International Journal of Health Studies
Volume:7 Issue: 1, Jan-Mar 2021

The aim of the study was to determine the effect of moderating noise pollution on premature infants' behavioral and physiological responses in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

110 premature infants hospitalized in the NICU ward of hospitals in Tehran were selected. All the infants who met the research criteria were allocated and assigned to the experimental and control group (n=55). The sampling method was non-probability and convenient. In the first section of time, each infant with inclusion criteria, inserted in the control group and then in the second section of time, infant with inclusion criteria placed in the experiment group. In the first section, the educated nurse measured the LAeq, LC, LA, infants’ behavioral responses, and physiological responses. In the second section, noise modifying interventions were implemented in the experimental group for 6 weeks, and then LAeq, LC, LA, infants’ behavioral responses and physiological responses were measured with the same methods.

Infants' heart rate in the experimental group was significantly lower than the control group (Pvalue<0.05), and atrial blood O2 Saturation was significantly higher than the control group (Pvalue<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the mean number of crying, sleeping, and Moro reflex of premature infants in the two groups. Also, the sound-pressure level in the C-weighted network in the experimental group was lower than the control group (Pvalue=0.021). The sound-pressure level of the C-weighted network was obtained in the same way (Pvalue=0.008).

Based on the results, moderating noise pollution in NICU can lead to heart rate deceleration and atrial blood O2 saturation acceleration in premature infants.

Dynamic balance is one of the most important challenges for kids who suffer from cerebral palsy especially diplegic spastic ones. Therefore, this study designed to compare the neurofeedback and play therapy training on dynamic balance in 4-10 years old diplegic spastic cerebral palsy kids.

Quasi-experimental with three groups and pre-posttest design. This study has involved 26 spastic diplegia cerebral palsy children in 1st and 2nd grades, according to the GMFCS protocol. The researcher performed first, initial tests to evaluate the patient’s equilibrium level, by using the PBS assessment instruments. To investigate the study goals, the patients were divided into two groups with a two-study method of neurofeedback and play therapy. Each group has done their special exercises during 10 sessions in 2 weeks for the first group and 20 sessions in 4 weeks for the second time and finally, the PBS test was repeated. Primary data were analyzed using descriptive and argumentative statistics by Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, independent t-test, Wilcoxon test, and one-way and two-way ANOVA test. All of these analyzes were done by SPSS software.

The study’s results confirm that play therapy has shown a meaningful effect (Pvalue=0.042), while the effect of the neurofeedback method does not represent any legal effect on one’s dynamic balance. In the case of the dynamic balance, the play therapy group has shown better operation in post-tests compared with the neurofeedback group.

As results show the play therapy method has shown a meaningful effect on dynamic balance so it has been suggested to improving elderlies balance.

The present study aims to investigate the effect of progressive muscle relaxation intervention with imagery-based relaxation technique on the mental health and maternal-fetal attachment in women with a first unwanted pregnancy.

From all the pregnant women referred to the clinics of Semnan city, 60 individuals were purposefully selected and randomly divided into two groups of experimental and control. The mothers of the experimental group received the corresponding intervention, while the control group was only provided with normal care. Before and after the intervention, the general health and maternal-fetal attachment questionnaires were filled by the individuals.

The results of the multivariate analysis of covariance indicated that a relaxation intervention period can significantly improve the mental health and maternal-fetal attachment as well.

According to the present results, it can be concluded that the current intervention can be used as a low-cost and nonpharmacological method to improve the psychological issues and arrive at a higher maternal-fetal attachment during the pregnancy.

Methamphetamine (METH) is an illicit psychostimulant that is widely abused in the world. Several lines of evidence suggest that chronic METH abuse leads to neurodegenerative changes in the human brain. These include damage to dopamine and serotonin axons, loss of gray matter accompanied by hypertrophy of the white matter, and microgliosis in different brain areas.

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy measures of N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), Creatine (Cre), Choline (Cho), Myo-inositol (Ml), were obtained in the dopamine circuit (Ventral Tegmental Area, Nucleus Accumbens, Substantia nigra, Striatum, Frontal Cortex, Hippocampus) of the brain in participants in 30 abstinent methamphetamine-addicted people with psychosis (METHp+), and 10 healthy controls (HCs) (age ranges of 18 to 50 years old). Psychotic symptoms were assessed with the positive and negative Syndrome scale (PANSS) and analyzed using a five-factor model. All participants were also assessed for physical and mental illnesses as well as recent substance use.

The METHp+group displayed robust alteration in basic metabolite concentration levels (NAA, cho, Cr, mI, and GLX) relative to HCs. This suggests that cellular metabolism is altered in both conditions but in METHp+group is seeing more dramatic changes. Significant decrease in the concentration of NAA metabolites (mean of 18.56) in the methamphetamine group with high psychological symptoms (mean of 111.9) in the studied areas compared to the control group which is a neurotransmitter and biomarker, indicates chronic neurological degeneration in the test areas and its relationship with the incidence of mental disorders in these individuals (Pvalue<0.01).

These data support the assumption that cellular abnormalities differ between methamphetamine addiction psychosis and healthy controls people despite not different in normal imaging acquisition.

The sudden outbreak of Corona has created public depression and social changes, which affected countries and communities in terms of psychosocial issues. Social adjustment and physical activity play a very significant role to improve mental health. The purpose of this study was to compare social adjustment and depression during the outbreak of COVID-19 in Iranian employees regarding physical activity participation before the outbreak.

The research method was a causal-comparative type. The statistical population of the study included all men and women over the age of 25 workings in governmental agencies, among which 403 people participated in the online survey by random method. The data about age, occupational, family, and educational condition were collected by demographic questionnaire. Using the short-form depression questionnaire (BDI-13), the depression during an outbreak of COVID19 was evaluated. A 25-item social adjustment questionnaire (selfmade questionnaire) was used for collecting the data of social adjustment specific to new social norms caused by COVID-19.

Data analysis using ANOVA showed that active individuals had higher social adjustment than inactive individuals (F=10.398). Social adjustment was also statistically significant related to depression (r=-0.165).

Overall, applying physical activity with the observance of the guidelines approved by the ministry of health and other reference institutions will be a great help for the promotion of the social adjustments and mental health.

Chronic pain causes various problems and agonies including emotional disorders as well as limited personal, social, and occupational functioning. The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on depression, anxiety, and stress in patients with chronic pain.

The research method was experimental with a pre-test, posttest, and follow-up design and a control group. The study population comprised all patients with chronic pain who were referred to the medical centers of Ahvaz in 2018. Using convenience sampling, we selected 30 patients willing to participate in the study and randomly divided them into experimental (n=15) and control (n=15) groups. Both were groups tested at the beginning and end of the intervention program with the depression, anxiety, and stress scale (DASS-21). The experimental group underwent nine sessions (90-minute sessions per week) of acceptance and commitment therapy. The follow-up was performed after 60 days. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 23.

The mean±SD of the post-test scores of depression, anxiety, and stress was (12.03±2.82), (10.50±2.34), and (12.50±1.72) in the experimental group and (21.33±1.84), (19.20±4.12), and (26.71±1.18) in the control group, which had significant differences with each other. The results showed that acceptance and commitment therapy effectively decreased depression, anxiety, and stress in patients with chronic pain in the experimental group (Pvalue<0.05).

Acceptance and commitment therapy can be used as an effective intervention program to reduce depression, anxiety, and stress in patients with chronic pain

For more than forty years medical sociology has explained numerous examples of the social patterning of disease. They have shown a strong association between health and socioeconomic status (SES). One of the most important indicators of development in each country is the infant mortality rate, and SES is main determinant for this indicator. This study has evaluated the impact of SES on infant mortality in Shahroud, 2017.

In This cross-sectional study, the information of 4242 children born in 2017 was extracted from the electronic health record with the help of the data collection form. In the first part, the information was about demographics and health care of the household. The second part was related to the household economic status, it was asked to the mothers by phone or in person, including questions about the equipment and tools used by the household. The PCA method (Principal component analysis) was used to determine the socioeconomic status, and finally, the households were divided into two high and low socio-economic groups. Confounding factors such as mothers’ gravidity, history of congenital anomalies in previous children, mother age, history of abortion, type of delivery, the interval of pregnancies, were also used in the study to investigate the effect of SES on infant mortality.

Based on our findings, out of 4242 children born in 2017, a total of 21 children died before one year old. The chance of death in children of households belonging to the low SES was 2.93 times more than high SES (CI95%=1.14-7.54).

In general, improving households’ socio-economic status can be very effective in reducing child mortality. Government, nongovernment, and NGO supports can help to improve the economic situation of households and they can help poor families to receive some expensive health services. It is also recommended to promote family health literacy.