The Relationship Between Self-Care Behavior and Concerns About Body Image in Patients Undergoing Hemodialysis in Iran.

Background and Aim: Hemodialysis treatment saves the life of people with end-stage renal disease (ERDS), but does not prevent the suffering of the disease, anxiety, hopelessness, and so on. Many studies have been performed on self-care behaviors as well as body image in different patients, but so far, no research has been done to investigate the relationship between self-care behavior and body image concerns in hemodialysis patients. Therefore, the aims of this study are to determine the relationship between self-care behavior and body image concern in patients undergoing hemodialysis. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional design was used to evaluate Self-care Behavior and Concerns about Body Image in a convenience sample of 280 patients with ERDS. Measures included demographic factors, health characteristics, and validated instruments of the study constructs Body Image Concern Questionnaire (BICI) and Assessment of self-care behaviors with arteriovenous fistula (ASBHD-AVF). Results: This study showed that self-care behaviors have the ability to predict body image concerns. There was a negative and significant relationship between self-care behavior and body image concern (B = -0.162, ß = -0.140, p = 0.020). These variables explain 7.5% of predictors. Conclusion: Although the findings of the present study showed that increasing age and improving the level of self-care behaviors in patients undergoing hemodialysis reduces body image anxiety, but women were the strongest predictor of body image anxiety.

The Effect of Dracocephalum Extract on Sleep Quality in Post-Menopausal Women: A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial.

Objective: Sleep disturbance is one of the most prevalent problems in post-menopausal females. The current research intended to evaluate the effects of Dracocephalum on sleep disorder in post-menopausal females. Method : The current study is a randomized, double-blind controlled trial, in which 110 post-menopausal women were randomly allocated to Dracocephalum or placebo groups. The intervention group took Dracocephalum capsules containing 250 mg Dracocephalum extract twice daily for one month. While, the placebo group took the same capsule containing 250 mg of starch twice daily for one month. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index was completed by the participants of both groups before and after the treatment and the data obtained were analyzed with Chi-square, paired and independent t-test in SPSS (version 20). Results: The mean score of sleep quality before and after the treatment was 12.69 ± 3.98 and 8.58 ± 1.97 in the treatment group, respectively. Also, the score of sleep quality in the placebo group was 13.48 ± 2.60 and 11.21 ± 2.74 at the beginning and end of the research, respectively. The symptoms of sleep disorder in the intervention group significantly improved after the treatment (P < 0.001), while this was not the case with the placebo group (P = 0.155). Besides, there was a significant difference between the two groups in the mean score of sleep quality after the treatment (P = 0.012). Conclusion: Dracocephalum extracts are effective in reducing symptoms of sleep disorders in post-menopausal women.

Depression Among Infertile Men in the Gaza Strip, Palestine: The Neglected Aspect of Fertility Care.

BACKGROUND: Infertility is a worldwide public health problem and affects psychological aspects of males' and females' life. However, the problem has not been well investigated in Palestine. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine prevalence and predictors of depression among infertile men in the Gaza strip. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out among three hundred eighty five infertile males from January to December 2019. Participants were selected from three main in-vitro fertilization (IVF) centers following simple random sampling. The Arabic version of Beck Depression Inventory was used. Descriptive and inferential analyses were performed using the SPSS V22. Binary analysis was done to determine independent variables and t-test and one-way ANOVA were conducted afterwards. Logistic regression was performed to determine independent factors associated with depression symptoms. The p-value of 0.05 or less was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Findings showed that 42.6% (164/385) of infertile men had at least one type of depression. Severe depression was presented in 16.6% (64/164) of participants, while 13.2% (51/164) and 12.7% (49/164) showed moderate and mild depression, respectively. Predictors for depression were duration of marriage (>8 years) (CI 95%: 1.099-2.615) and at least one IVF attempt (CI 95%: 0.373-0.873). CONCLUSION: It has been revealed that depression is prevalent among infertile men. Marriage of long duration and several failures in IVF attempts are predictors for depressions. Psychological counseling besides medical interventions seems to be an optimal strategy to alleviate psychological distress associated with infertility.

Prevalence of sexual dysfunction in women with systemic lupus erythematosus and its related factors.

OBJECTIVES: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) affects all body organs. This disease has marked physiological, mental, and cognitive effects on the patient and results in sexual dysfunction, depression, and decreased self-confidence. This study was conducted to compare sexual function, depression, anxiety, stress, and the related factors in women suffering from SLE. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 340 women (170 with SLE and 170 healthy) aged 18-49 years were investigated. Convenience sampling was used to select the participants. In this study, a demographic questionnaire, the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales - 21 Items (DASS-21), and the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) were applied. Data were analyzed with SPSS 16 using Spearman's correlation, χ2, Mann-Whitney, covariance, and multiple regression statistics; p-values less than 0.05 were considered significant. RESULTS: The results showed a significant difference in sexual function between the SLE and healthy groups. According to covariance analysis, the difference remained significant after controlling for confounding factors (stress, depression, anxiety). Moreover, the effect of SLE on the sexual function had a significant correlation with age, life status, number and age of children, economic status, menstruation, duration of marriage, age at diagnosis, disease duration and activity, stress, anxiety, and depression. The results of multiple regression analysis showed that age, disease activity, depression, and life status had the highest correlation with sexual dysfunction in women with SLE. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study indicated that more attention should be paid to the sexual health of women suffering from SLE as a neglected aspect of their treatment, which requires an interdisciplinary approach to shift the care of these patients from a biomedical model to a biopsychosocial model.