Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, idiopathic and the most common inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system that progresses to severe disability. Prevalence of MS is 2-150 per 100,000 people. The main cause of the disease is not clear and occurs due to a combination of both genetic and environmental factors. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence rate of MS in the northern cities of Khuzestan Province, Iran, as well as to determine the demographic characteristics, initial symptoms at onset, clinical features and the correlation between the above factors with each other. Patients and Methods: In this descriptive correlational study, patients were recruited through the MS Society as well as the neurology clinics and departments of hospitals in north cities of Khuzestan Province (Iran). Data were collected through completing a face to face questionnaire and were analyzed using SPSS version 17 and the chi-square test. P value < 0.05 was considered statistically significance. Results: A total of 142 patients were participated in this study. Prevalence of MS was 15 per 100,000 people. Seventy-eight percent of the patients had low literacy, and 81% were unemployed. Female to male ratio was 2.08: 1 that became less in younger patients. 69% and 15% of the patients were relapsing remitting and progressive relapsing, respectively. Demographic characteristics of the patients did not show any statistically significant relationship with clinical courses and signs at onset; however, a significant correlation was seen between severe disability and sex (P = 0.001) as well as between severe disability and progressive-relapsing subtype (P = 0.02). Conclusions: The prevalence of MS showed an increasing rate of the disease in recent years. Decreasing of the female to male ratio and patients' low socioeconomic level, need more studies. The increasing rate of patients with progressive relapsing feature and more disabled patients belong to this subtype show the poor prognosis.
Background:Despite the emphasis of contemporary nursing theories on the belief that nursing is a science and an art in care, published studies show that only the nursing science has developed. Many experts believe that by recognizing and perceiving this concept, the clinical field can develop aesthetic knowledge in nursing and education of students.Objectives:The purpose of this study was to explain clients and nurses perspective of nursing care aesthetics.Patients and Methods:Using an interpretive phenomenology, 12 clients and 14 nurses were interviewed. Participants in this study were purposefully selected and their experiences were analyzed using Van Manen’s hermeneutic phenomenological framework.Results:Emerged themes were as follows: subjective description, overt spirituality, opening desperate impasse, sense of unity, continue to shine, and painful pass and pleasing. According the participants experiences, nursing care aesthetics includes subjective description of spiritual and desirable caring behaviors combined with sense of unity and sympathy between the nurse and the patients, which leads to opening in desperate impasse with creating the feeling of satisfaction and peace in the patient. It is a shining of clinical capabilities and an action beyond what should be combined with a decorating care that leads to a pleasant ending against the pain and suffering of the others for the nurse.Conclusions:Many caring behaviors associate with aesthetic experience for both patients and nurses and despite two different views, findings of this study showed that these experiences were similar in most cases. The aesthetics of nursing care was defined as what reflects the holistic nature of nursing with an emphasis on spirituality and skill. Results of this study are effective in identification of the values existed in nurse caring behaviors and developing of profession by instruction, implementation, and evaluation them.
Background and aims: The crisis of children’s illnesses and their hospitalization is often a main source of stress and anxiety for family members and threatens distress tolerance (DT) among parents, particularly mothers. Self-encouragement training (SET) is one of the strategies with potential positive effects on DT. The present study aimed at evaluating the effects of SET on DT among the mothers of hospitalized children. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted in 2019. Participants were sixty mothers whose children were hospitalized in Ghadir subspecialty pediatric hospital, Shiraz, Iran. They were conveniently selected and randomly allocated to an intervention and a control group. Participants in the intervention group received SET based on the Schoenaker method in ten one-hour sessions in five days, while their counterparts in the control group received no SET. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire and the Distress Tolerance Scale and were analyzed using the SPSS software (v. 22.0) and the independent-sample and the paired samples t tests. Results: There was no significant difference between the intervention and the control groups respecting the pretest mean score of DT (39.17±8.39 vs. 41.55±10.28; P=0.33), while the posttest mean score of DT in the intervention group was significantly more than the control group (51.23±6.95 vs. 41.23±10.26; P<0.001). Conclusion: SET is effective in significantly improving DT among the mothers of hospitalized children. Nursing managers can use SET to improve DT among these mothers.
Background: Having disabled children can definitely hurt the mental health status of parents, especially mothers, and even directly affect children’s behaviors as well as their adaptability and progress during all care and rehabilitation programs. Objectives: The main purpose of this study was to investigate general health status of mothers having children with hearing disabilities and reflect on children’s quality of life (QoL). Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was performed on all children with hearing disabilities covered by the State Welfare Organization (SWO) of Iran in northern Khuzestan province in 2019. Accordingly, a total of 44 children aged 1 - 6 years and their mothers were included. The data were collected using a demographic characteristics information form, the 28-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research Academic Medical Centre (TNO-AZL) Preschool Children Quality of Life (TAPQOL) questionnaire. The data were entered into the SPSS Statistics software (ver. 22) and analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficient, Spearman’s rank-order correlation coefficient, and chi-square test. Results: According to the results, 79% of the mothers had severe general health problems. The severity of such problems had further elevated in the dimensions of “physical symptoms”, “anxiety and sleep disorders”, “depression”, and “social functioning”, respectively. The mean score of the children’s QoL was 79.13 ± 14.48, which was at a moderate level. The study findings showed a significant relationship between some demographic characteristics and the mothers’ general health status and the children’s QoL. Moreover, there was a reciprocal correlation between mothers’ general health and children’s QoL scores (P = 0.049, r = -0.29). Conclusions: Although QoL in the children having hearing disabilities was at a moderate level, the majority of mothers had severe general health problems. The study results could be useful for health system officials in terms of the promotion of children’s QoL by designing and implementing programs to improve the general health status of the mothers of these children.
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