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Study Objectives: In this study we aimed to conduct a comprehensive review of sleep medicine in Iran, focusing on the country's advancements, challenges, and the global context., Methods: We conducted a comprehensive review of sleep medicine in Iran, using various sources to ensure a thorough analysis. The national educational curriculum for sleep medicine and guidelines on sleep clinics issued by Iran's Ministry of Health served as a foundational resource. Additionally, we gathered information from the Iranian Sleep Medicine Society website and relevant committee data sources. To enhance our understanding of the current research landscape, we performed a targeted search on PubMed using keywords related to sleep and Iran., Results: The study presents a dynamic overview of sleep medicine in Iran, highlighting key advancements and challenges. Significant progress was observed in establishing standardized sleep medicine training and accredited sleep clinics. The Iranian Sleep Medicine Society plays a pivotal role in spearheading these developments, contributing to implementing regional guidelines for sleep tests. However, challenges such as a limited number of trained specialists, a scarcity of certified sleep clinics, and obstacles to accessing sleep disorder treatments were identified., Conclusions: We advocate for the implementation of increased research initiatives, nationwide education and screening programs, and proactive measures to strengthen the landscape of sleep and circadian medicine in the country., Citation: Behkar A, Amirifard H, Samadi S, et al. Global practice of sleep medicine: Iran. J Clin Sleep Med . 2024;20(6):1009-1015., (© 2024 American Academy of Sleep Medicine.)

Background: Perceived social support (PSS) plays a considerable role in mental health. The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) is one of the most widely used scales, leading to much research evidence. The present study investigated its measurement model, equivalence across gender (male and female) and age groups (older patients= above 60 and non-older patients= below 60), and concurrent validity., Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted between March and October 2020, on patients hospitalized due to COVID-19 in Tehran, Iran. The scales were administered to 328 COVID-19 patients (54.6% male, aged 21 to 92) from two general hospitals; participants completed MSPSS (including friends, family, and significant others subscales), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI, include sleep latency, subjective sleep quality, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep duration, use of sleep medication, daytime dysfunction, and sleep disturbances subscales), and the Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS-10, to assess patients' appraisal of stressful conditions)., Results: The MSPSS three-factor structure was confirmed among COVID-19 patients by Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The results support the MSPSS internal consistency and configural, metric, and scalar invariance across gender and age groups. Nevertheless, small but significant differences were found across ages based on the latent factor mean of the MSPSS from friends, with a lower mean level in older patients. The coefficients of Cronbach's alpha (ranging from.92 to.96), the ordinal theta (ranging from.95 to.98), and Omega (ranging from.93 to.97) suggested high internal consistency of MSPSS. The concurrent validity of MSPSS was evidenced by its significant negative correlation with PSS-10 (τ b = -.13, p <.01) and also subjective sleep quality (τ b = -.22, p <.01), sleep disturbances (τ b = -.26, p <.001), and daytime dysfunction (τ b = -.26, p <.001)., Conclusions: The MSPSS was valid and reliable for measuring individuals' perception of social support between males and females and older and non-older COVID-19 patients., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Habibi Asgarabad, Vahabi, Cheung, Ahmadi, Akbarpour, Sadeghian and Etesam.)

Background: Psychological discomfort and sleep problems are considered separate disorders. Due to the high prevalence of both disorders among people living with HIV (PLWH), this study was designed to evaluate how those challenges are present among PLWH., Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted using data from a national survey of 1185 confirmed PLWH from 15 provinces in Iran from April to August 2019. Psychological discomfort and sleep quality were assessed using standardized versions of related Persian questionnaires. Logistic regression was used to assess the association between psychological discomfort and sleep quality in PLWH., Results: The overall prevalence of poor sleep quality, depression, anxiety, and stress was 47.71%, 50.95%, 44.26%, and 41.77%, respectively. The results of multivariate-adjusted logistic regression showed that each psychological discomfort covariate increased the odds of poor sleep quality. Depression by adjusting for anxiety and stress, anxiety by adjusting for depression and stress, and stress by adjusting for depression and anxiety all increased the odds of poor sleep quality., Conclusion: A high prevalence of psychological discomfort was observed in PLWH. Depression, anxiety, and stress were strongly associated with sleep quality. PLWH needed more attention and social support in order to reduce sleep and psychological issues., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic originated from Wuhan in December 2019 and has been spread in whole China and the world. Worldwide outbreaks of COVID-19 triggered a large number of morbidities and mortalities beside its economic and social burdens, which are discussed a lot, in scientific literature and different types of media. As a sleep medicine specialist, we may wonder how we can be involved in this field. In this short theoretical essay, we will discuss about the known facts as well as the hypotheses, which associate the sleep medicine to COVID-19. The discussed points may provide a source of research ideas throughout the world for better understanding of novel coronavirus-19 that has devastating effects on humanity.

Background: Insomnia is an important problem in medical sciences students and has implications for their educational progress. The current study aimed to estimate the prevalence of sleep disorders and investigating the impact of sweet almond on quality of sleep in students of the Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Tehran, Iran who live in dormitories., Methods: This is a before-after study conducted in 2017. At first, using the ISI questionnaire prevalence of sleep disorders was determined. Sweet almond was the study intervention. Each day, 10 almonds were given to 446 students for 14 d. At the end of the second week, again ISI questionnaire was filled. SPSS was used to analyze data. The McNemar, Wilcoxson Signed Ranks, and Repeated Measures tests were used., Results: Out of 442 participants, 217 (49.1%) were female. Before intervention, 343 (77.6%) had insomnia and 99 (22.4%) had normal sleep. After intervention, 306 (69.2%) had insomnia and 136 (30.8%) had normal sleep. Having sweet almond for two weeks is associated with reducing insomnia ( P <0.05). Investigating the almond impact in different categories also showed that it has a reducing impact on severe, mild, weak and normal sleep categories ( P <0.05)., Conclusion: Sweet almond has impacts on quality of sleep of those students of the TUMS that are living in dormitories. Intervention programs to improve quality of sleep are necessary and with regard to the high prevalence of insomnia, students must be protected, guided and consulted., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests.

Background: Given the fact that various studies have reported the positive effects of hydroxyethyl starch therapy in controlling shock, this study aimed to compare the effects of hydroxyethyl starch on modifying acidosis and treating patients with aluminum phosphide poisoning., Methods: This was a randomized clinical trial that was conducted on 60 patients with aluminum phosphide poisoning. We compared the two groups of patients treated with hydroxyethyl starch and normal saline. Base excess and serum pH of arterial blood gases (ABG) were measured before and after the treatment and compared by t-test., Results: Results showed that arterial pH in the starch group and normal saline group increased by 0.13 and 0.18, respectively, and the difference between the two groups was not statistically significant. The difference in the base excess before and after treatment in the starch group and normal saline group was 6.41 and 5.39, respectively, and the difference between the two groups was not statistically significant. Changes in mean values of arterial pH after the intervention in comparison with before treatment were statistically significant (p<0.05)., Conclusion: Overall, the results of the present study show that starch is at least as effective as normal saline in treating acidosis in patients poisoned with aluminum phosphide and can be used instead of normal saline, and both of the two treatments could be equally effective., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Background: The present study evaluated the lifestyle behavior patterns and its associations with demographic factors in the Iranian population., Methods: A total of 8244 people aged 25-70 years who participated in a national survey in 2011 were included in the study. Factors related to lifestyle (such as diet, physical activity, and tobacco use) have been collected using a questionnaire. A self-organizing map was used for cluster analysis and a multinomial logistic model was used for assessment of associations., Results: Seven clusters were identified as the following: cluster 1 (15.84%): healthiest lifestyle; cluster 2 (12.45%): excessive consumption of sweet tasting soft drinks, salt, and fast food; cluster 3 (33.73%): no recreational physical activity; cluster 4 (6.86%) alcohol consumption, smoking, and consumption of sweet tasting soft drinks; cluster 5 (14.18%): less salt and oil intake and lack of physical activity; cluster 6 (7.85%): no use of dairy products; cluster 7 (9.08%): the most unhealthy lifestyles; excessive work-related physical activity and smoking and unhealthy diet. Male gender was associated with higher odds of being in clusters 4 and 7. Individuals who were in unhealthy lifestyle clusters were mostly less educated and more self-employed or laborers., Conclusions: A very small percentage of individuals was in the healthy lifestyle cluster yet they had poor nutrition. Health policy-makers should pay more attention to low recreational physical activity among elder people and in middle-aged and housekeepers, and also to high work-related physical activities that have a strong tendency to be in a cluster with smoking among workers and less educated men., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Objective: To examine self-reported mobility and limitation in physical functioning among the elderly and associated socio-demographic risk factors., Methods: The population-based cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2012 to January 2013 and comprised subjects from five provinces of Iran. The variables were measured using a questionnaire. Self-reported mobility disability and physical functioning disability were defined as having no problems in daily activities and physical tasks. Logistic regression was used to calculate the odds ratio for association of socio-demographic risk factors and outcomes., Results: Of the 1325 subjects, 636(48%) were men. The overall mean age was 69.14±7.37 years. Prevalence of mobility disability and limitation in physical functioning was 401(63%) and 553(87%) in men, and 524(76%) and 641(93%) in women. There was a significant association between mobility disability and family composition and satisfaction with financial situation and housing tenure in both genders (p<0.05 each). Physical functioning had a significant relationship with family composition, and satisfaction with financial situations and housing tenure in men and women and population density in men and marital status in women (p<0.05 each)., Conclusions: The elderly had a high risk of disability. Social factors had more association with mobility disability and limitation in physical functioning and required specific social support.