Relationship Between the Psychological Distress and Spiritual Well-Being in Pregnant Women Exposed to Domestic Violence: A Cross-Sectional Study in Iran.

Maternal psychological distress is often associated with domestic violence. Spiritual well-being can affect the psychological capacity to deal with distress. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between psychological distress and spiritual well-being in pregnant women exposed to domestic violence. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 305 pregnant women subjected to domestic violence in southern Iran. The participants were selected using the census method. Data were collected using the Spiritual Well-being Scale (SWB), the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10), and the Hurt, Insult, Threaten, Scream (HITS) screening tool (short form) and were analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics (t-test, ANOVA, the Spearman correlation coefficient, and multiple linear regression) in SPSS software version 24. The mean scores ± standard deviation of the participants' psychological distress, spiritual well-being, and domestic violence were 24.68 ± 6.43, 79.89 ± 18.98, and 11.24 ± 1.5, respectively. The results showed that psychological distress had a significant negative correlation with spiritual well-being (ρ = - 0.84, P < 0.001) and domestic violence (ρ = - 0.73, P < 0.001). The results of the multiple linear regression analysis also showed that spiritual well-being and domestic violence could predict the psychological distress of pregnant women who were exposed to domestic violence, which explained 73% of the psychological distress in the participants. According to the study results, spiritually oriented education can be provided for women to reduce their psychological distress. Also, it is recommended that necessary interventions be used to reduce domestic violence and empower women to prevent it.

The Effect of Information Therapy on Treatment Adherence among Patients Referred to Addiction Treatment Centers.

BACKGROUND: The low level of drug adherence in addicts who are quitting is one of the biggest challenges in the treatment and management of this disease. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of information therapy on adherence to treatment among the patients in addiction treatment centers. METHODS: The present quasi-experimental study was performed on 60 patients referred to addiction treatment centers in Jiroft City, Iran. The control and experimental groups were selected using simple random sampling method. The 8-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale was used for data collection. The level of adherence to treatment was assessed before and after the intervention, which consisted of 6 one-hour training sessions per week. FINDINGS: The adherence to medication was low in both experimental and control groups before the notification. However, the chi-square value obtained by comparing the frequencies of the experimental and control groups in three variables of adherence level (high, moderate, and low) was 9.84 which was statistically significant (P = 0.007). Therefore, there was a significant difference between the experimental and control groups after information therapy. In fact, the information in the experimental group had a significant and positive effect. CONCLUSION: Because of the low level of adherence to treatment, it is recommended to use information therapy to give information on timely and correct use of drugs as well as its importance in the treatment of addiction; so that the level of adherence would improve.

THE ASSESSMENT OF CAREGIVER BURDEN IN CAREGIVERS OF HEMODIALYSIS PATIENTS.

BACKGROUND: Chronic renal failure is among the chronic disease which due to persistence of the disease and long treatment process has various effects on the physiological, psychological, functional ability, lifestyle changes, and independence status of the patient and his family. This may result in the burden feeling in caregivers. According to the importance of the subject, this study is to assess the level of caregiver burden in caregivers of hemodialysis patients. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional analytical descriptive study that was conducted in 2014 on the caregivers of hemodialysis patients. Research instruments were consisted of two parts: demographic data check list and caregiver burden questionnaire. Data were analyzed by SPSS statistical software and Pearson correlation coefficient tests. A p value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: In this study, 72.5% of caregivers reported moderate to severe levels of caregiver burden. A significant relationship was observed between gender of the patient with caregiver burden score of (p=0.031) and type of the income with caregiver burden score of (p=0.000). Caregivers of male patients and patients with inadequate income had a higher caregiver burden score. CONCLUSIONS: Our results showed that more than half of the caregivers of hemodialysis patients had moderate to severe levels of caregiver burden, therefore it is worthy that health officials and nurses pay special attention to this issue by communicating with these patients and their caregivers.

Psychological symptoms in family members of brain death patients in intensive care unit in Kerman, Iran.

AIM: Having patients in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) remains an extremely stressful live event for family members, especially for those having to confront with brain death patients. The aim of present study was to determine the prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress among relatives of brain dead patients in ICU in Kerman, Iran. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study, using DASS- 42 questionnaire, the symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress of family members of brain death patients were explored in Kerman, Iran. RESULTS: Of 244 eligible family members, 224 participated in this study (response rate of 91%). Generally, 76.8%, 75% and 70.1% of family members reported some levels of anxiety, depression and stress, respectively. More specifically, the rate of severe levels of anxiety, depression and stress among the participants were 48.7%, 33%, and 20.1% respectively. CONCLUSION: Prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress in family members of brain death patients in ICU remains high. Health care team members, especially nurses, should be aware and could consider this issue in the caring of family members of brain death patients.