Comparing the Effect of Foot Massage with Grape Seed Oil and Sweet Almond Oil on Physiological Leg Edema in Primigravidae: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Background. Leg edema is a prevalent problem in pregnancy causing activity restrictions for pregnant women. This study was performed to compare the effect of foot massage using grape seed oil and sweet almond oil on physiological leg edema. Methods. A randomized clinical trial was conducted on 90 primigravidae referred to public health centres of Zahedan, Iran. The participants’ gestational age was 30–40 weeks. The study was conducted from August 2016 to November 2017. The participants were randomly assigned to three groups (massage with grape seed oil, massage with sweet almond oil, and without intervention). After determining the extent of leg edema, foot massages were done for 20 minutes within 5 days in the two intervention groups. Then, foot circumferences were measured on day 5 after the intervention. Foot circumferences for the control group were measured on days 1 and 5. A nonelastic tape measure was used to measure the circumferences. To analyse the data, SPSS 21 software and statistical tests including one-way ANOVA, Tukey’s test, and paired t-test were used. Results. The results from this study showed a significant difference in the mean score change of foot circumferences between groups (P=0.001). According to the results of Tukey’s test, mean score changes of foot circumferences of both intervention groups were significantly different those of the control group. However, this difference was not significant between the two intervention groups (P=0.865). Conclusion. The findings of this study confirmed the effectiveness of foot massage using grape seed and sweet almond oils to reduce pregnancy physiological edema. Therefore, foot massage with appropriate oils can be used as a useful technique by trained midwives in prenatal care centres or at pregnant women houses. This trial is registered with IRCT2015072723370N1

Effectiveness of stress inoculation training on occupational stress of midwives in healthcare centers of Zahedan in Health Transformation Plan in 2017

INTRODUCTION: Occupational stress is a main problem of healthcare workers, which significantly affects their professional and personal performance. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of a stress immunization program on occupational stress of midwives working in health centers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this quasi-experimental study, 80 midwives working in health centers of Zahedan (2017) were divided into test and control groups based on random allocation. The intervention involved a stress immunization program consisting of two workshops (each lasting 4 h) in two consecutive weeks, which was implemented for the intervention group. As data collection tool, Health and Safety Executive Occupational Stress Questionnaire was completed in three steps before, immediately after, and 1 month after the intervention. Data were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics, independent t-test, and repeated measures ANOVA. RESULTS: The findings showed that mean stress score in the intervention group was increased from 79.5 ± 9.7 before intervention to 104.5 ± 17.3 immediately after it, which was increased to 110.5 ± 18.3 1 month after intervention (P 0.023). CONCLUSION: The stress immunization program is an inexpensive and effective way to reduce the stress of midwives; therefore, it is suggested to be used to effectively handle occupational stress among midwives and to improve their quality of care

Oxygen-rich Environment Ameliorates Cell Therapy Outcomes of Cardiac Progenitor Cells for Myocardial Infarction

To some extent, cell therapy for myocardial infarction (MI) has supported the idea of cardiac repair; however, further optimizations are inevitable. Combined approaches that comprise suitable cell sources and supporting molecules considerably improved its effect. Here, we devised a strategy of simultaneous transplantation of human cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) and an optimized oxygen generating microparticles (MPs) embedded in fibrin hydrogel, which was injected into a left anterior descending artery (LAD) ligating-based rat model of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Functional parameters of the heart, particularly left ventricular systolic function, markedly improved and reached pre-AMI levels. This functional restoration was well correlated with substantially lower fibrotic tissue formation and greater vascular density in the infarct area. Our novel approach promoted CPCs retention and differentiation into cardiovascular lineages. We propose this novel co-transplantation strategy for more efficient cell therapy of AMI which may function by providing an oxygen-rich microenvironment, and thus regulate cell survival and differentiation