Background: Elderly people are more susceptible to common chronic diseases based on their age-related physiological changes and also use drugs more commonly, than younger people. Objectives: The aim of the present study was to determine the pattern of drug use and related factors in elderly people who referred to the retirement centers covered by the national retirement fund in Rasht. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 381 consecutive randomly selected elderly people in Rasht during 2017. Data was collected using a questionnaire that included demographic characteristics, common chronic diseases, pattern of drug use, and medication adherence by face-to-face interviewing at the centers covered by the retirement fund. Data analysis was carried out using descriptive statistics and Chi-square tests. Results: Of 381 people, 88.5% took drugs. The average number of drugs used and the self-medication frequency were 3.95 per day, and 35.7%, respectively. The most common causes of self-medication included previous use of the same drug and symptom recovery. The most commonly used drug group among the research groups included lipid-lowering agents (48.8%). Atorvastatin, Aspirin, and Losartan were the most commonly used drugs in the elderly that most of subjects (53.4%) had medium medication adherence. Conclusions: Since the elderly suffer from multiple diseases simultaneously, they often use several drugs. Therefore, selfmedication and also medication adherence are the most important issues in this period. Educational interventions on the proper pattern of drug use among older people seem to be necessary.

In the present year, attention has been paid to the nursing and midwifery students, especially when it comes to stress and coping strategies. Understanding the coping styles offered by students enables college officials to become aware of the needs of their pupils, the guidelines, and the training of their counterparts. This study aimed to systematically review on coping with stress in nursing and midwifery students was done. Data searches were conducted using stress keywords, coping styles, and nursing and midwifery students. The sites under study were database of Iranian Medical Sciences Articles (IranMedex), Scientific Database (SID) Pub Med, Mag Iran,, Scopus. The search of the above mentioned database was carried out from July to September 2019.Nineteen studies were studied with the aim of investigating the relationship between stress and aggression in nursing and midwifery students. Finally, the types of coping styles in nursing and midwifery students were examined in three areas of problem-centered, emotion-focused and avoidant. In general, the use of emotion-focused styles was more than problem-focused responses, while the use of such styles had a transient role in reducing stress. Therefore, it is suggested that educational managers and planners consider promoting problem-focused coping skills in students.

Orginal articleIntroduction: Heroin dependence is a chronic relapsing disorder caused by a combination of genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors. The genetic contribution in the vulnerability to heroin dependence is 40%-60%. Alterations in dopamine transport in the CNS are implicated in drug and alcohol dependence, and according to linkage studies, the HTR2A rs6313 single nucleotide polymorphism plays an important role in drug dependence and abuse. This casecontrol study aimed to investigate the association between HTR2A rs6313 and heroin dependence among a population from Northwest Iran. Material & Methods:The study included a sample of 100 heroin-dependent patients and 102 control subjects. After DNA extraction from blood samples, the genotype of HTR2A rs6313 polymorphism was investigated among patients and controls using the PCR-RFLP method. The obtained data were analyzed in SPSS software to explore a significant association. (Ethic code: 5/4/12152) Findings: Frequencies of CC, CT, and TT genotypes were 23%, 50%, and 27% in the patient group and 32.35%, 44.12%, and 23.53% in the control group. According to statistical analysis, there were no significant differences between case and control groups in this regard (P>0.05). Discussion & Conclusion:The results of the study could not support a significant association between HTR2A rs6313 polymorphism and heroin dependence in the Azeri population of Northwest Iran. This indicates the need to investigate other candidate genetic polymorphisms in the study population.

No abstract