The effect of e-health interventions on meeting the needs of individuals with infertility: a narrative review.

Background: The mental health and well-being of millions of people worldwide are negatively impacted by infertility. A promising solution to meet the needs of people suffering from infertility is e-health interventions, such as online counseling and support groups. This study aims to review the current literature on e-health interventions and how they impact people with infertility. Main body of the abstract: Relevant studies were searched in PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases. Articles were entered into the EndNote software and screened for duplicates and relevance. Two authors then reviewed full-text articles independently, with a third person resolving any disagreements. Thirteen studies conducted between 2007 and 2022 were identified. The interventions aimed to meet various needs, including training on drug use (n = 23), lifestyle modifications (n = 1), periconceptional behavior modifications (n = 1), drug management (n = 1), IVF training (n = 4), psychological support to reduce distress (n = 4), and promoting a positive sexual self-concept (n = 1). Short conclusion: The limited number of e-health interventions for infertile patients, the heterogeneity of interventions, and the lack of long-term effectiveness data make it challenging to compare e-health interventions to nonelectronic alternatives. However, the increasing use of technology in healthcare, especially during and after the Covid-19 pandemic, suggests that e-health educational interventions such as those using the Internet, psychological support, and patient interaction will continue to play a crucial role in healthcare. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s43043-023-00137-7.

Effect of acupressure at the BL67 spot on the spontaneous rotation of fetus with breech presentation: A randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Breech is a common fetal presentation in preterm pregnancies. This study aimed to investigate the effect of acupressure at the BL67 point on the spontaneous rotation of fetus with breech presentation. METHODS: An unblind, two-armed randomized controlled trial was carried out from September 2017 to April 2020. Research participants were 138 pregnant women at 32 to 35 weeks of gestational age that had fetal breech presentation confirmed by ultrasound. They were randomly assigned into intervention and control groups (n=69 in each group). The intervention group received acupressure at the BL67 point on both feet for 10 minutes daily and for two consecutive weeks. The control group received routine care. Demographic and midwifery data questionnaires were used for data collection. RESULTS: The spontaneous rotation of fetus with breech presentation into cephalic was observed in the majority of participants in the intervention group (82.6%) compared to the control group (17.4%) (p<0.001). Statistically significant differences in the fetal presentation at delivery was observed between the groups (84.1% cephalic vs. 18.8% breech, p<0.001). Regarding the type of delivery, cesarean section was reported mostly (85.5%) in the control group compared to the intervention group (21.7%) (p<0.001). However, the first- and fifth-minute Apgar scores of newborns had no statistically significant differences between the groups (p=0.773). CONCLUSION: It is suggested to incorporate acupressure at the BL67 point into the care process for pregnant women to help with the reduction of the rate of cesarean section and avoid its related complications.

The effects of Lavender and Chamomile essential oil inhalation aromatherapy on depression, anxiety and stress in older community-dwelling people: A randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Considering the prevalence of mental health problems in older adults, this study aims to investigate the effect of inhalation aromatherapy using lavender and chamomile essential oils on depression, anxiety, and stress of community-dwelling older people. METHODS: A three-armed, parallel, randomized, and controlled trial design was used in this study. 183 participants were enrolled and randomly assigned to three groups (n = 61): the lavender, chamomile, and control groups. The participants in the experimental groups inhaled three drops of 1.5% lavender and chamomile essential oils for 30 nights. The participants in the control group inhaled only distilled water in a similar fashion. Data were collected using the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress-Scale (DASS) at baseline, immediately after the intervention, and one month after the intervention. Chi-square, Fisher's exact, one-way ANOVA, and repeated measures ANOVA were used for data analysis. RESULTS: Statistically significant improvement occurred in depression, anxiety, and stress levels immediately and one month after the intervention in lavender and chamomile groups compared to the control group (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Inhalation aromatherapy with both lavender and chamomile essential oils helped decrease depression, anxiety, and stress levels in community-dwelling older adults.

The prevalence of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and its related risk factors among children at elementary school in Shahroud.

BACKGROUND: Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common reasons for visiting psychiatrists and psychologists. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of ADHD and its related risk factors among children at elementary schools. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study focused on teachers and parents of 779 elementary students who were selected through stratified cluster random sampling; Conners Parent and Teacher Questionnaires were used to collecting data. The data were analyzed by the use of descriptive statistics (frequency and percentage), independent samples t-test, Chi-square, one-way ANOVA, and linear regression. The significant level was set at 0.05. RESULTS: According to teachers' responses, the prevalence of ADHD among students in elementary schools was 4.4%, whereas parents reported a prevalence of 0.5%. There was a significant relationship between childhood ADHD and marital status of parents, fathers' smoking habits, previous experience of living in rural areas, children's previous history of having diseases and using the medicine, previous history of ADHD, and psychological problems in the family. CONCLUSIONS: According to the study, teachers and parents suffer from a lack of knowledge about ADHD. Thus, the educational workshops and programs should be held for teachers, parents, and counselors to inform them about the procedures for timely diagnosis and treatment of ADHD.

The effects of psychosexual counseling on sexual quality of life and function in Iranian breast cancer survivors: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Considering different dimensions of life, special sex life for survivors of breast cancer (BC) is important because their life expectancy has increased. OBJECTIVE: We designed this study to improve the sexual function, satisfaction and quality of sexual life. METHODS: In a randomized controlled clinical trial study, from a total 286 breast cancer survivors (BCS), 118 women enrolled to the study. After providing informed consent, the participants were randomly assigned either to the intervention group or to the waitlist control group. The intervention consisted of six weekly psychosexual counseling sessions that lasted from 90 to 120 min. Data were collected by the demographic and clinical forms, Beck Depression Inventory, Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), Larson Sexual Satisfaction Questionnaire and sexual quality of life-female (SQOL-F) questionnaire. RESULTS: Mean age of patients in control and intervention groups were 43.8 ± 6.6 and 44.84 ± 6.7, respectively. More than 65% of the patients in the both groups were either normal or showed a low level of depression. Sexual function (FSFI) scores and sexual quality of life (SQOL-F), showed a significant statistic differences after intervention (P < 0.001 in both tools). Sexual satisfaction (Larson) has showed improvement in some subclasses, however, change in total score was not statistically significant (P = 0.073). CONCLUSIONS: The psychosexual intervention program was effective in improving sexual function and quality of sexual life among BCS. This intervention has clinical significance as it provided an opportunity for the women to discuss their sexual issues.

Self-medication and its risk factors among women before and during pregnancy.

INTRODUCTION: Self-medication can cause significant challenges for the individuals and community, especially in women during pregnancy. This study was aimed to compare the prevalence of self-medication before and during pregnancy among women in Iran. METHODS: in this cross-sectional study, a total of 384 pregnant women were evaluated for the prevalence of self-medication and its associated factors before and during pregnancy. Stratified random sampling was used as the sampling method. Descriptive statistics and chi-square and logistic regression tests were used for statistical analysis of data. RESULTS: The results showed that the prevalence of self-medication, in women who had become ill at least once, was 63.9% before pregnancy and 43.5% and during pregnancy. Variables such as lack of insurance, high school education and not having a child increased odds ratio of self-medication before pregnancy, while the variables of lack of insurance, not having a child or fewer number of children and no history of abortion increased the odds ratio of self-medication during pregnancy. CONCLUSION: Although the prevalence of self-medication during pregnancy was less than that before pregnancy, but this prevalence during pregnancy was still significant. Therefore, it seems necessary to provide public trainings for all women of reproductive age and train them about the dangers and side effects of self-medication.

The effect of cognitive-behavioural and solution-focused counselling on prevention of postpartum depression in nulliparous pregnant women.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of cognitive-behavioural approach and solution-focused counselling on prevention of postpartum depression in nulliparous pregnant women. BACKGROUND: Maternity blues is a common disorder and postpartum depression is a serious disorder. Therefore, the use of preventive measures and timely intervention is of particular importance. METHODS: In this randomised clinical trial, 85 nulliparous pregnant women at 30-35 weeks were randomly divided into three groups: cognitive-behavioural counselling (n = 25), solution-focused counselling (n = 25) and control (n = 35). Counselling meetings were held on a weekly basis. The cognitive-behavioural group received four sessions of counselling and the solution-focused group received three sessions of counselling. The control group received only routine pregnancy healthcare services. Maternity blues and postpartum depression were, respectively, measured on postpartum days 5 and 15 through the Austin Inventory and Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. The mean scores of the three groups were compared using one-way ANOVA. RESULTS: The results of this study showed that the maternity blues mean scores of the three groups of cognitive-behavioural counselling, solution-focused counselling and control groups were 6.1 ± 4.6, 4.2 ± 3.6 and 6.7 ± 4.9, respectively, and the difference between the scores was significant. The mean scores of postnatal depression on the 15th postpartum day in the three groups were 6.7 ± 5.3, 4.4 ± 4.4 and 10.4 ± 5.9, respectively. The results showed that cognitive-behavioural and solution-focused counselling significantly reduced the maternity blues and postpartum depression scores compared with the control group and no difference was observed between the scores of these two counselling methods. The odds ratio of being depressed in women with maternity blues was 7.6 (95% CI: 2.1-27.5). CONCLUSION: Integration of solution-focused and cognitive-behavioural counselling programmes in prenatal care can be effective for improving the mental health of pregnant women.

Evaluation of Oral Ginger Efficacy against Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting: A Randomized, Double - Blinded Clinical Trial.

BACKGROUND: Postoperative nausea and vomiting is one of the most common side effects associated with surgical procedures. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of ginger on intensity of nausea and vomiting after surgical procedures. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study was a randomized, double blinded, clinical trial. 160 eligible patients were randomly assigned into experimental or placebo groups. The experimental group received 4 capsules containing 250 mg ginger and placebo group received 4 placebo capsules 1 hour before surgery. The severity of nausea and vomiting was measured at 2, 4, 6 hours post operation using visual analogue scale and a structured questionnaire. The data were analyzed by independent t - test, Mann-Whitney U test, chi -square and GEE using SPSS 16 and STATA version 11. RESULTS: Mean nausea score at 2 hours post operation was significantly lower in the experimental group (P= 0.04). Mean nausea score at 4 and 6 hours post operation was lower in the experimental group; however, there was no significant difference between the groups at any time post operation. The frequencies of nausea in the experimental group at 2 and 6 hours post operation were lower than that in the placebo group, however, at 2 hours post operation, it was borderline significant (P = 0.05) There was no significant differences between two group in the intensity of vomiting at any time. CONCLUSIONS: Use of ginger was effective at decreasing postoperative nausea. Ginger could be used as a safe antiemetic drug at post operation.

Effect of herbal therapy to intensity chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in cancer patients.

BACKGROUND: Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting are the most important complications for cancer patients as its prevalence has been reported to be about 54-96 percent. ginger has been used for medicinal purposes including nausea and vomiting in traditional Persian, Chinese and Indian pharmacopoeia. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of complimentary ginger among cancer patients experiencing nausea and vomiting. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A randomized cross-over clinical trial was carried out on patients under chemotherapy treatment for at least 2 episodes of chemotherapy and at least 2 episodes of previous experience of nausea and vomiting. Subjects of this study received 2 different complementary regimes with 250mg ginger capsule in regime A and placebo capsule in regime B. subjects of the study were crossed over to receive the other regime during the two cycles of chemotherapy. RESULTS: Findings of the study indicated that subjects receiving ginger showed significant reduction in frequency and intensity of nausea and vomiting compared to placebo receiving subjects. CONCLUSIONS: According to finding of this study, in accordance to most of other researches, ginger is an effective agent to reduce chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. However, there are some researches supporting ginger as a moderate antiemetic agent among cancerous patients under chemotherapy.

Effects of LI4 acupressure on labor pain in the first stage of labor.

INTRODUCTION: Complementary and alternative medicines have been used to decrease labor pain for many years. Despite reports that some of these methods reduce pain, increase maternal satisfaction, and improve other obstetric outcomes, they have received limited attention in the US medical literature. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of LI4 acupressure on labor pain in the first stage of labor, on labor duration, and on patient satisfaction. METHODS: A single, blind, randomized clinical trial was performed with eligible women (N = 100) who were at the beginning of the active phase of labor (3-4 cm dilatation of cervix with regular uterine contractions). The women in the acupressure group (n = 50) received LI4 acupressure at the onset of the active phase for the duration of each uterine contraction over a period of 20 minutes, and the women in the control group (n = 50) received a touch on this point without massage. Labor pain was measured using a structured questionnaire of a subjective labor pain scale (visual analogue scale) before the intervention, immediately after the intervention, 20 and 60 minutes after the intervention, and then every hour. RESULTS: There were significant differences between the groups in subjective labor pain scores immediately and 20, 60, and 120 minutes after intervention (P ≤ .001). Active phase duration (3-4 cm dilatation to full dilatation) and second stage duration (full dilatation to birth) were shorter in the acupressure group. The women in the acupressure group reported greater satisfaction. DISCUSSION: LI4 acupressure was effective at decreasing pain and duration of labor. The participants were satisfied, and no adverse effects were noted.