ABSTRACT
Obesity is a common public health problem reaching epidemic proportions in recent decades. Increased BMI imposes a pro- inflammatory state, releasing factors such as high sensitivity-C reactive protein which is strongly associated with plaque rupture and acute cardiovascular events. Also the prevalence of type 2 diabetes has reached epidemic level. A total of 400 consecutive patients recruited in this cross sectional study from April 2009 to December 2009 who was candidate for coronary angiography. Baseline clinical characteristics and coronary angiography data collected. Data analysis performed using 2-sided independent-sample t-tests. Out of 400 patients recruited in the study 253 were male. Obesity and diabetes observed in 65.7% and 32.5% of these patients respectively. Hypertension was more prevalent in obese patients [p=0.013] while dyslipidemia was not significantly different. The severity of coronary artery lesions were significantly associated with diabetes but not related to obesity [pvalue=0.0001 and 0.316 respectively]. The main finding of this preliminary study was that diabetes is significantly related to severity of coronary artery disease and hypertension and hyperlipidemia is more prevalent in diabetic patients. Moreover, obesity is not significantly related to severity of coronary artery lesions
ABSTRACT
The present study was carried put to assess the efficacy of discharge planning on insight, clinical symptoms and frequency of hospitalization in patients with schizophrenia. In this clinical experiment, 46 inpatients with schizophrenia at hospitals affiliated to Iran University of Medical Sciences, were selected according to inclusion criteria, and were assigned to two experimental and control groups. Discharge planning for the experimental group was designed based upon nursing process, and was carried out for six sessions at the hospital and six sessions at the patients' residence [for three months after discharge]. Data were gathered using demographic questionnaire, patient discharge list, and measurement of insight. Data were analyzed using Friedman tests, independent t-test, chi[2], Mann Whitney U, and McNemar test. The experimental group's insight was higher than the control group at discharge [t=-9.63, p<0.001] and three months after discharge [t=-9.63, p<0.001]. With regard to clinical symptoms, the experimental group was better compared to the control group at discharge [t=-7.34, p<0.00l] and three months after discharge [t=-14.67, p<0.00l]. Also, regarding hospitalization, there was significant difference in the experimental group between before and three months after hospitalization; however, the difference was not significant in the control group. A more favourable insight, decrease in clinical symptoms, and a decrease in the frequency of hospitalization are among the benefits of discharge program, which deserve special attention, regarding high rate of relapse and re-admission of patients with schizophrenia, and the high budget allocated to the care and treatment of these patients