Care Burden in Informal Caregivers of Hemodialysis Patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis study

Background: Correct assessment of care burden in informal care providers to hemodialysis patients such as family members has a crucial role in promoting their physical and mental health, so this study was conducted to determine care burden in informal caregivers of hemodialysis patients. Methods: This systematic review and meta-analysis was performed based on the systematic review meta-analysis and reporting system. To access relevant studies in the field, databases of Medline via PubMed, SCOPUS, ProQuest, SID, Embase and Magiran databases were searched with keywords assigned and using AND & OR operators until 1th August, 2019. After eliminating duplicates and primary and secondary screening of the articles, finally 8 studies entered the meta-analysis process. Cochran test and I2 index were used to determine the heterogeneity of the studies. Random Effects Model was used to estimate pooled mean. Egger's tests were used to evaluate diffusion bias. Results: The level of care burden in informal caregivers of hemodialysis patients varied from 1.7 to 54.01 in 8 studies with a sample size of 651. The majority of caregivers were spouses of patients and their mean age ranged from 32 to 51 years. Based on the cumulative graph, the mean total effect for care burden index in caregivers of hemodialysis patients in the studies was estimated to be 8.918 (14.3-454.381) with 95% confidence interval based on random effect model. Conclusion: Considering the care burden in caregivers of hemodialysis patients and its adverse effects, it is recommended to pay more attention to the health of caregivers as hidden patients and appropriate strategies should be considered to improve their quality of life

The Relationship between Sleep Quality with Depression in Patient with Acute Myocardial Infarction

Background and Objectives: Depression is one of the most psychological outcomes in patients with acute myocardial infraction, which can affect the sleep quality in these patients. Given that adequate sleep has important effect on heart function, the present study was conducted with the aim of determining the correlation between sleep quality with death and cardiac depression in patient with acute myocardial infarction (AMI).   Methods: In this descriptive-correlational study, 407 patients with acute myocardial infarction, who were admitted to the CCU wards of the Fatemeh Zahra Educational Center of Sari city, were selected using simple random sampling method. Data were collected by Cardiac Depression Scale (CDS), Death Depression Scale (DDS), and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questionnaires. Data were analyzed using Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Pearson correlation tests.   Results: The mean age of the male patients (64.95±17.00; CI95: 62.71-67.19) was more than the mean age of women (62.22±15.48; CI95: 59.96-64.48). The mean score of death depression (68.94±17.24; CI95: 67.26-70.62) and cardiac depression (109.00±16.49; CI95: 107.39-110.60), were below the fifth percentile. Multivariate regression analysis showed that change in cardiac depression score (B=0.036, β=0.153), increasing education levels (B=1.55, β=-0.121), and no history of antidepressant usage (B=4.32, β=0.123), can be significantly independent predictive factors of the variance of sleep quality score in acute myocardial infarction patients.   Conclusion: According to the results of this study, although cardiac depression, education level, and non-use of antidepressant drugs are considered as affecting factors in the prediction of sleep quality in acute myocardial infarction patients, sleep quality is affected by more factors. Therefore, further studies are needed in this area.   &nbsp

The Effect of Life Skills Training on Mental Health of Iranian Middle School Students: A Preliminary Study

Objective: This research aimed to study the effect of life skill training on mental health of Iranian middle school students. Method: This experimental study was conducted In 2015 on 100 students of city of Ghaemshahr (North of Iran), who were randomly selected and divided into two equal groups of intervention (n = 50) and control (n = 50). Qualified trainers provided eight sessions (two sessions a week for 2 hours) of life skills training to the intervention group for one month. The control group did not participate in any training sessions during the same period. Mental health in both groups was assessed by a questionnaire pre- and post-training. Data were analyzed using descriptive and infernal (ANCOVA and paired t-test) statistic tests. Results: The average age of the participants in both groups was 13.5±1.01. ANCOVA test results revealed that the average score of violence, addiction, stress and sensation-seeking before and after the training was statistically significant in the intervention group and control groups (p<0.001). Conclusion: Life skills training had positive effects on mental health of the participants. Given the importance of mental health in modern societies, it is necessary for schools to incorporate life skills in their curriculum to support the mental health of adolescents