Background: Emotional and behavioral disorders and social problems can threaten the mental health of adolescents, who are particularly vulnerable to these difficulties. The present study aimed to examine the effectiveness of hope therapy based on monotheistic integrative therapy (MIT) on the mental health of male high school students. Methods: In this quasi-experimental studywith a pretest–posttest control group design, 40 male adolescent students were selected through convenience sampling from a high school in Yazd Countyduring the 2021–2022 academic yearand assigned to an experimental group (n = 20) and a control group (n = 20). The experimental group received 6 sessions of group counseling. Data were collected using the Child Symptom Inventory-4 (CSI-4),a screening measure for children and adolescents aged 6–14 years based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV). Data were analyzed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) in SPSS version 26. Result: After controlling for pretest scores, the experimental and control groups differed significantly in the mental health dimensions of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) (P < 0.001). However, the intervention had no significant effect on the conduct disorder dimension (P = 0.079). Conclusion: Hope therapy based on MIT, delivered as group counseling, appears to be an effective approach for improving the mental health of male high school students.
Methods: A record-based cross-sectional study was carried out at the tertiary care referral centre of Kozhikode district for a period of 6 months from January 2021 to June 2021. Data were collected during the previous 5 years, from January 2014 to December 2018, which included 328 confirmed Leprosy cases. Results: The study included 328 confirmed leprosy cases, of whom 230 (70.1%) were males and 98 (22.9%) were females. The cases showed an upward trend, followed by a gradual decline. The age distribution indicated a shift toward older age groups during the period from 2014 to 2018. 14% of cases were migrants. Despite symptoms, there was delay in seeking medical care in 30.2% cases. Multibacillary cases were the predominant type of leprosy. Moreover, male gender, older age group and migrants showed significant association with multibacillary leprosy. Conclusion: The initial study period showed an upward trend in leprosy cases followed by a gradual decline. The study revealed predominance of multibacillary leprosy, especially among males, older age groups, and migrant populations, indicating the importance of targeted screening, early diagnosis, and treatment for high-risk populations to stop transmission and improve leprosy control.
Background: Diabetes is a metabolic disorder in the body. Using data mining techniques is useful for predicting diabetes, so the aim of this study was to predict diabetes status using artificial neural network and decision tree models. Methods: This study was descriptive and based on secondary data. Data from 4820 individuals were also analyzed. In this study, the performance of two decision tree models and artificial neural networks was compared. Data was randomly divided into three parts, 70% as training, 20% as validation, and 10% as testing. Various criteria such as accuracy, precision, specificity, sensitivity, ROC-AUC curve, and F1-Score were used to evaluate the models, and finally, the best algorithm for predicting diabetes was identified. Results: The decision tree and artificial neural network models were obtained with 97% Precision and 97% accuracy and 96% Precision and 96% accuracy, respectively. The area under the ROC curve in the artificial neural network model (95%) was higher in the training and testing sets than the decision tree model (92%). Conclusion: Although the accuracy of the decision tree model in predicting diabetes status was slightly higher than that of the artificial neural network model, the area under the curve (AUC) of the neural network was higher, and therefore, both models performed well. According to these two models, the variables of fasting blood sugar, systolic blood pressure, and age were effective variables in predicting diabetes status.
Background: The current study aimed to determine the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on emotion regulation in two subscales of emotion suppression and cognitive reappraisal and dysfunctional attitudes of female students with PMS. Methods: The statistical population of this quasi-experimental research with nonequivalent control group and pretest-posttest design with a 2-month follow-up included female students with PMS at the Islamic Azad University, Doroud branch in the academic year 2022-2023. The sample size included 30 PMS students who met the inclusion criteria for the study and were selected through an available sampling method and randomly assigned in two experimental and control groups. The experimental group received acceptance and commitment therapy during eight weeks and a two-hour group session every week. The obtained data were analyzed using the statistical test of mixed ANCOVA, SPSS version 22 statistical software. Results: The mean scores of ACT group in the variable of emotion suppression and cognitive reappraisal have been increased and in the variable of dysfunctional attitude has been decreased after the therapy in the post-test and follow-up. It shows that the therapy has been significantly effective on the women with PMS in the two variables of emotion regulation and dysfunctional attitudes. Conclusion: The acceptance and commitment therapy has caused the emotional suppression and reappraisal variables which are two subscales of emotion regulation to be increased and dysfunctional attitudes to be decreased in the post-test and follow-up stages. It means that ACT has been effective for women with PMS to reduce some of their symptoms, and it can be used in the clinics to help them.
Background: Correct understanding of the oral and dental health status is one of the most important factors in planning healthcare interventions.Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of determining the perception of self-care behaviors of oral and dental health in adolescent boys. Methods: This study was carried out in a cross-sectional descriptive manner. The sample size included 200 male high school students of Farsan city, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province who were selected by stratified random sampling. The instrument of data collection was the standard questionnaire of attitude towards self-care behaviors. The collected data were analyzed with SPSS20 and parametric tests. Results: The mean score and standard deviation of five areas of perceptions included values 16.61 ± 2.91, emotions 63.47 ± 9.52, social position 18.76 ± 3.24, the influence of parents 19.08 ± 3.78 and the knowledge of caries 11.81 ± 2.00. The overall attitude score was 129.74 ± 16.66 and the average percentage of the maximum was 75.87%, which was at a favorable level. The highest average score was related to the range of values with an average percentage of the maximum of 83.05% and the lowest average of parental influence with an average percentage of the maximum of 73.38%. Conclusion: The average score of attitude is in a favorable situation, and in the area of parental influence, the situation was at a lower level. Also, it is necessary to consider appropriate intervention and education programs for teenagers with parents of low education and unfavorable economic status, and persuasive methods should be used instead of compulsory methods.
