مجله تحقیقات نظام سلامت
سال نوزدهم شماره 1 (بهار 1402)

The present article is a review with the aim of investigating the effects of exercise and physical activity on generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in different populations.

To collect information, articles were first searched using the keywords of “generalizes anxiety disorder”, “sport”, “acute exercise”, “aerobic training”, and “resistance training”. The research was conducted between 2015 and 2020, and the databases used included Google Scholar, PubMed, Science Direct, and Springer. Finally, 12 articles met the standard and set criteria and were selected. After selecting the articles, the information related to each extracted article was reviewed using a specific checklist and in summary form.

The types of aerobic and strength training used to improve GAD in different people have had positive results (including improvement of sleep and personality and improvement of anxiety disorders). Research also shows that the mechanisms that cause exercise to have such effects are a combination of biological and psychological factors.

Physical activity while reducing the symptoms and complications of mental illness can act as an effective treatment and even prevention for anxiety disorders such as GAD.

Solid phase microextraction (SPME) is a sub-sample extraction method that has been developed to solve some of the challenges associated with sample preparation as well as to integrate different stages of analysis into one system. SPME is a solvent-free, cost-effective, efficient, and high-performance sample preparation technique. This technique combines all the extraction steps into one step. In the recent years, combining SPME with analysis tools has been very efficient for sampling and analyzing multiple compounds and a lot of research has been done on the benefits, applications, and advancements of this technique. This study also introduces SPME along with its various aspects and fields of application.

Musculoskeletal disorders are among the most important work-related diseases and hard working conditions in workshops and industries lead workers to experience these disorders. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and its relationship with work ability index, job satisfaction, and job burnout among the workers of Isfahan Crystal and Glass Industry, Isfahan, Iran.

This descriptive-analytic study was a cross-sectional one employing 251 workers from Isfahan Crystal and Glass Industry and was conducted in 2021. The data were collected through Cronell Musculoskeletal Disorders Questionnaire (CDMQ), Work Ability Index Questionnaire (WIA), Job Descriptive Index (JDI), and Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI). The collected data were then submitted to SPSS to be analyzed through descriptive and inferential (Spearman correlation) statistics. The significance level was decided to be less than 0.05 (P < 0.05).

45.4% of the participants had musculoskeletal discomfort in at least one limb and 63.7% had high level of job satisfaction. On the other hand, the participants had high level of job burnout (mean = 81.55) and intermediate level of work ability (mean = 36). Further, there were no significant correlations between musculoskeletal disorders and job burnout, and between musculoskeletal disorders and work ability (P < 0.050), whereas there was a significant correlation between musculoskeletal disorders and job satisfaction (P < 0.050).

Less than half of the participants had musculoskeletal disorders. The significant relationship between musculoskeletal disorders and job satisfaction was negative; the higher the level of job satisfaction, the lower the level of musculoskeletal disorders. Moreover, interventional and corrective measures are highly recommended to prevent these disorders.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a progressive autoimmune disease with variable and inflammatory clinical symptoms that causes pain, dryness, and reduced joint function. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of integrated treatment based on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and positivity on adherence to treatment and life expectancy of women with RA.

In the present study, a single-case experimental design of the asynchronous multiple baseline type was used. The statistical population of the study included all women with RA in Khorramabad, Iran. The sample included 3 people who were selected by convenience sampling from among the affected women. Integrated treatment protocol based on ACT and positivity was performed during three stages of baseline, 10 sessions of 90-minute intervention, and three-stage follow-up, and the subjects responded to the adherence to treatment and life expectancy scales.

The data were analyzed using visual drawing, reliable change index (RCI), and percentage change formula. Results of the study showed that the mean improvement of adherence to treatment variable in the post-treatment stage in the three patients was 62.7% and in follow-up was 60.5%; for the life expectancy variable in the post-treatment stage, the mean of all three was 53.3% and the follow-up mean was 51.03%.

Integrated treatment based on ACT and positivity has been effective on treatment adherence and life expectancy of affected women. Therefore, it is suggested to use this treatment to increase compliance with treatment and life expectancy in these patients.

The use of edible coatings and essential oils is important due to their biodegradability, shelf life, and quality characteristics of harvested products.

The present study was conducted in the form of a completely randomized design with 6 treatments including control, chitosan (2%), sumac extract (4%), cumin essential oil (5 μl), chitosan + sumac extract, and chitosan + cumin essential oil in 3 replications and qualitative characteristics of Agaricus bisporus mushroom were evaluated on days 0, 7, 14, and 21 of storage.

The highest tissue stiffness and antioxidant capacity was observed on the day 21 in cumin essential oil and control treatments, respectively. Malondialdehyde (MDA) increased with the increase of storage time from day 0 to day 21. The highest activity of polyphenol oxidase was obtained on the day 7 in the treatment of cumin essence. On the days 7, 14, and 21, the treatment with cumin essential oil and sumac extract showed the highest weight loss. The highest L* color index was observed on day 0 in the control treatment and the highest a* color index was observed on day 7 in chitosan and chitosan + sumac extract treatments. Under the treatment of chitosan on days 14 and 21 and chitosan + cumin essence on day 14, the lowest b* color index was observed. The highest browning index was observed on days 7, 14, and 21 in chitosan + sumac extract, chitosan + cumin essence, and chitosan treatments.

The research treatments showed different results on the qualitative characteristics and shelf life of Agaricus bisporus mushroom. Cumin essential oil and sumac extract alone and in combination with chitosan during the storage period had an effect on the quality characteristics of Agaricus bisporus mushroom.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a debilitating chronic disease due to major changes in the health status and lifestyle of people in recent years; it has been one of the common and significant problems in the field of healthcare and medical professionals, which requires psychological interventions besides the biological treatments due to the accompanying psychological complications. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of mindfulness therapy and interoceptive exposure on symptom severity of patients with IBS.

This was a clinical trial study and statistical population consisted of all patients with IBS referred to specialized centers in Isfahan, Iran. The research sample consisted of 45 patients who were selected by availability sampling method and randomly assigned to three experimental and control groups. The experimental groups were subjected to cognitive-behavioral interventions based on mindfulness and cognitive-behavioral interventions based on interoceptive exposure, respectively. The research data were collected with the help of the IBS Symptom Severity Scale (IBS-SSS) and were analyzed using the statistical method of repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA).

Mindfulness therapy and interoceptive exposure therapy were effective on the severity of symptoms in the experimental groups compared to the control group (P < 0.01). In addition, a significant difference was found between the two educational strategies in the post-test and follow-up stages (P < 0.01). Mindfulness therapy was more effective on the severity of the symptoms of the patients and a greater reduction was obtained in the averages of the two stages.

Mindfulness therapy and interoceptive exposure therapy led to improvement of severity of patients' symptoms and physicians can use these psychological methods as a complement to biological therapies.

Redemptive self is a part of life narratives in which bad scenes are redeemed with good results or positive emotions. Personality traits in the big-5 model are: neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between redemptive self and personality traits with some psychological characteristics including psychological well-being, career adaptability, generativity, and emotional intelligence.

In this study, 57 Iranian adults in the age range of 22-65 years were selected by convenience sampling method and filled in the Life Story Questionnaire, NEO test, Loyola Generativity Scale (LGS), Ryff Psychological Well-Being Scale (PWB), Career Adapt-Abilities Scale (CAAS), and Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire. Individuals' answers to the questionnaire questions were analyzed by Pearson correlation coefficient and stepwise regression using SPSS software.

Based on the results of the present study, the relationship between the redemptive self and personality traits with each of the psychological characteristics mentioned above was significant. Redemptive self and personality traits had a significant relationship with psychological well-being, career adaptability, generativity, and emotional intelligence and predicted them.

Redemptive self and extraversion predicted generativity, neuroticism (negatively) and agreeableness predicted psychological well-being, extroversion predicted career adaptability, and agreeableness predicted emotional intelligence.

Dependence on the Internet leads to disruption or distress in various aspects of life. One of the important underlying factors of Internet addiction is the lack of social skills, and considering the importance of social skills as the core of social competence, the researchers decided to investigate the prevalence of Internet addiction and its relationship with social competence in this study in nursing students of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran.

During a descriptive-analytical and cross-sectional study, 260 undergraduate nursing students were examined in the second half of the academic year 2018-2019 by stratified sampling method with proportional allocation. In order to collect data, a three-part questionnaire of demographic information and information related to the use of the Internet, Young's standard questionnaire, and Felner's social adequacy questionnaire were used. In the end, after being entered in the SSPS software, the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and appropriate statistical analysis.

The overall mean score of Internet addiction was mild. Most of the students (77.6%) had mild addiction and a small percentage (1.3%) had severe addiction to the Internet. The findings indicated that the overall average score of students' social competence was good. Besides, the majority of students (67.1%) had good, 28.1% had very good, and 4.8% had average social competence. A significant and negative correlation was found between Internet addiction and social competence, and students who had a higher average score of Internet addiction obtained a lower average score of social competence.

Considering the inverse relationship between Internet dependence and social adequacy, it is recommended that universities and educational centers try to develop a culture and promote healthy behaviors in nursing students with various educational, counseling, and behavioral programs.

Currently, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is recognized as a major threat to human public health. Obviously, accurate and in-depth identification of patients’ help-seeking behavior not only explains the process but also is able to identify the related factors, challenges, strengths, and weaknesses, and depicts participants' expectations for optimization and improvement.

This qualitative study was conducted based on content analysis and through individual interviews (in person and by phone) with people with a history of COVID-19 disease until data saturation was reached between June and September 2020 in Tehran, Iran.

In this study, 15 in-depth individual interviews were conducted. Strengths, weaknesses, and strategies to improve the help-seeking behavior were extracted in four levels: individual, family, social, and health system. The most important strengths were self-care (individual level), empathy of family members (family), charitable activities (social), and human resources (health system). The most important weaknesses in these levels included lack of attention to health protocols, lack of requirements for full quarantine, economic problems, and lack of proper monitoring by the health system.

The most important and key element to improve the help-seeking behavior is human resources and promoting the individual capabilities in various aspects.

Despite its significant impact on the global economy, the iron and steel industry is also the largest consumer of energy and leaves behind a significant environmental footprint. Iran is also one of the top 10 steel producing countries, with more than 77% of its steel being produced in electric arc furnaces (EAFs). Therefore, a proper environmental assessment should be done to minimize the negative effects on the environment. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the life cycle of steel production using EAF method in Iran. This study identifies the major processes and inputs that affect the environmental impact of steel production and proposes effective methods to prevent pollution.

In this study, SimaPro software with ecoinvent database and IMPACT 2002+ evaluation method were used. Life cycle inventory data were obtained from the average performance of factories in one year and the functional unit was considered to be one ton of rolled steel (coil).

Among different categories of environmental impacts, non-renewable energy, global warming, and inhalation of mineral particles had the most significant threat, respectively, so that these three categories included 86.5% of the total environmental impact. Among several processes, the greatest effects were related to EAFs (35%), followed by sponge iron production (28.9%) and pellet production (17.1%) in second and third places, respectively. The highest environmental impacts of input materials included electricity (33.8%) and gas consumption (25.8%), respectively.

Despite significant advances in iron and steel industries in recent decades, they still have high energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. Conducting a life cycle assessment allows steel producers to identify the most polluting processes in order to make the necessary plans to improve them.