Designing and Evaluating a Mobile-based Self-care Application for Patients with Gastrointestinal Cancer to Manage Chemotherapy Side Effects.

Background: Controlling and managing the side effects of chemotherapy is one of the most serious challenges that patients with gastrointestinal cancer encounter. A promising technique to overcome these challenges is using informative mobile-based applications. The aim of this study was to design and evaluate a mobile-based application to help patients with gastrointestinal cancer to manage the possible side effects caused by chemotherapy. Methods: This descriptive-applied study was performed in 2 stages. In the first stage, a needs assessment was performed where the opinions of 4 oncologists and 27 patients with gastrointestinal cancer were obtained by use of a researcher-designed questionnaire. In the second stage of the study, based on the identified needs from the first stage, an application prototype was designed and later evaluated. Participants were asked to use the application for 1 week to evaluate the usability of the application. The Questionnaire for User Interaction Satisfaction Version 5.5 was used for evaluation. The results of the study were analyzed using descriptive statistics and SPSS software Version 22. Results: Of the 34 data elements obtained in the first step, 30 gained a mean above 3.75 and were considered in designing the application. The following features were included in the application: demographic data, history, clinical data, managing psychological and psychiatric challenges, lifestyle information, management of side effects, communication possibility, and other application features. Also, the evaluation results showed that the users gave a mean of 7.12 to the application and believed its usability was good. Conclusion: This application and its capabilities can help patients with gastrointestinal cancer undergoing chemotherapy to better perform self-care processes, improve their health status, and reduce the side effects of chemotherapy.

Prevalence of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Following the Earthquake in Iran and Pakistan: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common mental disorder following traumatic events. The present study was conducted to understand the prevalence of PTSD after the earthquake in Iran and Pakistan. The review includes all articles published from inception to March 2019. The pooled prevalence for overall PTSD was 55.6% (95% CI: 49.9-61.3). It was 60.2% (95% CI: 54.1-66.3) and 49.2% (95% CI: 39.4-59) for Iranian and Pakistani survivors, respectively. Women experienced higher incidence of PTSD than men. The variation of PTSD based on the clinical interview was lower than the self-report approach. The interval time between the earthquakes and the assessment showed that the prevalence of PTSD decreased over time. The prevalence of PTSD in Iran and Pakistan was higher than the global average, and the rate of the disorder in Iran was higher than in Pakistan. Sex, method of assessment, and time lag between the occurrence of disaster and assessment of PTSD affect the prevalence.

Information Needs of Addicted Individuals: A Qualitative Case Study.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to investigate the information needs of addicts from the perspective of addicts. By identifying the experiences of the individuals involved in addiction and assessing the information they need, targeted educational interventions can be provided to meet their needs. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 addicts in two addiction outpatient clinics. Data were analyzed using the qualitative content analysis approach proposed by Graneheim and Lundman. FINDINGS: The information needs of the interviewees included recognizing types of addictive substances and the degree of dependence on them, awareness of the physical and psychological symptoms of addiction to various addictive substances, awareness of various pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments, physical and psychological symptoms of quitting addiction, awareness of the length of treatment, knowledge about the dose and degree of dependence on drugs, recognizing the causes of failure in quitting addiction, awareness of governmental and non-governmental services, and awareness of the psychological measures and care services necessary after quitting addiction. CONCLUSION: The results of the study showed that the knowledge and awareness of addicted individuals in various fields of addiction is low and it is necessary to provide education based on the information needs of these individuals. This requires the cooperation and efforts of policy makers, the Ministry of Education, welfare managers, and specialists in camps and addiction treatment centers. Specialists in addiction treatment clinics can use the information needs of addicts determined in this study to enrich the education of addicts.

The association between incidence and mortality of brain cancer and human development index (HDI): an ecological study.

BACKGROUND: Brain cancer is a rare and deadly malignancy with a low survival rate. The present study aims to evaluate the epidemiology of brain cancer and its relationship with the human development index (HDI) worldwide. METHODS: This is an ecological study. The data on cancer incidence and cancer mortality was extracted from the World Bank for Cancer in 2018 (GLOBOCAN 2018). The incidence, mortality rate, and brain cancer distribution maps were drawn for different countries. We used correlation and regression tests to examine the association of incidence and mortality rates of brain cancer with HDI. The statistical analysis was carried out by Stata-14 and a significance level of 0.05 was considered. RESULTS: According to the results of Global Cancer Registry in 2018, there were 18,078,957 registered cases of cancer in both sexes, of which 29,681 were related to brain cancer. The highest incidence (102,260 cases, 34.4%) and mortality (77,815 cases, 32.3%) belonged to very high HDI regions. Results showed that incidence (r = 0.690, P < 0.0001) and mortality rates (r = 0.629, P < 0.001) of brain cancer are significantly correlated with HDI. We also observed a positive correlation between brain cancer incidence and Gross National Income (GNI) (r = 0.346, P < 0.001), Mean Years of Schooling (MYS) (r = 0.64, P < 0.001), TABLE (LEB) (r = 0.66, P < 0.001) and Expected Years of Schooling (EYS) (r = 0.667, P < 0.001). Results also revealed that mortality rate was significantly correlated with GNI (r = 0.28, P < 0.01), MYS (r = 0.591, P < 0.01), LEB (r = 0.624, P < 0.01), and EYS (r = 0.605, P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The results of the study showed that the incidence and mortality of brain cancer in countries with higher HDI levels is higher than countries with lower HDI levels, so attention to risk factors and action to reduce it in countries with higher HDI levels in controlling this cancer in this Countries are effective.

Incidence trend of breast Cancer in women of eastern Mediterranean region countries from 1998 to 2019: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: This study was conducted to provide evidence on the current status of breast cancer and its incidence trend in Eastern Mediterranean Region during 1998-2019. Also, this study aimed to investigate the association between the incidence of breast cancer and Human Development Index and some factors related to this index, including total fertility rate, and obesity, using a meta-analysis. METHOD: Data on incidence of breast cancer were collected from various sources, including PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and WHO, from 1998 to 2019 using systematic review and meta-analysis. Pooled age standardized rate was calculated based on study duration and quality of data using a subgroup analysis and random effect meta-analysis. RESULTS: A total of 80 studies (545 data points) were analyzed. Pooled age standardized rate of breast cancer for Eastern Mediterranean Region was 37.1 per 100,000 person-year (95% confidence interval [CI], 34.5, 39.8) during 2011-2019. age standardized rate of breast cancer had an upward trend in Eastern Mediterranean Region from 2005 to 2019. However, the increasing trend was found to be slightly different in various regions based on quality of data. Moreover, pooled age standardized rate had a significant association with Human Development Index [- 89.2 (95% CI, - 119.8, - 58.7)] and obesity [1.2 (95% CI, 0.9, 1.5)]. CONCLUSION: Pooled age standardized rate of breast cancer in Eastern Mediterranean Region was lower than the global average. Also, the age standardized rate value and its incremental trend have been higher in countries with high-quality data than in other countries of this region in recent years. Data quality or physiological factors, such as increase in obesity rates, could be the reasons for this incremental trend.

The Effectiveness of Mobile Phone Text Messaging in Improving Medication Adherence for Patients with Chronic Diseases: A Systematic Review.

CONTEXT: Medication non-adherence is a commonly observed problem in the self-administration of treatment, regardless of the disease type. Text messaging reminders, as electronic reminders, provide an opportunity to improve medication adherence. In this study, we aimed to provide evidence addressing the question of whether text message reminders were effective in improving patients' adherence to medication. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: We carried out a systematic literature search, using the five electronic bibliographic databases: PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and the Cochrane central register of controlled trials. Studies were included on the basis of whether they examined the benefits and effects of short-message service (SMS) interventions on medication adherence. RESULTS: The results of this systematic review indicated that text messaging interventions have improved patients' medication adherence rate (85%, 29.34). Included in the review, those who had problems with adherence, or those whom text messaging was most helpful had HIV, asthma, diabetes, schizophrenia and heart disease (73.5%). The period of intervention varied from 1 week to 14 months. The most common study design was randomized controlled trials (RCTs) (66%) carried out in the developed countries. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated the potential of mobile phone text messaging for medication non-adherence problem solving.