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Introduction: Today, the anti-inflammatory property of fish oil is used to heal wounds, but this property has not been investigated to prevent the occurrence of pressure ulcers. So the research team decided to evaluate this feature as well. Materials and methods: This clinical trial study was performed on 102 patients admitted to the intensive care unit located at Besat Hospital in 2020. Samples were assigned to three groups control, placebo, and intervention using permutation blocks. Before the intervention, the questionnaire of demographic and clinical variables, level of consciousness, Braden scale, and short nutritional status questionnaire was completed by the main researcher. In the intervention group, in addition to routine care, 2 cc of fish oil was gently rubbed into the sacrum once a day for 5 days. The same intervention was repeated in the placebo group, with the difference that soybean oil was used instead of fish oil, and the control group received only the usual care. The daily evaluation of pressure ulcers by one of the ICU nurses lasted up to 6 days. Results: The results showed that there was a significant difference in the incidence of pressure ulcers in the three groups (P = 0.043). The risk of pressure ulcers in the control group was 11.9 and 2.7 times higher than the fish oil group and placebo group (P = 0.023) & (P = 0.132). Conclusion: The use of topical fish oil can be effective in preventing pressure ulcers.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Most patients with myocardial infarction (MI) suffer from one or more risk factors such as obesity and overweight, unhealthy diet, lack of physical activity (PA), and high blood pressure. Individual control of these risk factors by lifestyle modification raises the probability of survival in these patients; hence, we used a self-management intervention to assess its effect on the lifestyle of post-MI patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This quasi-experimental study was conducted on 92 hospitalized MI patients in Hamadan province in 2016. Convenience sampling method was used for selecting the participants. The patients were selected and assigned to experimental and control groups. The main parameters (diet, blood pressure, waist circumference, and body mass index [BMI]) were measured at the baseline and 8 weeks after discharge. Domestic PA was the only parameter measured 8 weeks after their discharge. A self-management intervention was adopted for the experimental group. The data were analyzed using paired and independent-sample t-tests with SPSS software version 16. RESULTS: The comparison of the scores obtained for diet, blood pressure, waist circumference, and BMI in post-MI patients revealed no statistically significant difference between the two groups at the beginning of the study (P > 0.05). Following the intervention, the experimental group had a significantly higher mean score for diet and domestic PA (walking program from 1st week to 8 weeks), compared to the control group (P < 0.001); however, the intervention had no significant effect on BMI, waist circumference, and systolic and diastolic pressure (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The findings indicated that the program had an impact on some risk factors. Therefore, it is recommended to use self-management support in MI patients during the discharge process to improve their lifestyle.
