Pars Journal of Medical Sciences
Year:2009 | Volume:6 | Issue:2|Papers Count:8

Introduction: In spite of numerous studies conducted on stress and stress induced analgesia, the role of sex hormones on pain perception and also the effect of stress on the reproductive system are not known well. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine the effects of chronic and acute restraint stress on nociception and serum level of sex hormones in male and female rats.Materials and Methods: The study was carried out on 47 rats. The animals were initially exposed to acute restraint stress (1 h) or chronic stress (two weeks-1h/day) and tail flick test was performed to evaluate nociception. Then, blood sample was taken directly from the heart and the sex hormone level of the serum was estimated by radioimmunoassy method. The results were analyzed statistically by the nonparametric Mann-whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Results: In both male and female rats, acute restraint stress resulted in an increment in latency in the tail flick test. On the other hand, chronically stressed male rats presented a performance similar to that of the control group whereas chronically stressed females responded to restraint with an increase in tail flick latency. Acute and chronic restraint stress reduced testosterone level in the male rats. In female rats, the serum's estradiol level decreased due to acute stress but chronic stress did not influence the estradiol level. In addition, restraint stress had no effect on testosterone and estradiol level in female and male rats, respectively. Conclusion: The results reveal that nociceptive and gonadal hormone's responses to acute stress are similar in both male and female rats, but in chronic stress these responses are sex dependent.

Introduction: Health care workers are always at risk of needle injuries in hospitals. This might be a way for transmission of hepatitis Band C and HIV to these individuals. So, prevention (both before and after the accident) is very important. The aim of this study is to evaluate these activities in hospitals in Jahrom, Iran.Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study in which the files of 54 health care workers with needle injuries in 2006 are evaluated Data were analyzed by spss version 11.5.Results: 66.7% of the files were related to females. In 85.2% of them preventional procedures were performed in less than 24 hours time and the mean time for starting these actions was 5 hours and 7 minutes. In 50% of the cases, the source of the needle's was clear, and only 44.4% of the cases were completely followed.Conclusion: According to the results of this study, infection control centers based in hospitals have taken necessary and timely measures. Still, there is a need for further education of health workers, aiming at increasing the personnel's knowledge on this issue. Moreover, the hospital authorities’ support can contribute to improvement in the functioning of the hospital's infection control committees.

Introduction: Birth weight is one of the most important indices of health status in communities. Exposure with violence during pregnancy may influence birth weight. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between exposure with violence during pregnancy and low birth weight (LBW).Materials and Methods: This case-control study was conducted on 318 cases (Mothers with neonates weight less than 2500 grams) and (Mothers with neonates weighted more than 2500 grams) 318 controls matched by sex of neonate and pregnancy age. The cases were selected using convenience sampling method and the controls were selected using quota sampling method in 2006-2007. The data were collected using a structured questionnaire and interview method. The data were analyzed by descriptive and analytical (chi-square and independent T-test' odds ratio and logistic multiple regression model) statistics' using SPSS 13 software. Results: The mean birth weight among the cases and controls was 2217±334 and 3390±392 grams, respectively. This study showed that 13.7% of women were not exposed to any violence during the pregnancy (10% of cases and 17% of controls). Multiple analysis using logistic regression showed that the chances of LBW among neonates whose mothers were exposed to behavioral, sexual and physical violence were 1.5 (P>0.05), 2 (P>0.05) and 4.9 (P=0.01) times that of the unexposed group respectively.Conclusion: The results showed that physical violence during pregnancy influences the birth weight. It is recommended that some programs be plan need to reduce violence. Especially physician violence and the families be justified about the consequences of such violence.

Introduction: Depression is considered as one of the most important causes of academic failure in educational systems, leading to decreased social, professional and educational performance. Therefore, timely diagnosis of this disorder contributes to prevention of educational failure among students, providing an opportunity for social success during academic years and also promoting mental health in educational settings. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of depression among students of medicines and also its relationship with academic failure in Jahrom University Medical Science.Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on all the students (150). The students were divided into successful and unsuccessful groups. Beck questionnaire as well as a questionnaire for demographic data especially those related to depression was used, the collected data were statistically analyzed, using SPSS 11.5.Results: 45.4 % of the students had mild to severe depression and there was a significant relationship between depression and academic achievement (P=0.004).39.4% of the unsuccessful students and 75% of the successful ones had mild to moderate depression. There was no significant relationship between depression and sex, field of study, occupation and level of parental education.Conclusion: According to the findings, there is a high prevalence of depression especially among unsuccessful students. Therefore, it is recommended that the students' mental and personal problems be followed up and specific consultation centers are setup to solve this problem.

Introduction: Optimal performance of hospitals depends on effective management of manpower and equipment. The Hospital nurses have numerous occupational difficulties. Burnout is one of these problems that threatens the physical and psychological health of nurses and is one of the important causes of absence, energy depletion and low efficiency among nursing staff. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between burnout and occupational management approach of nurse administrators in Golestan University hospitals Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive-analytical study aiming at assessing 272 nurses affiliated to Golestan province university hospitals, using Maslach Burnout inventory (MBI) and management approach questionnaire. MBI assesses emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplishment and management approach questionnaire including planning, organizing, control, leadership, motivation, staff participation, reward and punishment. The statistical analysis was done by SPSS for windows. qi-square and U-Man-witny tests were applied for analyses in this study.Results: The age range of nurses was 25-45 years and 95 of them were male and 177 were female (206 married). 5.5 % of staff rated their head nurses' management approach very good, 51.5% partially good and 0.7% of them perceived it completely bad. There was a significant relationship between burnout of nurses and occupational management approach of head nurses with staff in terms of intensity and frequency of burnout (P<0.05).Conclusion: The effective management skills of the nurse administrators lead To more qualified services to patients. Because of the significant relationships between the management approach of nurse's administrators and burnout in this study, it is very crucial to pay more attention to scientific occupational management styles.

Introduction: Low birth weight (LBW) is the most common factor of neonatal mortality. Mortality in LBW neonatal is 40 times more than neonatal with normal weight. So, this study was conducted to survey the prevalence of factors affecting LBW and design an interventional plan. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional and descriptive study in which 92 mothers with LBW child were selected by census method. Data were collected by a standard questionnaire including demographic specification, knowledge, practice, and health status of mothers before and during pregnancy. The questionnaire was completed by the educated questioners. Statistical analysis was carried out by SPSS version 11.Results: The results showed 71.4% of mothers did not refer for consultation before pregnancy and 53.6% of those with LBW child belonged to the high risk group, having a history of high risk factors in their last pregnancy. The most important factor was the history of LBW in Previous pregnancy. Knowledge of mothers about prenatal care was 36.8%.Conclusion: This study suggested that further surveys must be performed on the quality and impact of prenatal care in order to prevent LBW.

Introduction: Swaddling as a current custom in our country has many advantages and disadvantages. The mothers' knowledge about them affects the neonatal care. The present study aims to assess the mothers' knowledge, attitude and practice about swaddling.Materials and Methods: In the present study, 190 mothers in spring 2006 were studied through a questionnaire. Data including age, place of living, parity, job, education, and also the reasons, advantages and disadvantages of swaddling were collected. Moreover, knowledge, attitude and practice of mothers and their correlation with other variables were evaluated. Results: More than 95 percent of the mothers swaddled their babies due to custom or recommendation of their families. Better sleep (36.3%) and strong foot (30%) were the most common reasons for swaddling, as stated by mothers. More than 90 percent of the mothers had no knowledge about the disadvantages of swaddling. There was a statistically significant correlation between the mothers' level of knowledge and their age, parity, place of living and education.Conclusion: In regard to swaddling as a current custom and with respect to many advantages and disadvantages of swaddling in growth, development and better care of infants, it seems that it would be better to provide pamphlets for increasing the mothers' knowledge.

Introduction: Good doctor patient communication has a positive impact on a number of health outcomes. We have designed this trial to assess the educational benefits of communication skills workshop based on Calgary-Cambridge guideline on the knowledge, attitude and practice of family physicians in Jahrom.Materials and Methods: This double bliud, prospective study was performed in 2007 in Jahrom University of Medical Sciences. The population studied consisted of 24 family physicians from Jahrom University of Medical Sciences. They were divided randomly in to two groups consisting of 12 family physicians in each group. Inclusion criteria were family physician of Jahrom University of Medical Sciences and the exclusion criterion was discontinuation of the workshop. To evaluate the practice of family physicians, we assessed satisfaction of their patients. Five patients of each doctor were studied selected by sample sampling. Baseline knowledge, attitude and practice of each doctor were assessed using questionnaires. Then, I group of doctors participated in the communication skills workshop, while the other group did not. Two months after the workshop, knowledge, attitude and practice of both groups of doctors were re-assessed. The scores of both groups were compared. The results were analyzesd using SPSS 11.5.Results: The mean scores of knowledge, attitude and practice of both groups before the workshop were compared and the results showed that there was no significant difference between the two groups (P=0.830, P=0.924 and P=0.891, respectively). The mean score of knowledge, attitude and practice of both groups after educational intervention were compared and the results showed that there was a significant difference between both groups (P=0.001,P=0.000 and P=0.000, respectively).Conclusion: Training intervention can be effective in producing significant changes in family physician's knowledge and attitude as well as in the patient's satisfaction.