtR) between Iranian and Italian males and significant differences in Waist-to-Hip Ratio (WHR) and body fat percentage between Iranian and Italian females (P < 0.05). The relationships between VO2max and resting RPP, resting HR, heart rate recovery, step counts, and vigorous PA were significant in all groups (P < 0.05).

As an assessment of VO2max, CRF is associated with hemodynamics and health risk factors. Age, sex, ethnicity, lifestyle, and culture of people in different geographical regions can affect health risk factors.

Obesity is a chronic disease and threatening factors of public health. Obese people have negative body image, and low self-confidence can lead to sexual dysfunction.

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between obesity and sexual function in women referred to health centers of Birjand in Iran.

This cross-sectional study was conducted on 126 married women who were selected via a multi-stage sampling method from Birjand Health centers in 2014. The participants were categorized into three groups according to BMI (normal (BMI: 18.5 - 24.9), overweight (BMI: 25 - 29.9), and obese (BMI ≥ 30)). Then, demographic and female sexual function index (FSFI) questionnaires were completed in the groups by the self-administrative method. For data analysis, STATA version 14.1 software was used in this study. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics tests, and multiple linear regression models. The significance level was considered 0.05.

The study showed a significant difference between the three groups in total score of sexual function (P < 0.001). In addition, a statistically significant difference was observed in desire, arousal lubrication, orgasm, and sexual satisfaction scores between the groups (P < 0.001). The results of the regression model showed that the sexual function score of obese people was lower by 15.87 units than normal people. Moreover, the sexual function score of overweight people was 4.67 units lower than normal people. Also, the variables of age, salary, duration of marriage, and the age at first pregnancy are effective factors in female sexual function (P < 0.05).

Obesity can affect female sexual function. Therefore, efforts to promote sexual function in obese women are considered as one of the most important topics in women’s health care. This requires more attention to identifying various aspects of sexual life and finding effective ways to promote and improve these persons’ sexual function.

The assessment of psychological symptoms in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients could play a key role in identifying the adverse effects of the disease.

This study aimed to assess the concurrent and predictive validity of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) in patients with MS.

In a cross‐sectional study in 2010, 162 patients were selected by a consecutive method. Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21), the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), and the Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) Questionnaire were used in this study. Data were analyzed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient and multivariate hierarchical regression analyses.

The findings of the present study revealed that DASS-21 subscales have a strong correlation with the constructs of fatigue and SF-36 components (r = 0.29 to -0.71; P < 0.01). In addition, each of the symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress independently predicted a significant proportion of the variance in the scores on fatigue and eight aspects of health (P ≤ 0.006) even after controlling the confounding factors.

The present study has highlighted the concurrent and predictive validity of DASS-21 in MS. Thus, this study suggests that therapeutic interventions for reducing psychological symptoms can lead to an improvement in different dimensions of health.

Internet addiction is one of the most paramount problems of societies. Therefore, the knowledge of its influencing factors is of special importance.

The present study was correlational in terms of goals and descriptive in terms of the data gathering procedure. The statistical population consisted of 2,000 male students and included all fourth-grade students of state high schools of Tabriz City in 2017. The sample included 246 students, selected through random cluster sampling. For the collection of data, the Cognitive Emotion Regulation questionnaire (CERQ), Young’s Diagnostic questionnaire (YDQ), and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) were used. Then, the collected data were analyzed by structural equation modeling.

Negative cognitive emotion regulation strategies could explain internet addiction symptoms. Self-blame, other-blame, rumination, catastrophizing, and anxiety could explain internet addiction symptoms directly. The indirect effect of self-blame and rumination on internet addiction mediated by anxiety was positive and significant; however, the indirect effect of other-blame and catastrophizing on internet addiction mediated by anxiety was not significant.

The findings have practical implications for clinical psychologists and can be used for diagnosis and therapy of internet addiction disorder.

Entamoeba histolytica is one of the important parasitic diseases in many parts of the world, especially the tropical and subtropical regions. The parasite is transmitted through contaminated water and vegetables. The exact diagnosis of infection with the parasite is crucial in many medical laboratories since there are many false positive and negative results in their reports. Therefore, the current study aimed at evaluating and comparing microscopic and coproantigen ELISA (the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) results to reach an appropriate test for the correct diagnosis of amoebiasis in children. One hundred stool samples were collected from children under 15 years old with dysenteric diarrhea from April to September 2018. Microscopic tests and coproantigen ELISA were performed on all the samples. The results showed that 5% of the samples had E. histolytica/E. dispar cysts. The findings of ELISA to detect coproantigen did not show any specific E. histolytica antigen in the samples. Hence, all the patients received chemotherapy for shigellosis. E. histolytica infection is not the main causative agent for dysenteric diarrhea in children in the studied area, and laboratory experts should be trained to prevent false-positive reports.

Renal failure may directly or indirectly influence pulmonary ventilation. Since hemodialysis can decrease the extra liquids, improvement in pulmonary function by decreasing liquids in the lungs is expected.

This study aimed to assess the effects of acute hemodialysis on spirometry parameters.

A cross-sectional study was conducted among patients with end-stage renal disease who referred for hemodialysis to Ali Ibn Abitaleb Hospital of Zahedan City during 2016. Patient data including age, gender, and body mass index (BMI) were collected. Spirometry was performed one hour before and after hemodialysis, and spirometry parameters including vital capacity (VC), forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1), FEV1/FVC, peak expiratory flow (PEF), forced expiratory flow between 25% and 75% FVC (FEF 25% - 75%) were measured.

A total number of 50 patients (30 men) completed spirometry. In men, there were a significant increase in FEV1 (mean difference = 0.217; P = 0.003) and FVC (0.298; P = 0.027) and a significant decrease in FEV1/FVC (-4.153; P = 0.038) after hemodialysis. In women, there was no significant change in the means of spirometry parameters. In addition, no significant relationship was found between PFT changes and BMI, weight change, or ultrafiltration volume.

Our results showed that hemodialysis may improve pulmonary function tests in men. Studies with larger cohorts of patients are needed to derive valid effect estimates of hemodialysis on spirometry parameters with considering the role of chronic kidney diseases, various underlying diseases, different hemodialysis methods, and other related confounders.

The aim of this study was to investigate the antimicrobial properties of aqueous and methanolic extracts, as well as essential oils of red beet leaves. The leaves were purchased from local farms in Isfahan province, Iran. After drying the leaves, their extracts were obtained by water and methanol as solvent, and also essential oils of the leaves were extracted through the hydro-distillation method. Antibacterial activity of the extracts and essential oils was determined against five foodborne bacteria by disc-diffusion assay and minimum inhibitory concentration method. Moreover, the antifungal activity of the samples was examined by the contact phase method against five fungi species. The aqueous extract of red beet leaves did not show any antimicrobial activity against the studied species, whereas the methanolic extract inhibited the growth of four strains of the bacteria, including Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella enteritidis. Essential oil had an inhibitory effect against B. cereus, S. enteritidis, and S. aureus. Furthermore, the aqueous and methanolic extracts and essential oils had a variable degree of antifungal activity against all tested fungi. However, the methanolic extract and essential oils had a stronger antifungal effect than the aqueous extract.