Health and Development Journal
Volume:11 Issue: 1, Winter 2022

The threat of antimicrobial resistance is increasing worldwide. Niosomes are a new drug delivery system that increases the antimicrobial potential of antibiotics. Accordingly, this study aimed to evaluate the antibacterial activity of niosomes loaded with curcumin-silver nanoparticles (Cur-AgNPs) and curcumin-copper nanoparticles (Cur-CuNPs). Initially, a unique combination of metal and curcumin nanoparticles was prepared in free and encapsulated forms to investigate the synergistic effects of the two drugs and to evaluate them through a niosomal carrier. Particle size and polydispersity index were measured using dynamic light scattering (DLS), and entrapment efficiency (EE) was measured through indirect centrifugation. The rate of drug release from the loaded niosomes was assessed through in vitro dialysis. Finally, the antibacterial activity of Cur-AgNPs and Cur-CuNPs loaded niosomes on Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were measured. The curcumin-loaded niosomal formulations and the simultaneous combination of Cur-AgNPs and Cur-CuNPs had an optimum particle size of less than 200 nm and uniform dispersion. These formulations also showed high entrapment efficiencies and slow release for more than 72 hours. A significant increase in antibacterial activity was observed when using curcumin in combination with metal nanoparticles loaded in niosomes, indicating that the concomitant use of metal nanoparticles and curcumin had a synergistic effect in inhibiting bacterial growth.

Disability induced by severe diseases reduces life quality among elders, and leads to increased use of medications and increase in drug misuse. This study was done to determine the relation between the number of inappropriate medications used and life quality of elderly people living in Kerman during 2014.

This descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study was conducted on 150 elderly people in Kerman, Iran. The participants were selected by simple random sampling. The elderly health assessment questionnaire and Beers Criteria were used for data collection. Data were analyzed using SPSS (version 16) and running test, Fischer’s Exact test, and logistic regression. The model fitness was evaluated by the Hosmer and Lemeshow Test.

The risk of low life quality in elders using 3 to 4 inappropriate medications was 9.98 times more than elders using no unauthorized medication. The most frequent inappropriate medications were Aspirin and Alprazolam. A significant relation was observed between low life quality and number of inappropriate medications used by elders; that is, taking a higher number of inappropriate medications was associated with lower life quality.

Many elderly people use inappropriate medications, which can have a serious adverse impact on their quality of life

Journal club is a well-known method for reviewing new scientific articles and information in different fields of medical sciences. This study aimed to explore the strategies for holding successful journal clubs at the Faculty of Health Management and Medical Informatics of Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.

This qualitative content analysis study was done by interviewing nine academics and postgraduate students at the Faculty of Management and Medical Informatics. One interview was conducted with each participant. All interviews were recorded and transcribed, and notes were taken during interviews. Data collection continued until data saturation was reached.

Based on the results, the most important strategies for successful journal clubs were holding journal clubs at an appropriate time, having someone in charge of organizing the facilities and content, and letting everyone participate in the discussion. Moreover, article appraisal should be taught to participants beforehand.

Although journal clubs are routinely and correctly held in many great universities around the world, this task is still not performed adequately and effectively in many educational centers in Iran. More effort should be put into holding organized and appropriate journal clubs.

reproductive health literacy plays an important role in women's health as a vulnerable group in a society. Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate the reproductive health literacy and its related factors among women of reproductive age referring to urban and rural comprehensive health services centers in Chabahar in 2020.

This is a cross-sectional study. The study population was women of reproductive age who referred to comprehensive urban and rural health service centers in Chabahar. The sample size was 220 people and sampling was done by convenience method. Data were collected using the Reproductive Health Literacy Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 22. 

The mean score of reproductive health literacy was significantly lower in the age group of 15 to 24 years, housewives., those with primary school education and living in rural areas. The mean score of reproductive health literacy had no statistically significant difference based on socioeconomic status. (P = 0.12) In multiple linear regression, age group and education significantly predicted reproductive health literacy score.

According to the current study, in order to promote women's health, it is necessary that in the planning of national women's health programs to consider appropriate interventions to increase reproductive health literacy with an emphasis on housewives, younger women with lower education level and those who live in a rural area.

Congenital hypothyroidism is one of the most common preventable causes of mental retardation. The present study aimed to compare the characteristics of neonates with false-positive congenital hypothyroidism screening test results with affected neonates in Kerman. This cross-sectional study was conducted on neonates called to confirm congenital hypothyroidism from 2016 to 2017. The neonate characteristics (year and season of birth, sex, umbilical hernia, fontanelle conditions, constipation, jaundice, abnormalities, head circumference, height and weight at birth, gestational age, type of delivery, parental consanguinity, history of thyroid disease in the family, childbirth location, history of hospitalization, and place of residence) and maternal characteristics (age, number of deliveries, history of stillbirth, history of illness, and drug use during pregnancy) were extracted from their medical records. The collected data were analyzed with SPSS software (version 20) using the chi-square and independent samples t test. From a total of 985 neonates who had a positive screening test, congenital hypothyroidism was confirmed in only 58 neonates(5.9%), and the other 927 neonates(94.1%) only had a positive screening test. The neonates’ and mothers’ characteristics were not significantly different in the two groups, except for constipation, which had a higher frequency in the neonates with a positive congenital hypothyroidism screening results than in the affected neonates (P = 0.004). In this study, the characteristics of neonates who only had a positive hypothyroidism screening test result were not significantly different from those of the affected neonates. It is recommended that further studies be conducted over a longer period.

Natal teeth and cleft lip and palate are orofacial malformations and important health problems in children. These abnormalities are major causes of parental worry and childhood complications. The objective of this study was to evaluate the incidence of natal teeth and cleft lip and palate as well as other facial and cranial abnormalities in newborns in Afzalipour hospital in Kerman, Iran. All newborns who were born from 2020 to 2021 in Afzalipour Hospital were reviewed and their oral, facial, and cranial abnormalities were recorded in a checklist. The information in the checklist consisted of two parts. The first part contained information about the mother including age, maternal health status before delivery, and type of delivery. The second part included information about the newborn (sex, weight, type of abnormality, and health status of the newborn at birth). The results were analyzed by SPSS 21 software. In this study, 6225 newborns were reviewed, of whom 3015 were born by normal delivery (48.4%) and 3210 by cesarean section (51.6%). Head, cranial, and neck abnormalities and deformities were present in 3 newborns (0.05%), cleft lip and/or palate was present in 3 newborns (0.05%), and natal teeth was present in 2 newborns (0.03%). Three newborns (0.05%) had facial asymmetry. Newborn’s gender, mother’s systemic diseases, and mother’s age were not related with anomalies in the newborn, but newborns with anomalies were significantly heavier than healthy newborns. The prevalence of natal teeth and cleft lip and/or palate is not high in Kerman.

Following a shift in the exam mode from face-to-face to online exams during the COVID-19 pandemic, test anxiety became more prevalent among students. Emotional intelligence is one of the factors that may be effective in controlling anxiety. To this end, the present study examined the relation between emotional intelligence and anxiety caused by online exams in students of paramedical sciences during the COVID-19 epidemic. This descriptive-analytical and cross-sectional study was conducted in June 2021 during the final-semester exams of the students at the Faculty of Paramedicine of Qom University of Medical Sciences. The data in this study were collected using a demographic information questionnaire, the Schutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test (SSEIT), and the FRIEDBEN Test Anxiety Scale. The questions were developed in Google Form and sent to the students. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics, including analysis of variance (ANOVA), independent samples t-test, and Pearson’s correlation test at a significance level of 0.05. The participants in this study were 193 undergraduate students. The mean scores of the students’ online test anxiety and emotional intelligence were 42.03 ± 10.90 and 97.05 ± 14.36, respectively. There was a statistically significant relation between test anxiety scores with age (P = 0.020), gender (P = 0.010), field of study (P = 0.001), and place of residence (P = 0.034). However, there was no statistically significant relation between the students’ emotional intelligence and test anxiety (r = 0.042; P = 0.563). The paramedical students in this study had high online test anxiety and a moderate level of emotional intelligence. However, the students’ emotional intelligence had no relation with their online test anxiety. Thus, other strategies should be adopted to reduce students’ online test anxiety.

Providing accurate information to patients is an important task of the medical staff that can help establish a relationship complying with current ethical principles. The present study aimed to clarify the current status of informing patients about their diseases by physicians.

This cross-sectional study was conducted in the internal medicine and surgery wards of a teaching hospital in Kerman University of Medical Sciences using a convenience sampling method. Participants answered 13 "yes" or "no" questions about the information given to them by their physicians based on Braddock’s study and the second part of the Patient's Rights Charter in Iran.

Totally 396 patients participated in this study. The results showed that less than half of the patients confirmed their physicians had given information to them and answered "yes" to related questions. There was a significant difference in participants’ answers about awareness of the drugs' names (P-value= 0.002), their side effects (P-value= 0.002), the results of para-clinical tests (P-value= 0.002), and patient's preferences and consent to have awareness of adverse outcomes of disease (P-value< 0.001) between internal medicine and surgery wards, and the frequency of “yes” answers was more in patients at internal medicine than in surgery wards.

Offering appropriate training courses to physicians in order to further improve their relationship with patients to provide more informed decision-making is recommended.