Search

Background: Tracking the COVID-19 virus and its timely control by isolating infected people is one of the ways to overcome the epidemic and prevent the spread and circulation of the virus. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to measure the degree of adherence to the principles of isolation in COVID-19 patients and its related factors. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2022 on 369 patients with COVID-19 in Hamadan province, western Iran. Seven questions formulated according to the protocols of the Ministry of Health were used to assess the adherence to isolation principles in COVID-19 patients. The logistic regression model was used to simultaneously evaluate the predictors of violation of isolation principles in COVID-19 patients. Results: The mean age of the patients was 54.47 ± 20.1 years. Fifty-two percent of patients were female and 73.71% were married. The highest and lowest rate of adherence to isolation principles were using masks when leaving the room and safe meeting with relatives in 89.43% and 37.13% of the cases, respectively. The odds of violation of isolation rules in hypertensive patients [OR = 3.0; P= 0.029], patients who did not have an elderly member in the family [OR = 2.08; P= 0.017], and single patients [OR = 2.22; P= 0.024] were significantly higher. The odds of violation of isolation principles in those who did not have a child under 6 in the family was 2.29 times higher (P= 0.003). Conclusion: We found that adherence with isolation principles in COVID-19 patients at Hamadan is satisfactory and the violation of isolation rules mainly occurs in single patients, hypertensive patients, and patients who did not have an elderly member or a child under 6 years in the family. The results of this study can help policymakers to identify the target population for more educational training regarding the isolation principles in COVID-19 patients.

Background/AimsCoronary artery bypass graft surgery requires specialised long-term follow up, and non-adherence to a care plan may lead to complications. This study aimed to assess the effects of SMS reminders on adherence to medication and care plans among patients who had been discharged from hospital after coronary artery bypass graft surgery.MethodsA randomised controlled trial was performed in Iran, with eligible patients divided into an intervention (n=40) and a control (n=40) group. All participants completed a questionnaire measuring their adherence to their medication and care plan 1 day before discharge from the hospital. The intervention group received SMS reminders about their treatment plan plus routine care, while the control group received routine care only. The study lasted for 6 weeks. One week after the completion of the intervention period, both groups filled in the questionnaire again and the results were compared. Independent and paired t-tests were used to assess the significance of results.ResultsThere were no significant differences between the two groups before the intervention. Compared to baseline, the intervention group had significantly improved adherence to their medication and care plans (P<0.001) after the intervention. These improvements were significantly greater than those seen in the control group (P<0.001).ConclusionsAn SMS reminder is a useful and cost-effective way to improve adherence to medication and care plans among patients discharged from hospital after coronary artery bypass graft surgery, as part of follow-up care.

Background/AimsCoronary artery bypass graft surgery requires specialised long-term follow up, and non-adherence to a care plan may lead to complications. This study aimed to assess the effects of SMS reminders on adherence to medication and care plans among patients who had been discharged from hospital after coronary artery bypass graft surgery.MethodsA randomised controlled trial was performed in Iran, with eligible patients divided into an intervention (n=40) and a control (n=40) group. All participants completed a questionnaire measuring their adherence to their medication and care plan 1 day before discharge from the hospital. The intervention group received SMS reminders about their treatment plan plus routine care, while the control group received routine care only. The study lasted for 6 weeks. One week after the completion of the intervention period, both groups filled in the questionnaire again and the results were compared. Independent and paired t-tests were used to assess the significance of results.ResultsThere were no significant differences between the two groups before the intervention. Compared to baseline, the intervention group had significantly improved adherence to their medication and care plans (P<0.001) after the intervention. These improvements were significantly greater than those seen in the control group (P<0.001).ConclusionsAn SMS reminder is a useful and cost-effective way to improve adherence to medication and care plans among patients discharged from hospital after coronary artery bypass graft surgery, as part of follow-up care.

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are a common problem among carpet weavers. This study was undertaken to introduce affecting personal and occupational factors in developing the number of MSDs among carpet weavers.

Aim: In the presence of competing risks, patients with human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) experience death by various causes, including co-infection with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) with tuberculosis (TB), AIDS, and other causes in the follow-up. This study aimed to model the survival in patients with HIV in the presence of these competing causes of death utilizing sub-distribution hazard (SDH) and cause-specific hazard (CSH) models to overcome biased estimates of the classical analyses. Subject and methods: In this longitudinal study, patients with HIV+ diagnosis (n= 2328) were recruited from Imam Khomeini and Zamzam consulting centers from 2003 to 2012. In the presence of the competing causes of death, the SDH and CSH models evaluated the effect of underlying predictors on the cumulative incidence and instantaneous hazards, respectively, with the cmprisk package in R4.1 software. Results: The median survival time of patients with AIDS+TB, AIDS and other causes were 7.79 (SE .84), 11.57 (SE .98), and 14.1 (SE .91), respectively. In the SDH model, CD4(350+) [AIDS: sub-distribution hazard ratio (SHR) = .13, 95% confidence interval(CI) = (.08–.19)); AIDS+TB .10(.04–.25)], antiretroviral therapy (ART) [AIDS .44(.32–.61); AIDS+TB .57(.31–.99); other .07(.02–.23)], isoniazid prophylaxis therapy (IPT) [AIDS .47(.28–.78); AIDS+TB .08(.01–.58)], and cotrimoxazole prophylaxis therapy (CPT) [AIDS .38(.22–.68)], were inversely related to hazard of death, while being a male [AIDS 2.62(1.574.39); AIDS+TB 10.43(2.32–46.83); Other 9.48(1.95–45.99)] was directly related to hazard of death. The CSH model resulted in similar estimates except for CD4(350+) which was inversely related to hazard of death by other causes. Conclusion: Taking into account the strong association of CD4(350+), ART, IPT, CPT, and being a male with the hazard of mortality caused by the competing causes of death in patients with HIV, in both SDH and CSH models, designing sex-specific policymaking and interventional programs are recommended to prolong the survival of patients with HIV. The future treatment program can utilize the results.

This study was aimed to prepare carbon-coated magnesium oxide (C-MgO) nanoparticles and investigate the catalytic activity of C-MgO in catalytic ozonation process (COP) for treating a real textile wastewater. A fractional factorial design was conducted to assess the interactions between operating parameters (pH, ozone flow rate, catalyst dose, reaction time) for the catalytic treatment of the textile wastewater via the C-MgO catalyst. The experiments of degradation and mineralization results matched well with those attained by the predicted models. Fractionate of the contribution reactive oxygen species (ROSs) and O3in COD removal indicated that ROSs had a dominant role in the mineralization of the recalcitrant compound in examining the textile wastewater sample. C-MgO showed better potential catalytic activities (synergetic effect = 57%) as compared with plain nano MgO and O3alone in COD elimination. The catalytic activity findings demonstrated that the mineralization rate of the COP with the C-MgO catalyst was 5.7 times that of the plain nano MgO/O3process. Based on the results, this report showed that the C-MgO catalyst could be applied in COP for treating real textile wastewaters.