The relationship of social support and quality of life with the level of stress in pregnant women using the PATH model

Background: Lack of adequate social support, stress, and generally poor quality of life during pregnancy leads to adverse pregnancy outcomes for both the mother and the baby. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the relationship of social support and quality of life with level of stress during pregnancy. Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive-correlative study conducted on 210 pregnant women (meeting study criteria), attending Shahriar Social Services Hospital during 2012. Purposive convenient sampling was used. Study subjects completed questionnaires of obstetrics and demographics, VAUX social support, World Health Organization quality of life, and stress during pregnancy. Data were analyzed with SPSS-19 and Lisrel 8.8, utilizing statistical path analysis. Results: The final path model fitted well (CF1 = 1, RMSEA = 0.00) and showed that direct quality of life paths with β = -0.2, and indirect social support with β = -0.088 had the most effects on reduction of stress during pregnancy. Conclusion: Social support indirectly and quality of life directly affect stress during pregnancy. Thus, health officials should attempt to establish measures to further enhance social support and quality of life of pregnant women to reduce stress and its consequences during this time. © 2013, Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal

Association of Maternal Working Condition with Low Birth Weight: The Social Determinants of Health Approach

Background: The socioeconomic conditions have made more job opportunities available to women. This has created interest to conduct studies on the effect of working lifestyle on pregnancy outcomes. Aim: This study was conducted with the aim to assess the relationship between mothers’ working status as a social determinant and the incidence of low birth weight (LBW) of the newborn. Subjects and Methods: This case–control study was conducted on 500 women with normal weight infants (control group) and 250 women with LBW infants (case group) in selected hospitals in Tehran. Data were collected using a researcher‑made questionnaire, designed to assess the effect of mothers’ prenatal lifestyle, as a social determinant, on LBW of the newborn. A section of the questionnaire involved assessment of mother’s working condition in terms of the work environment, activities, and job satisfaction. Data were analyzed using Chi‑square and logistic regression tests. Results: LBW among employed mothers was 5 times more likely than unemployed ones (odds ratio = 5.35, P < 0.001). Unfavorable work conditions such as humid environment, contact with detergents, and being in one standing or sitting position for long hours were significantly associated with LBW (P < 0.001). Conclusion: The present study showed that unfavorable work conditions were associated with LBW; therefore, they need special attention.Keywords: Low birth weight, Pregnancy, Socioeconomic factors, Working condition

Comparing the Effects of Hot Pack and Lukewarm-Water-Soaked Gauze on Postoperative Urinary Retention; A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

Background: Urinary retention is a common postoperative complication that mandates urinary catheterization. Urinary catheterization is associated with different physical, mental, and financial problems for both patients and healthcare systems. The patient inconvenience, urinary tract infections, and increase in hospital stay and expenses are common problems of urinary retention and urinary catheterization. Therefore, alternative ways of relieving urinary retention, preferably noninvasive interventions, are of great interest. Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the effects of placing hot pack and lukewarm-water-soaked gauze on the suprapubic region on male patients with postoperative urinary retention. Patients and Methods: This was a three-group, randomized, controlled trial. A convenience sample of 126 male patients who had undergone general, orthopedic, or urologic surgeries were recruited. The block randomization method was used for allocating patients to either the two experimental groups (the hot pack and the lukewarm-water-soaked gauze groups) or the control one. Patients in the experimental groups were treated by placing either hot pack or lukewarm-water-soaked gauze on the suprapubic region. All patients were monitored for 20 minutes for urinary retention relief. If they did not experience urinary retention relief (starting urine flow and bladder evacuate), urinary catheterization would be performed. The data was collected using information sheet. Elimination of urinary retention was compared among study groups. The one-way analysis of variance and the Chi-square tests were used for analyzing data. Results: Respectively, 59.5%, 71.4%, and 7.1% of patients in the hot pack, the soaked gauze, and the control groups experienced relief from urinary retention and the bladder was emptied. There was a significant difference among study groups in percentage of patients who experienced urinary retention relief. However, the difference between the two experimental groups was not significant. The time to urinary retention relief in hot pack, soaked gauze, and control groups was 15.45 ± 3.15, 13.83 ± 3.80, and 14.59 ± 3.29 minutes, respectively. The difference among the study groups in time to urinary retention relief was not statistically significant. Conclusions: Both the lukewarm-water-soaked gauze and the hot pack techniques had significant effects on postoperative urinary retention and significantly reduced the need for urinary catheterization. Using these two simple and cost-effective techniques for managing postoperative urinary retention is recommended

Noisy images edge detection: Ant colony optimization algorithm

The edges of an image define the image boundary. When the image is noisy, it does not become easy to identify the edges. Therefore, a method requests to be developed that can identify edges clearly in a noisy image. Many methods have been proposed earlier using filters, transforms and wavelets with Ant colony optimization (ACO) that detect edges. We here used ACO for edge detection of noisy images with Gaussian noise and salt and pepper noise. As the image edge frequencies are close to the noise frequency band, the edge detection using the conventional edge detection methods is challenging. The movement of ants depends on local discrepancy of image’s intensity value. The simulation results compared with existing conventional methods and are provided to support the superior performance of ACO algorithm in noisy images edge detection. Canny, Sobel and Prewitt operator have thick, non continuous edges and with less clear image content. But the applied method gives thin and clear edges

Persuasive Discourse Impairments in Traumatic Brain Injury

Background: Considering the cognitive and linguistic complexity of discourse production, it is expected that individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) should face difficulties in this task. Therefore, clinical examination of discourse has become a useful tool for studying and assessment of communication skills of people suffering from TBI. Among different genres of discourse, persuasive discourse is considered as a more cognitively demanding task. However, little is known about persuasive discourse in individuals suffering from TBI. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of adults with TBI on a task of spoken persuasive discourse to determine the impaired linguistic measures. Patients and Methods: Thirteen TBI nonaphasic Persian speaking individuals, ranged between 19 to 40 years (Mean = 25.64 years; SD = 6.10) and 59 healthy adults matched by age, were asked to perform the persuasive discourse task. The task included asking the participants to express their opinion on a topic, and after the analysis of the produced discourse, the two groups were compared on the basis of their language productivity, sentential complexity, maze ratio and cohesion ratio. Results: The TBI group produced discourses with less productivity, sentential complexity, cohesion ratio and more maze ratio compared the control group. Conclusions: As it is important to consider acquired communication disorders particularly discourse impairment of brain injured patients along with their other clinical impairments and regarding the fact that persuasive discourse is crucial in academic and social situations, the persuasive discourse task presented in this study could be a useful tool for speech therapists, intending to evaluate communication disorders in patients with TBI

THE COMPARISON OF SUICIDAL THOUGHTS, DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, AND STRESS AMONG ADOLESCENT SUICIDE ATTEMPTERS ABUSING DRUG AND ADOLESCENTS WITHOUT DRUG ABUSE IN ZABOL, 2016

Addiction and drug abuse are among the issues that have been greatly adverted by the clinical psychologists and psychiatrists. Suicide attempt, like other social phenomena, is not uni-causal; a variety of factors affects this phenomenon. Thus, having an exact awareness of suicide factors and studying the importance of the factors seem necessary. The present research aims at studying suicidal thoughts, depression, anxiety, and stress among adolescent suicide attempters abusing drug and adolescents without any drug abuse in Zabol in 2016. The present study is a comparative descriptive-analytical one. The statistical populations of the present study were all the 18-to-29-year-old suicide attempters, with a record of drug abuse referring to Imam Ali Hospital in Zabol in 2016. The data collection tool was depression questionnaire and Beck's suicidal thoughts questionnaire. T-independent and chi-square tests were used for data analysis applying SPSS version 18. The participants' mean age was 14.12 +/- 4.13 years. The drug abusers' mean score of depression, anxiety, stress, and suicidal thoughts were 10.12 +/- 4.16, 7.26 +/- 4.48, 9.02 +/- 4.15, and 18.42 +/- 6.12 respectively. As for the comparison group they were 4.32 +/- 2.18, 4.36 +/- 4.26, 5.16 +/- 4.46, and 6.32 +/- 4.18 respectively (p=0.001). The findings obtained from the T-test for the independent groups indicate the difference in means between the two groups with respect to the degree of depression (p=0.001) and suicidal thoughts (p=0.002). The findings obtained from the present study indicated that variables such as drug abuse, depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts are closely related with suicide attempt. Given the comorbidity of drug dependence and other psychiatric disorders, providing educational interventions, executing preventive social plans, and treating psychological disorders for preventing suicide attempts are of great importance

INVESTIGATING THE MORTALITY CAUSES OF 1-59 MONTHS BABIES OF VILLAGE FROM 2012 TO 2015, ZAHEDAN, IRAN

Since the mortality of 1-59 babies is the most serious challenges facing human society and an important indicator of the health and development of countries, providing solutions to reduce this rate as much as possible is of paramount importance. The main objective of the present study is to examine mortality causes of 1-59 months babies in villages under the protection of Zahedan University of Medical Sciences from 2012 to 2015. The present cross-sectional study was conducted through census. The study included the death of all babies registered in Zahedan villages from 2012 to 2015. Required data was collected using raw information form and Child Health Bureau of the Ministry of Health standard questionnaire; SPSS, version 18, was used to process and analyze collected data. The present study examined the death of an overall number of 1252 Zahedan village babies aged between 1 to 59 months; 752 infants aged less than month and this age group turned out to have highest mortality rate; i.e. 60; the lowest mortality rate, 16.7, happened in the age group of 1 to 4 years. The most common causes of death included perinatal disease (29.8), unintentional injuries (17.5), respiratory system diseases (13.2), infectious and parasitic diseases (6.5), congenital and chromosome diseases (6), and cardiovascular disease (2.5). Since the highest mortality rate, 29.8, is related to perinatal diseases of infants, couples pre-pregnancy care and counselling can play crucial role in decreasing the rate of baby, and specially infants, mortality

The Effects of Folic Acid Supplementation on Recurrence and Metabolic Status in Endometrial Hyperplasia: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial

Abstract: Background: Data on the effects of folic acid supplementation on clinical symptoms and metabolic profiles of patients with endometrial hyperplasia (EH) are limited. This investigation was performed to evaluate the effects of folic acid supplementation on clinical symptoms and metabolic status of patients with EH. Methods: This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was conducted among 60 women diagnosed with EH. Diagnosis of EH was made based on biopsy results. Participants were randomly allocated to 2 groups to take 5 mg/d folic acid supplements (n = 30) or placebo (n = 30) for 12 weeks. Results: After the 12-week intervention, folic acid supplementation significantly decreased fasting plasma glucose (β -3.99 mg/ dL; 95% CI, -7.39, -0.59; P = 0.02), serum insulin levels (β -2.82 µIU/mL; 95% CI, -4.86, -0.77; P = 0.008), homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (β -0.68; 95% CI, -1.20, -0.17; P = 0.009), triglycerides (β -16.47 mg/dL; 95% CI, -28.72, -4.22; P = 0.009) and very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) cholesterol (β -3.29 mg/dL; 95% CI, -5.74, -0.84; P = 0.009), and significantly increased the quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (β 0.01; 95% CI, 0.004, 0.03; P = 0.01) compared with the placebo. Additionally, folic acid intake resulted in a significant reduction in serum high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) (β -0.36 mg/L; 95% CI, -0.52, -0.21; P < 0.001) compared with the placebo. Folic acid supplementation did not affect other metabolic parameters. Conclusion: In conclusion, we found that folic acid administration for 12 weeks to subjects with EH improved glycemic control, triglycerides, VLDL-cholesterol and hs-CRP levels, but did not influence recurrence and other metabolic profiles