Effects of a Plantago ovata-based herbal compound in prevention and treatment of oral mucositis in patients with breast cancer receiving chemotherapy: A double-blind, randomized, controlled crossover trial / 中西医结合学报

BACKGROUND@#Oral mucositis (OM) is one of the most common complications of mucotoxic cancer therapy. Mucositis induces clinically significant pain, increases the risk of infections and affects the patients' quality of life.@*OBJECTIVE@#This study investigated the effects of an herbal preparation from Plantago ovata hydrocolloid in the prevention and treatment of OM, in breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy with a regimen including adriamycin.@*DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, AND INTERVENTIONS@#This research was a double-blind, randomized, controlled crossover trial. The herbal compound consisted of a mixture of 500 mg of P. ovate husk in 30 mL water plus three drops of vinegar per dose, which was used as a mouthwash. Phytochemical and physicochemical tests of the compound were also performed. Twenty-eight patients who developed mucositis during the chemotherapy screening cycle were randomized to the herbal compound (n = 14) and placebo (n = 14) groups. They received herbal compound or placebo three times per day during their next chemotherapy cycle (cycle 1 of treatment). Patients were crossed over during cycle 2 of treatment and received the alternative therapy. An oral care protocol was prescribed to all patients in cycles 1 and 2 of the treatment.@*MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES@#The patients were visited at baseline, the end of the first and second weeks of the screening cycle, and the end of the first and second weeks of each of two treatment cycles. The degree of mucositis was used as the main treatment outcome. Other indexes, such as the severity of pain, xerostomia grade and the quality of life were also measured.@*RESULTS@#Compared with the placebo, the herbal compound significantly reduced the degree of mucositis, the severity of pain and the xerostomia grade; it also improved the patients' quality of life (P < 0.05). Comparison between the screening cycle and placebo treatment group showed that the oral care protocol had a significant effect in the reduction of OM (P < 0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#The oral care protocol and the herbal compound based on P. ovata are effective ways for preventing and treating OM in patients undergoing mucotoxic cancer therapy.@*TRIAL REGISTRATION@#Iranian registry of clinical trials IRCT20180923041093N1.

[Comparison of quality of life of patients with type II diabetes referring to diabetes association of larestan with healthy people in 2013]

Introduction and Aims: diabetes is a disease with high and increasing prevalence rate which can affect all aspects of patients' life, especially quality and satisfaction of life. The aim of this study was to assess the quality of life in patients with type II diabetes in comparison with healthy people in Larestan

Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 124 patients with type II diabetes that were chosen randomly from the patients referred to diabetes association of Larestan and 124 healthy people. Healthy subjects were selected from patients' neighbors and were grouping matched for age and sex. Demographic questionnaire and SF-36 quality of life questionnaire were completed for all subjects. All statistical analysis was performed by SPSS v.16. Independent t-tests and Chi-square tests were used to analysis data

Results: the mean and standard deviation of life quality in patients with diabetes and in healthy people were 57.42 +/- 19.20 and 69.02 +/- 15.62, respectively [P < 0.001]. In all aspects, quality of life score was significantly lower than healthy subjects [P < 0.01]

Conclusion: diabetes type II substantially decrease the quality of life of patients, hence it is necessary to improve their quality of life

Survey of general health status and the factors affecting in it among industry staffs in Kerman

Introduction and Aims: From World Health Organization's point of view, health is well-being in terms of physical, social and mental not merely the absence of disease. Public health is the very important factor in the industries if neglecting, its effects on both individuals and organization would be irreparable

This study aimed to assess the general health condition and its effective factors in an industry staff

Methods: This was across sectional study and all employees in this industry were recurred or collected by census [n= 110]. The demographic questionnaire and the General Health Questionnaire [GHQ] was used for data collection. Data analysis was performed by using SPSS software [Ver.20] and the independent t-tests, ANOVA and Spearman correlation coefficient test

Results: Based on the results, the average score for general health in sub-groups of physical disorders was 6.06+/-2.78, anxiety was 4.01+/-2.64, social disorder was 11.97+/-3.98 and depression was 3.30 +/-3.74. In these sub-groups 67.3%, 82.7%, 7.3% and 85.5% of the subjects were in healthy group. There was no statistically significant difference between the variables of age and work history, and score of public health sub-groups whereas there was a statistically significant difference between the total score of general health and education

Conclusion: Factors such as education can be named as effective factor on the general health condition of employees in this industry. In the present study, a very small percentage of individuals in social disorder sub-groups, were normal. Therefore, by conducting survey and focus in this area and executive decisions positively, we can contribute to increase general health condition

Application of WHOQOL-BREF in measuring quality of life in health-care staff

The objective of this study was to evaluate the quality of life of Neyshabour health-care staff and some factors associated with it with use of WHOQOL-BREF scale. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 522 staff of Neyshabour health-care centers from May to July 2011. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was applied to examine the internal consistency of WHOQOL-BREF scale; Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to determine the level of agreement between different domains of WHOQOL-BREF. Paired t-test was used to compare difference between score means of different domains. T-independent test was performed for group analysis and Multiple Linear Regression was used to control confounding effects. In this study, a good internal consistency [alpha = 0.925] for WHOQOL-BREF and its four domains was observed. The highest and the lowest mean scores of WHOQOL-BREF domains was found for physical health domain [Mean = 15.26] and environmental health domain [Mean = 13.09] respectively. Backward multiple linear regression revealed that existence chronic disease in staff was significantly associated with four domains of WHOQOL-BREF, education years was associated with two domains [Psychological and Environmental] and sex was associated with psychological domain [P < 0.05]. The findings from this study confirm that the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire is a reliable instrument to measure quality of life in health-care staff. From the data, it appears that Neyshabour health-care staff has WHOQOL-BREF scores that might be considered to indicate a relatively moderate quality of life

Food insecurity status and associated factors among rural households in North-East of Iran

To assess the prevalence of food insecurity and associated factors among rural households in north-east of Iran. In this cross-sectional study, a total of 4647 rural households [18,061 persons] were studied in Neyshabur, a city in north-east of Iran. The Iranian version of the Six-Item Short questionnaire of Household Food Security Scale was used to measure food insecurity. Logistic regression model was used to estimate odds ratios [OR] and 95% confidence intervals [CI]. Total prevalence of food insecurity in this study was 40.9% [95% CI 39.49-42.31]. Backward Multivariate Logistic Regression model showed that OR of food insecurity increased with: The presence of chronic disease in household in comparison the absence [OR = 2.02], the rural distance >30 km from the city in comparison the distance 50 m[2] [OR = 1.57], the presence of single parent in comparison the presence of both parents at home [OR = 1.39] and the household income [per month] <4,000,000 Rial in comparison the >/= 4,000,000 Rial [OR = 3.92]. But OR of food insecurity decreased with having a car in family in comparison not having [OR = 0.54] and the family having a house in comparison not having [OR = 0.62]. According to results of this study, food insecurity is prevalent among rural households of Neyshabur, so it is an important public health problem in this region