Payavard Salamat

Information Technology(IT): A New Revolution In Urban Health Development

Maryam Zahmatkeshan

Background and Aim: Urban health is one of the challenges of the 21st century. Rapid growth and expanding urbanization have implications for health. In this regard, information technology can remove a large number of modern cities' problems. Therefore, the present article aims to study modern information technologies in the development of urban health.

Materials and Methods: This is a review article based on library research and Internet searches on valid websites such as Science Direct, Magiran, Springer and advanced searches in Google. Some 164 domestic and foreign texts were studied on such topics as the application of ICT tools including cell phones and wireless tools, GIS, and RFID in the field of urban health in 2011. Finally, 30 sources were used.

Conclusion: Information and communication technologies play an important role in improving people's health and enhancing the quality of their lives. Effective utilization of information and communication technologies requires the identification of opportunities and constraints, and the formulation of appropriate planning principles with regard to social and economic factors together with preparing the technological, communication and telecommunications, legal and administrative infrastructure

Study Of The Impact Of Nutrition Consultants' Educational Level On Their Strategic Analysis About The Entrepreneurial Opportunities

Hamidreza Rezaeian Zadeh

Background and Aim: Nowadays, because of the intense competition between nutrition consultants and rapid changes in patients' demands for nutrition counseling, application of the concepts such as "Entrepreneurial Opportunities Recognition" in this field seems unavoidable. One of the most commonly used methods for recognition of entrepreneurial opportunities is "Strategic Analysis of External Environment". Present survey has been conducted in order to study the impact of nutrition consultants' educational level on their strategic analysis about entrepreneurial opportunities.

Materials and Methods: This analytical survey was implemented based on the data (nutrition consultants' educational levels and their responses regarding the supply and demand for nutrition counseling services) which was collected during a previous study entitled ((Analysis of supply and demand trends in the field of diabetes nutrition counseling: A basic step towards identifying the entrepreneurial opportunities for nutrition consultants)). Also, ((Spearman's correlation test)) and ((GLM multivariate test)) were performed for the analysis of aforementioned data.

Results: Both statistical tests showed that nutrition consultants' educational levels (including 1- Bachelor of Science and 2- Master of Science and PhD) had significant relationship with two-thirds of their comments.

Conclusion: Nutrition consultants' educational level has a relative impact on their strategic analysis about the entrepreneurial opportunities.

The Impact Of Service Quality On The Loyalty Of Patients Referring To Outpatient Clinics Of Studied Hospitals In Tehran

Somayeh Shahri

Background and Aim: The present case study aims to investigate the impact of service quality on patients' loyalty to the services rendered in outpatient clinics of the studied hospitals throughout Tehran.

Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive-analytical survey in which 242 outpatients referring to the studied hospital clinics in Tehran. For data collection purposes, the standardized SERVQUAL questionnaire(1988) and for the measurement of loyalty for service quality, the standard questionnaire for customer's behavioral tendencies(Zitamel and Berry, 1996) were used. Regarding the validity of the questionnaire, its content validity was confirmed and its reliability was approved through test-retest method and Cronbach's alpha coefficient. For data analysis, Pearson correlation test was employed.

Results: The results revealed that there was a positive and meaningful relationship between the quality of services and the patients' loyalty in Tehran clinics. The most important aspect of loyalty was complaining behavior.

Conclusion: Hospital managers should enhance their understanding and awareness to maintain, and even improve, the patients' loyalty to their services and should do their best in this regard. Hospital employees should be aware of the patients' expectations and act beyond it. Finally, they should know that rendering services to patients is teamwork and that the key to providing patients with good services lies in their satisfaction with the quality of services they receive.

Determination Of Perceived Barriers And Benefits Of Adopting Health-Promoting Behaviors In Cardiovascular Diseases Prevention: Application Of Preventative Behavior Model

Davoud Shojaeizadeh

Background and Aim: Cardiovascular diseases are the main cause of death and disabilities in the world. The purpose of the present study is to determine the perceived barriers and benefits of adopting health-promoting behaviors among individuals at risk of cardiovascular diseases referring to TUMS Teaching Hospitals in 2011.

Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study in which 325 patients at risk of cardiovascular diseases were randomly selected. The data were collected using a self-made questionnaire having three parts: 14 items for demographic and health-related variables, 12 items for perceived barriers, and another 12 items for benefits. For data analysis, SPSS 18 was used.

Results: The mean age of patients was 53.56±11.27 about 47.7% of patients(n=155) were female and 52.3% (n=170) were male. There was a meaningful relationship between the mean of perceived benefits on the one hand and occupation, physical activity, type and frequency of physical activity, smoking and awareness of cardiovascular diseases on the other(p0.001). Moreover, the mean of perceived barriers showed a meaningful relationship with occupation, smoking and awareness of cardiovascular diseases(p0.05).

Conclusion: The findings of the present study revealed that demographic and health-related variables could affect the perception of barriers and benefits of adopting certain behaviors for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, using interventional and educational approaches appropriate for target group features can help us take effective steps towards health promotion.

Efficiency Appraisal Of Yazd University Of Medical Science Hospitals By Quantitative Approach Data Envelopment Analysis(DEA)

Roohollah Askari

Background and Aim: Paying attention to efficiency of cost and performance in hospitals as the largest and the most costly performing unit of the health care systems is very crucial. This study aimed to assess the efficiency of hospitals related to Yazd University of Medical Sciences (YUMS).

Materials and Methods: In this study, the efficiency of Hospitals of YUMS was assessed by Data Envelopment Analysis method during years 2000- 2008. The variables were of two types: output variables including the percentage of occupied beds, inpatient days and the number of surgical procedures and input variables were number of active beds, nurses, medical staff and other personnel. The data was analyzed using Deap2.1 software.

Results: Average of technical, management and scale efficiency of hospitals was 0.958, 0.986 and 0.963 respectively. We concluded that the capacity of efficiency promotion in hospitals is increasable up to 5%. In addition, the nurses as one of the most important input variables, had the most apparent slack inputs.

Conclusion: Although the level of efficiency was optimal and there was little unused capacity for increasing efficiency in hospitals, however, managers should plan to increase the efficiency. Finally, assessing the effect of variables such as service quality and patient satisfaction on hospitals efficiency is recommended.

The Impact Of Chronic Diseases On The Quality Of Life Among The Elderly People In The East Of Tehran

Davoud Shojaeizadeh

Background and Aim: Increase in life expectancy is associated with non-communicable diseases. This study is aimed to survey the effect of chronic diseases on the quality of life among the elderly people in elderly care centers in the East of Tehran in 2011.

Materials and Methods: This is an analytical study in which 424 people were randomly selected. They were members of elderly care centers and were 60 years of age or higher. The data collection instruments were a standard quality-of-life questionnaire(SF36) and a chronic diseases record checklist. The data were collected in an interview. For data analysis purposes, Independent T-Test, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation coefficient were used.

Results: The mean age of participants was 67.34±7.16. Some 92.2% of patients were suffering from at least one chronic disease, and there was a significant statistical difference between the mean points of all aspects of quality of life of those suffering from chronic diseases and those without a history of chronic diseases(P<0.001). Moreover, there was a significant relationship between the quality of life on the one hand and gender, marital status, economic status, and education on the other(P<0.05).

Conclusion: The findings show that an increase in the number of chronic diseases leads to a decrease in the quality of life, and that the application of appropriate educational and interventional approaches can help take effective steps to enhance the old people's health.

Effect Of HESA-A On Acute Promyelocytic Cell Line(NB4)

Seyed Nasser Ostad

Background and Aim: Acute leukemia is one of the main causes of cancer in the world. Now a days using natural materials as source of anticancer drugs is more recommended. HESA-A is a drug of herbal-marine origin (patented by Iranian researcher). HESA-A is composed of 50% inorganic substance، 45% organic substance (aminoenthraquinone) and 5% water. In this study effects of HESA-A، on NB4 cell line (Acute promyelocytic leukemia cells) was evaluated.

Materials and Methods: HESA-A was prepared in normal saline as a stock solution (80 mg/ml, PH=7.4), and then was sterilized. After culturing and proliferation of NB4 cell line, the cells were treated by doses of 1, 2, 4 and 8 mg/ml of HESA-A. Respectively after 72h, the percentage of viable and dead cells were counted by using Trypan blue staining in Neubanr hemocytometer. Then by MTTassay, the percentage of cell survival were determined by ELISA reader in 570nm. Finally the effects of HESA-A on apoptosis were evaluated by flocytometery.

Results: This invitro study shows that HESA-A has a cytotoxcic and antiprolifrative effects against NB4 cell line (Dose dependent).IC50 dose was 5mg/ml .HESA-A can result in apoptosis in 50% of the cells.

Conclusion: Although the mechanism of HESA-A cytotoxicity action is not known, yet this study shows that this drug may cause apoptosis of cells by dose dependent method.

Study Of Teleotolaryngology In ENT Diseases

Reza Safdari

Background and Aim: With the increasing spread of technology, the use of telemedicine to treat diseases is increasing. Diseases of the ear, throat and nose, are among the most common illnesses, especially among children, which can be diagnosed and treated through tele-otolaryngology.

Materials and Methods: This comparative study is conducted in the United Stated, Australia and England. The information needed for the present study was collected from print sources such as texts, journals, and articles found in such databases as Medline, Embase, CINAHL, Web of knowledge, Google Scholar, and Scopus. To this end, certain key words like Telemedicine, Telehealthotolaryngology, ENT, ear diseases, otology and Teleconsultation were used.

Results: The most common way to send information is through the standard otoscopy, video-otoscopy and videoconferencing equipment (Audio-Video Receiver). The information needed for Telehealthotolaryngology includes demographic information (patient's name, identification number, date of receiving services) together with the data related to the diagnosis and treatment of the disease (disease history, radiology and scan results, eardrum images, laboratory results and previous consultation results).

Conclusion: For telehealthotolaryngology, suitable equipment is required to transmit audio-visual data properly so that ENT specialists and audiologists can benefit from it in their examination and treatment. The application of this method can help patients to economize on their treatment expenses and to follow their treatment in a better way.