A survey on functional constipation and its risk factors in older people in Shahreza, Iran.

BACKGROUND: Functional constipation is prevalent among older people. It has major effects on the quality of life of them, as well as the high costs of treatment. This study investigated functional constipation and risk factors affecting older people living in Shahreza, Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was performed on 200 older people in Shahreza. They were selected by simple random sampling. We used the Rome III Criteria, the Elderly Physical Activity Questionnaire (PASE), and related questions from the SIB system (integrated health system). After completing the questionnaires, the data were analyzed using the mean and standard deviation, Chi-square test, independent-samples t-test, Fisher's exact test, and Mann-Whitney test. RESULTS: The prevalence of functional constipation was 45%. There are significant relationships between functional constipation with dental problems (P = 0.02), intake of fluid (P = 0.001), fruits (P = 0.001), and vegetables (P < 0.001), polypharmacy (P = 0.003), and antidepressants (P = 0.008), history of colon (P = 0.003) and anal (P = 0.001) diseases, stroke or mobility disabilities (P = 0.002), the level of physical activity (P = 0.002), and gender (P = 0.04) in older people living in Shahreza. CONCLUSIONS: According to the high prevalence of functional constipation in the studied older people, it is necessary to focus on controlling risk factors and planning to prevent the destructive effects of social restrictions on older people during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Investigating the factors related to protective behaviors against COVID-19 in healthcare workers: Application of extended parallel process model.

Background and Aims: Preventive behaviors against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are important, and messages that create a sense of danger are necessary to create these behaviors. One of the widely used models for designing risk messages is the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM). The present study was conducted to investigate the factors related to protective behaviors against COVID-19 in the personnel of the health department based on EPPM. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 699 personnel of the deputy health department of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province were included in the study by census method. Data were collected online using valid questionnaires, including demographic questions and history of contracting COVID-19 and the questionnaire of EPPM constructs. Data were analyzed in SPSS24 software, using descriptive and analytical statistics. Results: The results showed that there were positive correlations between the protective behaviors and the constructs of perceived severity (p < 0.001, r = 0.542), perceived susceptibility (p < 0.001, r = 0.260), self-efficacy (p < 0.001, r = 0.594), response efficiency (p > 0.001, r = 0.522), and risk control (p > 0.001, r = 0.501). There was a negative correlation between protective behaviors and fear control (p < 0.001, r = 0.329). The results of multiple linear regression showed that these six constructs explained 49.8% of protective behaviors against COVID-19, among which the role of the perceived severity construct was stronger than other constructs. Conclusion: Regarding the results, it is suggested that the results of this research be used in the development of training programs to improve protective behaviors in high-traffic offices, and by focusing on fear and risk control.

Communication and cooperation challenges in the online classroom in the COVID-19 era: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: The increasing prevalence of COVID-19 affected all aspects of life, including education. Communication and interaction are vital in any form of education. This study explained health profession educators' and students' experiences regarding the challenges of communication and cooperation in exclusively online classrooms during the COVID-19 era. METHODS: The present descriptive explanatory qualitative study examined health profession educators' and students' experiences with exclusively online classrooms during the COVID-19 era. They were included in the study by purposive sampling. In-depth and semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted to collect data. The content analysis presented by Graneheim and Lundman was used to analyze the data. The present study employed four strength criteria: credibility, confirmability, transferability, and dependability. RESULTS: The results of the present study included communication and cooperation challenges in exclusively online classrooms related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Two themes emerged from 400 open codes: lack of students' socialization and communication-related concerns, which each had subcategories. CONCLUSIONS: Lack of students' socialization and communication problems were identified as the participants' main experiences. Defects in teacher training due to the sudden transition to virtual education, acquiring a professional identity that is possible in in-person education was also flawed. The participants experienced challenges in their class activities, leading to a decrease in trust, a lack of motivation to learn from students, and teachers' teaching. Policymakers and authorities should adopt new tools and techniques to improve exclusively virtual education outcomes.

Family-based interventions in youth to prevent HIV/AIDS: A systematic review.

Parents are primary sex educators of their teenagers and also function as resources for advice and information about sexual decision-making and partner selection. So far, various family-based programs were carried out to prevent HIV infection in young people; however, their findings are contradictory and inconclusive. Therefore, we carried out the current systematic review to critically review the available literature regarding the role of family-based interventions among young people to prevent HIV infection. The available online databases including ISI Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed were searched systematically up to November 2022. The risk of bias in the eligible studies was examined by two independent authors using the Cochrane Collaboration Risk of Bias tool. A total of 7 studies including 4952 participants were enrolled in the current study. They were conducted between 2006 and 2020. On the basis of the available literature, family-based HIV prevention interventions seem to be effective in terms of improving HIV/AIDS knowledge and also parent-youth communication. It seems that family-based interventions in youth to prevent HIV/AIDS are effective; however, further well-designed studies are needed to help the researchers reach a firm conclusion on this issue. The current systematic review may be used by investigators for future studies in terms of settings and the selection of educational approaches. Moreover, it strongly suggested that further studies investigating the role of family-based education in the prevention of HIV/AIDS utilize more sample size and also a more robust educational framework.

DGRanker: Cancer Driver Gene Detection in Human Transcriptional Regulatory Network.

Background: Cancer is a group of diseases that have received much attention in biological research because of its high mortality rate and the lack of accurate identification of its root causes. In such studies, researchers usually try to identify cancer driver genes (CDGs) that start cancer in a cell. The majority of the methods that have ever been proposed for the identification of CDGs are based on gene expression data and the concept of mutation in genomic data. Recently, using networking techniques and the concept of influence maximization, some models have been proposed to identify these genes. Objectives: We aimed to construct the cancer transcriptional regulatory network and identify cancer driver genes using a network science approach without the use of mutation and genomic data. Materials and Methods: In this study, we will employ the social influence network theory to identify CDGs in the human gene regulatory network (GRN) that is based on the concept of influence and power of webpages. First, we will create GRN Networks using gene expression data and Existing nodes and edges. Next, we will implement the modified algorithm on GRN networks being studied by weighting the regulatory interaction edges using the influence spread concept. Nodes with the highest ratings will be selected as the CDGs. Results: The results show our proposed method outperforms most of the other computational and network-based methods and show its superiority in identifying CDGs compared to many other methods. In addition, the proposed method can identify many CDGs that are overlooked by all previously published methods. Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that the Google's PageRank algorithm can be utilized and modified as a network-based method for identifying cancer driver gene in transcriptional regulatory network. Furthermore, the proposed method can be considered as a complementary method to the computational-based cancer driver gene identification tools.

The effect of educational intervention on self-care behavior in hypertensive older people: Applying the health belief model.

BACKGROUND: Hypertension is a worldwide health issue. Increasing aging has given rise to the prevalence of this problem. Disease management using educational intervention based on theoretical frameworks is effective for influencing self-care behavior. The goal of this study is to investigate the effects of educational intervention on self-care behaviors that influence hypertension control among the elderly population during 2020 based on the health belief model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A quasi-experimental study was conducted on rural older people in Ardestan, Iran. Assessments were done before and after three educational intervention sessions with a control group. The random sampling has done on 99 hypertensive elderly people in two rural centers of Ardestan from 2019 to 2020. Awareness variables, components of the health belief model, and blood pressure were assessed before and three months after the intervention. Data analysis was done using descriptive and analytical statistics. RESULTS: The study groups did not differ significantly in terms of the variables studied at the beginning of the study. After three months, the variables of awareness, self-care, and perceived sensitivity constructs, perceived severity, perceived benefits, and guide to action showed a significant rise in the experimental group compared to the control group. In addition, the effectiveness of educational intervention significantly increased self-care behavior in the experimental group. CONCLUSIONS: Educational intervention based on the health belief model can be effective to reduce the barriers of self-care behaviors. In order to have a lasting change in behavior, the use of behavioral change patterns that ecologically take into account interpersonal, organizational, and social factors is suggested too.

Care Process in Iranian Nursing Homes: A Grounded Theory Study.

Introduction: The need and use of long-term care services for older people has increased with their rising population and there is little information about the state of serving in nursing homes. This study aimed to identify the caring process in Iranian nursing homes. Methods: This qualitative study was conducted in three Iranian nursing homes using grounded theory approach. The participants included 28 individuals (14 older people and 14 caregivers). The data were collected using unstructured interviews up to data saturation, and analyzed by constant comparative method. Results: Fragmented care emerged as the core variable. The main factor for developing the core variable was 'experience-based caring'. Other factors included 'inappropriate structure for care' as contextual factors in the nursing homes environment and 'keeping instead of caring', 'dismal life', and 'up and down of the path' as strategies and consequences. Conclusions: The most common type of care was the routine and unplanned one with focusing on physical aspects. To improve a delivery care system for older people in nursing homes, proposing a care plan with focus on an integrated model of care in nursing homes, provision of instructions for treatment, as well as supervision and training caregivers to provide better care are necessary.

Health literacy and its dimensions in elderly people in Farsan city, Iran.

BACKGROUND: Health literacy is an important variable in the promotion and improvement of the health of all social groups, especially the elderly people. It indicates cognitive and social skills that specify the individuals' motivation and ability to access and perceive information using methods for health retention and improvement. The present research aimed to study health literacy and its relevant dimensions in a population over 60 years of age in Farsan city. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study on 384 older people in Farsan city was conducted, using a standard health literacy questionnaire including 33 items and 5 dimensions on a 5-point Likert scale for collecting data. Data analysis was done using descriptive and analytical statistics, using the multiple linear regression analysis. RESULTS: Among the dimensions, the highest and lowest scores belonged to decision-making and reading skill dimensions, respectively. The multiple linear regression analysis revealed that among the demographical variables, education level, age, sex, and job were the best predictors of total scores of health literacy (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The health-related institutions should make effort to improve the elderly people's health literacy based on general literacy, using suitable methods with less need to read and paying attention to personal characteristics.

Cancer driver gene discovery in transcriptional regulatory networks using influence maximization approach.

Cancer driver genes (CDGs) are the genes whose mutations cause tumor growth. Several computational methods have been previously developed for finding CDGs. Most of these methods are sequence-based, that is, they rely on finding key mutations in genomic data to predict CDGs. In the present work, we propose iMaxDriver as a network-based tool for predicting driver genes by application of influence maximization algorithm on human transcriptional regulatory network (TRN). In the first step of this approach, the TRN is pruned and weighted by exploiting tumor-specific gene expression (GE) data. Then, influence maximization approach is used to find the influence of each gene. The top genes with the highest influence rate are selected as the potential driver genes. We compared the performance of our CDG prediction method with fifteen other computational tools, based on a benchmark of three different cancer types. Our results show that iMaxDriver outperforms most of the state-of-the-art algorithms for CDG prediction. Furthermore, iMaxDriver is able to correctly predict many CDGs that are overlooked by all previously published tools. Due to this relative orthogonality, iMaxDriver can be considered as a complementary approach to the sequence-based CDG prediction methods.

Care Instability in Nursing Homes; A Qualitative Study.

BACKGROUND: The use of long-term care services has risen and this trend is expected to continue as the population reaches old age. OBJECTIVES: This study was performed to assess the caring conditions in nursing homes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study was conducted with a qualitative approach using conventional qualitative content analysis. The study was conducted on 23 Iranian participants including 14 elders and 9 caregivers. Data was collected with unstructured interviews and continued to the point of data saturation. Analysis of data was performed continually and concurrently with data collection through a comparative method. RESULTS: Three themes emerged from 595 open codes including care as unpleasant task, sustained care and insufficient resources. Ten subthemes indicated participants' experiences and understanding of caring conditions in a nursing home. CONCLUSIONS: The prevailing given care was the routine one with a focus on physical aspects, although there was some psychological care given to the older people. The findings of this research are guidelines for managers and care planners in nursing homes who should pay attention to physical and psychological care needs of older people. In addition, it is important to pay close attention to the needs of caregivers and provision of instructions for treatment, supervision and education of caregivers and medical students to provide a better care.

Effects of the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating plan on cardiovascular risks among type 2 diabetic patients: a randomized crossover clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating pattern on cardiometabolic risks in type 2 diabetic patients. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: A randomized crossover clinical trial was undertaken in 31 type 2 diabetic patients. For 8 weeks, participants were randomly assigned to a control diet or the DASH eating pattern. RESULTS: After following the DASH eating pattern, body weight (P = 0.007) and waist circumference (P = 0.002) reduced significantly. Fasting blood glucose levels and A1C decreased after adoption of the DASH diet (-29.4 ± 6.3 mg/dl; P = 0.04 and -1.7 ± 0.1%; P = 0.04, respectively). After the DASH diet, the mean change for HDL cholesterol levels was higher (4.3 ± 0.9 mg/dl; P = 0.001) and LDL cholesterol was reduced (-17.2 ± 3.5 mg/dl; P = 0.02). Additionally, DASH had beneficial effects on systolic (-13.6 ± 3.5 vs. -3.1 ± 2.7 mmHg; P = 0.02) and diastolic blood pressure (-9.5 ± 2.6 vs. -0.7 ± 3.3 mmHg; P = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Among diabetic patients, the DASH diet had beneficial effects on cardiometabolic risks.

Effects of a subdermal levonorgestrel contraceptive implant (Norplant) on serum cholesterol, triglycerides, ALT and AST in Iranian women.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the effects of Norplant (36 mg of levonorgestrel, six capsules) on serum cholesterol, triglycerides, alanine transaminase (ALT) and aspartate transminase (AST), we enrolled 465 healthy women from Zahedan, Iran, into a longitudinal study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Blood samples were collected after an overnight fast before implant insertion and after 3, 6, 9 and 12 months of use. RESULTS: Total cholesterol and triglyceride levels did not significantly change during Norplant use. Although there were statistically significant increases in ALT and AST levels during Norplant use, the values were within the reference range.