Quality of life in Iranian elderly population using the SF-36 questionnaire: systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Ageing is a major known risk factor that is a threat to human health. To date, many studies have investigated quality of life (QOL) among the elderly population in the Islamic Republic of Iran. However, their results were inconsistent. AIMS: We designed this systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the overall mean score of QOL based on the Short Form 36 Health Survey Questionnaire (SF-36) among the Iranian elderly population. METHODS: We searched international databases (Medline, Scopus and Science Direct) and national databases (Science In-formation Database, MagIran, IranMedex and Irandoc) up to February 2015. We included all cross-sectional studies that evaluated QOL among the Iranian elderly population using SF-36. RESULTS: Of 2150 studies identified, 15 were included in the meta-analysis. The mean scores for QOL in the 8 scales were: 47.58, 51.75, 55.42, 55.78, 59.55, 51.54, 47.85 and 51.31 for physical-role, physical function, mental health, bodily pain, social functioning, emotional-role, general health, and vitality, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicated that health-related QOL decreased with increasing age. QOL was worse in women than in men, especially in physical-role and general health scales. Elderly people who lived in a nursing home had lower QOL than those who lived in their own home. So, health policy-makers should design comprehensive programmes to improve health-related QOL for the Iranian elderly population.

The Prevalence and risk factors of osteoporosis among the elderly in Hamadan province: A cross sectional study.

Background: Osteoporosis is the most common metabolic bone disease and is a public health issue, particularly among the elderly, across the world. Given the significance of the disease in causing disability and, in particular, its dangers in old age, we aimed to examine osteoporosis and its determinant factors among the elderly. Methods: We conducted a cross sectional study in the province of Hamadan from September 2015 to March 2016 on all the elderly men and women covered by 'Integrated and Comprehensive Elderly Care Program'. The data required for this study was collected through an aging health care checklist. To estimate the adjusted association of potential risk factors and other confounding variables of osteoporosis, multiple logistic regression was used at a significance level of 5%. Results: In this cross sectional study, 1779 elderly men and women aged 6o years and over were studied. The prevalence of osteoporosis was 7.99% (95%CI:7.79-8.18), which was higher among women than in men (8.08% vs. 7.83%). The factors that raised the probability of osteoporosis were as follow: aging (OR= 1.05, 95% CI: 1.02-1.07, p<0.001), low education (OR=1.96, 95% CI:1.02-3.84, p=0.04), living in urban areas (OR=2.82, 95% CI:1.93-4.11, p<0.001), smoking (OR=2.39, 95% CI:1.42-4.04, p<0.001), and family history of osteoporosis (OR=1.95, 95% CI:1.07-3.54, p=0.03). Conclusion: Based on our results, aging, low education level, living in urban areas, being a cigarette smoker, and having a family history of osteoporosis were all predicting factors for osteoporosis among the elderly.

The experiences of the elderly regarding the use of rehabilitation assistive technologies: a directed qualitative content analysis.

PURPOSE: The elderly population faces reduced levels of health and performance, which necessitates the use of rehabilitation assistive technologies to maximize functional independence in daily activities. This study aimed to explain the experiences of the elderly regarding the use of rehabilitation assistive technologies based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology. METHODS: The present study was a qualitative study of the type of content analysis that was conducted in the city of Hamadan in 2022. Participants included 20 elderly aged 60 years or above who were selected as a purposive sample and subjected to individual semi-structured in-depth interviews. Data were analyzed using directed qualitative content analysis based on Hsieh and Shannon's approach. Data were coded using MAXQDA software (MAXQDA Analytics Pro 2020, VERBI GmbH Berlin). RESULTS: According to the results, 260 primary codes were extracted, and they were classified into five predetermined categories of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology, including performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, and behavioral intention, as well as two new categories of technology anxiety and perceived need for technology. After extracting 260 primary codes based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology, 75 sub-categories were identified in 14 main categories. CONCLUSION: The themes obtained from the study indicate the necessity of providing the required conditions to maintain the complete independence and health of the elderly and strengthen their morale. The results can be helpful in the development of support strategies for family members, healthcare providers, and policymakers.

Assistive rehabilitation technologies include low-tech assistive technologies.The use of assistive rehabilitation technologies is a potential solution to improve balance, quality of life, and increase activity and functional independence in the elderly.Since peers play a very important role as technology advocates in the intention to accept and use assistive technologies, the expression of the experiences and views of the elderly can encourage and support the use of assistive rehabilitation technologies by other elderly.This study found that the use of assistive rehabilitation technologies by the elderly is a relatively complex issue with various personal, social, economic, cultural and physical aspects.

Assessment of Met and Unmet Care Needs in Older Adults without Mental Disorders using the Camberwell Assessment of Need for the Elderly: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Physical, psychological, and social changes in the aging lead to new needs in the care of the elderly. The Camberwell Assessment of Need for the Elderly (CANE) evaluates older adults' care needs. This study aimed to assess the types of needs of the elderly using the CANE questionnaire. STUDY DESIGN: A systematic review. METHODS: This systematic review included all cross-sectional studies. International databases, including Web of Sciences, Medline, Scopus, and ProQuest were searched up to June 2021. Such keywords as aged OR ageing OR "older adults" OR "older people" OR "older person" OR elderly, AND need OR "needs assessment" OR "met needs" OR "unmet needs" were used to design the search strategy. A 95% CI was calculated using the exact method, and the meta-analysis of proportion (metaprob) module was used for data analysis. RESULTS: In total, 769 studies were retrieved in this review. At the following stages, 760 articles were excluded upon checking the duplicates; moreover, the titles and abstracts did not meet the eligibility criteria. Finally, nine studies remained. The mean±SD age of 2200 participants was obtained at 78.4±5.9 years. The highest and lowest met needs were related to the physical (45%) and social (21%) dimensions, respectively. Furthermore, the highest unmet needs were observed in the physical and social dimensions (0.07%), and the lowest unmet needs were related to the psychological and environmental dimensions (0.04%). CONCLUSIONS: The CANE is sensitive enough to identify unmet needs in different samples and settings. Therefore, a new care model and appropriate interventions for the elderly can be designed based on the CANE results.

Quality of Life in Elderly Iranian Population Using Leiden-Padua Questionnaire: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

The world population is getting old rapidly; the aging population is the new phenomenon in Iran too. The aim of this meta-analysis was to estimate the overall and subscales mean score of quality of life (QOL) based on the Leiden-Padua (LEIPAD) questionnaire among the elderly population of Iran. The major international and national databases including; Medlin, Scopus, Science Direct, SID, MagIran, IranMedex, and Irandoc was searched. All cross-sectional studies, which measured the QOL among the elderly population in Iran using the LEIPAD questionnaire, were included. Furthermore, we used the following key words, "Quality of life," "aging," "aged," "elderly," and "Iran." Of 2155 records, four articles reminded for the meta-analysis, which involved 628 participants with a mean age of 71.73 ± 4.28 years. The mean scores of QOL in each scale were as follows: 10.80 (9.30-12.31) for physical health, 13.51 (6.81-20.21) for self-care scale, 8.60 (5.07-12.14) for depression and anxiety, 12.48 (10.39-14.58) for cognitive functioning scale, 2.19 (0.67-3.72) for sexual functioning scale, 10.98 (5.87-16.09) for life satisfaction scale, and 5.90 (3.64-8.16) for social desirability scale. This study revealed that the total QOL for the elderly population is relatively low in Iranian society. It is appeared to provide social support, and upgrade their QOL seems to be essential for the elderly population.

Quality of Life in Elderly Iranian Population Using the QOL-brief Questionnaire: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Due to the increase in the elderly population in different societies, their primary needs, physical and mental health, and quality of life, is important. This study aimed to estimate the overall mean score of the QOL based on the Qol-Brief questionnaire in the elderly population of Iran. METHODS: The international and national databases, including; Medline, Scopus, Science Direct, MagIran, and SID were searched up to Feb 2015. All studies, addressed the quality of life among the healthy Iranian elderly population using WHO-QOL-BRIEF questionnaire, were included. The random effect model was used for data analysis and the results were reported with a 95% confidence. RESULTS: Out of 2150 studies, seven studies involved 1366 elderly participants were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled mean score of total QOL was 60.1±4.6. The pooled mean score of quality of life for physical health was 55.13 [51.03, 59.22], for environmental was 51.80 [45.50, 58.10], for psychological was 56.68 [53.29, 60.08] and for the social relationship was 57.82 [55.79, 59.86]. The men had a better status and in two health domains, including; physical and psychological health. CONCLUSION: The results of this study stress the necessity of attention to the quality of life in the domains of physical health (especially in women), and environmental health in the elderly population.

Predictors of miscarriage: a matched case-control study.

OBJECTIVES: The risk factors for miscarriage vary across communities and countries. This study was conducted to investigate the predictors of miscarriage in the west of Iran. METHODS: This matched case-control study was conducted in Hamadan Province from April 2013 to March 2014. Cases were selected from women who had a recent spontaneous abortion and controls were selected from women who had a recent live birth. Two controls were selected for every case and matched for date of pregnancy and area of residence. Multivariate conditional logistic regression analysis was performed and odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. RESULTS: Five hundred fifty cases were compared with 1,091 controls. The OR of miscarriage was 1.58 (95% CI=1.30-1.92) for every five-year increase in age, 0.20 (95% CI=0.14-0.28) for every live birth, and 3.43 (95% CI=2.03-5.79) for a history of previous spontaneous abortion. Compared to nulliparous women, primiparous or multiparous women had an OR of 17.85 (95% CI=6.65-47.91) for miscarriage. There was a strong association between miscarriage and abnormal amniotic status (OR, 2.46; 95% CI, 0.46-13.09) and also abnormal placenta status (OR, 10.44; 95% CI, 0.95-114.92); however, these associations were not statistically significant. No significant associations were observed between miscarriage and body mass index, previous history of stillbirth, low birth weight, congenital anomaly, ectopic pregnancy, impaired thyroid function, or high blood pressure. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that miscarriage is a multifactorial outcome associated with several modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors that may vary among different communities.

Predictors of Unintended Pregnancy among Married Women in Hamadan, Western Iran: A Case-Control Study.

BACKGROUND: Literatures that focus on the risk factors of unintended pregnancy among married women are limited especially in developing countries. The aim of this study was to determine the predictors of unintended pregnancy in a west region of Iran. METHODS: This case-control study was conducted from September to November 2011 in Hamadan City, western Iran. A stratified cluster random sampling method was used for data collection. All participants were enrolled voluntarily into the study including 181 cases and 391 controls. Cases were married women with unintended pregnancy. Controls were married women with planned pregnancy. RESULTS: Of 572 participants, 31 (5.4%) women had not used any methods of contraception prior to the recent pregnancy. The proportion of using ineffective contraceptive methods such as withdrawal was higher in cases than in controls. The most effective predictor of unintended pregnancy was the number of previous alive children so that the risk of unplanned pregnancy increased 3.68 per one child (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: This study introduced several effective predictors for unintended pregnancy among married women which may be useful for family planning programs. The high-risk population should be strongly advised to use highly effective contraceptive methods such as tubal ligation, vasectomy or OCP provided that being used correctly.

Factors associated with mothers' beliefs and practices concerning injury prevention in under five-year children, based on health belief model.

BACKGROUND: Injuries are the first leading but predictable, avoidable and preventable cause of death among under five-year children worldwide. The present study aimed to identify the factors associated with mothers' beliefs and practices concerning injury prevention in under five-year children. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted from August to October 2011 in Hamadan County, the west of Iran, enrolling 580 mothers with at least one under five-year child. The data collection instrument was a questionnaire including 85 questions regarding demographic characteristics; knowledge; practices; Health Belief Model (HBM) constructs; and history of injury occurrence among the children. The reliability of the questionnaire was evaluated by a pilot study using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Data had been collected through interview with mothers, by trained interviewers. RESULTS: Almost 22.59% of mothers reported at least one injury in their under five-year children. Of 131 injuries occurred, 85 cases were mild, 23 cases were moderate, and 23 cases were severe. About 52.67% of injuries occurred in boys, 37.41% in less than one-year children, 73.28% at home, and 61.07% when the children were playing game. Fall (24.28%), burn (20.61%) and poisoning (14.50%) were the common causes of injuries. There was a positive correlation between mothers' practices and knowledge, perceived benefits, cues to action and self-efficacy and a negative correlation between mothers' practices and perceived susceptibility, severity, and barriers. CONCLUSION: Knowledge, perceived severity, perceived barriers, cues to action, and self-efficacy of mothers toward the injuries in children were among the most important predictive constructs, which may be used for planning educating programs.