Facilitators and barriers to self-management in Iranian men with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a qualitative study.

INTRODUCTION: Self-management, as the most common method of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) management, is not an isolated behaviour, but a set of physical, social, cultural, psychological and existential factors affecting it. AIM: This study aimed to explore the facilitators and barriers to self-management in men with COPD in the unique social, cultural, political and economic context of Iran. METHODS: This paper reports part of the findings of a qualitative grounded theory study aimed at exploring the process of self-management in Iranian men with COPD, which was conducted in Iran from January 2019 to July 2023. Participants included men with COPD, their family members and pulmonologists. The selection of participants in this research began with the purposeful sampling method. Data was collected using semistructured interviews. Data collection continued until the data saturation was achieved. A total of 15 interviews were conducted with nine patients, three family members of patients and three pulmonologists. The data was analysed using the constant comparative analysis method. RESULTS: The findings of this study showed that knowledge, education, experience, family involvement and financial support are the factors that facilitate self-management. Factors related to deficits include lack of education, lack of treatment support, family cooperation deficit, financial problems, medication obtaining problems and factors related to disease impacts include specific nature of the disease, residual effect, comorbidity and factors related to negative patients characteristics include false beliefs, poor self-efficacy, feeling shame and non-adherence are barriers to self-management in men with COPD. CONCLUSION: Based on results of this study, healthcare providers and health planners can strengthen the factors that facilitate self-management and weaken or remove the barriers to self-management, so that these patients use self-management strategies with maximum capacity to control the disease.

Simultaneous monitoring of SARS-CoV-2, bacteria, and fungi in indoor air of hospital: a study on Hajar Hospital in Shahrekord, Iran.

The novel SARS-CoV-2 outbreak was declared as pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020. Understanding the airborne route of SARS-CoV-2 transmission is essential for infection prevention and control. In this study, a total of 107 indoor air samples (45 SARS-CoV-2, 62 bacteria, and fungi) were collected from different wards of the Hajar Hospital in Shahrekord, Iran. Simultaneously, bacterial and fungal samples were also collected from the ambient air of hospital yard. Overall, 6 positive air samples were detected in the infectious 1 and infectious 2 wards, intensive care unit (ICU), computed tomography (CT) scan, respiratory patients' clinic, and personal protective equipment (PPE) room. Also, airborne bacteria and fungi were simultaneously detected in the various wards of the hospital with concentrations ranging from 14 to 106 CFU m-3 and 18 to 141 CFU m-3, respectively. The highest mean concentrations of bacteria and fungi were observed in respiratory patients' clinics and ICU wards, respectively. Significant correlation (p < 0.05) was found between airborne bacterial concentration and the presence of SARS-CoV-2, while no significant correlation was found between fungi concentration and the virus presence. This study provided an additional evidence about the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in the indoor air of a hospital that admitted COVID-19 patients. Moreover, it was revealed that the monitoring of microbial quality of indoor air in such hospitals is very important, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, for controlling the nosocomial infections.