Abstract Objective: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) screening stations set up by Iranian Red Crescent Society have been available for 17 d with the aim of identifying and treating people with coronavirus, reducing road trips, and sensitizing people to the problem. This study aims to investigate the challenges of the procedure. Methods: A qualitative study was used to find the challenges of the COVID-19 screening centers. Volunteers, branch managers, and headquarter managers of the Iranian Red Crescent Society participated in this study applying snowball sampling. Data were collected by means of in-depth semi-structured telephone interviews in April 2020 after completion of the fever screening plan. All interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim, always with prior permission of interviewees. Results: The interviews with 20 participants in the plan indicated 6 relevant challenges, including logistics, lack of planning, lack of coordination, legal challenges, mental health, and ethical challenges. Conclusions: The results indicated that, although establishing fever detection centers in Iran was a rapid response to COVID-19, it had significant flaws in the structure and adversely affected volunteers’ and staff’s health and financial resources. Therefore, well-structured protocols are required for similar responses in the future.
Abstract Background: The aim of this brief report is to identify the challenges and opportunities of online volunteering to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of the managers of the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS). Methods: In this study we have used a qualitative method including semi-structured interviews for investigating the opportunities and challenges of using virtual volunteers. The eligible participants meeting the inclusion criteria for this study were eight IRCS managers who had used online volunteers for COVID-19 pandemic response. Results: Having considered the interviews with IRCS managers, we finally found seven items as opportunities including safety, availability, recruiting more volunteers, cost reduction, participation, geographical scope, and local considerations. Moreover, five items were found as challenges of online volunteering in IRCS including lack of commitment, cultural issues, infrastructure, reimbursement, and volunteer management. Conclusion: Online volunteering is a significant opportunity for humanitarian organizations especially during epidemics like the current COVID-19. Online volunteering for COVID-19 response by the Red Crescent involved a wide range of people including young people, the elderly, people with disabilities and minority groups, and people in rural areas.
Introduction: Unfortunately, there is no significant plan to improve the quality of life of chronic renal failure patients. Although they need mental support as well as physical rehabilitation but all current endeavors are focused on increasing their physical ability and not the mental aspect. The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation between religious beliefs and quality of life in dialysis patients. Materials and Methods: In this analytical descriptive study, the data were gathered by a questionnaire about patients' belief and quality of life of 56 patients, 20-60 years old, who were under dialysis treatment in Shahid Rahnemoon Hospital in Yazd. A questionnaire (SF36) collected the data related to the condition of the patient and his/her life quality, and another questionnaire was used to investigate the religious believes which include 66 questions regarding to religious cultures. The data were analyzed by SPSS 16 software putting the descriptive statistics into use. T-test and non-parametric tests were completed for data analyzing (with the level of significance of 5). Results: In 24 women and 32 men who were under venous dialysis treatment, the correlation between the degree of religious belief and life quality was significant (r= 0.34, P=0.01). Moreover, the correlation between scores of religious belief and life quality in patients experienced 4 to 8 years of dialysis & correlation between score of religious belief and life quality among those who had chronic disease were significant( r= 0.36 & r= 0.62 respectively ,P<0.05). Conclusion: The results of the study showed that due to the influence of religious belief on life quality of patients who were under dialysis treatment, their life quality can be improved through the proper program of teaching religious belief.
The aim of this study was to investigate hormonal responses (Testosterone, Cortisol, Insulin) and Glucose density after acute exercise in elite athletes. Methods: 27 elite athletes, who acquired between athletes of the Iranian Premier League, divide into two endurance and speedy group. Before and after the acute exercise, blood samples were drowned to determine serum Testosterone, Cortisol, Insulin and Glucose. The blood samples were analysis in the laboratory with Radio Immuno Assay methods. For statistics analysis of lab data, we used paired sample t-test. Results: Results showed an increase in hormones and Glucose density in both group and decrease Insulin in endurance group. Also Cortisol and Glucose significantly increased in endurance group (p≤0.05), but in speedy group Testosterone significantly increased after acute exercises (p≤ 0.05). Conclusion: Exercises, chiefly, acute exercises is causing an increase of anabolic hormonal change. Therefore, athletes can use these acute exercises to increase sport capacity.
Introduction: ascorbic acid is a water-soluble vitamin solved in water that acts as a helper of some the enzymes in the reactions of energy metabolism. Thus, the study aims to investigate the use of supplemental ascorbic acid on the aerobic and anaerobic capacity of the children.Methodology: Participants of this quasi-experimental study were 18 children in Esfahan who were randomly selected and divided into 9 groups in pair (aerobic exercise group and the control group). For 10 days before the start of the main trial, the participants in the control group received placebo and the experimental group received ascorbic acid. The average aerobic capacity was measured before and after 10 days of the use of ascorbic acid. The results were analyzed by SPSS version 18.Results: Before and after 10 days of the use of ascorbic acid, the mean and standard deviation of the aerobic capacity of the experimental group were respectively 3.59± 0.38 and 4.23 ± 0.77 and of the control group were 3.7 ± 0.40 and 3.7± 0.53, respectively. Therefore, there was a significant relationship between the use of ascorbic acid and placebo in terms of aerobic capacity (p ≤ 0.5).
Nowadays, organ transplantation is the treatment of choice for end-stage organ failure, which increases the importance of organ procurement. It seems that the attitude towards organ donation and transplantation affects people's satisfaction. Moreover, health care personnel, especially physicians, should be familiar with transplantation rules and standards. It seems that understanding the knowledge and attitude of this group can affect the transplantation center policies.To assess knowledge and attitude of a group of Iranian physicians towards organ and tissue donation.In a cross-sectional study, 560 Iranian physicians including nephrologists, urologists and internists were asked to fill out a validated questionnaire containing their demographics, knowledge and attitude towards organ and tissue donation and transplantation.Of 560 participants, 435 (78%) agreed with organ donation after death and 285 (51%) agreed with living kidney donation. The most common reason provided by those who agreed with donation was "helping people" whereas the most common cause of disagreement was "to honor the body." Only 32 (6%) physicians had no knowledge about transplantation rules. Complete awareness about theoretical basis and financial issues of transplantation was observed in 265 (47%) and 221 (40%) participants, respectively.Physicians had a good attitude towards organ and tissue transplantation although less than half of them had knowledge of transplantation rules and its theoretical basis and financial issues; therefore, additional awareness and education of physicians is needed in all areas of the organ donation process in Iran.
Background: Twitter is a major tool for communication in emergencies such as natural disasters. This online social network allows the user to produce content, and it is not designed exclusively for news releases, as opposed to other service providers. Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate Twitter uses in natural disasters and pandemics. Methods: The included studies reported the role of Twitter in natural disasters. The studies that report in settings other than the natural disasters (such as man-made disasters) and other social media were excluded. Electronic databases for a comprehensive literature search including MEDLINE, Web of Science, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) and EMBASE were used to identify the records that match the mentioned inclusion criteria published till May 2020. The study characteristics were extracted from the qualified studies including year of publication, findings, and geographical location of the study conduct. A narrative synthesis for this literature review was used. Results: The search identified 822 articles of which 780 articles were removed, 256 were not available, 311 papers were not relevant, 16 were duplicated articles, and 197 were non-related to the emergencies. 45 articles met the selection criteria and were included in the review. eleven themes were found in the narrative synthesis including early warning, disseminating information and misinformation, advocacy, personal gains, assessment, various roles of organizations, public mood, geographical analysis, charity, using influencers, and trust. Conclusions: It is recommended that influential individuals be identified in each country and community before disasters occur so that the necessary information can be disseminated in response to disasters. Preventing the spread of misinformation is one of the most important issues in times of disaster, especially pandemics. Disseminating accurate, transparent, and prompt information from relief organizations and governments can help. Also, analyzing Twitter data can be a good source for understanding the mental state of the community, estimating the number of injured people, estimating the points affected by natural disasters, and modeling the prevalence of epidemics. Therefore, various groups such as politicians, the government, non-governmental organizations, aid workers, and the health system can use this information to plan and implement interventions.
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