[Mindfulness-based stress reduction group training on depression, anxiety, stress, self-confidence and hemoglobin A1c in young women with type 2 diabetes]

Introduction: About 20-40% of people with diabetes experience varying levels of distress and general symptoms of anxiety and depression. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction group training on depression, anxiety, stress, self-confidence and hemoglobin A1c in young women with type 2 diabetes

Materials and Methods:In this pretestposttest- control group design study, we used instruments such as demographic data and depression, anxiety and stress [DASS-21] and the Rosenberg self-confidence questionnaires. The study population included 60 patients with diabetes randomly divided into 2, the experimental and control groups. The experimental group received the mindfulness intervention with 8 sessions each 2.5 hours while the control group received no intervention. Following this, during the ninth, session both groups again completed the questionnaires

Results: Patients in experimental group reported lower levels intensity of anxiety, stress and HbA1C, but higher self-confidence in comparison to the controls after intervention [P<0.05], although differences in levels of the depression variable between two groups was not significant. In addition, between HbA1c and all variables, [depression, stress, self-confidence] significant correlations were observed

Conclusion: Results suggest that depression, anxiety, stress and self- confidence are associated with HbA1C level and a mindfulness-based stress reduction program can be effective in reducing the psychological symptoms in these patients, leading to increased confidence and improved glycemic control in women with type 2 diabetes

Preventing unnecessary invasive cancer-diagnostic tests: changing the cut-off points

To determine a cut-off point of tPSA and PSAD to prevent unnecessary invasive cancer-diagnosing tests in the community. This study was performed on 688 consecutive patients referred to our center due to prostatism, suspicious lesions on digital rectal examination and/or elevated serum PSA levels. All patients underwent transrectal ultrasound guided biopsies and obtained PSAD. Serum levels of tPSA and fPSA were measured by chemiluminescence. Comparisons were done using tests of accuracy [AUC-ROC]. Prostate cancer was detected in 334 patients, whereas the other 354 patients were suffering from benign prostate diseases. The mean tPSA in case and control groups were 28.32 +/- 63.62 ng/ml and 7.14 +/- 10.04 ng/ml; the mean f/tPSA ratios were 0.13 +/- 0.21 and 0.26 +/- 0.24 in PCa and benign prostate disease groups; the mean PSAD rates were 0.69 +/- 2.24, 0.12 +/- 0.11, respectively. Statistically significant differences were found [P<0.05]. Using ROC curve analysis, it was revealed that AUC was 0.78 for tPSA and 0.80 for f/tPSA. Sensitivity was 71% for the cut-off value of 7.85ng/ml. For f/tPSA ratio, the optimal cut-off value was 0.13 which produced the sensitivity of 81.4% and for PSAD, it was15%. As this trial is different from the European and American values, we should be more cautious in dealing with the prostate cancer upon the obtained sensitivity and specificity for PCa diagnosis [7.85ng/mL fortPSA, 15% for PSAD and 0.13 for f/tPSA ratio]