Journal of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences
Volume:18 Issue: 5, 2014

Anxiety is a factor that is associated with dysmenorrhea. The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of acupressure at spleen 6 and liver 3 points on the anxiety level of patients with primary dysmenorrhea. In this randomized clinical trial study, acupressure was applied on spleen 6 and liver 3 points. Sixty seven students were evaluated in three menstrual periods. They were assigned to groups using a randomized block design with allocation ratio of 1:1 based on the severity of pain. Spielberger state-trait anxiety inventory (STAI) and visual analogue scale for pain intensity were used. Analysis was performed by SPSS-16 software using chi-square, t-test, Mann–Whitney, paired sample t-test and covariance analysis. In liver 3 and spleen 6 groups, 11 and 17 students were studied, respectively. The mean ±SD values of apparent anxiety before and after intervention for liver 3 group were 45.100±9.769 and 38.100±10.608 and for spleen 6 group were 46.823±12.248 and 44.352±11.942, respectively. Reduction of apparent anxiety was only significant in the liver 3 group (p<0.001). Hidden anxiety, however, didn’t show any significant change before and after intervention (p>0.05) in both groups. There was no difference between groups before and after intervention (p>0.05). Since pressure on liver 3 point reduced apparent anxiety, pressure on liver 3 point is recommended in patients with dysmenorrhea.

Women and men afflicted with HIV bear specific physical, mental and social problems. The aim of this research was to determine the effects of group hope therapy on subjective wellbeing, acceptance and rumination in HIV+ patients. The present study was a randomized clinical trial research with a pretest-posttest and control group. The study population included all the people infected with AIDS virus (HIV+) who referred to counseling and treatment center of behavioral disorders in Tabriz. The samples were selected through convenience sampling method. Total of 30 participants with the criteria for inclusion in the study were selected and randomly placed in one of the two groups (control and experimental groups). The research tools consisted of Reef Psychological Wellbeing Scale and acceptance and focus on thinking subscales of Emotion Regulation Strategies Questionnaire. The experimental group received 8 sessions of group hope therapy (independent variable). Data were analyzed by SPSS-19 software using multivariable covariance analysis (MANCOVA). Results of multivariate covariance analysis (MANCOVA) showed that group hope therapy positively affected the subjective wellbeing, acceptance and rumination in HIV+ patients (P<0.001). It seems hope therapy could be useful as a new treatment in domains of supportive psychological therapies in patients infected with HIV.

Background radiation exists naturally in the environment and affects all living organisms. Assessment of these radiations is important because they cause somatic & genetic damages. This survey was carried out to determine the environmental gamma rate was measured in different seasons in Kermanshah towns, and the effective dose for the residents of these regions was calculated. gamma dose rate was determined by Geiger Muller detector (RADOS CO, RDS-120).To this end, six and seven stations were selected in outdoor and indoor areas, respectively. In other towns‚ however, the measurements were performed at one station in outdoor center of each town. The mean values of indoor and outdoor gamma dose rates in Kermanshah were 99.96 and 118.6 nSv/h, respectively and the mean values of environmental gamma in outdoor areas of Islamabad-e-Gharb‚ Songhor‚ Sahneh‚ Gilan-e-Gharb, Sarpol-e-Zahab‚ Ghasr-e-Shirin‚ Harsin‚ Paveh‚ Ravansar and Javanrood towns were 99.96 ‚ 120.5 ‚ 143 ‚ 115.7 ‚ 71.7 ‚ 76.2 ‚ 82 ‚ 108.5 ‚ 95.7‚ 95.7 and 106 nSv/h, respectively. Also, the highest and the lowest annual effective dose were reported for Songhor (0.88 mSv/y) and Gilan-e-Gharb (0.44mSv/y), respectively. The outdoor annual effective doses for the residents of Kermanshah‚ Islamabad-e-Gharb‚ Sahneh‚ Gilan-e-Gharb‚ Sarpol-e-Zahab‚ Ghasr-e-Shirin‚ Harsin‚ Paveh‚ Ravansar and Javanrood were lower than the global value (0.76 mSv/y) except for Songhor with 16% higher dose.

Myocardial infarction is a fatal symbol of cardiovascular diseases, which usually occurs in people over 45 years. However, the incidence of factors such as obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and metabolic syndrome has increased the risk of developing early cardiovascular diseases in the middle-aged people. This study was conducted to compare the clinical manifestation of myocardial infarction in the middle-aged and elderly people. In this cross-sectional study, the participants were 366 patients less and more than 55 years old with acute myocardial infarction admitted to the CCU of Imam Reza Hospital in Amol. Data were collected using demographic form and a checklist of clinical symptoms. Statistical analysis was performed by SPSS (version 20) using descriptive statistics, chi-square, odds ratio and the Mantel-Haenszel (α= 0.05 and d=0.3). The results showed that patients over 55 years manifested the symptoms of shortness of breath (1.66), weakness (2.62), vomiting (1.98) and hiccups (2.19) more than the patients under55 years. Also, by controlling the confounding effect of gender, these symptoms had emerged in >55 year-old patients than in <55 year-old ones. According to the results, the elderly patients have more chance of manifesting nonspecific symptoms. Therefore, the healthcare providers, especially nurses should be more careful in this regard during the initial assessment.

Rubella is an important childhood infectious disease caused by rubella virus. Complications of rubella, except in pregnant women, are negligible, but its importance is due to congenital rubella syndrome. To control the effects of congenital complications, rubella vaccination program is run. The goal of this study was to evaluate the status of immunity to rubella in Ahvaz, Iran. In this cross - sectional study, anti-rubella IgG antibodies were investigated in 865 individuals aged 1-25 years by ELISA method. The cut-off values of more than 11 IU / ml was considered as immune. Data were analyzed by SPSS-18 software using chi-square, ANOVA and Pearson correlation. Of the study subjects, 563 patients were female (65%) and 302 patients were male (35%) with the mean age of 12.7±7.1 yr. Seven hundred fifty nine subjects (87.7%) were immune against rubella. The level of immunity to rubella was different in various age groups (p=0.0001). The highest level of immunity (97.2%) was observed in the 19-25 year-old patients and the lowest level (79.0%) was seen in the 1-6 year-old individuals. Immunity rates were significantly higher in females than in males (P=0.010). Pearson correlation showed a significantly positive relationship between age and antibody titer. The antibody titer also increased with age increase (r=0.365; P=0.001). The results of this study show that rubella vaccination program has been successful to create an appropriate immunity against rubella, especially in 19-25 year-old females, the main high-risk group.

Febrile seizures are the most common convulsion disorder in childhood. The possible risk of developing epilepsy in febrile seizures is about 2-10%. EEG is helpful to diagnose epilepsy; however, there are controversies about the abnormal EEG and associated risk factors. The aim of this study was to determine EEG abnormality and effective risk factors in patients with complex febrile seizures. This study was conducted on the patients with complex febrile seizures in 2009-2010.EEG was performed on all children 6 to 10 days after seizure and reported by a neurologist. Demographic data and risk factors, including age, sex, family history of epilepsy and febrile convulsions, presentation of seizure, postictal neurological disorder were documented by a checklist and their association with EEG was analyzed. 111 patients with complex febrile seizure, 70 girls and 41 boys, with the mean age of 3.4±20 months were studied. EEG was abnormal in 37.8% of patients, 9% were epileptic form abnormality and 28.8% were nonspecific abnormal.There was a statistically significant association between EEG abnormality in patients with focal seizures, family history of febrile seizures and postictal neurologic disorder (p<0.05). The results of this study showed abnormality of EEG in complex febrile convulsions in 37.8% of patients, which was significantly higher in patients with postictal neurological disorder, focal seizures and family history of febrile seizure.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is the fourth most common mental disorder that can adversely affect the people’s life. University education is a stressful time for almost all students and many newly-accepted students are at the risk of periodical OCD. In this study, the prevalence of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and its relationship with anxiety symptoms was investigated in students of Zanjan universities. The students were analyzed by a questionnaire, including the demographic information, Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale.The acquired data were analyzed by SPSS software using Chi-square Test. 61.2% of the students (738) were affected by Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) symptoms and 25.1% of them (302) were affected by anxiety symptoms (mild to severe). Prevalence of Clinical OCD among the students was estimated 22.2 % (268). The results of statistical analysis showed significant correlations between Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and anxiety symptoms (P=0.0005), sex (P=0.0005), age (P=0.005) and university (P= 0.002) This study demonstrated a higher prevalence of OCD among the study sample compared to the similar studies performed in Iran as well as other countries.

Nosocomial infection is a major medical problem worldwide. This study was a cross-sectional and retrospective research. All meeting minutes in Infection Control Committee (2006-2011) were collected, the approvals were analyzed within a few years and the implementation rate of programs associated with each of the objectives of the study was adapted. The findings indicated that this committee had acted very well in the case of nosocomial infections, but had acted weak in the case of hand washing. Lack of specific strategy in committee was the most important cause of failure in achieving some of the objectives of the committee.