Background and Objectives:Due to the high costs of conventional mental health care, there has been a rise in the application of web-based technologies in recent years, i.e., telemental health care. We conducted this systematic review in 2017, using high quality research articles on the applications, technologies, advantages and challenges associated with telemental health care published since year 2000.Methods:We used a combination of relevant key words to search four major databases, such as “Web of Sciences, Embase, PubMed and Science Direct”. From among 156 articles, which had been published since 2000, twenty five articles met all of the inclusion criteria and were selected for the final review. The information extracted from these articles were used to construct Tables 1 and 2. Also, the materials derived from 55 credible articles were used as further support and complementary facts to substantiate the information presented in the Discussion section.Results:The findings revealed that telemental health care is an extended domain supportive of conventional mental health services. Currently, telemental health care has multiple capabilities and technologies for providing effective interventions to patients with various mental illnesses. It provides clinicians with a wide variety of innovative choices and strategies for mental interventions, in addition to significant future potentials.Conclusions:Telemental health care can provide effective and adaptable solutions to the care of mental illnesses universally. While being comparable to in-person services, telemental health care is particularly advantageous and inexpensive through the use of current technologies and adaptable designs, especially in isolated communities.

Aims. This study is aimed at estimating the prevalence, awareness, treatment, and glycemic control of diabetes mellitus (DM) and its associated factors in an Iranian Kurdish population. Methods. Baseline data of the Ravansar Non-communicable Disease (RaNCD) cohort study, consisting of adults aged 35-65 years, were used. Diabetes was defined as a fasting plasma glucose (FPG) of 126 mg/dl or higher, being on diabetes medication, and/or diabetes confirmed by a health practitioner. Results. Nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine participants were assigned to this study. The prevalence of DM, awareness, treatment, and glycemic control of DM were 8.19, 74.97, 74.75, and 32.68, respectively. Based on the adjusted models, increased age (p<0.01); obesity or overweight (p<0.01); being ex-smoker (p<0.05); suffering from dyslipidemia (p<0.01), hypertension (p<0.01), or both of them (p<0.01); and positive family history in the first-degree relatives (p<0.01) were strongly associated with a high risk of DM, while engagement in regular physical activity (p<0.05) was a protective factor. Female gender (p<0.01), being older than 55 years, positive family history in the first-degree relatives (p<0.01), suffering from both hypertension and dyslipidemia (p<0.01), and obesity or overweight (p<0.005) were negatively associated with DM awareness. Being married and widowed (p<0.05 and <0.05) and a high BMI (p<0.01) were strong predictors of receiving treatment for DM. Six to nine years of schooling (p<0.05) and suffering from hypertension (p<0.05) increased the probability of DM being controlled. Conclusions. When the prevalence of DM is notable, awareness and probability of receiving treatment and controlling FPG are of particular importance. A considerable proportion of the patients were aware and on treatment, which may partly be due to improving primary health care services in Iran.

No abstract

No abstract

Background:This study focussed on the effect of dual versus single tasking on balance, gait and cognition in veterans with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). We examined the correlation between these parameters, with responses to questions on community reintegration activities.Method:22 male and female veterans (aged 19-65) walked along a narrow and 6.1-meter long path, both at their self-selected and fastest but safe pace under single and dual tasking conditions. For dual tasking, participants were required to recall and vocalize a 5-digit number at the end of the path. The outcome measures were the accuracy, velocity, cadence, stride length, and number of steps off the path. We calculated the reliability and correlation coefficient values for the walking time compared with the stride length, velocity, and percentage of swing and stance.Results:Under dual task, the participants demonstrated slower gait, recalled shorter digit span and stepped off the path 12.6% more often than under single task. The stride length decreased by about 20% and the stride velocity increased by over 2% in dual compared with single tasking.Conclusions:Dual tasking slows down the gait and reduces the attention span in patients with mTBI, which can negatively impact their community reintegration, at least early after their hospital discharge, hence the need for exercising caution with their community reintegration activities. Dual tasking may have the potential to improve balance, gait and attention span of the patients in the long-term, thus leading to safer community integration, if incorporated in the rehabilitation plans.

No abstract

Background Despite the high prevalence of prostate cancer, its brain parenchymal metastasis is not common and intracranial hemorrhage due to such a metastasis is even less common. This report presents a challenging case of solitary brain metastasis secondary to prostate cancer that gave rise to intraventricular hemorrhage and acute hydrocephalus mimicking a giant aneurysm. Case presentation A 77-year-old man with a history of prostate cancer, hypertension, and morbid obesity presented to the emergency room with a severe headache. He was afebrile with a blood pressure of 144/79 mmHg, alert, without any sign of sensory or motor deficit. Shortly after admission, he became unresponsive and was immediately intubated. His blood tests revealed hypernatremia at 154 mmol/L; otherwise, the lab data including the COVID-19 screening proved normal. The cerebral CT and MR images, with and without contrast, were interpreted as a giant thrombotic aneurysm extending to the suprasellar region by the emergency radiologist. Also, moderate intraventricular hemorrhage, acute hydrocephalus, and sub-ependymal interstitial edema were observed. Upon further evaluation of the images, the lesion was determined to be an exophytic hemorrhagic hypothalamic mass, and the subsequent biopsy was consistent with prostate cancer metastasis. Conclusions The exophytic hemorrhagic hypothalamic metastasis can mimic a ruptured aneurysm on imaging. Given the improved survival of patients with prostate cancer, radiologists may encounter such unusual cerebral metastases from prostate cancers more frequently in the future.

Aims Little is known of the short-term effects of combined aerobic and strengthening exercises—as components of phase III cardiac rehabilitation— in patients of Middle Eastern origin who have undergone coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). This study aimed to assess the efficacy of exercise protocols used during phase III cardiac rehabilitation of patients from Iran who had undergone this procedure. Methods The study compared the effect of combined aerobic and strengthening exercises vs aerobics alone on the functional capacity, muscle strength, serum lipids and blood pressure of 88 patients, 4-5 weeks after CABG. A control group performed aerobics while three experimental groups performed combined aerobic and strengthening exercises, 5 days a week over 5 weeks. The functional capacity, muscle strength and serum lipids were determined at baseline and specific time points during the study. Heart rate and blood pressure were measured before and after each session. Findings The combined exercise protocols improved the functional capacity and muscle strength to a significantly greater extent than the aerobic protocol. Serum total cholesterol, low-density lipoproteins and triglyceride levels decreased insignificantly, however, the high-density lipoproteins level increased significantly in all groups. Systolic blood pressure declined insignificantly but the diastolic blood pressure remained unchanged in all groups. Conclusions The results suggest that the combined exercises were superior to the aerobics alone for positive changes in patients’ functional capacity and muscle strength, with effects lasting up to follow-up.