OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to identify and characterize the barriers and motivations to physical activity (PA) for elderly adults in Iran and other countries.METHODS: We searched 6 databases (PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, Magiran, and the Scientific Information Database) from 2000 to the November 2017, using “aged 60 and over,” “physical activity” or “exercise,” and “motivator” and “barrier” as keywords. Two reviewers independently performed the search, screening, and quality assessment of the studies.RESULTS: In total, 34 papers were finally included in the study. The most important barriers, based on the frequency of factors, included physical problems, having no companions, and physical barriers to walking. The motivators included improving one’s physical condition, being social, and suitability of the physical environment.CONCLUSIONS: Important motivators and barriers to PA were more closely related to intrapersonal factors than to the interpersonal and environmental domains. The barriers and motivators to PA in the elderly were not markedly different between Iran and other countries. Therefore, a general strategy could be designed to improve PA in the elderly.

Background: Health literacy (HL) could influence self-care behaviors and further affect HbA1c values. Understanding the mechanism relationships between HL, self-care behaviors and HbA1c could provide the valuable knowledge for developing evidence-based interventions in diabetic patients. In this study, we hypothesized that HL and its subscales would be related to self-care behaviors and that HL would be indirectly related to glycemic control (HbA1c) via relations with self-care behaviors among diabetes patients. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 300 patients with type 2 diabetes referred to five educational hospitals affiliated to Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in 2018. The Persian version of Functional, Communicative, and Critical Health Literacy (FCCHL) questionnaire and the Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities (SDSCA) questionnaire were used. Also, recent HbA1c values were extracted from patients’ medical records. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was also used to investigate the relationships between the variables. Results: The SEM results showed the direct standardized path of the total HL score, functional HL, communicative HL and critical HL on HbA1c were nonsignificant in the model with mediator. While the indirect effect of the total HL score (β = −0.24, P =0.042), functional HL (β = −0.15, P =0.01), communicative HL (β = −0.16, P =0.01) and critical HL (β = −0.22, P =0.03) on HbA1c through the mediation of self-care behaviors were significant. Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that HL and particularly critical HL are significant factors in reducing HbA1c in patients with type 2 diabetes through the mediation of self-care behaviors.

Background & Aims of the Study: Nursing is one of the highly stressful jobs. Nurses have to provide health service, in many cases, to the patients with incurable disease. Working in such environment induces severe and permanent mental pressures, which in long-run can create fatigue and negative effects on performance of the nurses. The main objective of the present study is to survey effects of occupational fatigue and the pertinent factors on the nurses working in Kermanshah hospitals. Materials & Methods: The study is a cross-sectional study conducted on 112 nurses in Kermanshah-based hospitals in 2015. Data gathering was performed using job information and demographics questionnaire and Sweden occupational fatigue inventory (SOFI). The collected data was analyzed in SPSS-16. Results: The results showed that 67.9% of the nurses suffered from low and moderate fatigue, 23.2% suffered from high fatigue, and 8.9% suffered from very high fatigue. The highest mean scores of fatigue symptoms in the nurses were obtained by burnout, inability, drowsiness, yawning, and disinterest. The results showed significant relationship between occupational fatigue and its aspects. Fatigue in men was higher than that of women and it was more evident in married participants comparing with unmarried participants. In addition, nurses with masters' degree, those in evening and overnight shifts, nurses with a second job, and the participants who expressed dissatisfaction with their job and their colleagues showed more occupational fatigue. Conclusions: The results showed that work-related fatigue was moderate to high in the participants. Therefore, it is recommended that nurses can consider some items to manage fatigue like reducing overworking, sleeping enough, using good nutrition and enough rest to improve the work system.

The present dataset was carried out using meta-analysis method towards investigation of the prevalence of nurses׳ burnout in Iran. To this end, the keywords were searched in the Iranian databases such as Medlib, SID, Iranmedex, Magiran or even some international databases such as Cochrane, Science-Direct, Scopus, PubMed, and Google Scholar. The data were analysed using the STATA Software Version 12. In ten articles with a sample size of 1758 subjects, an average age of 30.73 (54%) and the confidence interval of 43–64, the prevalence of burnout was reported. The obtained data indicated that Fars and Zanjan Provinces had the highest and lowest rates of burnout (72% and 26%, respectively). According to the acquired data, the total prevalence of burnout among men and women measured 46% and 65%, respectively. Given the high prevalence of burnout among the Iranian nurses in this dataset and the importance of nursing in public health which requires highly motivated and committed nurses with high job satisfaction, it is recommended that the intensity of burnout be reduced through supervising the nurses׳ professional performance, supporting, paying attention to their problems, following up and providing the necessary strategies to improve their environmental, economic, and personal conditions.