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Introduction: The main goal of treatment and care of chronic patients including those suffering from end stage chronic renal failure is to promote their health and their quality of life (QOL). Various researches have shown that health level, performance status and QOL, especially for hemodialysis patients are often less than expected. So, an attempt to find effective and cost benefit education methods in this area seems to be necessary. This study is done to compare the effects of two educational methods of direct and indirect (multimedia educational package) self-care program on QOL and physical problems of hemodialysis patients. Materials and Methods: This quasi experimental research was carried out on two groups of hemodialysis patients. Sixty three patients were selected from three main dialysis centers in Tehran and allocated randomly into two groups (group one 32 and group two 31 patients). The first group used the direct educational program and the second group used the indirect educational package (multimedia). Patients were assessed before education using QOL questionnaire (short form SF-36), need assessment questionnaire and checklists. After determining educational needs and status of the patients, a self care educational program was designed based on self care model and the principles of patient education and also through counseling with nephrologists and nutritionists. The educational program was implemented directly on group one (direct education). Also it was recorded and indirectly used for the second group as a multimedia educational package once a week within one month during dialysis. After implementation of the self care educational program, both groups were assessed and measured again by same questionnaires and checklists. Data was analysed using student T, Wilcoxon and Mc Nemar tests. Results: Findings showed that most of studied variables including laboratory tests, blood pressure, weight gain between two dialysis, skin itching, edema and some vascular complications are decreased significantly in each group before and after education. QOL was also significantly improved in each group. But there was no significant difference between the two groups. Conclusion: Since, there was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of efficiency of two methods of direct and indirect (multimedia) educational self care programs and also due to the problems and higher costs of the direct educational program comparing to the indirect method, the indirect method is recommended as an effective, cost benefit, simple and patient-friendly method for hemodialysis patients.

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Introduction: Quality of life (QOL) has become an important concept in medical research. Some research has shown a curvilinear relationship between QOL and glycemic control, but some did not so. The aim of this study is to investigate different aspects of QOL and also assess the hypothesis in diabetic patients. Materials and Methods: In a cross-sectional study, a random sample of adult diabetic outpatients (n=110) were selected and completed the WHO-QOL assessment instruments. In addition HbA1c was measured in these patients by calorimetric method. Patients were divided in to 3 groups: 1-good control (HbA1c<7), 2-fair control (7≥HbA1c<9) and 3-poor control (HbA1c≥9). QOL was assessed by measuring physical, psychological, social and environmental domains. Data were analyzed with one way ANOVA (Tukey as post hoc), Chi2 and Mann-Whitney, and correlation tests. Results: A significant correlation was seen between BMI and glycemic control, physical and social aspects, physical and environmental aspects, psychological and environmental aspects, and social and psychological aspects. No significant difference was seen between mean score of different dimensions of QOL in relation to HbA1c changes. The mean score of each dimension in relation to glycemic control showed that, better score of psychological, environmental and social dimensions is seen in patients with fair glycemic control. But regarding the overall score of QOL this is completely reverse. The mean score of physical dimension is decreased with increasing HbA1c. There was no correlation between other domains of QOL and glycemic control. Conclusion: In this survey higher quality of life was seen in fair glycemic control in social, environmental and psychological dimensions, but physical dimension in patients was decreased when HbA1c was increased. Regarding the overall score of QOL it can be seen that the lowest score of QOL is in patients with fair glycemic control which is in contrast with curvilinear hypothesis.

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Background: The most important determinant factor in elder’s quality of life is healthy. Since health can be declined by aging, in health promotion consider an effective model of care can be vey important. We surveyed the effect of Orem Self Care Model on quality of life (QOL) of elderly in Masjed Solaiman. Methods and Materials: This is a pre and post quasi-experimental study was carried out on 349 elderly clients which were selected from 11 health care centers in Masjed Solaiman in 2007-2008. Orem Self Care program was performed during a 3 months in days that the clients came to health care centers. Data were gathered by a short form questionnaire (SF36) before and after the intervention and was analyzed by descriptive statistics and paired t-test. Results: Results showed a significant increase in mean scores of different dominations of QOL including health, physical performance, physical role- performance, emotional role- performance, social performance, body pain, power and energy, general health perception, and overall mean of QOL. Paired t-test showed a significant difference (p<0.001) between all of dominations of the quality of life. Conclusion: Performing Orem Self Care educational program had a positive influence on improving QOL of elderly.

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Background: Researches showed that there is a relationship among alopecia areata, psychological factors and prevalence of psychological disorders. In addition alopecia areata has a great effect on the quality of life of these patients. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral stress management therapy on female patients`s the quality of life with alopecia areata. Methods and Materials: This is a case-control study with pre and post-test exam which is carried out in Isfahan Skin Disease and Leishmaniasis Research Centre. The participants consisted of 20 alopecia areata patients diagnosed by specialists. The questionnaire was Skindex-16 which was completed by patients before and after the intervention. Cognitive-behavioral stress management therapy was done on the case group in eight sessions over a period of two months. Data was analyzed with covariance (ANOVA). Results: The mean of quality of life scores in experimental group in v.s control group significantly decreased (P<0.05). Conclusion: It seems, cognitive-behavioral stress management therapy couses in quality of life improvement in patients with alopecia areata.

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Background: Diabetes Mellitus is a heterogeneous group of different metabolic disorders that are characterized by chronic increase of blood glucose and proteins, lipids and carbohydrates metabolism disorder. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of 8 weeks of aerobic exercise on metabolic factors, quality of life and mental health of women with type II diabetes. Materials and Methods: In this semi-experimental investigation, 18 women with type П diabetes referring to Arak Petroleum Company Clinic were selected and divided into two groups: aerobic (10 participants) and control (8 participants). Aerobic group performed selected exercises in 8 weeks (three 30-50 min sessions per week). In this investigation, we used metabolic factors (such as total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL, VLDL, LDL, FBS, HbA1c and Insulin serum) and SF-36 quality of life (QOL) and GHQ mental health (MH) questionnaires. The level of significance was considered to be 95% (P<0/05). Results: There were significant differences between the means of pre-test and post-test measures of FBS, HbA1C, Insulin serum, QOL and MH in aerobic group. There were no significant differences between the means of pre-test and post-test measures of TC, HDL, LDL, VLDL and triglycerides in aerobic group and all factors in the control group (P<0/05). Conclusion: Aerobic exercise affects metabolic factors, QOL and MH in type П diabetic patients and it results in their improvement.

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Background: This study was designed to investigate the quality of life in staff and hospital personnel of Arak University of Medical Sciences and to gain basic information for carrying out interventions for improving their quality of life. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was done to determine quality of life of 300 staff and hospital personnel in Arak University of Medical Sciences. Data gathering tools were demographic and standard quality of life (SF-36) questionnaires. Results: Of the 275 participants who had completed the questionnaires, 127 (%46.2) were staff and 148 (%53.8) were hospital personnel. The means of age and years of experience were 36.797.02 and 12.297.39 years, respectively. The mean of different dimensions of quality of life in the staff was significantly much higher than that in the hospital personnel (p<0.05). In terms of physical performance, vitality, social performance, general health, physical and mental health domains, significant differences were found among personnel with different employment status. There was also a significant difference between men and women in terms of physical restriction factors, physical agony, vitality, sanity, mental and physical health. Conclusion: The mean of different dimensions of quality of life in hospital personnel was lower than the staff while this value was lower in women than men. Specific longitudinal studies are needed for investigating the causes of these differences.

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Background: Psychological interventions may improve the quality of life in females with temporal lobe epilepsy through affecting their bio-psycho-social dimensions. This aim of this study was to aim assess the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral stress management (CBSM) group education on improvement of quality of life in epileptic patients. Materials and Methods: This was a case-control study with pre-post-and follow-up tests. The sample population included 26 patients, already diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy by neurologist and through electro-encephalography, that were randomly selected and assigned to experimental and control groups. Data were collected through the Quality Of Life Questionnaire for Epileptic patients (QOLIE- 89) that was administered in the pre-test, post-test, and follow-up test. CBSM group education was given to the experimental group in ten sessions during two months. Results: The mean of QOLIE-89 score in the experimental group showed a significantly higher increase in comparison to that in the control group (p<0.05). Conclusion: The results demonstrated the effectiveness of CBSM group education on the improvement of quality of life in females with temporal lobe epilepsy.

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Background: In the last few decades, quality of life (QOL) has become known as an important concept in medical research. In this study, two standard QOL questionnaires were chosen for evaluation of patients’ personality characteristics: 1) World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL) and 2) Iranian Diabetics Quality of Life (IRDQOL). The main aim of this study was to compare two standard quality of life questionnaires for evaluation of the relationship between personality characteristics and glycemic control in diabetic patients. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 256 type 2 diabetic patients with a history of diabetes for more than one year. Validity and reliability measures were determined for the two questionnaires. HbA1c was measured through calorimetric method. Results: The mean of physical dimension scores on IRDQOL questionnaire was significantly lower than that on the WHOQOL questionnaire. No significant differences were observed between the other dimensions of the two questionnaires. Positive correlations were seen between different dimensions of each questionnaire. There was a high correlation between the different dimensions of each questionnaire and its related QOL. The two questionnaires did not indicate any correlations between glycemic control and different dimensions of QOL. Conclusion: The two questionnaires have reliability for the total QOL however, the distribution of questions in IRDQOL is not equal. The quality of the evaluation of patients’ personality characteristics by IRDQOL is less than that of WHOQOL. None of the questionnaires indicated any relationship between personal characteristics and glycemic control.

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Background: Cardiac rehabilitation is one of the essential components of caring in cardiac patients both in hospital and community. Therefore, this study was carried out to determine the effects of cardiac rehabilitation program on the quality of life in patients with myocardial infarction. Materials and Methods:This clinical trial was conducted on two groups (experimental and control). Thirty patients with myocardial infarction at Heart Center Hospital of Sari were randomly assigned to each group. The experimental group participated in the Home-based Cardiac Rehabilitation Program (3 visits at home in weeks 4, 8, and 12) however, the control group did not receive any intervention. Data were collected via demographic data and SF-36 quality of life questionnaires and patients’ home-based health behaviors checklist. Data analysis was done by Chi Square, ANOVA and Mann-Whitney tests using SPSS software version 16. Results: The two groups were homogenous in terms of demographic characteristics. The patients’ quality of life increased in the experimental group in physical and mental dimensions and in total before and after the intervention (P<0.001). In addition, the comparison of the quality of life showed a significant difference between experimental and control groups (P<0.001). Conclusion: Cardiac Rehabilitation Program at home can improve the quality of life in these patients therefore, its implementation is recommended.

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Background: Heavy menstrual bleeding is one of the leading causes of poor quality of life and iron deficiency anemia in women of reproductive age. This study was conducted to investigate the therapeutic effect of tranexamic acid (TA) on menorrhagia. Materials and Methods: In this before and after clinical trial, 46 women with menorrhagia were selected and, after a control cycle for evaluation of the volume and duration of primary bleeding, were subjected to tranexamic acid treatment (500mg every 6 hours from day 1 to 5 of bleeding) for 3 consecutive cycles. Data on the duration of bleeding, amount of bleeding (PBAC chart), quality of life (SF-36 and MQ questionnaires), and hemoglobin and ferritin values were checked and compared before and after treatment using SPSS software. Results: Tranexamic acid reduced mean PBAC score from 242.86 (160.47) in control cycle to 101.50 (72.67) after the third cycle (p<0.001). Hemoglobin increased from 11.85 (0.84) to 13.08 (0.97) g/dl and ferritin increased from 15.9 (20.39) to 22.13 (2.03) ng/dl (p<0.001). Duration of menstrual bleeding decreased from 7.6 (1.23) days to 6.86 (0.84) days (p=0.001). Tranexamic acid reduced mean MQ score from 70.26 (17.64) to 11.64 (6.49) (p<0.0001). Quality of life scores increased in all aspects (except for bodily pain scale) (p<0.001). Conclusion: TA due to its short course of prescription, fewer side effects, especially on the pattern of bleeding and menstrual cycle, and not having hormonal effects, seems to be an effective drug for menorrhagia in women of reproductive age.

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Background: In recent years, changes in the composition of Iranian population into aged population have increased the need for more information about the quality of life (QOL) of this group. Proper planning for this age group for increasing their quality of life depends on the identification of factors associated with QOL. The aim of the current study was to assess the quality of life and its relationship with the quality of diet in elderly people aged 60 years and more living in the urban areas of Markazi province. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 165 elderly people in the urban areas of Markazi Province in 2010. Data obtained via general and QOL (SF-36) questionnaires and three 24-hour recalls on food. The quality of diet was measured using Healthy Eating index. Results: The means of total SF-36, physical and mental components scores were 55.66, 51.32 and 57.30, respectively. Additionally, the average overall healthy eating index score was 82.83. The results showed that the total, physical, and mental components of SF-36 scores in the elderly were positively associated with the healthy eating index but not significantly (P=0.2). QOL and diet scores were significantly associated with age, sex, education, previous employment, income, leisure activities, exercise, insurance, smoking, present disease, and drug consumption (P<0.05). Conclusion: The results showed that the QOL in the elderly was not related to their quality of diet.

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Background: Nowadays, the elderly population is growing all over the world. Diseases and conditions resulting from this evolutionary process can severely affect the quality of life of the elderly. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the effect of educational programs of healthy lifestyle on the quality of life of the elderly in Arak city.

Materials and Methods: This quasi-experimental was carried out on 60 elderly subjects in Arak city. The subjects participated in classes on nutrition, exercise, sleep hygiene, and life skills for a month and they were followed for three months after intervention. Data were collected by the short form quality of life (SF-36) in elderly.

Results: The mean score of quality of life was 61.06±7.42. The highest mean was associated with social health (74.5±15) while the lowest mean was for physical health (46±17). In terms of quality of life indicators before educational intervention, four categories emerged: poor (13.3%), medium (30%), good (41.7%), and high (15%). After intervention, the majority of the samples fell in the good (38.3%) and high (45%) categories. There was a significant difference before and after the educational intervention (p<0.001).

Conclusion: Education to elderly about the healthy lifestyle practices can prevent a lot of problems and help them to improve their quality of life. Therefore, classroom education is fruitful for this group that is often neglected.

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Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women. An important goal for cancer patients is to improve the quality of life (QOL) by maximizing functions affected by the disease and its therapy. This study examined the effects of massage therapy on quality of life in women with breast cancer after surgery.

Materials and Methods: The study was quasi-experimental. Among the 53 women with breast cancer surgery and oncology clinic of Arak, 30 were randomly allocated in two groups of massage therapy (n=15) and 5 weeks (30 min, 2 sessions per week) and control (15 cases). Cortisol levels and quality of life questionnaire (SF36) was redirected and mental health groups. Data analysis software SPSS version 16 using paired t-test and one-way analysis of variance and a confidence level of 95% (p<0.05) was performed.

Results: The results showed a significant increase in the experimental group improved after the massage, physical (p=0.001) and psycho-social (p=0.002) were compared with control subjects. Massage also improves quality of life and mental health in breast cancer patients after surgery was (p<0.05). However, serum cortisol levels between the experimental and control groups were not significant (p>0.05).

Conclusion: The overall results of this study showed that massage therapy can be an effective intervention to improve quality of life and mental health in patients with breast cancer during radiotherapy is used.

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Background: Today, the self-assessed health status is a standard part of epidemiologic and community based studies. The aim of this study is to assess and evaluate the health related quality of life in Qom city.

Materials and Methods: In this descriptive analytical study, population of 340 people over 18 years of Qom city entered the study by filling the questionnaires. A two-part questionnaire was used to collect data which the first part was related to demographic data including age, sex, marital status, education, occupation and place of residence. The second version of the SF-36 questionnaire was used to assess the quality of life.

Results: Generally, considering the all aspects of quality of life in this study, the mean (±SD) of scores was 67.69±14.78. This average was equal to 67.28±15.91 in men and 67.97±14.03 in women which showed a significant difference between them (p =0.030).

Conclusion: In this study the scores of women and single subjects were higher than other people. By the Persian version of 2nd version of SF-36 questionnaire, the quality of life people in different situations might be realized and impact of different demographic factors on quality of life could be measured.

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Background: The growing elderly population in Iran and the association of aging with the high prevalence of physical and mental disorders have increased the necessity of determining quality of life of this age group. The quality of life of elderly women is affected by several factors due to their vulnerability. Hence, this study was designed to investigate the quality of life of elderly women in Arak.

Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 271 elderly women who lived in Arak in 2013 using classified sampling. Data were obtained via general QOL (SF-36) questionnaires and analyzed by SPSS software.

Results: The mean (±SD) age of the participants was 67.5±7.02 years. The mean (±SD) total scores of SF-36, mental health, and physical health dimensions were 50.22±18.39, 58.54±19.38, and 46.35±20.82, respectively. The mean (±SD) score of eight dimensions of QOL were: general health 45.52±10.79, social function 56.58±24.94, physical pain 47.60±28.27, physical function 51.46±27.05, physical limitation 38.10±42.67, emotional problems 46.22±42.11, vitality 50.16±19.09, and mental health 58.54±19.38. There were significant difference between QOL, marriage, and income (P<0.05).

Conclusion: The results showed that the quality of life in this study was average and some factors, such as education, income, marriage, and residential situation, have a direct influence on QOL.

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Background: The importance of maintaining and enhancing the quality of life in (tuberculosis TB) patients is essential. The purpose of this study was to use N - acetylcysteine to improve the quality of life in patients with tuberculosis.

Materials and Methods: This study is a double-blind clinical trial that performed on 88 patients on anti-TB treatment that aged over 50 years in the central province of Iran within 15 months. Data collection tools included a demographic questionnaire and the Short Form Quality of life (SF12). Data were analyzed using SPSS software and t-test, Chi-square, Mann-Whitney, ANOVA and Pearson correlation analysis were used. p less than 0.05 was considered significant.

Results: This study showed that the two groups before the intervention in different features were not significantly different, but in quality of life at the end of the first month. The intervention group compared with the control group in physical subscale score (p=0.0068) and psychological subscale scores (p=0.0284) and quality of life score (p=0.0112) were better. Also, our study showed that age of patients (p=0.0331), duration of disease (p=0.0416), and serum CRP mean (p= 0.0234) and type of tuberculosis (p=0.0372) were significantly related to total score of quality of life at the end of the first month in the intervention group.

Conclusion: According to this survey results we hoped to combine the use of adjuvant therapy with N-acetylcysteine and standard tuberculosis treatment improves quality of life and increase life expectancy of patients.

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Background: Quality of life in Tracheostomy patients who are discharged from hospital and take care of your home will be affected by the current situation. Therefore, proper training can improve their quality of life also will increase the satisfaction of the training provided. Based on this, the researcher was to investigate the effects of video tape on quality of life and satisfaction in patient with tracheostomy.

Materials and Methods: This research is a Quasi-experimental study in Imam Khomeini and Amir alam Hospital of Tehran University of Medical Sciences in1392. In this study 80 patient were randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. In the discharge questionnaire on demographic characteristics, quality of life (SF-36) and satisfaction (VAS) were completed. The intervention group received education film for home use addition to the routine teaching of hospital. Two months later the patient's quality of life and patient satisfaction were assessed again with the above instruments. The data were analyzed with using statistical SPSS (V.20).

Results: Statistical analysis showed the difference was significant in both groups after the intervention (p=0.003). The quality of life in the intervention group at two months after the discharge in role limitation due to emotional problems, emotional status, social functioning, energy, public health, and the pain had increased. Average satisfaction with the training of the two groups was statistically significant difference (p<0.001).

Conclusion: The results showed that in addition to routine education to provide educational CDs for home use at discharge can improve the quality of life as well as increased satisfaction with training provided to patient’s tracheostomy.

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Background: About 40% of postmenopausal women experience sleep disruption which can affect their quality of life. Various medications were used for managing the sleep disruption. There are some studies on the effectiveness of gabapentin in the management of post menopausal vasomotor symptoms and sleep disruption. The aim of present study was to assess the effect of gabapentin on improving quality of life and sleep of post menopausal women .

Materials and Methods: In this double blind clinical trial, 90 post menopausal women with sleep disruption were selected and randomly divided into two groups for 12 weeks intervention (300 mg gabapentin, twice daily) and control groups. SF36 questionnaire of quality of life and PSQI questionnaire of sleep quality were surveyed and compared before and after the intervention in patients.

Results: The mean age of participants were 52.7 ± 3.14 and 53.4±3.68 years in intervention and placebo groups respectively. There was no significant difference in demographic information and the mean score of SF36 and PSQI questionnaires between groups before the intervention (p>0.05). Significant improvement was seen in score of SF36 and PSQI in gabapentin group after the intervention and in comparison with placebo group (p=0.0001).

Conclusion: According to the results of present study, it seems that gabapentin 300 mg/twice daily for 12 weeks can improve quality of life and sleep of post menopausal women.

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Background: Cardiovascular diseases is one of the most prevalent causes of mortality in all around the world accounting for high rates of decrease of physical function and daily work. The aim of this study is to assess the effect of cardiac rehabilitation on quality of life dimensions Percutanous Coronary Intervention (PCI) patients.

Materials and Methods: This clinical trial study was conducted on 96 patients in the rehabilitation unit in Qom. Half of patients put in the test group and the others remained as control. Data of all patients including of demographic parameter and questionnaire of quality of life before and after rehabilitation (in case and control groups) were collected. Data analysis was done in SPSS 18 by central statistical indices and frequency distribution as well as independent t-test, pair t-test ans Chi-square and p-value below than 0.05 was significant.

Results: out of 96 patients, the mean age was 57.21±9.09 and 57.3± 10.89 years in case and control groups respectively and 70.8% were male and remains were female. There was significant relationship between quality of life and its subtypes except physical function (p<0.001). Moreover, difference between quality of life and six out of eight subtypes scores before and after rehabilitation in both groups was significant.

Conclusion: It seems that cardiac rehabilitation after PCI affects quality of life.

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Background: Migraine is a chronic neurological disorder that leads patients to avoid any kind of activities. Since different factors are involved in migraine incidence and its triggers, so drugs are used to prevent or treat it are so variable. Also, combined medications are used to relieve migraine. This study examined the effectiveness of self-control training on quality of life in patients with migraine.

Materials and Methods: Statistic population of this study included all migraine patients in Ardabil in 2014(Estimation: N=1150) that 40 patients were selected by convenience sampling. Demographic and disease information questionnaire and quality of life questionnaire (SF-36) were used to collect data in clinical centers. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANCOVA) was used to analyze data, because present research was a experimental and clinical trial with pre-test and post-test with control group.

Results: The results showed that there is a significant difference between mean in quality of life in migraine patients and control subjects. It means that physical health and mental health of quality of life was different between control and experimental groups after self- control training.

Conclusion: Self-control training can be used to enhance quality of life in migraine patients. These results have important and effective applications in the treatment of migraine patients. Generally, specialists of clinical centers can use this method alongside other treatment interventions.