Pain characteristics of older residents in Iranian nursing homes

Background: Pain is a common complaint among the aging population, particularly among the older residents of nursing homes.

Aims: The main aim of the study was to examine the pain characteristics among older residents of nursing homes in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. The sample consisted of 394 older adults admitted to Tehran nursing homes. To gather the required data, Brief Pain Inventory and Abbreviated Mental Test score were used.

Results: 51% of the female and 26% of the male participants suffered from pain. Lower extremity and lower part of back were the most frequently affected. Pain interfered with general activity [P < 0.001], mood [P = 0.016], walking [P < 0.001], normal work [P < 0.001], relations with others [P = 0.043], sleeping [P = 0.002] and enjoyment of life [P = 0.019] of the older residents and these effects were more prominent in female sex. Factors such as age, gender and schooling were of significant relationships with pain [P < 0.001] and its intensity [P <0.001].

Conclusions: Chronic pain is common among older residents of nursing homes and deteriorates their quality of life. This study reconfirms the previously mentioned importance of using effective pain evaluation and pain management strategies in nursing homes.

Spoken and Written Narrative in Persian-Speaking Students Who Received Cochlear Implant and/or Hearing Aid

OBJECTIVES: To compare narrative skills between fourth and fifth grades of Persian-speaking students with hearing impairments and typical hearing students of the same grade and also to evaluate the effects of group, sex, hearing age, and educational grade of the students on their spoken/written narrative performance. METHODS: The subjects were 174 students aged 10–13 years, 54 of whom wore cochlear implants, 60 suffered from moderate to severe hearing losses and wore hearing aids, with the remaining 60 students being typical hearing in terms of the sense of hearing. The micro- and macrostructure components of spoken and written narrative were elicited from a pictorial story (The Playful Little Elephant) and then scored by raters. RESULTS: Compared to the typical hearing, the students with hearing impairments had significantly lower scores in all of the microstructure components of narratives. However, the findings showed no significant difference among different groups in macrostructure components of narratives. It was also revealed that the students had equal performance in spoken and written narrative. Finally, factor analysis manifested that group, sex, hearing age, and educational level of children might alter the outcome measures in various interactions. CONCLUSION: Although cochlear implantation was more effective than hearing aid on spoken and written narrative skills, the Persian-speaking students with hearing impairments were seen to need additional trainings on microstructure components of spoken/written narrative.

relationship between social support and death anxiety among the elderly

Introduction: Social support is one of the most important indices affecting adaptation to aging process as well as the problems and complications of the aging period such as anxiety, death and social support. This study was aimed to determine the correlation of social support with death anxiety among the elderly of Tehran, Iran

Methods: In this correlational study, 208 elderly referring to the daycare centers of Tehran were selected through cluster random sampling. Data were collected by demographic questionnaire, Vaux Social Support Appraisals Scale [SS-A] and Templer death anxiety scale. Both social support and death anxiety scales have been validated in Iran and enjoy the required reliability

Results: From among the participant elderly, 5.3 % were male and 67 % were single, with their mean age of 66.6 years. Also, 60.1 % were under diploma in terms of education and 64.9 % lived in their personal houses with their families. The results showed the mean social support of 24.94 and mean death anxiety of 24.43 for the elderly. Further, Pearson correlation coefficient indicated a reverse correlation between social support and death anxiety [r = -0.020]

Conclusion: Death anxiety was reduced with increased social support among the elderly. Social support, a component affecting the mental health and spirit of the elderly, can be considered a cheap source and a social capital in line with decreasing death anxiety, increasing dynamicity and improving the life quality of the elderly

prevalence of using personal music player and listening habits in Iranian medical students

Background: Exposure to loud music from sources such as portable music players [PMP], especially among adolescents, can lead to noise-induced hearing loss. The aims of this study are as follows: 1] investigate the prevalence of headphone use in Iranian University students by assessing their behavior, 2] determine the type of headphones used, and 3] ascertain the type of music player used

Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, 250 students from Hamadan University of medical sciences and health services were randomly selected to fill out a questionnaire

Results: Overall, 91.2% of students were found to use headphones, 10.4% of which used headphones more than 1 hour a day, and 52% of them used volume setting higher than three fourths of the output capacity. The most common music player was a mobile phone, and the most common headphone type was the inserted type. Tinnitus was reported among 34.4% of users following the use of personal music player

Conclusion: The use of personal music players amongst students was found to be very high in the study setting

Social participation and mental health among older adults in Iran

Social participation is linked to healthy aging and the maintenance of functional independence in older individuals. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between social participation and orderly's mental health. Totally 380 people, aged over 60 residing in city of Hamadan were participated in the study. The participants completed a researcher-tailored inventory assessing their social participation and a GHQ-28 questionnaire assessing their mental health. Required social and demographic data was also gathered. Findings showed that the elderly, relatively, enjoyed good level of mental health. In general, mental health was significantly associated with social participation. However, when looking at subscales, only somatic and social performance had a significant positive relationship with social participation. Social participation can be of effective factors on which policy makers and therapists can plan to improve the mental health of aged people