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Introduction: Little is known about characteristics of loneliness among rural and urban older people. The purpose of this study was to determine Loneliness comparison and its related factors between urban and rural elderly people.
Methods: In this descriptive study, 280 community dowelling elderly people were selected by systematic random sampling method in Behshahr city in 2018. Data were gathered using Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults(SELSA) questionnaire, Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Index(IADL), and the Medical-Demographic questionnaire. Data were Analyzed by SPSS 22.0 software using descriptive statistics, via the independent t-test, one-way ANOVA test, Mann-Whitney test, Kruskal-Wallis test and Multiple Linear regression with stepwise analysis.
Results: The mean of Loneliness score for the urban and rural elderly were 33.00 ± 8.34 and 33.57 ± 9.89, respectively. There was no significantly relationship between total loneliness score among urban and rural elderly, however emotional score was significantly more among rural elderly compared to urban elders(P=0.033). According to the multivariate linear regression analysis results, marital status had the most strongly affected on the sense of loneliness among both urban and rural elders.
Conclusion: Regarding the high incidence of loneliness in the elderly, Perforrming more studies and designing educational, consulting, and supportive interventions is suggested, in order to prevent of loneliness and its adverse outcomes.

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Introduction: Being an elderly is associated with major changes in the quality and pattern of sleep. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of sleep hygiene education compared to cognitive- behavioral methodology on the quality of sleep in the elderly patients referred to daily care centers.
Method: This is a quasi-experimental research conducted on two-groups of 80 elderly people referring to day care centers in Sari city. In one group, sleep health education was conducted and in the other group, cognitive-behavioral methodology was held. Eighty eligible elders were assigned to two groups of sleep hygiene education (40N) and cognitive-behavioral intervention (40N). Sleep quality was assessed by Pittsburgh sleep quality standard questionnaire before and after intervention. At the beginning of the study, questionnaires (demographic characteristics questionnaire and Pittsburgh sleep quality questionnaire) were completed in both groups. Data was analyzed by SPSS v. 20 and descriptive and inferential statistics.
Results: The mean age of the samples was  in the cognitive behavioral group and it was  in the sleep hygiene education group. The mean and standard deviation of sleep quality of elderly people, before and after the cognitive behavioral method in the first group were 8.05 ± 3.651, 6.67 ± 2.66 respectively, the mean and standard deviation of sleep quality in the elderly before and after the sleep hygiene education in the second group were8.42 ± 3.39, 7.23 ± 2.454respectively. Comparison of the mean of sleep quality before and after intervention in both groups showed that the sleep quality of the elderly was significantly improved (P< 0.001). Given that the F statistics of covariance analysis test is significant (F (1.79) = 0.999, P = 0.321), Therefore, these two methods had the same effect on the overall quality of sleep in the elderly
Conclusion:, Considering that Cognitive- behavioral and sleep hygiene education method are an effective alternative to medication therapy replacement in the elderly, and each of the two methods have no side effects, it is recommended that, given the based on economic conditions and social facilities for the elderly, and facilities available to them. Each of these two alternatives is a substitute for hypnotics.
 

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Introduction: Frequent falls in the elderly have a direct relationship with postural control and balance. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of Concurrent cerebral transcranial direct current stimulation and neuromuscular coordination exercises on balance elderly people.
Method: This study was an experimental, pre- and posttest design. The participants of this study were 24 elderly 60-75 year old male and female who were selected by convenience sampling and randomly assigned to two “Intervention” (real) and “control” (Placebo) groups (n=12). After a preliminary assessment of equilibrium parameters by Computerized Dynamic Posturorghraphy apparatus, “Intervention” group received direct current stimulation over the cerebellum at 2mA and “Placebo” group received sham stimulation, twenty minutes each session in five days during two weeks. At each session, immediately after stimulation, participants performed half-hour equilibrium exercises on the Huber apparatus. After completing five sessions, the variables were re-measured. Data analysis performed using MANCOVA and ANCOVA and SPSS 23 software.
Results: The results of this study showed that current direct stimulation of the cerebral had significant effect on the postural control equilibrium variables in the first and fourth sensory condition (P<0.05). However, it did not have a significant effect on the stability of the elderly in the second, third, fifth, sixth sensory condition and composite balance (P>0.05). In addition, cerebral electrical stimulation with balance training improved postural control performance of visual system (P<0.05), but postural control performance of somatosensory system, vestibular system, and visual preference did not significantly improve (P>0.05).
Conclusion: The results of this study showed that cerebral TDCS with balance training has little beneficial effects on postural control and balance of elderly people and can, to a lesser extent, facilitate motor learning and improve motor adaptation.

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Introduction: With the increase of the elderly in the current era, mental health specialists have always looked for psychological sources to improve the quality of life of the elderly. So, the present study aimed to analyze the structural relationships between the psychological hardiness and life satisfaction of the elderly with the mediating role of religious commitment.
Methods: The design of this research is descriptive of correlational and basic in terms of purpose. In this study, hardiness was considered as an exogenous variable, life satisfaction as an endogenous variable and religious commitment as an intermediate variable. The number of samples was estimated to be 381 people according to the population of the statistical population of elderly retirees in Gilan province and referring to Morgan table, and by single-stage cluster sampling. The research instruments included the Worthington Religious Commitment Inventory-10, the Wood, Wylie, and Sheafor’s Life Satisfaction Index Z, and the Ahwaz Hardiness Inventory. For data analysis, Pearson correlation coefficient and structural equation modeling were used with version 22 of SPSS and AMOS software.
Results: Results revealed that hardiness has no significant increasing effect on life satisfaction and religious commitment (P<0/05), whereas satisfaction was significantly increased with an increase in religious commitment (P<0/01). As the effect of the independent variable was not significant on the mediating variable, the mediating role of religious commitment is not confirmed.
Conclusions: Based on these results, it can be said that by strengthening religious commitment, it is possible to increase life satisfaction in order to improve mental well-being in the elderly.

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Introduction:: Improper lifestyle is one of the influential factors in the occurrence of chronic diseases, including high blood pressure. Health literacy is an important factor for people to better understand their health management. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between health literacy and lifestyle in the elderly with hypertension.
Methods:: The present study was a descriptive-analytical study that was conducted on 210 elderly people with hypertension who referred to specialized clinics under Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences using a simple random method. The tools of data collection were health promoting lifestyle questionnaires (HPLP2) and health literacy of Iranian cattle (HELIA). Data analysis was done with SPSS version 23 software and Pearson correlation and regression tests.
 Results: The average age of the elderly was 67 years, of which 54.8% were men. The results of statistical analysis showed that 62% of the samples had a favorable lifestyle and 58% had sufficient health literacy. Men's lifestyle and health literacy had higher average scores than women (p<0.003). In the examination of the average scores of health literacy and lifestyle, a significant relationship was observed with the variables of employment status, education level, place of residence and the number of drugs consumed (p<0.05). A statistically significant correlation was seen between the variables of health literacy and lifestyle (p>0.001). Conclusion: Increasing health literacy is an important step in improving lifestyle. It seems necessary to carry out educational-counseling interventions to improve the lifestyle of the elderly

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Introduction:Wrist fractures are the most common arm fractures in older adults. The impact of wrist fractures of older women as family care givers has been less studied than that of other types and so, less is known about the factors related to the quality of life of these fractures. This study is aimed to assess the quality of life of older women as family caregivers with wrist fractures.
Methods:A descriptive cross-sectional study included 200 older women aged 65 or more as family caregivers with wrist fractures in selected medical centers affiliated to Iran University of Medical Sciences, 2022 through continuous sampling. The data collection tool included the demographic characteristics form and the IOF QLQ quality of life questionnaire. Data analysis was done using descriptive and inferential statistical methods in SPSS-20 software.
Results:The results showed that the mean score of the total quality of life of the subjects was 44.22 ± 20.41. The quality of life of 43.5% of the participants was bad and the quality of life of other participants (56.5%) was good. Poor economic status with a standard coefficient of 0.208 was the most related factor to the variable of the quality of life of the elderly women.
Conclusion:Despite the fact that about half of the women had a good quality of life, a significant percentage of the remaining women had a bad quality of life, which could probably be due to a low pain tolerance threshold or inability to perform activity of daily living which need family and social support.
 

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Introduction: To compare the effects of the traditional Otago exercise program and a modified version (Otago with core stability exercises) on the quality of life in elderly women.
Methods: 30 elderly women were divided into three groups: a modified Otago group, a traditional Otago group, and a control group. The exercise programs lasted 8 weeks, with 3 sessions per week. Quality of life was assessed using the SF-36 questionnaire.
Results: The modified Otago exercise program led to significantly better improvements in all eight dimensions of quality of life (P < 0/05) compared to the traditional Otago program and the control group.
Conclusions: Incorporating core stability exercises into the Otago program can enhance its positive impact on the quality of life of elderly women.


 

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Introduction: The aging population is increasingly recognized as a significant demographic that requires focused attention in mental health research and interventions.The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of reminiscence therapy on social functioning and emotional well-being in the elderly.
Methods: This research employed a quasi-experimental design with a pre-test, post-test, and two-month follow-up, including a control group. The statistical population consisted of all depressed elderly individuals with a history of trauma residing in Qazvin in the year 1402 (2023). The sample included 20 depressed elderly individuals with a history of trauma, identified based on a cutoff score of 21 on the Beck Depression Inventory and a cutoff score of 4 or higher on the Walker and Stang (1987) Elderly Questionnaire, along with clinical interviews. Participants were matched by gender and assigned to either the reminiscence therapy group or the control group (10 individuals in each group). The study utilized the social functioning questionnaire developed by Farokhnia et al. (2017) and the emotional well-being questionnaire by Keyes et al. (2003). The experimental group received 12 sessions of Butler’s reminiscence therapy. Data analysis was conducted using repeated measures ANOVA with SPSS-26 software.
Results: The results indicated that reminiscence therapy had a significant effect on social functioning and emotional well-being (P < 0.001), and this effect remained stable during the follow-up period.
Conclusions: This research underscores the importance of reminiscence therapy as an effective method for improving the psychological and social status of depressed elderly individuals and suggests that this approach should be incorporated into therapeutic programs for this age group.