Background: Pressure ulcers remain a serious complication for immobile patients and a burden for healthcare professionals. Objectives: To assess health behavior prevention among critical care nurses regarding pressure ulcer prevention for hospitalized patients and to find out the relationship between critical care nurses health behavior prevention and sociodemographic variables. Methods: A cross-sectional design study was carried out in critical care units at three teaching hospitals. The study period extended from November 1, 2022, to January 28, 2023. Non-probability purposive sampling, whose target population was 100 nurses who work in critical care units in Baghdad, Iraq. The data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. The data was collected from November 10th through December 23rd, 2022. Study instruments consist of two parts. First, the demographic sheet included sociodemographic information about the participants. The second part includes nurses’ attitudes toward the pressure ulcer prevention instrument (APuP). The collected data was analyzed using SPSS version 26. Results: Findings of the current study showed nearly three-quarters (74%) of critical care nurses had positive health behaviors regarding pressure ulcer prevention based on a total mean score of 2.26. Conclusion: This study concluded that the critical care units’ nurses surveyed in this study demonstrate an acceptable level of knowledge regarding pressure ulcer prevention and treatment. Continuing education or in-service training should be provided to enhance critical care units’ nurses’ practices and positive health behaviors about pressure ulcer prevention.
Background: diabetic mellitus is one of the serious systemic diseases that may cause general systemic changes, which may be reflected in the oral cavity. The aims of this study were to assess the severity of dental caries, Mutans Streptococci and Lactobacilli in addition to flow rate and pH among uncontrolled and controlled diabetic groups in comparison with non-diabetic control group. Materials and Methods: Study groups consisted of 25 uncontrolled diabetic patients (HbA1c > 7), 25 controlled diabetic patients (HbA1c ? 7), in addition to 25 non-diabetic healthy looking individuals. Their age was (18-22) years from both genders. The diagnosis and recording of dental caries was according to severity of dental caries lesion through the applic
... Show MoreBackground: Radioactive iodine-131 therapy is highly effective in treating patients with hyperthyroidism. An ablative dose is preferred by a number of endocrinologists, and, a fixed dose protocol seems to be better than a calculated dose in real practice.
Objective: To check for hypothyroidism in hyperthyroid patients one year after RAI therapy, comparing between the results of high ablative versus usual dosages of RAI-131.
Methods: This study included 174 hyperthyroid patients, 101 males and 73 females, divided into 2 groups, the first consisted of 162 patients given a usual fixed dose of RAI while the second consisted of 12 patients given a high fixed ablati
... Show MoreBackground: Asymmetry assessment is an important component of orthodontic diagnosis and treatment planning. Several studies attempted to find the relationship between craniometric asymmetry and skeletal jaws relationship and many authors found some extent of asymmetry in individuals with normal jaws relationship. The use of Computed tomography (CT) allows for the assessment of asymmetry on a dimensionally accurate volumetric image, aim of the study is to determine if there are differences in craniometric asymmetry between patient with skeletal class I and patients with skeletal class II relationship using Helical CT scan. Materials and Methods: Ninety individuals with clinically symmetrical faces were imaged with Helical CT scan, and aging
... Show MoreBackground: Osteoporosis is an extra-articular complication of rheumatoid arthritis that results in increased risk of fractures and associated morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs. Objective: To evaluate changes in bone mineral density in a sample of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients on biological (anti tumor necrosis factor (TNF) alpha) and non-biological agent disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). Patients and Methods: A cross sectional study enrolled 60 RA patients diagnosed by rheumatologist according to the 2010 American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism (2010 ACR/EULAR) classification criteria for RA. Thirty patient on biological agent (anti TNF alpha) and 30 patient on non-biological agent (D
... Show MoreOne of the most common public liver diseases over the world is fatty liver which contain alcoholic and non-alcoholic fatty liver. One-fourth among general population are impact Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) in the worldwide.Retinol binding protein 4 (RBP4) is known as an adipokine, mainly synthesized and secreted from the liver and form adipose tissues. RBP4 acts as a transporter and specifically bound to retinol from liver to others tissues. Visfatin is an adipocytokine and mainly produced from visceral fat tissue, skeletal muscles as well as liver. Vitamin A absorbed, transported as retinyl esters to the liver then hydrolyzed to the retinol form and storage in hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) after reesterified with rigly
... Show MoreTo determine the relationship between herpes simplex virus 1, 2 and neurological disorders, sixty samples from patients with neurological diseases were collected (40 patients with Multiple sclerosis and 20 patients with Parkinson’s disease) all of whom attended both the Neurological science Hospital as well as the Neuropathology consultation Department in Baghdad Hospital In Iraq. The samples were collected in the time frame between November 2017 and April 2018. The ages of the patients that were investigated were between (17-76) years and compared to a control group consisting of 25 samples collected from apparently healthy individuals. All the studied groups were subjected to the measurement of anti-HSV 1, 2 IgG antibodies by the means
... Show MoreBackground: Anemia of chronic disease (ACD) occurs in the presence of chronic infection, inflammatory conditions or neoplastic conditions despite of adequate iron and vitamins storage. Gingivitis is the inflammation of the gingiva, periodontitis is the inflammation in the periodontium that extend deeper with loss of connective tissue attachment and supporting bone. The main pathogenesis of periodontal diseases and ACD is immune activation. Aims of study: Determine and compare the clinical periodontal parameters (plaque index (PLI), gingival index (GI), bleeding on probing (BOP), probing pocket depth (PPD) and clinical attachment level (CAL)). Evaluate the hematocrit (Hct) level, red blood cells (RBCs) count and white blood cells (WBCs) c
... Show MoreExogenous levothyroxine dose modulation and euthyroidism achievement is a persistent challenge in clinical settings. This study strives to assess the adequacy of treatment and identify the patients’ factors that can be used to estimate the euthyroid levothyroxine dose. A secondary objective was to assess vitamin D supplementation impact on thyroid status.
A review of a prospectively collected information from 142 female patients from Baghdad Center of Nuclear Medicine from June 2019 until March 2020 who were receiving levothyroxine for different causes was done. After a follow-up period, the patients’ thyroid tests were assessed and the euthyroid doses for each cause category were statistically analyzed. Thyroid function was
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