Current Research in Medical Sciences
Volume:7 Issue: 1, Spring-Summer 2023

Intramuscular injection is a painful process that can cause severe fear in women. As a result, fear of injection can disrupt the treatment process. Therefore, the present study was performed to assess the effect of local pressure in the dorsogluteal region and Hugo point massage on the severity of pain caused by intramuscular injection in women.

The present study was a clinical trial that was performed on 81 female patients referred to the injection unit of Allameh Bohloul Gonabadi Hospital in 2019. Participants were selected according to inclusion criteria and were randomly assigned to two intervention groups (dorsogluteal region local pressure and Hugo point massage groups) and one control group based on permutation block randomization. Data collection tools included demographic information form and visual pain scale. Central tendency indices and statistical tests (Kruskal-Wallis, Majorca and Mann-Whitney) were used to analyze the data. Significance level was considered as p<0.05.

The results showed that after the intervention, the mean pain intensity in both of the intervention groups was significantly lower than the control group (p=0.007), but there was no significant difference in mean pain intensity between the intervention groups (p=0.68).

Local pressure in the dorsogluthal region and Hugo point massage with ice can effectively reduce intramuscular injection site pain, but none of the methods were superior to other in reducing pain.

Medical assistants in particular are at a high risk of acquiring mental illnesses as postgraduate students. The purpose of this research was to characterize postgraduate students' quality of life and the prevalence of psychiatric and personality disorders.

This cross-sectional study was performed on 499 postgraduate students in 2019. Participants completed four questionnaires including demographic information questionnaire, the 36-item short-form 36-t-quality questionnaire (SF-36), the Millon 3 multi-axis clinical test (MCMI-III), the 53-item short-form short-term psychological symptoms questionnaire (BSI-53). One-way analysis of variance and statistical analysis was performed in SPSS software and causal structural model was performed in PLS software.

The quality of life of students was moderate. In physical subcomponents, women's quality of life scores was higher than men, and conversely, in terms of psychological subcomponents, men's quality of life scores was higher than women. The causal structural model showed that income was a positive predictor of quality of life (B=0313, p<0.001), but female gender (B=-0.503, p<0.001) and age (B=-0.101, p<0.001) were negative predictors. About 30% of postgraduate students/residents suffer from psychological symptoms, and about 14% have overt mental disorders or personality disorders.

Gender, age, residency year, area of study, and income are individual traits of postgraduate students and residents that have a significant impact on quality of life, psychological symptoms, mental disorders, and personality disorders. The severity of mental symptoms and mental/personality illnesses is also influenced by quality of life.

Traumatic brain injuries cause 14% of mortality in Iran. In this study we want to determine the relationship between laboratory findings and level of consciousness in patients with traumatic brain injury.

In this descriptive cross-sectional study, the data were collected by convenience sampling. 100 patients admitted to the emergency department of the 5th Azar Hospital in Gorgan, were diagnosed with brain trauma. Blood samples were taken from these patients up to 24 hours after injury, and the demographic characteristics of the patients were collected in a checklist. Data were analyzed by SPSS16 software.

The mean age of the patients was 26 ± 0.4 years. Laboratory findings in 100 patients included 73% leukocytosis, 60% increase in creatine phosphokinase (CPK), 82% increase in lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), 33% increase in ESR and 73% increase in protein acute phase (CRP). There was a significant and inverse relationship between the level of consciousness and the level of leukocytosis and creatine phosphokinase. Also, there was a significant relationship between the level of consciousness and acute phase proteins.

There was a significant correlation between the increases of three variables of parameters: leukocytes, creatine phosphokinase and acute phase proteins in patients with traumatic brain injury with decreased consciousness. Also, patients with higher level of consciousness and lower age had better prognosis. Due to the relationship between the level of consciousness and the Glasgow Outcome Scale, some laboratory findings can be used to estimate the level of consciousness and to determine the prognosis of traumatic injuries.

Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is the most common joint disease in the elderly and one of the main causes of disability. Although many studies have been conducted on the osteoarthritis risk factors, studies on the outcomes of risk factors of KOA are limited. Therefore, this study aimed at exploring the outcomes of contributing risk factors in older adults with KOA.

The study was conducted on 332 older adults with KOA. Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) was applied to measure KOA outcomes and outcomes risk factors questionnaire were completed to assess potential explanatory variables. Univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression were done to identify the risk factors for KOA outcomes.

The results of multiple linear regression analysis showed that repetitive use of joints (B= -0.420 to -0.509, p <0.001) and diabetes (B=-0.250, p <0.01 to -0.445, p <0.001) were the most common risk factors related to all KOA outcomes, followed by BMI (B=-0.247, p<0.05  to -0.458, p<0.001) and multimorbidity (B =-0.225, p<0.01  to -0.345, p<0.001). Increasing age, gender, and hypertension variables were associated with only some of the KOA outcomes, which generally included a decrease in sport/recreation, quality of life, activity daily living and an increase in pain and other symptoms.

The multiplicity of chronic diseases can complicate the KOA outcomes by influencing management decisions. Although, proper management of chronic diseases can improve the KOA outcomes, more studies on multimorbidity in KOA are needed. Pay attention to the guidelines for preventing the KOA outcomes by focusing on lifestyle modification, correct use of the knee joint and weight control, is necessary in future researches.

Gestational diabetes leads to various complications for the fetus, including heart abnormalities, and injuries during childbirth. This study aimed to investigate the changes of electrocardiogram (ECG), and echocardiography parameters in infants of diabetic mothers compared with those of healthy mothers.

In this case-control study, 75 infants of mothers with controlled diabetes (case group) as well as 75 infants of healthy mothers (control group), who were born in Birjand Vali-e-Asr Hospital in 2021 were enrolled. ECG and echocardiography were performed for all infants, and the desired parameters (P, QT interval, QTd, QTc, QTcd, T, Tpe, heart rate (HR) as well as ejection fraction (EF), fractional shortening (FS), and IVSd) were measured.

The average QT interval and QTc parameters in the group of infants of diabetic mothers were higher than the healthy group (P≤0.01), while the average QTd in the infants of healthy mothers was higher than the infants of diabetic mothers (P=0.01). Furthermore, the average IVSd in the case group was higher than the control group (P=0.01). However, no differences in P, QTcd, T, TPe, HR, FS, EF, and heart axis parameters between the two groups were found (P>0.05).

In conclusion, significant differences between the infants of healthy mothers and those with gestational diabetes regarding the parameters of QT interval, QTd, QTc, and IVSd were found. However, no differences in P, QTcd, T, TPe, HR, FS, EF, and heart axis parameters between the two groups were found. Therefore, it is a clinical necessity to examine and screen the infants of diabetic mothers via ECG and echocardiography.

Acid maltase deficiency is the cause of Pompe disease (PD), also known as glycogen storage disease type II, which can result in lysosomal glycogen storage. Children, adults, and newborns can all exhibit fundamental characteristics. We described a rare case of Pompe disease (PD) with leukodystrophy manifestations, who was referred two years prior by an orthopedist due to irregular walking.

Students are a sensitive group in response to the dangers of air pollution. This study was conducted in order to determine the effect of education using the health belief model on the improvement of students' behaviors to prevent exposure to polluted air.

This study was a before-and-after controlled intervention. The participants included 184 people in the intervention group (82 boys and 102 girls) and 169 people in the control group (82 boys and 87 girls). The researcher-made questionnaire was distributed among the students based on the model. Then, four education sessions were held along with the distribution of pamphlets for the intervention group. Three months later, the questionnaire was completed again by the students. The data was analyzed using SPSS software. The intervention tests used included: paired t, independent t, chi square and Pearson correlation.

Comparing the scores before and after, it was seen that the level of awareness and attitude had increased significantly (p<0.001). In terms of the constructs of the health belief model, there was a significant difference between the intervention group and the control group after the education. There is a significant difference (p<0.05), which shows the effect of education, while before the education, the two groups did not have a significant difference in terms of scores.

The results of the study showed that the implementation of an educational program based on the health belief model with an emphasis on behavior predictors can be effective in reducing exposure to air pollution in students.

Many studies have proved the positive impact of public environment proportion on the quality of life of the elderly people. One of the environments that have appropriate effects for the elderly is religious places such as mosques. Therefore, the aim of this study is to develop a tool for structural fitness of age-friendly mosques, in a way that factors affecting the mosques to be age-friendly can be recognized through preparation of a standard checklist.

The components of the tool were developed through reviewing scientific literatures and sites. Measuring methods of face and content validity were used to investigate the validity of the research. The content validity was explored by employing a panel of 12 experts, including 4 individuals with PhDs in Gerontology, 4 Ergonomists, and 4 experts with PhD or Master’s degree in Civil Engineering. For the face validity, 20 individuals were surveyed, who were expected to complete the checklist when the project was operationalized. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to determine the reliability.

The primary tool included 145 items in 12 domains, which were reduced to 121 items in 10 domains within the group discussion. Following the investigation of validity and reliability of the research, the number of final items of the tool was gathered in 80 questions. The mean of content validity index of the tool was calculated 0.96, Content validity Ration was greater than 0.56, and the Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.875.

The assessment tool of age-friendly mosques is available with appropriate validity and reliability to evaluate structural barriers in public places, including mosques. By studying the assessment tool, it is anticipated that the problems of access to the elderly in the mosque and other spaces would be identified and accessibility would be encouraged in the society.