Chronic Diseases Journal
Volume:9 Issue: 1, Winter 2021

Asthma is the most common chronic respiratory disease (CRD) and one of the most serious and important pediatric diseases in developing countries. The present study aims to estimate the burden of asthma among children in Kurdistan Province, Iran.

Disability-adjusted life year (DALY) was used in order to estimate the burden of asthma. In a cross-sectional study, with a sample size of 4000, and using the multi-stage sampling method and Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) questionnaire, the prevalence of asthma was estimated for two 6-7 and 13-14 age groups in Kurdistan Province in 2013. In addition, some necessary data were extracted from the death registration system in Kurdistan Provincial Health Center and Statistical Center of Iran (SCI).

Burden of asthma for 6-7 age group was 71.6 DALYs in boys (2.77 DALYs per 1000 population) and 48 in girls (2.22 DALYs per 1000 population) with a total burden of 119.6 DALYs (2.52 DALYs per 1000 population). Moreover, its burden for 13-14 age group was 121.1 DALYs in boys (4.86 DALYs per 1000 population) and 82.3 in girls (3.98 DALYs per 1000 population) with a total burden of 203.4 DALYs (4.46 DALYs per 1000 population).

Considering the significant prevalence of asthma and its burden among children in Kurdistan Province, it is suggested that prevention and management of this disease be considered as a priority by policy makers and in health programs, in addition to attempting to prevent and reduce its burden by setting out effective interventions.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a global health problem that accounted for about 1.5 million deaths in 2012; majority of these deaths are associated with complications such as poor wound healing. Assessment and management of wounds in people with DM has been identified as the major limiting factor besides poorly-managed hyperglycaemia.

To determine the effect of Mitracarpus villosus (M. villosus) ointment in healing of wounds in diabetic albino rats as compared to honey, the antioxidant enzymes of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) were used as assessment parameters in three groups (n = 3) for a period of 21 days.

A significant decrease (P < 0.05) was observed in the enzymes’ activity at days 7, 14, and 21 for both SOD and GPx in the treated groups, especially for M. villosus ointment treatment as compared to the non-treated group. In addition, there was no significance to CAT decrease 7 days after wound excision in the treatment groups as compared to the non-treated diabetic rats (11.66 ± 0.90, 12.20 ± 0.40, 13.30 ± 2.19) for control, honey, and ointment treatments, respectively. Physical assessment showed that reduced wound size was recorded more in the ointment-treated group than honey-treated and non-treated groups.

M. villosus ointment can heal wounds faster than honey and holds potential for wound healing in DM sufferers, and exacerbated tissue stress can be ameliorated using M. villosus ointment. However, the isolation and characterisation of specific bioactive compounds in the ointment responsible for specific enzyme activities, the effect of ointment on collagen synthesis, and mechanism by which wound healing is achieved requires further studies.

Today, type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the most common metabolic diseases that is still on the rise. Present study aimed at investigation of effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) on attitudes of the patients with type II DM taking insulin towards continuity of treatment, considering the increasing trend of this disease and the necessity of providing appropriate treatment facilities.

The study was conducted in semi-experimental method based on pretest-posttest and control group design. The statistical population included all insulin-dependent patients with type II DM, who were clients of Mahdieh Hospital of Tehran, Iran, in 2014. The convenience sampling was used based on which, 30 patients with type II DM were divided into two experimental (15 subjects) and control (15 subjects) groups and they responded to the questionnaire developed by the author. Then, the experimental group members experienced eight 90-minute sessions of CBT, while the controls received no intervention. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with the SPSS software was used to analyze data.

CBT led to increased cognitive, behavioral, and affective attitudes of the patients with type II DM who were taking insulin. Given the derived F, the difference between experimental and control groups was significant in terms of cognitive, affective, and behavioral attitudes (P < 0.01).

Totally, our results emphasize the role of CBT in attitudes of patients with type II DM taking insulin towards continuance of treatment.

Human resources are considered as the most important capital in health care system of the country. This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between mental health, communication skills, and maladaptive schemas with nurses' job motivation.

In a cross-sectional study, during October 2018 to January 2019, 120 active nurses in Alborz Hospital, Karaj, Iran, were selected by available sampling method. The data were collected using General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), Interpersonal Communication Skills Test, Young's Early Maladaptive Schema Questionnaire (YEMSQ), and Employee Motivation Questionnaire and were analyzed using Pearson correlation and multivariable regression tests in the software environment of SPSS.

The results of simultaneous regression showed that the message receiving sequence indices (β = -2.32), emotional control (β = -1.98), listening (β = -1.97), insight into relationship (β = 1.06), relationship with decisiveness (β = -1.45), and communicational skills (β = -7.45) were predictors of job motivation (P < 0.010). Also, the components of failure (β = -0.19) and anxiety/insomnia (β = -0.20) were predictors of job motivation (P < 0.010). There was a significant positive relationship between sacrifice schemas, harsh criteria, and desirability with job motivation (P < 0.050). In addition, there was a significant negative relationship between failure schemas and job motivation (P < 0.050), but other variables were not able to predict job motivation (P < 0.050).

The findings of this study indicate that there is a relationship between psychological indices and job motivation in nurses. These findings can have clinical applications in the planning of major programs in the field of health and treatment.

Type 1 diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases in children. Metabolic control and following diet therapy in teenagers with type 1 diabetes are weaker than children before the adolescence stage. One of the most important factors influencing self-management seems to be spiritual intelligence. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between spiritual intelligence and self-management in patients with diabetes.

The population of this descriptive cross-sectional study consisted of all adolescents with type 1 diabetes referring to the clinic of Tohid Hospital in Sanandaj, Iran, which were 194 people. Data were collected by interview and using a questionnaire. Sampling method was available or simple sampling. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and SPSS software.

The majority of people were in the middle period of adolescence. More than half (88.5%) of them had a moderate and good economic situation and the majority of them (62.5%) had a history of diabetes in the family. Most of the people (56.5%) had an average duration of diabetes. More than half of the subjects were the first and second children of the family.

The results showed that self-management increased with increasing spiritual intelligence of individuals, and with decreasing spiritual intelligence, self-management decreased; in other words, there was a positive and significant correlation between spiritual intelligence and self-management.

Vascular-cerebral dysfunction is a sudden decline in brain function as a result of impaired blood supply to the brain. Critical care professionals in intensive care units (ICUs) need highly reliable prognostic scales to determine the degree of neurological dysfunction. The purpose of this study was to compare the Full Outline of Unresponsiveness (FOUR) Score and Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) in predicting the prognosis of patients with cerebrovascular events.

This study was performed on forty patients with cerebrovascular accident (CVA). Researchers used the FOUR Score and GCS for mortality prediction for each patient. Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis. Mann-Whitney test was used for comparison of means. Data were analyzed using Stata software.

In this study, according to FOUR Score, 62.5% of all patients survived and 37.5% died. Mean mortality and survival rates for GCS criterion were 5.37 ± 2.37 and 9.12 ± 2.12, respectively, and for FOUR Score criterion were 5.60 ± 0.81 and 10.64 ± 2.23, respectively.

The FOUR Score has higher sensitivity, specificity, and predictive power than GCS in patients with CVA. Therefore, it is recommended to use this scale in ICUs.

Polymyositis (PM) is a chronic, disabling, and progressive inflammatory disease with muscle and systemic involvement. Although it is uncommon, some patients may present drug resistance to initial treatment with corticosteroid and immunosuppressant drugs.

CASE REPORT:

: In this study, a typical case of poor prognosis of a 40-year-old female with PM who presented resistance to the initial treatment with corticosteroids and immunosuppressants was presented. The first medication tested was prednisone for 30 days and then 5 pulses of methylprednisolone were performed for 5 months, and since there was no effect, a combination of azathioprine and methotrexate was performed for 8 months, which was also unsatisfactory. Then, the scheme was changed to cyclophosphamide, human immunoglobulin (HIG), and cyclosporine, which were also unable to change the clinical course of the disease, which led the prescriber to radically change the drug therapy to the immunobiological rituximab (RTX), the only medication capable of ensuring an excellent therapy response and recovery of muscle strength.

This report demonstrates the importance of the necessary persistence for the prescriber to test certain classes and drug combinations in search of the best possible therapeutic response for the specific case, which only occurred after the prescription and proscription of the drugs of first choice and the change to the immunobiological drug, RTX.