Background and Purpose. Patients undergoing kidney transplantation surgeries suffer from postoperative pain, fatigue, and sleep disorders. Therefore, it is necessary to use different interventions in addition to modern medicine to reduce their symptoms. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of foot reflexology on pain, fatigue, and quality of sleep after kidney transplantation surgery. Materials and Methods. The study was a parallel randomized controlled trial. Patients admitted to the transplantation ward participated in the study. Fifty-three eligible patients were allocated into the foot reflexology group (n = 26) and the control group (n = 27) by using the stratified randomization method. Finally, 25 participants in each group finished the study. The intervention group received foot reflexology for 30 minutes once a day for three consecutive days, and no reflexology was applied in the control group. The intervention started on the second day after surgery. Pain, fatigue, and quality of sleep were measured on the first, second (before intervention), third, fourth, and eleventh days after surgery. Data were collected using visual analogue scale for measuring pain and fatigue and Verran and Snyder-Halpern sleep scale for measuring quality of sleep. Results. In each group, 25 patients finished the study. The mean pain score in the foot reflexology and control groups decreased from 9.44 ± 0.96 and 9.36 ± 0.91 on the day of surgery to 1.32 ± 0.94 and 4.32 ± 1.68 on the eleventh day after surgery, respectively. The mean fatigue score in the reflexology and control groups decreased from 8.76 ± 1.27 and 8.6 ± 1.26 on the day of surgery to 1.24 ± 1.2 and 3.92 ± 1.63 on the eleventh day after surgery, respectively. The mean sleep score in the foot reflexology and control groups increased from 33.38 ± 11.22 and 39.59 ± 12.8 on the day of surgery to 69.43 ± 12.8 and 56.27 ± 8.03 on the eleventh day after surgery, respectively. While pain, fatigue, and sleep quality scores improved in both groups, those in the intervention group showed significantly greater improvement compared with the control group (P<0.001). No significant difference was found between the two groups in the use of acetaminophen on the first, second, third, fourth, and eleventh days after surgery (P>0.05). Conclusion. Foot reflexology may reduce pain and fatigue and improve sleep quality of patients after kidney transplantation.

Background: Respiratory failure caused by pneumonia is the leading cause of death in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients; furthermore, anxiety and depression caused by this disease and its complications, as the most common psychological disorders might harm the mental health of COVID-19 patients. Objectives: This study aimed to look into the effect of a home-based pulmonary rehabilitation (HBPR) program on anxiety and depression in COVID-19 patients (severe acute respiratory syndrome). Methods: This randomized clinical trial was conducted on 70 COVID-19 patients in Kerman, Iran, in 2021, randomly allocated into 2 equal groups of control (n = 35) and intervention (n = 35). In the control group, the patients received only routine post-discharge care, and in the intervention group, the patients received HBPR procedures based on the “Guide to Restoring Movement COVID-19 Protocol” by John Hopkins University, the United States, that teaches to patients after discharge. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale was used to determine anxiety and depression status and scores before and after 4-week procedures. Additionally, the chi-square, Fisher’s exact, and Mann-Whitney U tests were used to compare anxiety and depression status and scores between the 2 groups. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The median score of anxiety (5 vs. 14, P < 0.0001) and depression (6 vs. 10, P < 0.0001), 4 weeks after discharge from the hospital in the intervention group, was significantly lower than in the control group based on the Mann-Whitney U test (P < 0.0001). Conclusions: This rehabilitation procedure is effective in the reduction of anxiety and depression in COVID-19 patients and their pulmonary status. Therefore, it can be used as a treatment procedure for mental recovery in these patients.

Foot reflexology has improved numerous physical and psychological symptoms in patients. The researchers in this study aimed to investigate the effect of foot reflexology on laboratory parameters, intake/output/weight and medication regimen after kidney transplant surgery. The research was a secondary analysis of a parallel randomized controlled trial. The research included patients who were admitted to the transplantation ward. The stratified randomization approach divided 53 eligible patients into two groups: foot reflexology and control. The intervention group was given 30 minutes of foot reflexology daily for three days while the control group received no reflexology. The intervention began on the second day following surgery. The demographic information questionnaire and information about laboratory tests and intake, output and weight were extracted from patients' records before, immediately and one week after the intervention. Before the kidney transplantation surgery and during the intervention, the laboratory tests of the two groups of foot reflexology and control laboratory tests were similar. During the intervention, no significant differences in intake, output, and weight values were found between the two groups of foot reflexology and control (P > 0.05). The present study showed that foot reflexology had no particular effects on laboratory tests, intake/output, weight and diet of patients after kidney transplantation. Further studies are needed to achieve more accurate results in this area.

Biomarkers are molecules that can be measured in the body and can reflect disease activity or progression. They can be used to diagnose and monitor disease, predict treatment response, and identify potential therapeutic targets. Several types of biomarkers have been studied in the context of IgA nephropathy, including protein, gene expression, epigenetic, and microRNA biomarkers. Biomarkers have the potential to improve the accuracy and specificity of the diagnosis of IgA nephropathy and predict the disease progression and response to treatment. However, further studies are needed to validate their diagnostic value in larger cohorts of patients and to integrate them into clinical practice. The development of multi-omics approaches that combine different types of biomarkers may provide a more comprehensive understanding of the disease pathogenesis and potential treatments.