Comparison of the effect of mint extract and chamomile drops on the gastric residual volume of traumatic patients under mechanical ventilation and nasogastric tube feeding in the intensive care unit: A triple -blind, randomized, crossover trial.

Objective: Mint and chamomile can effectively reduce the gastric residual volume (GRV). This study aimed to determine the effect of mint extract and chamomile drops on the GRV of trauma patients under mechanical ventilation and nasogastric tube feeding in the intensive care unit. Materials and Methods: This study was a triple-blinded randomized clinical trial with a 2×2 crossover design. Eighty patients were randomly divided to receive mint extract and chamomile drops. Five drops of mint extract and 11 drops of chamomile were gavaged every 6 hr. GRV was measured using a syringe-aspiration method before and 3 hr after each intervention. After a 24-hour washout period, the two groups changed places. Results: In the first phase of the study, before the interventions, the GRV in the mint and chamomile groups was 14.60±7.89 and 13.79±7.12 ml, and after the interventions were 8.13±6.31 and 6.61±4.68 ml, respectively. In the study's second phase, before the interventions, the GRV in the mint and chamomile groups was 10.03±4.93 and 11.46±7.17 ml and after the interventions, GRV was 4.97±4.05 and 6.98±4.60 ml, respectively. The difference in the GRV before and after the intervention was not significantly different between the two groups. Both herbal drugs effectively reduced the GRV (p=0.382). Conclusion: Mint extract and chamomile drops are similarly effective in reducing the GRV in trauma patients under mechanical ventilation and nasogastric tube (NGT) feeding in the intensive care unit.

Gender-based sexual roles: A mixed methods study in Iranian families.

BACKGROUND: Gender role attitudes toward sexual matters may define suitable and appropriate roles for men and women during a sexual relationship. This study aimed to explore and assess gender-based sexual roles in Iranian families. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was an exploratory mixed methods study in which perceptions and experiences of 21 adult Iranian participants about gender-based sexual roles have been explored in three provinces of Iran in 2010-2011, to generate items for developing a culture-oriented instrument to assess gender role attitudes. The developed and validated instrument, then, was applied to 390 individuals of general population of Tehran, Iran in 2012. RESULTS: In content analysis of the qualitative phase data, four categories emerged as the main gender-based sexual roles: Decision making, relationships, care, and supervision and control. After passing the stages of item reduction, seven items remained for the instrument. In the quantitative phase, results showed that most of the participants (78.9%) believed in shared sexual roles for both genders. Consideration of a sexual role as "entirely masculine" or "preferably masculine" was the second prevalent attitude in 71.43% of gender-based sexual roles, whereas "entirely" or "preferably feminine role" was the second next most dominant attitude (14.28%). CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present study have revealed some new gender-based sexual roles within Iranian families; which may be applicable to show the capacity for achieving some domains of reproductive rights in Iran.