Journal of Health System Research
Year:2013 | Volume:9 | Issue:1|Papers Count:15

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in America, Canada and is the sixth prevalent cancer worldwide. Dietary factors play an important role in prostate cancer development, that one of them is dietary fats particularly PUFA intake. Thus, this study aimed to review the current articles on the association between PUFA with prostate cancer. We searched PubMed database and articles with designs of case-control, cohort, prospective cohort and prospective were selected. In animal studies, direct relationship was observed between omega-6 fatty acids intake with tumor growth and inverse relationship between omega 3 fatty acids consumption with prostate tumor growth. Omega 3 fatty acids are substrate for the synthesis of anti-inflammatory eicosanoids, but omega 6 fatty acids are substrate for the synthesis of pre-inflammatory eicosanoids. In most human studies, were observed.an inverse relationship between fish consumption with prostate cancer and a direct relationship between alpha-linolenic acid with prostate cancer. The results of human studies are conflicting about the relationship between PUFA with prostate cancer. Omega 3 fatty acids from sources of sea and plant have different effects on prostate cancer. In most studies, alpha-linolenic acid was associated with increased risk of prostate cancer. Thus, further studies are needed about relationship between PUFA intake and prostate cancer.

Because of risks and uncertainties associated with research and medical interventions, ethical considerations are often necessary for medical research. Unfortunately, these ethical considerations have not been addressed extensively in the field of health education and health promotion. In Iran, sources and texts related to ethics and health education/health promotion are very limited. Therefore, we hoped the present paper would be a small step toward filling a corner of this great gap. This paper is a review of literature and resources related to ethics in the health education/health promotion profession. In the first part of this article, generalities about ethics, and approaches and theories of the origin and emergence of morality are given. Then, in another part of this paper, the Persian version of the ethical codes for the health education/health promotion profession (6 sections and 47 articles), which has been approved by the coalition of national health education organizations (CNHEO), has been presented for the first time. In general, one of the main responsibilities of health educators is to help individuals make wise decisions related to their health. Health educators in their professional practices encounter a range of difficult and uncertain situations. On the other hand, health educators act as a role model for others. The authors of this paper recommend specialized and practical training on ethical issues in health education for professionals, researchers, students, and other activists in the field of health education and health promotion.

Background: Nowadays obesity has become a universal problem. Many studies have been done on obesity and abdominal adiposity. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) intake, and obesity and abdominal adiposity in female students of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences.Methods: This cross–sectional study was conducted on 160 female university students in the age range of 18-30 years. All participants were randomly selected. Validated semi-quantitative FFQ was used to assess the entire dietary component intake. Physical activity was assessed by the standard physical activity questionnaire. The relationship between PUFA intake and anthropometric indices was evaluated by linear and logistic regression, and correlation test. All analysis was performed by SPSS version 10.Findings: The prevalence of obesity, abdominal adiposity, and overweight was 2.5%, 1.3%, and 9.4%, respectively. The mean values of weight, BMI and waist circumference (WC) were 56.21 kg, 21.88 kg/m2, and 70.94 cm, respectively. The mean daily intake of fat and PUFA were 74.11 and 17.54 gr, respectively.Conclusion: The current study indicated that there was no significant correlation between PUFA intake and weight, waist circumference, obesity and abdominal adiposity, and overweight among female students (P>0.05).

Background: Previous studies on the correlation between dietary intakes and stroke have mostly focused on the dietary glycemic index (GI) of potatoes and there is no information regarding the correlation between potato consumption and risk of stroke. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation between potato consumption and risk of stroke in an Iranian population.Methods: 195 patients, who had had a stroke and were hospitalized in the neurology ward of Alzahra University Hospital, and 195 control patients from other wards of the hospital were selected by convenience non-random sampling method. Data on dietary intake were collected by the help of food frequency questionnaire. Other information was collected by the use of questionnaires.Findings: Mean potato consumption was 31.1±3.4 and 23.4±1.3 g/d for cases and controls, respectively. Participants with the highest potato consumption were younger and more likely to be physically active. High potato consumption was associated with higher intakes of energy, fruits, vegetables, beans, and grains. After adjustment for age, sex, and total energy intake, we found that individuals with the highest potato consumption were more likely to have a stroke as compared with those with the lowest consumption (OR: 1.9, 95% CI: 1.0-3.6). Even after additional control for smoking and physical activity, the correlation remained significant (OR: 1.9, 95% CI: 1.0-3.6). Further adjustment for dietary intakes made the correlation non-significant (OR: 1.1, 95% CI: 0.5-2.5). However, when BMI was taken into account in the final model, we found that individuals in the third quartile of potato consumption were significantly more likely to have a stroke (OR: 2.2, 95% CI: 1.0-4.7).Conclusion: We found evidence indicating a marginally significant independent correlation between potato consumption and risk of stroke. More studies are required to confirm this finding.

Background: In order to match workers physiological characteristics with job demands and personnel to perform different jobs, maximum aerobic capacity (VO2-max) can be used. This study was conducted to develop a data bank of VO2-max among male workers of the industrial sector in Shiraz, Iran.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 500 healthy male workers employed in industries in the city of Shiraz participated voluntarily (20 to 59 years of age). Subjects were assessed by ergocycle test according to Astrand protocol for 6 minutes. A questionnaire consisting of two parts was used as data collecting tool.In the first part, demographic, and in the second part anthropometric and physiological characteristics were included.Findings: 5th, 50th, and 95th percentiles of VO2-max of workers were 2.07, 2.72, and 3.02 L.min-1, respectively. The results showed that aerobic capacity decreases at a rate of ~10% per decade.Conclusion: Developing such a data bank can be useful for personnel selection and assessment of workers’ physiological characteristics and job demand relevance.

Background: Nursing, is one the stressful professions. The stressful factors in this job have affected nurses in a serious way. The purpose of the present study was to identify causes of job stress in nurses working in emergency wards.Methods: In this analytical study, 84 female nurses of emergency wards were selected by stratified sampling, and female clerks of hospitals by quota sampling (42 individuals in each group). The data collection tool was the Persian short version of generic job stress questionnaire of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). After collecting information, data were analyzed using Student's t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation tests. For all tests, P=0.05 was considered as the level of significance.Findings: The mean score of job stress was 97.30±9.29 and 91.85±10.91 in nurses and clerks, respectively (P=0.01). The results show a significant difference between the two groups with regard to the scores obtained for workload (P=0.005), role control (P=0.02), and social support (P=0.004).Conclusion: Nurses working in emergency wards are exposed to more stressing factors. Moreover, work load, role control, and social support are of great importance in determination of job stress in nurses working in emergency wards.

Background: Today job stress is one of the important phenomena of social life and a serious threat to the health of the workforce in the world. This study has been done with the aim of assess the prevalence of occupational stress and its relationship with the individual characteristics of workers in these industries.Methods: This descriptive, cross-sectional study has been done in winter 2011, on 145 of the 450 employees working on a tunneling project located in the city of Karaj. In order to determine job stress the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) standard questionnaire has been used. For data analysis SPSS software Version 16 has been used and chi-square tests, Student's t-test, and one-way analysis of variance were performed.Findings: There was a significant relationship between job stress, and exercise, job-related education, and job experience (P<0.05). Therefore, people with job-related education, no job experience, and people who were accustomed to exercise had lower mean job stress. There was a significant correlation between job stress, and age, marital status, educational level, smoking, chronic disease, and body mass index (P>0.05).Conclusion: Paying attention to job stress in the construction industry is essential. Training and exercise in construction projects can reduced job stress.

Background: This study aimed to assess the prevalence of anemia in unwanted and high risk pregnancies in the Isfahan Province, Iran.Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. The sampling method used was multistage random sampling.The study population included all pregnant women referred to health centers, affiliated with Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, which had health records. In total, 7233 pregnant women were studied.Data was collected using the registration form and information obtained through maternal family documents. Their hemoglobin level was measured during pregnancy. SPSS software version 11.5 was used. Descriptive and analytical statistics were performed.Findings: The prevalence of anemia in the Isfahan Province was 9.4%. The range of anemia was 2.6% to 27.2% and a significant difference between the prevalence of anemia was observed in different districts (P< 0.001). There was a significant inverse relationship between the prevalence of anemia and maternal education (P<0.001). Moreover, there was a significant difference between the prevalence of anemia and age groups (P=0.006), unwanted pregnancy and mothers age (P<0.001), number of pregnancy (P= 0.022), prenatal care (P=0.016), and pregnancy age (P<0.001). There was an indirect significant relation between prevalence of anemia and the mothers’ education (P<0.001). Logistic regression model revealed that pregnancy age, age of mother, unwanted pregnancy, pregnancy interval, and mothers’ education had significant effects on anemia.Conclusion: Results of the present study highlighted the necessity of expanding prenatal care regarding appropriate dietary patterns and regular consumption of iron supplements, programs to promote iron supplements and folic acid before, during, and after pregnancy, and the importance of contraception in older women, and unwanted pregnancies.

Background: Medication errors as a universal challenge may lead to severe damages or even death of patients. Initial and natural results of medical errors increase duration of hospitalization and costs. Overall, medical errors have negative effects on patients, nurses, and organizations and lead to decline in the quality of care provided. The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of medication errors, and provide reasons for nurses’ refusal to report these errors.Methods: This was a descriptive-correlation study conducted in nurses with cluster sampling methodology in 2012. A total number of 280 nurses from hospitals affiliated with Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran, were enrolled. A questionnaire consisting of 3 parts was used for data collection. The data were analyzed using SPSS software version18.Findings: The majority of subjects were females (85%) with work experience of less than 5 years (65%). Medication errors happened in 20% of subjects. Mean score of medication errors for each nurse was 11 in 3 months, whereas mean score of medication errors reported for each nurse were 1.5 during the same time. The most common medication errors which were reported included the wrong infusion speed (19%) and wrong dosage (12%). Nurses estimated that 13.6% of medication errors were reported by them. Among all causes under investigation, "fear of reporting consequences" had the highest score. From the 7 existing items in the domain of "fear of reporting consequences", "fear of Legal Issues", was the main cause for refusing to report medication errors.Conclusion: Due to the importance of patient safety, it is essential to develop an efficient system to document and report errors in order to decrease medication errors. Moreover, it is recommended that administrators and nursing instructors improve academic ability and knowledge of nurses in this field by enriching training courses. Moreover, since fear of reporting consequences was one of the main factors for refusing to report medication errors, nursing managers should react positively towards the reports of medication errors by nursing.

Background: Disease mapping includes a set of statistical techniques that provide detailed maps of rates based on estimated incidence, prevalence, and mortality. Bayesian models are the most important models in this field. They consider prior information on changes in the disease rates in the overall map and spatial pattern of the disease. These include a broad range of models with their own formulation, characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses. In the present study we explain and compare three important and widely-used models (Gamma-Poisson and lognormal as empirical Bayesian models, and Besag, York and Mollie (BYM) as a full Bayesian model) with regard to the relative risk of suicide in the Ilam Province, Iran.Methods: In this applied, ecological research, suicide information of the Ilam Province for 2007 and first half of 2008 was analyzed using Gamma-Poisson, lognormal, and BYM Bayesian models. Models were fitted to data using WinBUGS software.Findings: Fitting the three models showed that Darrehshahr and Shirvan-Chrdavol had the highest and the lowest relative risk of suicide, respectively.Conclusion: Despite some differences in estimates, the ranks of relative risks in all three models are similar for all provinces. This result was in accordance with the results of the study by Clayton and Kaldor. The provinces from the highest to lowest relative risk of suicide are: Darrehshahr, Ilam, Dehloran, Eyvan, Abdanan, Mehran, Malekshahi, and Shirvan-Chrdavol.

Background: Human beings mostly acquire their information and knowledge through vision. Moreover, a good vision requires appropriate light. Study saloons are places where people, particularly students, spend a lot of time for writing and studying. Desirable illumination and its optimum distribution can postpone eye fatigue, and hence, can boost the accuracy and time of useful study. A great number of studies have been carried out aiming to identify the rate of illumination in industries and factories. The purpose of the present study was to examine the illumination intensity in study saloons of dormitories of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran.Methods: This is a cross-sectional study which has been conducted on 24 study halls in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences’ dormitories in 2011. After gaining the simple map of saloons and measuring their dimensions (length, width, and height), the networked method was used for measuring the illumination intensity. Following the identification of stations for measuring the illumination intensity, the photometer apparatus (Hagner Universal Photometer) was used 60 cm above the ground. The collected data were analyzed by SPSS software.Findings: The average intensity of day light and artificial illumination, only day light and only artificial illumination was more than 300 Lux (IESNA recommended) in 21, 9 and 2 study hall, respectively. The average ratio of window area to floor area for girl's hall and boys hall was 0.12 and 0.14 respectively.Conclusion: The total illumination intensity of study halls with the average of 567 Lux was acceptable.However, lighting intensity at night, due to the elimination of day light and use artificial of sources, with an average of 229 Lux was unsuitable.

Background: Particle matter is a major air pollutant and an increase of 10 mg/m3 in its concentration may cause an increase of 1-3% in the mortality rate. The aim of this study was to determine the concentration of the PM10 air pollutant in the city of Khorramabad.Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. The experiments were conducted during one year, from April 2010 to March 2011, using a dust track analyzer. The data were analyzed by conducting one-way ANOVA, and Scheffe's multiple comparison method, and then compared with the Environment Protection Organization's standard rates.Findings: The results revealed that the maximum concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5 were, respectively, 120.9 and 101.09 m/m3 at Shamshirabad station. There was a significant difference between the mean values of PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations (mg/m3) during the different seasons. In addition, the mean concentrations of PM10 exceeded the maximum permissible concentration in warmer months.Conclusion: An annual comparison of PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations with the standard revealed that particle matter concentration was higher than the standard during the summer season. However, the total mean of particle matter was less than the standard concentration.