Esmaeil Kavi; Mohammad-Rafi Bazrafshan
Abstract
The new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), which belongs to a group of families of viruses, was found in Wuhan, China, on December 29, 2019 and became a highly contagious disease. This unknown disease was introduced with symptoms of fever, cough, myalgia, fatigue, diarrhea, vomiting, hemoptysis, shortness of ...
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The new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), which belongs to a group of families of viruses, was found in Wuhan, China, on December 29, 2019 and became a highly contagious disease. This unknown disease was introduced with symptoms of fever, cough, myalgia, fatigue, diarrhea, vomiting, hemoptysis, shortness of breath, severe bilateral lung infiltrates, arrhythmia, acute heart injury, impaired renal function, liver dysfunction, and some death cases (1). There is no doubt that COVID-19 has been an unprecedented challenge for humanity and since the World Health Organization warned of a crisis(2), people were faced with a huge amount of right and wrong information published in the cyberspace; despite the few symptoms and possibility of low infection, many people searched the cyberspace to get information for self-care(3). Experience with the results of previous studies also shows that despite the benefits of using the Internet and smartphones by users, checking the health of users on the Internet pathologically when a disease spreads (Cyberchondria) can be worrying, and in such situations, individuals may try to attribute an illness to themselves by examining the Internet sites and social networks(4). However, research conducted after the COVID-19 pandemic on the number of "CoV" searches on Google shows that the volume of the searched content on "CoV" about 2019-nCoV is rapidly increasing, and in spite of the fact that much of the information in the social media is invalid, it can raise public concern about the disease. Therefore, searching for information about COVID-19 online and confrontation with such huge information may increase anxiety and distress and cause cyberchondria(5). Therefore, healthcare authorities in different countries, including Iran, must be prepared to face with the health challenges of this emerging disease, address the general anxiety caused by its outbreak, and adopt appropriate programs to manage public opinion during the prevalence of this disease; also, we should expand people's access to the right information to prevent the spread of Cyberchondria, which can be caused by incorrect information received about COVID-19. Finally, it can be said that due to the growing concerns about COVID-19, people may eventually ignore vital information published about this disease by the media because of the fear of knowing.
Hamed Delam; Mohammad-Rafi Bazrafshan
Abstract
Background: Menopause is one of the female life stages affecting their mental health due to symptoms experienced by them during this period. This study aimed to investigate the relationships between severity of menopausal symptoms, depression and anxiety. Methods: This cross-sectional analytical study ...
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Background: Menopause is one of the female life stages affecting their mental health due to symptoms experienced by them during this period. This study aimed to investigate the relationships between severity of menopausal symptoms, depression and anxiety. Methods: This cross-sectional analytical study was performed on 120 females aged 45-65 years in the city of Larestan, Iran. Subjects were selected by convenience sampling. Data collection tools included a demographic questionnaire, Beck depression inventory, Spielberger anxiety scale, and the modified Kupperman menopausal complication index. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software (version 25) at 95% confidence level. Results: Out of 120 menopausal females, who participated in this study, 89.2% were married, and their mean age was 53.30±4.24 years. The majority of them (92.5%) were in their diploma level and below. According to the results of the Spearman correlation test, there was a significant relationship between depression score and severity of menopausal symptoms (r = 0.775, P <0.01). There was also a significant difference between the total anxiety score and the severity of menopausal symptoms (r = .0.754, P <0.01). Conclusion: Considering the significant relationship between the severity of menopausal symptoms and the presence of anxiety and depression, the treatment of menopausal symptoms can prevent depression and anxiety in females during this sensitive period.
Hamed Delam; Mohammad-Rafi Bazrafshan
Abstract
Introduction: Elderly people face many challenges and these problems make them vulnerable to various types of mental disorders. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the level of anxiety and depression in the elderly people who referred to the health center of Larestan city in 2019. Methods: ...
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Introduction: Elderly people face many challenges and these problems make them vulnerable to various types of mental disorders. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the level of anxiety and depression in the elderly people who referred to the health center of Larestan city in 2019. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 109 elderly people were selected by convenience sampling from health center of Larestan city. Demographic information, Beck Depression Inventory and Spielberger Anxiety Questionnaire were completed by the samples. Finally, the collected data were analyzed using Spearman, Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests. In this study, a p-value of 0.05 was considered as statistically significant . Results: Out of 109 elderly people who participated in this study, 47 (43.1%) were male and 62 (56.9%) were female. The mean age of the men and women was 65.30±5.013 and 69.34±5.675 years, respectively. Most of the samples were married (79.80%) and illiterate (43.10%). The mean of depression, state and trait anxiety in men was 11.79±5.91, 33.02±11.56 and 34.19±13.50 respectively; also, the mean of depression, state and trait anxiety in women was 15.31±6.65, 40.68±12.44 and 40.82±12.29, respectively. The results of Mann-Whitney U test showed a statistically significant relationship between gender and the level of depression, state and trait anxiety (P value<0.05). There was no significant relationship between depression, anxiety and other demographic variables (P value>0.05). Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate the high prevalence of depression and anxiety among the elderly under the study, especially among the elderly women; therefore, interventions are needed to reduce the stressors of the elderly people's lives.
