Effect of Dill (Anethum graveolens) Oil on Pruritus and Quality of Life of Hemodialysis Patients: A Randomized Double-Blind Three-Arm Controlled Trial.

Introduction: Anethum graveolens (AG), commonly known as dill, is a plant from the Apiaceae family that has been traditionally used as a skin softener and purifying agent in Persian medicine. In a previous study conducted on male rats, dill was found to have anti-inflammatory effects. The current study aimed to examine the efficacy of topical application of Anethum graveolens oil on pruritus severity, skin dryness, sleep quality, and quality of life in patients undergoing hemodialysis. Methods: In the current clinical trial, the participants were randomly assigned to one of these groups: topical AG preparation, sesame oil, or a control group receiving no treatment. The study was double-blind and placebo-controlled. The topical treatment was applied twice a day for one month to areas of the skin affected by pruritus. The outcome measures included the severity of skin dryness, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Duo's Uremic Pruritus Severity Scale, and the Itchy QoL questionnaire. Results: This study involved 106 hemodialysis patients, and after intervention for one month, the medication group had a significantly lower mean score of sleep quality (3.24 ± 2.41) than the placebo (4.54 ± 3.11) and control (5.05 ± 3.21) groups (P=0.032). The mean change in pruritus severity was significantly greater in the medication group (-17.28 ± 8.938) than the placebo (-5.91 ± 5.398) and control (-3.43 ± 3.228) groups (P < 0.001). Moreover, a significant difference was observed in the mean changes in quality of life between the medication, placebo, and control groups, with values of -14.88 ± 7.89, -5.34 ± 4.50, and -1.92 ± 2.86, respectively (P < 0.001). Furthermore, both the medication and placebo groups showed improvement in skin dryness compared to the control group having the values of -1.65 ± 0.91, -1.11 ± 0.79, and -0.38 ± 0.54, respectively (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Topical Anethum graveolens preparation significantly improved the sleep quality and quality of life and reduced skin pruritus and dryness in hemodialysis patients. It could be considered as a simple therapeutic modality to control pruritus in hemodialysis patients. This trial is registered with IRCT2017022032671N1.

Influential factors on quality of life in married Iranian women during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020: a path analysis.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between quality of life (QoL) with anxiety, depression, corona disease anxiety, sexual function (SF), and marital satisfaction (MS) in married women during the Covid-19 pandemic. METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional study involving n = 296 married women. We used the Short Form Health Survey (SF-12), Marital Satisfaction Scale (MSS), Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and coronary disease anxiety questionnaire, as determinants of QoL for data collection. Data were analyzed using the Pearson correlation coefficient and path analysis. RESULTS: There was a relationship between the components of QoL with SF, anxiety, depression, MS, general health, and contamination obsessions. The results of path analysis also showed that that SF, MS, anxiety, general health, and corona-related anxiety have a direct effect on women's QoL. General health has a more direct effect on QoL. CONCLUSION: The results of this study could help in a plan to improve the QoL of women during the coronavirus epidemic.

Development and psychometric evaluation of the Sexual Health Assessment Tool for Infertile Women (SEHAT-IW).

PURPOSE: This study aimed to develop a valid and reliable tool for evaluation of sexual health assessment in infertile women. METHODS: This was a mixed exploratory study consisting of two phases. At phase one, we reviewed the existing instruments and interviewed 20 infertile women to generate an item pool. Then, the research team examined items and invited a panel of experts (n = 15) and a group of infertile women (n = 10) to review the items to establish content and face validity. Accordingly, the provisional version of the questionnaire containing 62 items was provided. At phase two, a cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate the questionnaire. The structural validity was examined by performing exploratory factor analysis. Internal consistency was estimated by the Cornbach's alpha coefficient and test-retest analysis was performed to assess stability. RESULTS: The final questionnaire consisted of 45 items and a total of 372 infertile women completed the questionnaire. The mean age of women was 30.8 (SD 6.0) years and this was 5.6 (SD 4.2) for duration of infertility. The results obtained from exploratory factor analysis indicated a five-factor solution for the questionnaire that jointly explained 51.39% of variance observed. At this stage, 15 items were deleted due to low factor loading. The analysis of internal consistency and stability yielded satisfactory results (Cronbach alpha: 0.93, ICC 0.97, respectively). Further analysis indicated that lower sexual health in infertile women was associated with education (OR for primary education 2.61, 95% CI 1.44-4.76, P = 0.002) and being housewife (OR 2.35, 95% CI 1.15-4.83, P = 0.01). CONCLUSION: The findings showed that the Sexual Health Assessment Tool for Infertile Women (SEHAT-IW) is a reliable and valid instrument to assess infertile women's sexual health.

The psychometric properties of exercise benefits/barriers scale among women.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Despite the numerous health benefits of regular physical activity (PA), physical inactivity is a major health issue among women. The goal of the current study was to measure the validity and reliability assessment of the exercise benefits/barriers scale among women between the ages of 18 and 65 years. This study was carried out among women residing in Khoramroudi neighborhood in Tehran between December 2013 and February 2014. METHODS: In this descriptive, methodological study, 278 women residing in Khoramroudi neighborhood in Tehran between December 2013 and February 2014 completed three questionnaires: the demographic data form, the Exercise Benefits/Barriers Scale. The construct validity, internal consistency, and stability of the study were measured by confirmatory factor analyses, Cronbach's alpha, and Spearman Brown correlation coefficient by using SPSS 21 and LISREL 8.80, respectively. RESULTS: The confirmatory factor analysis showed the Persian version of EBBS was structured well. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients for the total scale and its subscales were 0.927, 0.94 and 0.82, respectively. Spearman Brown correlation coefficient also showed good test-retest reliability. CONCLUSION: The results of this study verified the reliability and validity of the applied instrument and introduced it as a tool to measure the benefits and barriers of physical activity among Iranian women.

The experience of nursing instructors and students on professional competency of nursing academic staff: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: One of the most important purposes of health-oriented educational centers is to train competent nurses. This study was intended to discover the meaning of "competency of nursing academic staff" among nursing students and instructors. METHODOLOGY & METHODS: A qualitative study using the content analysis approach was conducted. The data was collected through in-depth interviews consisting of 30 individuals and a focus group. RESULTS: Data analysis resulted in the extraction of 15 categories and 6 themes. The themes included 'providing effective education', 'increasing research capability of oneself and that of the students', 'promoting managerial competency', 'being a cultural and behavioral role model', 'motivating and nurturing the students', and 'boosting teaching values and disposition'. CONCLUSION: This study resulted in discovering the real meaning of professional competency among the nursing faculty staff. The findings could be utilized in designing assessment tools for professional competency of nursing academic staff in nursing schools and other medical fields.

Impact of maternal mental health on pediatric asthma control.

BACKGROUND: Asthma like other chronic diseases is a stressful condition not only for children but also for their parents. Caring for a child with asthma combines the demands of parenting with the emotional and physical burdens of the child's chronic illness. Some studies have assessed the relations between parental mental health and asthma severity in children. This study aims to evaluate the mental health of mothers of asthmatic children and associations between maternal mental health and childhood levels of asthma control. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighty mothers with asthmatic children aged 7-12 yrs. completed a General Health Questionnaire (GHQ.28) containing questions about somatic symptoms, anxiety, social dysfunction, and severe depression. Level of asthma control in children was classified as "well controlled"," partly controlled" and "uncontrolled" by an asthma specialist. RESULTS: The results showed that mothers of asthmatic children reported the depression symptoms significantly more than the community cut-off point (p<0.001); also GHQ scores were not significantly different in three levels of asthma control in children (i.e. well controlled, partly controlled and uncontrolled). The results revealed that caring for a child with asthma had an impact on the mother's mental health and depression was prevalent among mothers of asthmatic children. In addition, improving asthma control level did not promote maternal mental health. CONCLUSION: Inclusion of mental health and quality of life of parents in the classification of pediatric asthma control may be helpful. Our findings suggest that the physician's awareness of maternal depression and the presence of a psychotherapist for diagnosing and treating depression in mothers of children with asthma may be important for guiding effective interventions.

The ex vivo study of synergistic effects of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, benzo(a)pyrene with ovalbumin on systemic immune responses by oral route.

The present study was undertaken in order to examine whether oral administration of soluble antigen together with one of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) which is present in diesel exhaust particles (DEPs) called benzo(a)pyrene (BP), induced the systemic immune response in mice or not. Mice were orally given 1mg of ovalbumin (OA), a common food allergen, every 3 days over a period of 15 days. The results showed that oral administration of OA plus BP produced anti-OA IgE antibodies in serum, whereas either OA or BP alone failed to show the antigen-specific IgE antibody production. Production of anti-OA IgE antibody, which is dependent on Th2 CD4(+) T cells, was seen in mice fed with combined OA and BP was significantly higher than that of other groups. The anti-OA antibody production was associated with marked secretion of the Th1 cytokines, IFN-gamma and IL-12p70 as well as the Th2 cytokines IL-4, and IL-10. These results suggest that BP may act as a mucosal adjuvant in the gut enhancing systemic Th1 and Th2 immune responses and might play a role in oral immunization and food allergy.

An Accurate Confirmation of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1) and 2 (HIV-2) Infections with a Dot blot assay Using Recombinant p24, gp41, gp120 and gp36 Antigens.

An immunoblot assay using four recombinant proteins corresponding to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and type 2 (HIV-2) gene products was developed to confirm the presence of antibodies to HIV-1 and 2 in sera reactive in screening ELISAs. Serum samples for testing were obtained from healthy seronegative blood donors and from different categories of HIV-infected individuals (asymptomatic HIV-infected, and AIDS). A positive reaction was defined as reactivity against gag (p24) and at least one other env (either gp41 or gp120) HIV gene products; negative result was defined as no reaction with any antigen; and indeterminate result was defined as reactivity with gag (p24) or with env (gp41 or gp120) alone. None of the 180 serum samples from healthy seronegative blood donors gave a positive result, and only 4 of these samples (2.2%) gave indeterminate results. The recombinant HIV Dot blotting assay identified seropositive individuals with a high degree of accuracy; none of the 125 HIV-seropositive subjects had a negative test result. Reactivity with these antigens, demonstrated 100% sensitivity and specificity in distinguishing seronegative from seropositive sera. All seronegative and seropositive samples were tested both with the commercially available ELISA and by Western blot. The recombinant in-house HIV Dot blot assay accurately identified more seropositive and seronegative samples and had fewer indeterminate results than did commercial Western blot (as interpreted by CDC criteria).