BackgroundThe main problem of hospitalized patients in intensive care units is feeding, and if the patient does not receive the daily caloric intake required to his body, he will have malnutrition and problems related to it. Abdominal massage is a method used to improve digestive function in various studies, but few studies have been conducted in intensive care units, and sometimes, contradictory results have been obtained. Therefore, the present study is conducted with the aim of determining the effect of abdominal massage on the gastric residual volume in patients hospitalized in intensive care units.MethodsThis study was conducted as a clinical trial in Ahwaz, in 2017. Samples were 60 patients hospitalized in intensive care units who were randomly divided into case and control groups. The intervention period for the case group was 3 days and twice daily for 20 min. Measuring the gastric residual volume was investigated before the intervention and 1 hour after the second massage each day. Data were entered into the checklist designed by the researcher and were analyzed using SPSS version 24 and descriptive and inferential tests.ResultsThe gastric residual volume on the second and third day after the intervention was less than before the intervention (p value< 0.05), the gastric residual volume before intervention with after intervention in the control group during different days, on each of the 3 days after the intervention, was more than before the intervention (p value< 0.05), and the gastric residual volume after the intervention in different days and the mean of different days in the case group was lower than the control group (p value> 0.05).ConclusionResults represent the effect of abdominal massage on reducing the gastric residual volume in patients hospitalized in intensive care units. Therefore, it is suggested that this method can be considered as a caring method in the daily care program for these patients.Trial registrationIRCT2017062134641N2, registered 26 July 2017.

Background: Nowadays, diabetes is one of the most common health problems worldwide that may cause severe side effects on the circulatory system, nervous system, kidneys, eyes, and feet. Health care education makes patients involved in caring and it is one of the main measures to attenuate the load of the disease on health system. The present study is an attempt to survey the effect of health belief-based educational intervention on improvement of metabolic indices in patients with diabetes type II in rural areas of Kermanshah-Iran. Methods: The study was carried out as a clinical trial in 2018 on 48 individuals grouped into intervention and control groups (each with 24 members) randomely. The participants were patients with diabetes type II visiting rural comprehensive services centers of Pave-Kermanshah-Iran. They were selected randomly so that visitors to Shamshir Village clinic of were selected as the intervention group and the patients in Serias and Darebaian villages’ centers were selected as the control group. Data gathering was done using demographics questionnaire and a metabolic indices checklist before and three months after the educational intervention. The participants in the intervention group were grouped into two groups of 12-15 members and the intervention was conducted based on health belief model in six sessions each for 60 minutes. Data analyses were done using SPSS (v.24) and descriptive statistics and Squared Chi test, Wilcoxon test, Mann Whitney test, independent t-test, and paired t-test. Findings: Before the intervention, there was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of demographics and diabetes metabolic indices (P>0.05). However, after the intervention, there was a significant difference between the two groups in terms of glycated hemoglobin (p=0.038) and fasting blood glucose level (P=0.006). The difference between the two groups was not significant in terms of BMI (p=0.301), cholesterol level (p=0.797), triglyceride (p=0.439), lipoprotein with low density (p=0.157), and lipoprotein with high density (p=0.664). Conclusion: The results showed that health belief-based educational intervention was effective in decreasing blood glucose level in diabetic patients. It is recommended using this approach as a part of therapeutic intervention and disease control in diabetic patients.