The consequences of regular methamphetamine use in Tehran: Qualitative content analysis

Background: In recent years, methamphetamine use has increased noticeably in Iran, and this can make harmful consequences for the health of individuals and society. Therefore, the study aimed to investigate the consequences of regular methamphetamine use in Tehran. Methods: This study was conducted based on a conventional content analysis approach. Data were collected through observation and in-depth interviews with 20 regular adult users of methamphetamine in Tehran (including 15 males and 5 females). Participants were selected using snowball sampling and purposeful sampling, which continued until data saturation. Guba and Lincoln's criteria were used to assess the strength of the study. Results: The extraction of the codes resulted in three main categories: (1)the short-term consequences, consisting of the sub-categories of individual and social consequences, (2) the long-term consequences, consisting of the sub-categories of psychological and physical consequences, high-risk behaviors, severely decayed memory and changes in the eating pattern, and (3) hallucinations and delusions including the sub-categories of visual and auditory hallucinations, persecutory delusions and delusion of having supernatural power. Conclusion: Regular methamphetamine use may have serious adverse effects on the overall health of individuals. It is therefore highly recommended that educational programs must implement with the use of methamphetamine in the high-risk groups in order to raise awareness and change attitudes about the short and long term consequences. is highly recommended. © 2020 The Author(s)

The consequences of regular methamphetamine use in Tehran: qualitative content analysis

Background In recent years, methamphetamine use has increased noticeably in Iran, and this can make harmful consequences for the health of individuals and society. Therefore, the study aimed to investigate the consequences of regular methamphetamine use in Tehran. Methods This study was conducted based on a conventional content analysis approach. Data were collected through observation and in-depth interviews with 20 regular adult users of methamphetamine in Tehran (including 15 males and 5 females). Participants were selected using snowball sampling and purposeful sampling, which continued until data saturation. Guba and Lincoln's criteria were used to assess the strength of the study. Results The extraction of the codes resulted in three main categories: (1)the short-term consequences, consisting of the sub-categories of individual and social consequences, (2) the long-term consequences, consisting of the sub-categories of psychological and physical consequences, high-risk behaviors, severely decayed memory and changes in the eating pattern, and (3) hallucinations and delusions including the sub-categories of visual and auditory hallucinations, persecutory delusions and delusion of having supernatural power. Conclusion Regular methamphetamine use may have serious adverse effects on the overall health of individuals. It is therefore highly recommended that educational programs must implement with the use of methamphetamine in the high- risk groups in order to raise awareness and change attitudes about the short and long term consequences. is highly recommended

An investigation of particulate matter and relevant cardiovascular risks in Abadan and Khorramshahr in 2014–2016

Over the last decades, air pollution has been regarded as one of the major environmental problems. Cardiovascular and respiratory diseases are among the most common illnesses arising from air pollution and dust storm. Nowadays, non-communicable diseases resulting from air pollution have affected many people around the world. In recent years, the cities of Abadan and Khorramshahr, located in the southwestern Iran have been adversely affected by air pollution and dust storm. To address the issue, this study set out to investigate the relationship between hospital admissions for cardiovascular diseases and dust storms in Abadan and Khorramshahr in 2014–2016. The data was collected by the Abadan Environmental Protection Agency (Abadan EPA) office. The monitoring station is fully automated and provides hourly particulate matter (PM10) concentrations using a β-ray absorption monitor (Met One Model BAM-1020-Continuous Beta, USA). The annual PM10 mean concentrations reached 169, 187 and 201 µg/m3 in 2014, 2015, and 2016, respectively. The number of people suffering from cardiovascular diseases attributed to PM10 during this period was 237, 259, and 274, respectively. The results showed that high levels of particulate matter (PM) in the air drastically increased the number of people with cardiovascular diseases. The results also revealed that there was a significant relationship between concentrations of PM10 in dusty days and the cases of cardiovascular diseases in Abadan and Khorramshahr. According to the results of the study, an increase in the exposure concentrations of particulate matter could potentially cause different health problems. © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Grou

Assessment of educational performance of nurses in neonatal intensive care unit from parents' perspective

INTRODUCTION: One of the key elements in family-centered care is educating parents with hospitalized infant at intensive care unit. Education is a fundamental role of nursing at intensive care units to satisfy parents and accelerate disease progression that eventually reduces hospital re-admission. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in 2018, and the study population was admitted infants (n = 90) in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences hospitals. We used a questionnaire including sociodemographic characteristics and performance of nurses in educating parents. Nurses' performance was assessed in five major areas composed of family-centered care, delivering cares according to individualized needs, education on equipment, basic needs of infants, and finally, nutritional education. All statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS version 22. The data were analyzed using t-test, ANOVA, and nonparametric tests. RESULTS: Findings from the current study indicated that nurses performed their educational role weakly (37 of standard level). We also found that nurses who participated in neonatal educational courses had better performance compared to their counterparts. The results showed that year of experiences working as a clinical nurse was significantly associated (P < 0.05) with performing standard education. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicated that nurses performed their educational role weakly which might be due to staff shortage, heavy workload, and lack of time for educating parents. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the quality of education among nurses working at the NICUs and provide the necessary standards and indicators to evaluate this important task

The quality of life improvement in patients with type 2 diabetes in west of Iran in 2014, an educational intervention study

Background and aims: Diabetes is considered as the most prevalent disease due to metabolic disorders. This study aimed to determine the effect of an educational on the quality of life) QOL( in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM ). Material and methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted in the form of a pre-test/post-test with intervention. The statistical sample of this study included 70 patients with type 2 diabetes living in the rural areas in the city of Ilam (west of Iran). The data were analyzed using the SPSS software version 20 via descriptive statistics, paired t-student test, independent samples t-student test, and ANOVA. Results: Except social role functioning, all aspects of QOL significantly increased after intervention (p<0.001). Regardless of age groups, gender, and educational level the QOL scores increased at follow -up (p<0.001). Conclusions: Education to patients with type 2 diabetes leads to increased means of all dimensions of QOL that reflect the effects of educational interventions on each domain. © 2017 ILEX PUBLISHING HOUSE, Bucharest, Roumania

Interventional study plan to investigate the training effects on physical and psychological outcomes awareness of smoking in teenagers

BACKGROUND: Studies have found that nearly 90 of the first use of tobacco takes place before high school graduation (teenagers) and training discussion due to prevention can be useful, therefore, here, we aimed to determine the effects of training on awareness of cigarette outcomes (physical and psychological) in male teenagers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted an interventional study using Solomon's four-group plan, which used a two-stage cluster sampling in four groups (two experimental groups and two control groups). The three sessions of at least 2 h of education intervention including visual displaying using photo, film, and short scientific texts were held for the interventional group. After 1 month, all four groups took posttest, and research groups were followed up after 8 months of intervention. All data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance and covariance in SPSS. RESULTS: According to the results, the mean of posttest scores had increased rather than pretest scores, and generally, a significant difference was observed (P </= 0.001). These results were significant in the aspect of both physical and psychological outcomes awareness. The difference between the mean of scores in follow-up period and posttest was not statistically significant, and it shows training retention after 8 months (P < 0.666). CONCLUSIONS: It can be concluded that through the training, it is possible to increase the awareness of teenagers about physical and psychological outcomes of cigarette smoking that this can have an important role in smoking prevention