The effect of home visits on quality of life of elderly having Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) discharged from Khalij Fars hospital in Bandar Abbas

Background and aims: According to the increasing prevalence of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), and decreasing the quality of life these patients, the present study was aimed to investigate the effect of home visits on the quality of life of elderly suffering from COPD hospitalized in the Khalij Fars hospital of Bandar Abbas, Iran in 2015. Methods: The current quasi- experimental study was carried on in Khalij Fars hospital of Bandar Abbas, Iran on 62 elderly suffering from COPD with moderate intensity in 2015-2016 based on Spirometry results and the specialist`s recognition. The data collection tools were demographic questionnaire and quality of life questionnaire (SF-36). The data were analyzed by SPSS software, and using the independent T-test, and K2. Results: Based on results in the study, it was not observed a significant difference between two groups in terms of gender (P=0.793), marital status (P=0.998), habitation (P=0.704), education (P=0.145), and economic situation (P=0.605). There was a significant difference in the total score of the educated group compared to the none- educated group (P<0.0001), and the average score of the intervention groups before the test was 51.90 while this number increased to 66.73% after intervention. The rate of readmission was 66.7% in the control group and 57.4% in the case group. It shows that home visits have been effective in reducing re-hospitalization of elderly people (P=0.028). Conclusion: Regarding these findings, the education program along with home-visiting had improved the quality of life of elderly having Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary (COPD). Also, home visits aimed at maintaining health and independence of older people to prevent their disability after discharge from care facilities are considered a necessity

Holographic Complexity and Fidelity Susceptibility as Holographic Information Dual to Different Volumes in AdS

The holographic complexity and fidelity susceptibility have been defined as new quantities dual to different volumes in AdS. In this paper, we will use these new proposals to calculate both of these quantities for a variety of interesting deformations of AdS. We obtain the holographic complexity and fidelity susceptibility for an AdS black hole, Janus solution and a solution with cylindrically symmetry, an inhomogeneous background and a hyperscaling violating background. It is observed that the holographic complexity depends on the size of the subsystem for all these solutions and the fidelity susceptibility does not have any such dependence.Comment: Slighly updated version. Accepted for publication in Phys. Letters

El loro y el mercader

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Validation of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale in an Iranian sample

Background: Considering the adverse effects of postpartum depression on both mother and infant, a screening instrument for early diagnosis seems to be of importance. Aims: To assess the psychometric properties of the Persian version of Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) on a sample of Iranian postpartum women. Method: The EPDS was translated and back-translated in the standard method. The questionnaire was completed by 600 postpartum women. Hundred cases with an EPDS score of �9 and 100 cases with an EPDS of <9 were randomly selected for interview. Sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, and receiver operating characteristics were calculated by comparing the EPDS sum score against the DSM-IV diagnoses. The correlation coefficient of the EPDS score with GHQ-12 score was calculated. Principal component analysis and internal consistency were assessed. Results: The best cutoff scores for major depression were 12=13 with a sensitivity and specificity of 95.3% and 87.9%, respectively. The correlation coefficient of the total score of the Persian version of EPDS with the GHQ-12 total score was 0.76 (P<0.001). A two-factor solution was selected as the most appropriate model based on both values and the score plot. The coefficient alpha for the whole scale was 0.83. Conclusion: The Persian version of EPDS is a reliable and valid measure for detecting postpartum depression. Furthermore, it seems acceptable to patients and a valid screening instrument for depression in postpartum women

Abnormalities of mental rotation of hands associated with speed of information processing and executive function in chronic schizophrenic patients

Aim: Deficits in mental imagery ability have been reported in patients with schizophrenia. However, there is scarce evidence about the correlation between impairment in mental rotation and other cognitive deficits in the patients. The aim of this study was to assess mental rotation ability, along with other measures of cognitive function in patients with schizophrenia. Methods: The performance of 29 patients with schizophrenia was compared with 29 healthy controls. Mental rotation was measured with the Hand Rotation Task, and cognitive functions were measured with the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS). Results: On Hand Rotation Task, the patients were significantly slower and less accurate compared to controls. Moreover, mental rotation accuracy was significantly correlated with all the BACS domains except verbal memory. In multiple regression analysis, the two BACS subscales, Tower of London and Symbol Coding tasks, were significant predictors and accounted for 41% of the variance in accuracy in the patients. Conclusion: These results support previous findings showing dysfunction of the posterior parietal cortex in schizophrenia, which is involved in general mental rotation, as well as other cognitive processes

Neural Evidence for Compromised Mental Imagery in Individuals With Chronic Schizophrenia

Mental imagery impairment has been reported in schizophrenia. The present study aimed to investigate the neural evidence for mental imagery impairment in patients with schizophrenia. The study participants included 20 patients with chronic schizophrenia and 18 healthy control subjects. Event-related potentials were recorded during a mental hand rotation task, in which participants were instructed to judge the laterality of hands displayed in different orientations. The performances of patients were significantly less accurate and slower than control subjects on hand rotation task. Moreover, the patients showed significantly reduced rotation-related negativity amplitude for mental rotation effect. The results demonstrate mental imagery impairment in patients with schizophrenia at both the behavioral and neural level

Anxiety, Depression, Quality of Life and General Health of parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Background: Since parents of children suffering from autism disorder have more psychiatric problems compared to parents of normal children or those with other developmental disorders, the present research aimed to study anxiety, depression, general health and quality of life among parents of children with autism disorders in comparison to the control group. Methods: This descriptive-analytical, cross-sectional study was performed on parents of autism children visiting the pediatric psychologist at Besat psychiatric clinic and one of the rehabilitation centers in Kerman, Iran. The autism diagnosis was confirmed by a child and adolescent psychiatrist and based on DSM-IV-TR criteria. The control group was selected from parents of children over two years with somatic problems. 66 people were selected in each of the control and case groups and in each group there was 33 men and 33 women. All participants were asked to fill out Hamilton Depression and Hamilton Anxiety questionnaires as well as general health questionnaire (GHQ-28) and quality of life (WHOQOL-BREIF) questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using t-test. Results: Mean scores of depression, anxiety, and quality of life were significantly different between the case and control groups (P<0.001). However, in terms of general health, mean scores of the two groups showed no statistically significant difference. Conclusion: Parents of children suffering from autism spectrum disorders are more susceptible to anxiety and depression and have lower quality of life