Background: Music, as a non-pharmacological and inexpensive nursing intervention, can be used easily as a complementary technique in reducing pain along with other methods. While some studies have demonstrated pain to decrease after music, others found music to be ineffective on pain. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of music on postoperative pain in patients under open heart surgery. Patients and Methods: A quasi-experimental study was performed on 60 patients under open heart surgery referred to ICU of Shahid Beheshti hospital in Kashan city. Patients were randomly divided into two groups including experimental and control groups. Patients in music group listened to nonverbal music for 30 minutes after surgery by headphones. The control group did not receive any intervention other than routine care. Before and after intervention, pain intensity was measured and recorded by visual analog scale in two groups. Data was analyzed using Chi-Square and t-tests. Results: Before intervention, the mean of pain intensity was 6.32 ± 0.21 and 6.10 ± 0.21 for experimental and control groups, respectively; and the difference was not significant (P = 0.21). After intervention, the mean of pain intensity was 3.11 ± 0.12 and 5.81 ± 0.38 for experimental and control groups, respectively; and the difference was significant (P = 0.04). Conclusions: Listening to the relaxant music can reduce postoperative pain. It is suggested that relaxant music be used as a complementary method in patients in order to reduce prospective pain.

Aim: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of music on preoperative state anxiety and physiological parameters including heart rate, respiratory rate and mean systolic, and diastolic blood pressure in 60 patients undergoing general surgery. Methods: The study was designed as a randomized quasi-experimental trial. A total of 60 patients were allocated to two equal groups. Subjects in the trial group listened to non-vocal classical music through headphones for 20 minutes before entering the operating theater. State anxiety was measured by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and the physiological parameters by pulse CO-oximeter (Masimo RAD-57C, Finland). The results obtained were finally analyzed by SPSS software version 16 using chi-square and t-tests. Results: There was an insignificant difference in demographic data between the two groups (p > 0.05), but before and after listening to music, a significant difference was observed in state anxiety (p < 0.01). Conclusions: Significant differences in both state anxiety and physiological parameters confirmed that music as a non-pharmacological intervention can be used as a complementary tool in nursing care.

Background: Fatigue is a frequent symptom in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) that can interfere with the daily functioning of the patient. The present study aimed to determine the effect of the Benson relaxation technique on the fatigue severity of MS patients. Methods:This was a clinical trial study. A total of 60 MS patients with <5 degrees of disability were enrolled and randomly assigned into two groups (n=30 per group). The intervention group performed the Benson relaxation technique twice daily, and for 20 minutes during one month. No intervention was provided to the control group. Before and after the study, the fatigue questionnaire was completed by the patients, and the two groups were compared. The obtained data were analyzed in SPSS using the Chi-squared test, Independent Samples t-test, and Paired Samples t-test.Results: Benson relaxation exercises significantly reduced the average fatigue severity of patients with MS (P≤0.05). Conclusion:Benson relaxation technique can be used as a cost-benefit, safe, and ordinary complementary therapy to reduce fatigue in patients with MS.

Background:Asthma is a chronic inflammatory air-way disease with increasing prevalence rate during the recent years. There are studies about the relationship between asthma and infectious diseases, including the association between asthma and Helicobacter pylori. According to the latest studies, there is an epidemiological correlation between asthma prevalence and prevalence of H. pylori.Objectives:The aim of this research was to study the correlation between H. pylori and asthma by biopsy in five to eighteen year-old children who had undergone endoscopy at Shahid Beheshti Hospital.Patients and Methods:Three hundred children (5 to 18 years old) undergoing endoscopy owing to gastro-intestinal problems at Shahid Beheshti Hospital were observed for childhood asthma using the Gina 2010 questionnaire which included 24 questions with “yes” and “no” answers to identify asthmatic patients with five positive answers. Next, the patients were referred to an allergy and asthma specialist for clinical examinations, spirometry and post bronchodilator test (Post BD).Results:Among 138 H. pylori positive patients, eight cases (5.8 %) were asthmatic while of the 162 H. pylori negative patients 28 (17.3%) were asthmatic. This difference was statistically significant (P Value = 0.002). The correlation between H. pylori and asthma was studied after controlling the confounding variables including, gender, age and family history. The results obtained for the above-mentioned variables were significant (P Values of 0.004, 0.005 and 0.002, and Odd-Ratio Mantel Haenszel (ORMH) of 3.38, 3.24 and 4.06, respectively).Conclusions:Our findings showed that there is an inverse correlation between H. pylori and asthma. Performing more studies with larger sample sizes is necessary to confirm these results.

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