The effects of foot reflexology on pain and physiological indicators in children with leukemia under chemotherapy: a clinical trial study.

BACKGROUND: Foot reflexology is a popular complementary medicine method; however, previous studies have shown conflicting results. This study aimed to investigate the impact of foot reflexology on pain and physiological responses caused by intrathecal injection of chemotherapy drugs in children with leukemia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This clinical trial included 80 children with leukemia. The participants received 20 min foot reflexology (10 min each foot). The primary measured outcomes included pain and physiological indicators (blood pressure and heart rate). RESULTS: The results showed that foot reflexology had a significant effect on reducing pain (p = 0.002) and improving physiological indicators [blood pressure (p = 0.002) and heart rate (p = 0.003)]. CONCLUSION: Based on the results of the present study, which shows the positive effect of foot reflexology on the improvement of pain and physiological indicators, foot reflexology can be used as a complementary treatment along with conventional therapies.

Concept of Collaboration from the Islamic Perspective: The View Points for Health Providers.

Collaboration involves direct and open communication and respect for different perspectives. In particular, religious literature has many references to collaboration. This study is a report of knowledge synthesis based on qualitative systematic review by content analysis. The study surveys the concept of collaboration from the Islamic point of view and intends to answer the question, 'Does the Quran deal with the use of collaboration in human activities?' This study was conducted using electronic documents from websites related to Islamic and Quran sciences, such as Howzah.net, Nashriat.ir, Tebyan.net and Google Scholar from 1950 until 2013 by focusing on the keywords, collaboration and Islam, and then retrieving the Islamic document (Quran and Hadith). The language in which the search was conducted was English and Persian. Nearly, 28 articles and 72 books related to this topic were found and after applying the search criteria, only 13% of the references were found to be applicable. In the Quran, collaboration is equivalent to Taavon, and Muslims are requested to collaborate in their affairs and never collaborate with each other for illegal affairs. Islam asserts that everyone requires social relationship in their life. God has enacted mutual rights for people and meeting these requirements is only possible through collaboration and respecting mutual rights.

The effect of an educational program on illness uncertainty in mothers of children with type 1 diabetes: a quasi-experimental study.

The mother is traditionally the primary caregiver for the child, and uncertainty is a major source of psychological distress for parents of sick children. As a result, the current study sought to investigate the impact of an educational program on illness uncertainty in mothers of children with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). This is a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design, involving 40 mothers of children with IDDM. After visiting the research site and recruiting eligible mothers, the researcher used the purposive sampling method to randomly assign them to one of two intervention and control groups. Taking into account their needs and conditions, mothers were scheduled for at least three sessions, with a 30-minute interval every other day. The data analysis revealed no significant differences between the two groups in terms of child age and gender, mother age and education level, number of children, and duration of diabetes. There was a significant difference in the total score of uncertainty, total score of ambiguity, lack of clarity, lack of information, unpredictability, and their dimensions between mothers of diabetic children before and after the intervention (P=0.02). Based on the findings, it is recommended that the educational needs of children and their mothers be assessed upon admission and that educational content be prepared and taught accordingly, thereby helping to reduce illness uncertainty in mothers.

Operating room technologists' knowledge, attitude, and preparedness for disaster management of a Zahedan: Implications for nursing disaster education.

BACKGROUND: During the occurrence of accidents and disasters, the role of hospitals and healthcare centers is very sensitive and they are among the first units that with their quick, optimal, and timely healthcare services provision can reduce mortality and increase the number of survivors. For this purpose, this study was conducted to investigate the knowledge, attitude, and level of preparedness of operating room technologists of educational hospitals of Zahedan University of Medical Sciences in relation to disasters. MATERIALS AND METHOD: The present research is a cross-sectional descriptive study that was conducted with the participation of 60 operating room technologists of Zahedan educational hospitals from January 2022 to December 2022. The sampling was performed by the census method. The data collection tool was a demographic characteristic and a researcher-made questionnaire for the assessment of attitude, knowledge, and preparation against the occurrences of accidents and disasters was completed during 2 months by referring the researcher to the hospitals. For the data analysis, descriptive statistics and analytical statistical tests were used. The data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 26. Corp., Armonk, NY, USA. The significance level was considered P < 0.05. RESULTS: The results showed that the average scores of attitude, preparation, and knowledge are 9.3 ± 6.1, 75.8 ± 9.9, and 5.7 ± 4.1, respectively, and the majority of operating room technologists have a favorable level towards attitude and have relatively favorable level towards preparation and knowledge during the occurrence of disasters. The average score of knowledge and attitude of operating room technologists with work history had a significant difference from each other (P < 0.05). technologists with less work experience have more knowledge and a more positive attitudedisaster. CONCLUSION: Measuring the level of knowledge, attitude, and preparedness of surgical technologists to deal with disasters as one of the ways of receiving feedback from employee training can be a useful reflection of the success of training programs in creating the necessary capabilities in various fields of disaster preparedness, and it can be a powerful tool for increasing individual and group dynamics and organizing individual learning in coping training. Furthermore, disaster education should be incorporated into the operating room curriculum, which would play a seminal role in preparing them for future disaster management. It is also suggested to investigate the impact of intelligent training on the level of knowledge, attitude, and preparation of operating room personnel regarding disasters and obstacles in this regard in future research.

Fordyce happiness training program on the competence of mothers of premature infants admitted to the NICU from Middle East: A quasi-experimental study.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of the Fordyce Happiness Training Program on the parental competence of mothers of premature infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). This quasi-experimental study was performed on 80 mothers of premature infants who were admitted to a NICU in Iran. Mean Parenting Sense of Competence Scale (PSOC) scores of participants in the intervention group before and after training were 61.32 ± 6.44 and 68.52 ± 2.52. Mean PSOC scores for those in the control group before and after the intervention were 64.47 ± 11.08 and 65.30 ± 6.90, respectively. The two groups showed significant differences in terms of parental competence after the happiness training program (p = 0.0001). NICU admission of a premature baby not only has a negative effect on the mother's emotional state but it can also adversely affect the parental sense of competence. Therefore, considering the psychological needs of mothers of premature infants, it is worth considering implementation of programs such as Fordyce Happiness Training, to promote and maintain the mental health of mothers.

Prevalence of depression and anxiety among children with type 1 and type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Evaluation of psychiatric disorders in children is essential in timely treatment. Despite individual studies, there is no information on the exact status of psychiatric disorders in children. The present study was conducted to determine the prevalence of depression among children with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. METHODS: This meta-analysis is registered with PROSPERO (CRD42021231491). Several databases (Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed) were searched from January 1, 2000 to December 15, 2020. The key words included: depression, anxiety, children, and diabetes. The steps of search, comprising screening, risk of bias, and extraction of study data, were performed separately by two researchers. RESULTS: It was found that a total of 109 studies had been conducted involving 52,493 children with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. These studies were included in the present review study. The prevalence of depression, anxiety among children with type 1 diabetes were 22.2% [95% confidence interval (CI) 19.2-25.2], and 17.7% (95% CI 15.2-20.1), respectively. The prevalence of depression was higher among girls (29.7%) than boys (19.7%). The prevalence of depression was higher in lower-middle-income countries at 29.3% (95% CI 18.6-40.0). The prevalence of depression among children with type 2 diabetes was 22.7% (95% CI 17.3-28.0). CONCLUSION: The results of the present study indicate the importance of paying attention to extensive periodic screening and appropriate activities to reduce pediatric depression.

The Effect of a Date Consumption-Based Nutritional Program on Iron Deficiency Anemia in Primary School Girls Aged 8 to 10 Years Old in Zahedan (Iran).

AIM: Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is one of the most common nutritional problems in students. The best and most cost-effective ways to prevent IDA are changes in people's dietary habits and their nutrition education. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of nutritional program based on dates consumption on IDA in primary schoolgirls. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a semi-experimental study. The study population consisted of primary school girl students of Zahedan, Iran, during the academic year of 2018-2019. The sampling method was a combination of stratified sampling and multi-stage cluster sampling. Then, 31 female primary school children with IDA were fed with dates for 2 months. Before the intervention and after 2 months of date consumption, hemoglobin, hematocrit, and ferritin blood parameters were measured. Both paired t-test and chi-square test were used to analyze the data using SPSS version 21. RESULTS: The results were meaningful. The hemoglobin levels at the beginning and the end of the study were 11.19 ± 0.38 and 12.05 ± 0.81 g/dL, respectively (P = 0.001), the hematocrit levels were 34.24 ± 0.41% and 37.17 ±2.36%, respectively, P = 0.001, and the ferritin levels were 47.07 ± 21.89 µg/dL and 53.98 ± 19.77 µg/dL, respectively, P= 0.001. CONCLUSION: The consumption of date fruit increased hemoglobin, hematocrit, and serum ferritin levels in primary school girl students with IDA; therefore, it is recommended to give dates to school girls.

Identifying self-care behaviors in middle-aged women: A qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Women in their middle-age enjoy abilities that affect their health promotion and improvement. Throughout their entire lifetime, women strive to maintain and improve their health through benefiting from behaviors that come from experience. OBJECTIVE: This study was carried out with the aim of identifying self-care behaviors that middle-aged women consider as far as maintaining and promoting their health are concerned. METHODS: The study was conducted using a qualitative approach in conventional content analysis. Participants comprised of 20 middle-aged women from Zahedan, Iran in 2016 that were invited to enter the study using purposive sampling, and were given semi-structured interviews. After data collection, all interviews were transcribed, reviewed and then the subcategories were extracted. RESULTS: The findings of this study include a main category "preventive self-care behaviors" and three subcategories of "understanding health and disease", "health knowledge" and "awareness of the health threats". CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that preventive self-care behaviors of women are associated with features such as understanding health and disease, health knowledge and awareness of the associated health risks. As a matter of fact, preventive behaviors encompass strategies that women apply to improve their physical and mental health.

Understanding the Contextual Factors Affecting Women's Health in Sistan and Baluchestan Province in Iran: A Qualitative Study.

BACKGROUND: Contextual factors impact health the same way social and cultural conditions do. Women's health, with its varying dimensions, is also under the influence of biological, societal, and cultural contexts. This typical condition has been developed along the continuum of their life cycle, bearing close correlation with their lif style. Therefore, identifying those marices within which women's health behaviors are formed is important.This study aims at exploring the contextual factors affecting women's health in Sistan and Baluchestan in Iran. METHODS: This study was carried out using a qualitative method, on a content analysis approach. Participants were 20 middle-aged women from Zahedan who entered the study with purposive sampling method. The method of collecting data was face-to- face and through conducting semi-structured interviews. After data collection, all interviews were transcribed, andreviewed, from which categories were extracted. The semantic similarities were revised and subcategories were identified, and then the related subcategories were arranged under one category. RESULTS: Two main categories of "features of context-based structure" and "changes in the cultural context" prove to be the basis for health behaviors in women. As for the category of "characteristics of context-based structure", individual, familial and environmental characteristics were identified, and regarding the category of "changes in the cultural context", the context-based cultural features were identified. CONCLUSION: The findings of the study suggest that effective contextual factors influencing women's living conditions had a decisive role in their health behaviors. In fact, the context- based structure in association with the cultural changes that have occurred in the beliefs of men and women, have had a decisive role in the women's health behaviors.