Death anxiety among nurses and health care professionals: A review article

Death anxiety, a negative affective state that is incited by mortality salience, may be experienced by nurses and other health care workers who are exposed to sickness, trauma, and violence. This paper examines death anxiety and management strategies among health providers in different health settings across cultures. A literature review of the research published since 2000 in the English language was conducted using PubMed, Science direct, CINAHL, and PsychInfo databases. Death anxiety is commonly experienced and is associated with more negative attitudes about caring for dying patients and their families. Performing educational and psychological interventions to help nurses build strong coping strategies for managing death anxiety are recommended to offset negative consequences such as leaving positions, poor communication, and decrements in personal health and quality of life. © 2016, Nauka. All rights reserved

Relationship of some risk factors and symptoms in patients with acute coronary syndrome

Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is one of the major causes of death in the worldwide. Clinical manifestations are different. So it's necessary to have knowledge about the types of symptoms experienced by patients with ACS. This study was performed to assay the Relationship of some risk factors and symptoms in patients with acute coronary syndrome. This cross-sectional study, were studied 294 patients with acute coronary syndrome at least 24 hours after admission had survived. Data was collected by a questionnaire that included demographic data form and check list of some symptoms and history of risk factors. There was a significant relationship between STEMI with vomiting (OR=1.94) and anxiety (OR=1.83) and UA with vomiting (OR=0.42). Between sex with weakness (OR=2.29) and anxiety (OR=1.82), diabetes with dyspenea (OR=1.8), weakness (OR=1.02) and tinnitus (OR=2.06) and hyperlipidemia with weakness (OR=2.35) and tinnitus (OR=2.49) was available significant difference. The findings of this study indicate that the appearance of symptoms of acute coronary syndrome were different as for ECG changes and risk factors, and more focused on those symptoms that they are common with any other diseases. Since, many of the symptoms of acute coronary syndrome can be potentially dangerous and life threatening, accurate diagnosis and timely action is crucial for the patients

Review on satisfaction of health system transformation project in Iran: Brief report

Background: Long after the implementation of the �Health System Transformation Project�, no comprehensive assessment of patient and nurse satisfaction rate has been carried out in Iran based on available databases. Thus, this review study was designed and performed to answer this question: �How is the evaluation of the Health System Transformation Project in nurse and patient satisfaction dimensions.� Methods: A systematic review of related studies based on preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines was performed via keywords such as �Health System Transformation Project�, �Transformation Project�, �health�, �Iran�, �challenges�, �physician�, �nurse�, �patient�, and �satisfaction� to search Iranian (Magiran and Scientific Information Database, SID) and international databases (PubMed, ISI web of knowledge, Scopus, Google Scholar, and ProQuest) with OR and AND operators from March 2014 to April 2019. Also the quality of studies was assessed using STROB checklist (special for cross-sectional studies). Then required information (for example type of studies, sample size, mean age of participants and satisfaction score) were gathered from studies. Results: From 43 articles that were gathered from primary stages, 18 articles were selected after passing different screening levels. On average, the level of patient satisfaction with the Health System Transformation Project was acceptable. Ghazvin province was seems more successful in satisfaction of patients against of other provinces. However, various positive and negative reports were found about the satisfaction of nursing groups. Generally, it seems that Tehran province (at the center of Iran) was more successful in performing the Health System Transformation Project (from the aspect of satisfaction of different groups). Conclusion: Based on obtained results, patient�s satisfaction was appropriate in most of studies and also in nursing group was under average level. © 2020 Tehran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

Development and psychometric properties of the physical rehabilitation services acceptability questionnaire

Background: Access to rehabilitation services is considered to be a right for all people. One of the most important indicators for access to rehabilitation services is an individual's general acceptance of rehabilitation. This tool was designed based on relevant studies and experiences of rehabilitation specialists to design a questionnaire to specifically measure patient acceptability of physical rehabilitation services. Methods: In this study, an exploratory sequential mixed methods design was used. The first phase included a review of the literature and analysis of relevant studies, focus group discussions, and qualitative content analysis. In the second phase, construct validity was assessed by exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Also, convergent and divergent validity were measured. Reliability was evaluated by internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's Omega) and construct reliability. Statistical procedures were calculated by SPSS-AMOS24 and JASP0.9.2 software. Results: A total of 200 questionnaires were completed by members of Iranian Disability Campaign. Three factors and 25 items were identified according to results of the first phase of this study. In the second phase, face validity was confirmed. To assess the content validity ratio, 9 items, with the mean of content validity ratio (CVR) < 0.49, were deleted, while the content validity index (CVI) < 0.79 was revised. The kappa coefficient < 0.6 was fair and scale content validity index (SCVI) under 0.9 was considered appropriate. Results of exploratory factor analysis showed that 48 of the variance of the acceptability of physical rehabilitation services was based on patients' satisfaction, ethical behavior, and patient centered services. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the suitability of the final model. Convergent and divergent validity and reliability of the measure, the Physical Rehabilitation Services Acceptability questionnaire was fulfilled. Conclusion: Findings indicated that the proposed constructs that promoted the Acceptability of Physical Rehabilitation Services Questionnaire had good validity and reliability in participants with physical disabilities. © Iran University of Medical Sciences

Psychometric Properties of the Inventory of Statements about Self-Injury (ISAS) in Iranian Opioid and Alcohol Abusers

Background: Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is one of the most dangerous behaviors linked to substance abuse. The Inventory of Statements About Self-Injury (ISAS) has been developed to better understanding the factors associated with the onset and maintenance of NSSI behaviors. Objective: The ISAS was translated into the Persian language to study its psychometric properties in Iranian population of opioid and alcohol abusers. Methods: This is a psychometric study investigating opioid and alcohol abusers in Iran, including those residing in addiction rehabilitation camps, prisons, hospitals, and addiction treatment clinics dispensing methadone in 2017. The sample size of this study was 470. The subjects completed the Inventory of Statements About Self-Injury, Barrat Impulsiveness Scale (BIS), and the Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS). Results: The test-retest results were estimated for two weeks using the Intra-class Correlation Coefficient (ICC). The absolute reliability was determined to be 2.62. There was a significant correlation between convergent and divergent instruments. The results of the exploratory factor analysis on 235 individuals in the sample showed all subscales of the inventory measure a single factor in the Iranian population. The total Cronbach�s alpha coefficient for this subscale was 0.93. Also, the results of confirmatory factor analyses on the rest of the sample (235), after applying the AMOS software suggestions to improve the model, showed this inventory was a good indicator for this population (�2 = 131.69; P &lt; 0.001; df = 56; �2/df = 2.35; CFI = 0.97; RMSEA = 0.76; GFI = 0.92). Conclusions: The Persian version of the Inventory of Statements About Self-Injury has high validity and reliability among the opioid and alcohol-abusing population in Iran. Copyright © 2020, Author(s)

Weather fluctuations: Predictive factors in the prevalence of acute coronary syndrome

Background: Meteorological parameters and seasonal changes can play an important role in the occurrence of acute coronary syndrome (ACS). However, there is almost no evidence on a national level to suggest the associations between these variables and ACS in Iran. We aim to identify the meteorological parameters and seasonal changes in relationship to ACS. Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted between 03/19/2015 to 03/18/2016 and used documents and records of patients with ACS in Mazandaran ProvinceHeart Center, Iran. The following definitive diagnostic criteria for ACS were used: (1) existence of cardiac enzymes (CK or CK-MB) above the normal range; (2) Greater than 1 mm ST-segment elevation or depression; (3) abnormal Q waves; and (4) manifestation of troponin enzyme in the blood. Data were collected daily, such as temperature (Celsius) changes, wind speed and its direction, rainfall, daily evaporation rate; number of sunny days, and relative humidity were provided by the Meteorological Organization of Iran. Results: A sample of 2,054 patients with ACS were recruited. The results indicated the highest ACS events from March to May. Generally, wind speed (18 PM) [IRR = 1.051 (95% CI: 1.019 to1.083), P=0.001], daily evaporation [IRR = 1.039 (95% CI: 1.003 to 1.077), P=0.032], daily maximum (P&lt;0.001) and minimum (P=0.003) relative humidity was positively correlated withACS events. Also, negatively correlated variables were daily relative humidity (18 PM) [IRR =0.985 (95% CI: 0.978 to 0.992), P&lt;0.001], and daily minimum temperature [IRR = 0.942 (95%CI: 0.927 to 0.958), P&lt;0.001]. Conclusion: Climate changes were found to be significantly associated with ACS; especially from cold weather to hot weather in March, April and May. Further research is needed to fully understand the specific conditions and cold exposures