Heat waves and adaptation: A global systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Given the increasing trend of global warming and extreme weather conditions, including heat waves and its effects on health, the present study was done to investigate adaptive behaviors of communities in the world for combating heat waves. METHOD: ology: In this systematic review, out of 1529 results, 57 relevant and authoritative English papers on adaptation to heat waves hazard were extracted and evaluated using valid keywords from valid databases (PubMed, WOS, EMBASE, and Scopus). In addition, multiple screening steps were done and then, the selected papers were qualitatively assessed. Evaluation results were summarized using an Extraction Table. RESULTS: In this paper, the adaptive behaviors for combating heat waves hazard were summarized into 11 categories: Education and awareness raising, Adaptation of critical infrastructure, Governments measures, Health-related measures, Application of early warning system, Protective behaviors in workplace, Physical condition, Adaptive individual behaviors, Design and architecture of the building, Green infrastructure (green cover), and Urban design. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study showed that community actions have significant effects on adaptation to heat wave. Therefore, for reducing heat wave-related negative health effects and vulnerability, more attention should be paid to the above-mentioned actions for mitigation, preparation, and responding regarding heat waves. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42021257747.

Diurnal temperature range and hospital admission due to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases in Dezful, a city with hot climate and high DTR fluctuation in Iran: an ecological time-series study.

The results of previous studies have indicated the effects of temperature changes on health status. The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of diurnal temperature range (DTR) and hospital admission on cardiovascular and respiratory diseases in Dezful, in Iran. In this ecological time-series study, data related to hospital admissions based on ICD-10, meteorological, and climatological data were gathered over a period of six years from 2014 to 2019. A distributed lag nonlinear model combined with a quasi-Poisson regression was then used to assess the impact of DTR on cardiovascular and respiratory hospital admissions. Potential confounders, including wind speed, air pollution, seasonality, time trend, weekends and holidays, days of week, and humidity were controlled. In extreme low DTRs, the cumulative effects of cardiovascular admissions significantly increased in total, and in warm and cold seasons (Lag0-21, P ≤ 0.05). In addition, in extreme high DTRs, the cumulative effects of cardiovascular significantly decreased in total (Lag0-13 and Lag0-21, P ≤ 0.05), and in warm (Lag0-21, P ≤ 0.05) and cold seasons (Lag0-21, P ≤ 0.05). Moreover, respiratory admissions significantly decreased in total (Lag0-21, P ≤ 0.05) and in warm season (Lag0-21, P ≤ 0.05).Our result indicates that extreme low DTRs could increase the risk of daily cardiovascular admissions, and extreme high DTRs may cause a protective effect on daily respiratory and cardiovascular admissions in some regions with high fluctuations in DTR.

The practices of heat adaptation among elderly in Dezful: A qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Useful experiences of the elderly in adapting to the environment may play an important role in formulating future policies. This study was conducted to explain the past experiences of the elderly in Dezful in adapting to heat. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was conducted with a qualitative research approach and a qualitative content analysis method in 2020 and 2021. The experiences of 18 elderly in Dezful were collected through semi-structured interviews via recording, face-to-face interviews, and data observation. Sampling was performed by the purpose-based method, and the data of this stage were analyzed using a content analysis approach using the Zhang and Wildemuth method. RESULTS: During the data analysis process, three main themes were extracted, including psychophysiological, socioeconomic, and environmental adaptation. Also, twelve subthemes including changes in physiological conditions, urban architecture, house architecture, diet, clothing, business conditions, mindset, life conditions, and the use of factors (spirituality, experience, and natural capacities) were extracted. CONCLUSION: Explaining the experiences of the elderly in Dezful, who have lived with heat for many years, can provide better identification of solutions and more tangible experiences of adaptation to heat for other communities. These experiences can be used in urban, cultural, and social planning.

Heat wave adaptation paradigm and adaptation strategies of community: A qualitative phenomenological study in Iran.

BACKGROUND: Heat wave adaptation is a new concept related to experiencing heat. The present study aims at investigating a conceptual definition, that is, the mental framework of heat wave adaptation and its strategies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A phenomenological study was performed to explain the mental concept. At the same time with the data collection process, data analysis was also performed using Colaizzi method. Semi-structured interview method and purposeful sampling with maximum variety were used. Interviews were conducted with 23 different subjects in the community. The accuracy of the data was guaranteed using Lincoln & Guba scientific accuracy criteria. RESULTS: The two main themes of the adaptation paradigm as well as its strategies were divided into the main categories of theoretical and operational concepts, as well as personal care measures and government measures. Under the category of individual measures, we obtained "clothing, nutrition, building, place of residence and lifestyle," and under the category of governance actions, the "managerial, research, health, organizational" subcategories were obtained. CONCLUSION: According to the results of the conceptual-operational definition, heat wave adaptation is an active process and an effort to reduce the adverse effects of heat waves on individual and social life, and striking a balance that will not only result in individual awareness and actions that will lead to lifestyle changes, but also mostly requires integrated and comprehensive planning in the community. On the one hand, heat waves could not only be regarded as a threat or danger, but can also become an opportunity for the development of a community through identification and smart measures, and for adaptation, the community must take it as a risk. The community should have a plan in advance, apply the necessary rules and training, and use the new facilities and rules where necessary. This practical concept definition includes the main features of heat wave adaptation.

Relationship between spiritual health and hope by dietary adherence in haemodialysis patients in 2018.

Aim: The present study aimed to determine the relationship between spiritual well-being and hope through adherence to diet in haemodialysis patients referred to the dialysis centre. Design: This research was a cross-sectional study of a descriptive-analytical type conducted on 120 patients undergoing haemodialysis in a haemodialysis centre of a hospital affiliated to Dezful University of Medical Sciences using the census method. Method: The data were collected using a questionnaire and through the laboratory information included in the patient's records. The data collection tools were a demographic information questionnaire, the Ellison and Paloutzian spiritual well-being scale (SWBS), the Hope-Herth questionnaire and the objective laboratory criteria (phosphorus, potassium). This included the weight difference between the two dialysis sessions from the record to examine the adherence to the diet. Results: The results indicate there to be a significant relationship between hope and spiritual well-being with the objective criteria of the adherence to the diet in dialysis patients (p = .001).

Correlation between ways of coping and quality of life in Iranian husbands of women with breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: Palliative nursing care provides the best possible quality of life (QoL) for patients who face life-threatening conditions, such as breast cancer, and their families. It seems that coping with breast cancer can affect couples' QoL. Hence, this study aimed to assess the potential role of ways of coping (WOC) in QoL among husbands of women with breast cancer. METHOD: In this cross-sectional study, 150 men whose wives were affected by non-metastatic breast cancer and were at least 4 months post-diagnosis, were recruited. The Persian version of the WOC questionnaire (WOCQ) and the World Health Organization's QoL brief questionnaire (WHOQoL-BREF) were used to measure WOC and QoL. ThePearson correlation test was applied to assess bivariate correlation of the variables. RESULTS: A significant direct correlation was found between the total WHOQoL-BREF score and all subscales of WOCQ, except escape-avoidance coping (r=-0.017, P=0.830). Most dimensions of the WHOQoL-BREF and WOCQ subscales were correlated significantly and directly. Nevertheless, escape-avoidance coping had a significant indirect correlation with the physical dimension of WHOQoL-BREF (r=-0.220, P=0.007). CONCLUSIONS: Findings indicated a need for coping-based interventions in palliative nursing to improve QoL in husbands of women with breast cancer.

Evaluating the Effect of Monitoring through Telephone (Tele-Monitoring) on Self-Care Behaviors and Readmission of Patients with Heart Failure after Discharge.

BACKGROUND: Heart failure is one of the serious cardiovascular diseases, which poses a global pandemic and places a heavy burden on health care systems worldwide. The incidence of this disease in Iran is higher than in other Asian countries. To reduce patients' complications, readmission rates, and health care expenditures, it is necessary to design interventions, which are culturally appropriate and based on community needs. METHODS: In 2016, a randomized clinical trial (IRCT2017010731804N1) was initiated to compare tailored tele-monitoring intervention with usual care. In total, 80 patients completed the study after a follow-up period of 8 weeks. The primary end point was heart failure self-care, which was measured using the Iranian version of the European Heart Failure self-care questionnaire. Secondary end points were heart failure related readmission rates. RESULTS: The mean scores for self-care behaviors of the two groups showed significant difference at the baseline (p = 0.045). The results of the analysis of covariance that was used to control the differences in the pretest scores of self-care behaviors showed that the difference between both groups after the intervention was still significant (p < 0.001). The percentage of patients' readmissions in the intervention group (20%) was less than that in the control group (42.2%); however, the results were not statistically significant (p = 0/066). CONCLUSION: This study showed that tele-monitoring improved self-care behaviors in Iranian patients with heart failure but did not reduce their readmission rates.

Cardiovascular and respiratory emergency dispatch due to short-term exposure to ambient PM10 in Dezful, Iran.

Introduction: This study was conducted to determine the relation between exposure to particulate matter less than 10 microns (PM10) caused by dust storms and the risk of cardiovascular, respiratory and traffic accident missions carried out by Emergency Medical Services (EMS). Methods: This was a time-series study conducted in Dezful city, Iran. Daily information on the number of missions by the EMS due to cardiovascular, respiratory and crash problems and data on PM10 were inquired from March 2013 until March 2016. A generalized linear model (GLM) with distributed lag models (DLMs) was used to evaluate the relation between the number of EMS missions and the average daily PM10. The latent effects of PM10 were estimated in single and cumulative lags, up to 14 days. Results: In the adjusted model, for each IQR increase in the average daily PM10 concentration, the risk of EMS missions in the total population in single lags of 2 to 7 days, and the cumulative lags of 0-7 and 0-14 days after exposure had a 0.8, 0.8, 0.8, 0.8, 0.7, 0.6, 6.7 and 1.4% significant increase. Also, for each IQR increase in the daily mean concentration of PM10 in single 1 to 7, and cumulative lags of 0-2, 0-7, and 0-14 days after exposure, respectively, a 2.4, 2.7, 2.8, 2.9, 2.9, 2.7, 2.5, 7.4, 23.5 and 33. 3 % increase was observed in the risk of EMS cardiovascular missions. Conclusion: Increase in daily PM10 concentrations in Dezful is associated with an increase in the risk of EMS missions in lags up to two weeks after exposure.

Effects of topical sesame (Sesamum indicum) oil on the pain severity of chemotherapy-induced phlebitis in patients with colorectal cancer: A randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Chemotherapy-induced phlebitis (CIP) is one of the most important and common complications in patients with cancer. Currently, the use of complementary methods to prevent or alleviate phlebitis symptoms has attracted great attention. In this study, we aimed to assess the effects of topical sesame oil in reducing the pain severity of CIP. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This randomized clinical trial was conducted on 60 patients with colorectal cancer afflicted with CIP. Patients received, twice a day for seven consecutive days, a 5-min massage solely (as the control group) or with 10 drops of sesame oil (as the experimental group) within the 10 cm radius of the affected site. The pain severity was evaluated by the visual analog scale on the first, third, fifth, and seventh days of the intervention. RESULTS: Mean changes of the pain severity compared to the baseline were significant on the third (P = 0.009), fifth (P < 0.001), and seventh (P < 0.001) days of the intervention in favor of the experimental group. Also, a significant reduction in the pain severity both in the experimental and control groups was observed during the seven days (F = 720.66, Ptime < 0.001); however, the decrease was more significant in the experimental group (F = 21.46, Pgroup < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Application of massage with sesame oil as a complementary method is effective in reducing the pain severity of patients with CIP.

Triage live lecture versus triage video podcast in pre-hospital students' education.

INTRODUCTION: Triage is the process of determining the priority of patients' treatments based on the severity of their conditions. The aim of the present study was to survey the effect of triage video podcasting on the knowledge and performance of pre-hospital students. METHODS: Sixty pre-hospital students were randomly divided into two groups of a 30-subject control group and a 30-subject intervention group. A pre-test was administered among all students. Afterwards, for the first group, triage education was offered through lectures using PowerPoint, while for the second group, audio and video podcasts tailored for this training program were employed. Right after the training as well as one month later, post-tests were run for both groups, and the results were analysed using an independent t-test and covariance. RESULTS: No significant difference was observed between the effects of both types of education on knowledge and performance, either immediately, or one month after training. DISCUSSION: We suggest that video podcasts are ready to replace traditional teaching methods in triage.

Triage live lecture versus triage video podcast in pre-hospital students' education

Introduction: Triage is the process of determining the priority of patients' treatments based on the severity of their conditions. The aim of the present study was to survey the effect of triage video podcasting on the knowledge and performance of pre-hospital students. Methods: Sixty pre-hospital students were randomly divided into two groups of a 30-subject control group and a 30-subject intervention group. A pre-test was administered among all students. Afterwards, for the first group, triage education was offered through lectures using PowerPoint, while for the second group, audio and video podcasts tailored for this training program were employed. Right after the training as well as one month later, post-tests were run for both groups, and the results were analysed using an independent t-test and covariance.R Results : No significant difference was observed between the effects of both types of education on knowledge and performance, either immediately, or one month after training. Discussion: We suggest that video podcasts are ready to replace traditional teaching methods in triage