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Background and purpose: Population aging and advancing longevity is one of the achievements of the present century. Life satisfaction is considered as a typical sign of a successful adaptation to changes in various life situations. It seems that self-efficacy and social support may be associated with life satisfaction. There are limited publications in this field, so this study was done to investigate the relationship between life satisfactions, self-efficacy and social support in communitydwelling elderly in Sari, north of Iran. Materials and methods: In this descriptive-analytic study 129 elderly who agreed to participate were randomly selected from 10 health centers in Sari. The samples who aged more than 60 years of old were included and exclusion criteria were having incurables disease such as cancer, dementia, and severe psychological diseases. The data was collected using demographic questionnaires, Ed Diener life satisfaction, social support and self-efficacy questionnaires. To analyze the data SPSS V. 16 was applied. Results: The mean age of the elderly and life satisfaction were 67.86 ± 7.49 and 20.64 ± 8.36, respectively. We observed a significant correlation between life satisfaction and demographic variables such as economic status (P=0.002) and home status (P=0.01). Total average of social support and selfefficacy were 25.08 ± 5.98, 24.35 ± 7.55, respectively. This study found a significant association between life satisfaction with social support (r=0.44, P=0.001) and self-efficacy (r=0.49, P=0.001). Conclusion: According to the results of this study, there is a direct relationship between life satisfaction, social support, and self-efficacy. Life satisfaction in elderly can be increased by strengthening the support, independence and dignity of older people, thereby improving their social support and self-efficacy conditions.

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Background and purpose: Uremic pruritus is a common complication in patients with chronic kidney disease, for which different treatments are applied. This study aimed to compare the effects of Zinc sulfate with Hydroxyzine in reducing pruritus in hemodialysis patients.
Materials and methods: In this cross over randomized trial, 100 hemodialysis patients with uremic pruritus who met the study inclusion criteria were selected and randomly divided into two groups. The first group was treated with Zinc sulfate and the second group received Hydroxyzine for three mounts. After two weeks washout period, the treatment regimens were swapped. The severity of pruritus in patients was evaluated before, one, two, and three months after the interventions using the visual analogue scale (VAS).
Results: The study showed that the severity of itching caused by Zinc sulfate and Hydroxyzine were similar at the onset of treatment (8.2±2.1 vs. 7.9±2.3), but at month three, the severity of pruritus in the group that received Zinc sulfate (3.7±2.4) was significantly lower compared to the other group (5.6±2.9) (P<0.0001).
Conclusion: Zinc sulfate compared was found to be more effective in reducing pruritus in hemodialysis patients and it can be used as an independent treatment in management of pruritus, however, for better results at least a three month treatment period is recommended.
 
(Clinical Trials Registry Number: IRCT201411252954N5)

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 Background and purpose: COVID-19 is a viral respiratory disease that results in high mortality. Evidence suggests that micronutrients affect viral and bacterial infections. This study was performed to evaluate the effectiveness of micronutrients (vitamin D, vitamin C, and selenium) on the disease severity in patients hospitalized with COVID-19.
Materials and methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study was carried out in patients with diagnosis of COVID-19 in Qaemshahr Razi Hospital, 2020. Medical records were reviewed and 42 were selected. Data of patients that received micronutrients including vitamin D, vitamin C, and selenium and those that did not receive these supplements were compared. Duration of hospitalization, respiratory support, oxygen therapy, requiring invasive/non-invasive mechanical ventilation, and incident of death were investigated. Statistical analysis was done in SPSS V25.
Results: Survival rates in the groups receiving vitamin C, D, and selenium were not significantly different from the groups that did not receive these supplements (P= 0.42, 0.63, 0.084, respectively). The study showed no significant relationship between vitamin D, C, and selenium intake and the need for ventilation due to respiratory distress (P= 0.139, 0.2, and 0.8, respectively).
Conclusion: No remarkable difference was seen between the recipients of vitamin C, D, and selenium and those who did not receive supplements in terms of survival and the need for mechanical ventilation. So, these supplements did not affect the clinical outcomes of patients with COVID-19.

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Background and purpose: Today, with the increasing development of psychological interventions, the assessment of mindfulness and its dimensions can be a valuable goal for evaluating interventions in this field. One of the tools made for this purpose is the mindfulness based self-efficacy scale. The present study aimed to assess the psychometric properties (convergent validity, reliability, and factor analysis) of the revised version of the Mindfulness-Based Self-Efficacy Scale (MSES-R) in the student population.
Materials and methods: Using the convenience sampling method, a total of 402 students (with mean age= 22, SD=2.2) of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, including 173 males and 229 females, completed the MSES-R, Self-esteem scale, and Cognitive-affective mindfulness Scale. The obtained data were analyzed with SPSS and AMOS using confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses, Pearson correlation, and Cronbach's alpha.
Results: Confirmatory and explanatory factor analysis suggested the fit of six subscales, namely emotion regulation, equanimity, social skills, distress tolerance, responsibility, and interpersonal relationships, and Cronbach's alpha coefficients were obtained at 0.85. 0.80, 0.75, 0.67, 0.71, and 0.65, respectively. Test-retest (two-week) reliability was 0.89. This model explained 64% of the total variance. Significant correlations (sig=0.001) were obtained between the scale and subscales with self-esteem (r=0.57) and the cognitive and emotional scale (r= 0.17), indicating the appropriate convergence validity of MESE-R.
Conclusion: As evidenced by the obtained results, the Persian version of the MSES-R scale is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring mindfulness-based self-efficacy.
 

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Background and purpose: The coronavirus epidemic has had a significant impact on people's lives and has created many problems in the economic, scientific, environmental, and personal dimensions of people's lives. Fertility in women was one of the threats addressed during the Covid-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality of life, marital satisfaction, and anxiety, depression, and stress in women of reproductive age referring to medical centers covered by Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Materials and methods: The current study was descriptive and analytical in a cross-sectional manner. The statistical population included all women referred to medical centers covered by Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences from March 1399 to March 1400, who were questioned in two periods. Data were collected using a questionnaire that included demographic information, pregnancy, and COVID-19 disease. Also, the information related to the quality of life of the participants in the study was evaluated using the SF-12 questionnaire, anxiety, depression, and stress of the participants with the Lovebond scale (DASS), and marital satisfaction with the Enrich questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 24 software.
Results: 1759 women of reproductive age participated in this study. All participants (100%) were married, with an average duration of marriage of 8.5±1.5 years. 14.1% of women were infected with COVID-19 during the study. 7.2% of women had at least one underlying disease, hypothyroidism (4.3%), diabetes (1.3%) and hypertension (0.1%) being the most common cases. There were diseases. The results indicated a decrease in people's physical health and emotional problems due to the changes in their quality of life due to the outbreak of Covid-19. About 99% of women showed mild and moderate symptoms of mental disorders, including depression, anxiety, and stress, during the study. The participants' stress levels decreased over time (9.6±8.83 vs 8.3±69.7), and their marital satisfaction increased (2.91±0.3 vs 2.95±0.31, P=0.0). Also, the findings of the research showed that people's quality of life had a negative and significant relationship with the amount of mental disorders.
Conclusion: The results of the study revealed an increase in marital satisfaction during the Covid-19 period. The study participants' quality of life had a significant difference in the two time periods. Consequently, special attention to Women of reproductive age, increasing their general and sexual awareness, and providing positive psychological programs in crisis conditions are recommended in formulating health policies and programs

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Background and purpose: Depression is one of the significant and common disorders in the elderly. Considering that nutrition plays a crucial role not only in the onset but also in the severity and duration of the depressive episode, the aim of the present study is to investigate the relationship between the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) as an alternative indicator of healthy eating and the dietary quality score with depression in the elderly residents of Shiraz.
Materials and methods: In this cross-sectional study on 80 older adults living in Shiraz, information regarding people's dietary intake was gathered with a 147-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Adherence to healthy eating patterns was assessed using HEI. Diet quality was assessed by DQI-I, which includes four main components of the diet. For evaluating depression, the Beck Depression test was used. The association between food indices and depression was assessed by linear regression in two crude and adjusted models.
Results: Of the 80 people studied, 50% were women. The mean and standard deviation of the age of the studied subjects were 66.18±5.67 and 65.18±6.9 years, respectively. The relationship between the diet quality index and depression score showed an inverse and significant relationship, so an increase in the diet quality index was associated with a decrease in depression score (beta coefficient: -0.281 and P=0.036). This index remained significant after adjusting for age, gender, level of education, body mass index, and energy (P= 0.049).
Conclusion: The findings of the current study revealed that Adhering to a diet with higher DQI-I had an inverse association with the risk of depression in the elderly. Further research is needed, especially prospective studies, to confirm these findings in Middle Eastern societies.