Quality of Life in Postmenopausal Female Members and Non-members of the Elderly Support Association.

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality of life (QOL) in postmenopausal members and non-members of the elderly support association in Borujen city, Iran. METHODS This study was a cross-sectional descriptive study being applied to the participants were postmenopausal women of over 55 years. Thus, 40 postmenopausal members of the elderly support association of Borujen city and 40 non-members were randomly selected. The 36 item short-form health survey (SF-36), with the 4 psychological, social, physical-movement, and environmental domains, was completed. Data were analyzed using SPSS software. RESULTS The mean total score of QOL of member of the association was significantly greater than non-members. Student's t-test showed a significant relationship between QOL and membership of the association (P < 0.05). One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the mean QOL of postmenopausal women, according to membership and marital status (P < 0.01), housing (P < 0.01), and underlying disease (P < 0.01), was statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS According to the results, supportive measures, such as increasing the participation of the elderly in public life through proper preparations to join them and membership in peer groups such as support associations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) can be greatly effective in improving QOL. The results showed that the QOL of the participants was at a moderate level and membership in support associations for the elderly was effected on the QOL in postmenopausal women. Moreover, considering the importance of the elderly in the community

The process of evolution of medical services tariffs and reimbursements based on Diagnosis-Related Groups

Introduction: Diagnosis Related Groups (DRG) is a classification system used for the inpatients in which the inpatients who use similar resources are classified as one similar category. This classification is based on the following components: diagnosis codes, taken actions, age, complications, gender and the discharge status. This study intended to explore the universal approach for the evolution of this reimbursement and its challenges and benefits so that an appropriate strategy can be agreed for the reimbursement system in Iran. Methodology: This study of descriptive comparative nature was conducted in 2013 to shed some light on the evolution process of the DRG in the health care system. The data were gathered though using information resources including articles, books, magazines and valid web-sites. To obtain the strategies used in the selected nations, 110 articles were extracted from varied magazines and scientific resources. Then, the status of the nations on the development of this reimbursement system was compared so that the related obtained results can be used as guide for developing an appropriate strategy for Iran's repayment system. Findings: Based on the findings of this study, one of the criteria for development of DRG is its high penetration coefficient in terms of determining the accuracy of the row of the diagnosis, the accuracy of main diagnosis coding, the accuracy of the used codes and the condition of the patient at the discharge time. Using DRG, the speed of calculating the medical and healthcare services' costs increases, since checking the profile, the skillful coder is able to perform coding appropriately and rapidly and finally, the payment of costs can be done based on the respective codes. Conclusion: As a prospective payment system, DRG acts as a motivator for the service providers for decreasing the level of services and consequently, the patient's length of stay. © IDOSI Publications, 2014

THE EFFECT OF HOLY QURAN RECITATION SOUND ON VITAL SIGNS AND ARTERIAL OXYGEN PRESSURE OF UNCONSCIOUS PATIENTS HOSPITALIZED IN ICU

Introduction: Treatment of diseases may be one of the numerous aspects of the divine verses of Quran. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of playing holy Quran recitation as a tranquilizer on vital signs and arterial oxygen pressure of unconscious patients hospitalized in ICU. Materials and methods: This is a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest study conducted on 20 unconscious patients in ICU that were almost homogenous in terms of consciousness level and cause of coma. Participants were divided randomly into case and control groups. For participants in the case group, the Yasin surah with the voice of Al-Menshawi was played every day for 15 minutes by an MP3 player. The vital signs and arterial oxygen pressure of two groups was checked before and after intervention. The collected data was analyzed by means of SPSS 16 software and by paired t-test. Results: Results of this study showed that after intervention, in the case group, the mean systolic P=0.04] and diastolic P=0.05] blood pressure, pulse rate P=0.001] and arterial oxygen pressure P=0.04] had significant differences in comparison with before intervention. However the difference was not statistically significant about the breath rate and body temperature. discussion: Playing the holy Quran recitation led to the balance in blood pressure and arterial oxygen pressure of patients. Therefore it is possible to use it as a treatment method in order to make a balance in the vital signs of unconscious patients

Physical Activity of Medical and Nonmedical University Students‏

Background: The role of regular and contagious physical activity are widely recognized in decreases the risk of coronary heart disease, various cancers, obesity, osteoporosis and other health problems. Because investigations suggest that physical activity levels fall significantly during the period between adolescence and adulthood, there is considerable concern about youth physical activity. Since university students represent a significant sector of young adults and form a prominent sector of society from which the policy makers, their physical activities are of particular interest. The present study was carried out and compared physical activity status among Tabriz medical and nonmedical sciences university students. Methods: A descriptive comparative design was carried out with 384 Tabriz medical and 384 nonmedical science university students. Data concerning demographic and physical activity variables were collected by a self reported questionnaire. Independent sample t-test were conducted to compare of mean scores of physical activity and two way ANOVA test were conducted to determine whether socio demographic variables were associated with physical activity. Results: The finding study showed that 39.8% of medical and 37.2% of nonmedical science university students had risky physical activity status and only 6.5% of medical and 5.9% of nonmedical science university students had good risky physical activity status. No significant differences between mean scores of physical activity among two groups. 81.3% of medical and 85.2% of nonmedical science university students had tend to increase levels of their physical activity. Conclusions: It can be concluded that both medical and nonmedical science university students did have not appropriate condition regarding to physical activity and medical science students education and training had no influenced on physical activity of medical science university students. Therefore, universities should implement programs to increase student’s level of physical activity

An evaluation of role of the informational components in decision-making process of health systems’ managers based on World Health Organization’s standards

Background:Objective of current study was to enhance the effectiveness of the organization its goals, health system managers must possess sufficient knowledge about health information systems which are regarded as the basis of decision-making at different managerial levels. The present research tried to explore the extent of meeting the information management components and evaluate its role in decision-making of health systems' managers.Methods:Descriptive-analytical in nature, this study intended to examine the urban and rural health centers as well as health system. Data were collected through a self-designed checklist produced based on the World Health Organization’s standards which include the information presentation (6 components), information interpretation (5 components) and using information in decision-making process (1 component) for urban and rural health centers. The checklist designed for health system included needs-analysis and information collection, presentation, processing and interpretation components. The gathered data were then put into SPSS version of 13 and analyzed using independent t-test.Results:The findings of the study revealed that compared to urban centers, the rural health centers had a higher level in meeting the components in 3 main areas i.e. information presentation, information interpretation and information use in decision-making process (P <0.05). As far as sub-measures were concerned, the rural health centers gained a higher mean score for data presentation in the health system and other interpretation-related components (P <0.05). The level of meeting data presentation components revealed that the mean score for using data for decision-making purposes was high while the mean score for data processing was found to be low.  Conclusion: Proper processing and appropriate use of data in the decision-making by the managers and public policy-makers are the missing requirements which must be taken into account.

The Relation Between Body Esteem With Self Esteem And Perceived Social Support In Multiple Sclerosis Patients–Assessment.

Abstract:Background& Objective: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disabled illness of that can highly effect on body esteem and self-esteem in patients. This study was to examine the relation between body esteem with self-esteem and perceived social support in MS patientsMethodology:This research Study was descriptive correlation that performed on 395 patients of the MS Society in Tehran by conveniencesampling. Data gathering tool was questionnaires of Body esteem, Self-esteem and Northouse social support. For data analysis, SPSS/16 was used.Results:The results showed that at Patients with MS, body esteem was in favorable level (42.25), self-esteem and perceived social support were at moderate levels (76.1, 39.5). Between body esteem with self-esteem and perceived social support and between self-esteem and perceived social support was significant linear relationship. Conclusion:Because of the impact of chronic diseases and complications of them on body esteem, self-esteem and perceived social support is undeniable and regarding that compatibility at chronic diseases as MS occurs faster with this factors thisistheresponsibility ofnursing that with recognizing factors of relatedincrease patient matching and sobe effective at their efficacyandself-care

Relationship of lifestyle with academic achievement in nursing students

A healthy lifestyle is one of the main factor in maintaining the health of people in society. With regard to the role of youth and students in public health, they must complete and follow a training program on lifestyle related factors. One of the main aim of the training centres is to improve the academic achievement of students. Aim: This study was designed to determine the correlation of lifestyle with academic achievement in nursing students. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study, wherein all nursing students of School of Borujen Nursing were selected by census sampling. Data gathering tool was Walker’s lifestyle questionnaire which was modified for the purpose of the study. To evaluate the educational status of students, final grade point average was considered as an indicator of academic achievement. To analyze the data, SPSS version 16.0, and descriptive and analytical tests were used. Results: The results indicated that most subjects (61.01%) displayed moderate levels of lifestyle. Pearson’s correlation coefficient showed the significant positive relationship between lifestyle and academic achievement (p=0.03 and r=0.628). Conclusion: To improve the academic achievement of students, in addition to the cognitive abilities-perception, their lifestyle should also be considered. Therefore, it is suggested to incorporate lifestyle education in the curriculum of nursing students so as to improve their lifestyle

Evaluation of relationship self esteem with perceived social support in patients with Multiple Sclerosis‏

Background: Multiple Sclerosis is the chronic and progressive diseases of central neurons in adolescent that almost is accidently and had psychological effects on individuals that this subject can occurrence after change of patients trusts toward self and perceived social support. Therefore, this study was to examine the relation between self esteem with perceived social support in multiple sclerosis patients. Methods: This research Study was descriptive Correlations and in this study, 395 patients of the MS Society in Tehran were selected by continuous sampling. Data gathering tool were questionnaire of Rosenberg self esteem and questionnaire of Northouse social support. For data analysis, SPSS/16 was used. Results: Results showed that the average and standard deviation of self-esteem of patients was respectively 17/5 ± 53/20. Most patients had moderate self-esteem, and only a small percentage of them (2/16%) had high self-esteem. A significant percentage of patients' perceived social support (39/5%) was at moderate levels. The results of the spearman correlation showed that there were a linear direct significant association between self esteem and perceived social support (p<0/001, rs=0.302). Conclusions: The results of this study showed that self esteem with perceived social support had significant linear relationship. The nurses with findings can by development and fortification of social network, support sense of values in patients and by this way help to patients for decision and control on diseases and treatment

How to quantify student's regularity?

Studies carried out in classroom-based learning context, have consistently shown a positive relation between students' conscientiousness and their academic success. We hypothesize that time management and regularity are main constructing blocks of students' conscientiousness in the context of online education. In online education, despite intuitive arguments supporting on-demand courses as more flexible delivery of knowledge, completion rate is higher in the courses with rigid temporal constraints and structure. In this study, we further investigate how students' regularity affects their learning outcome in MOOCs. We propose several measures to quantify students regularity. We validate accuracy of these measures as predictors of students' engagement and success in the course

Screen or Tabletop: An Eye-Tracking Study of the Effect of Representation Location in a Tangible User Interface System

This article presents a comparison of the effects of input-output location (co-located versus discrete) on user performance in a tangible user interface (TUI) system. We conducted a mobile eye-tracking study with two different versions of a TUI system and, despite similar performances in both conditions, our findings revealed differences in the users’ gaze patterns, shedding new light on the underlying cognitive processes