Payesh
Year:2007 | Volume:6 | Issue:3|Papers Count:14

Objective(s): To compare self-monitoring and general health between non-athletes and athletes involved in individual and team sports.Methods: For this field, 116 participants (34 group athletes, 20 individual athletes, 62 non athletes) were randomly selected. Data were collected using a self-monitoring measure and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28).Results: Analyses indicated significant differences in self-monitoring between three groups. Values obtained were higher in individual athletes compared to team athletes and in team athletes compared to non-athletes. Furthermore, there were significant differences in general health between the three groups. Differences were also prominent in disturbed social function and depression.Conclusion: There was a greater prevalence of disorders of social function in team athletes and of depression in non-athletes.

Objective (s): We investigated the prevalence of dental fluorosis and its relationship with fluoride levels in drinking water among children aged 12-15 years old in southern Iran.Methods: The study was cross-sectional with cluster random sampling. We studied 406 students (186 female and 220 male) in Bastak and its suburbs, which are administratively subordinate to the city of Bandar Lengeh in the southern province of Hormozgan.Results: High level water fluoride account for the high prevalence and severity of dental fluorosis in the region. Fluoride levels of 1.55PPM in the village of Harang versus levels of 0.75 PPM in Jonahs correspond to the greater prevalence of dental fluorosis in the former locality. We did not detect a statistically significant relationship between age and fluorosis.Conclusion: Considering the average water fluoride of 1.05 PPM, average temperature of 26.1  °C, and the community fluorosis index (CFI) of 0.83 for this area, we conclude that levels of fluoride in the region's drinking water are well above the W.H.O. recommendations.

Objective (s): The prevalence of obesity has increased in both developed and developing countries. Childhood and adolescent obesity can lead to serious medical complications such as hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer in later years of life. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between obesity and some nutritional behavior.Methods: This was a case-control study. Through multi-stage random sampling, 84 obese girls were selected as cases and 253 non-obese girls from the same age and grade as control. Obesity was defined as having a BMI equal to or greater than 95th centile. Weights and heights were measured to an accuracy of 0.1 kg, using digital scales and non-stretchable tape (Seca) with minimum clothing. We used a questionnaire to collect data on nutritional behavior.Results: There was a statistically significant greater frequency of eating meals and snacks during the day in controls (P=0/0001, P=0/003). Weekly frequency of eating breakfast was smaller in cases but the difference was not significant. There was no difference between the two groups in variables such as eating out, food preference, speed of eating and doing something else while eating.Conclusion: It seems that there is a relationship between obesity among school students and their nutritional behaviors.

Objective(s): To determine risk factors associated with IUGR in Bandar Abbas, Iran.Methods: This was a case-control study of live births. Cases were 60 newborns with less than 2500g weight at birth; controls were 60 newborns with birth weights above 2500g. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed by the SPSS program.Results: Mother's employment (Odds Ratio=10.2, CI95%=1.2-87.3), hypertension (Odds Ratio=7.4, CI95%=1.5-36.9), lack of prenatal care (Odds Ratio=3.9, CI95%=1.2-13.7), and use of the hookah for smoking tobacco (Odds Ratio=3.5, CI95%=1.1-12.6) were found to be risk factors for intra-uterine growth retardation.Conclusion: To reduce IUGR we must identify high-risk women and educate them on the risks of IUGR and the ways to prevent this phenomenon.

Objective(s): The aim of this study was to examine changes in the prevalence of drug use in Bam earthquake survivors eight month after the event.Methods: A survey was carried out on 779 survivors, selected through field sampling from the Bam citizens aged 15 and above. An instrument made by the researchers was used to assess lifetime and current use of opioids, alcohol and cannabis as well as changes in use compared to the period of 1 month preceding the earthquake.Results: In this survey, 27.4 percent of men and 4.5 percent of women reported lifetime use of opium. In the eighth month following the earthquake the prevalence of daily opium use was 16.9 percent in men and 2.7 percent in women. In men, alcohol and cannabis were the most common drugs of abuse after opium. Women denied use of any illicit drugs except opium. In general, 20.5 percent of men and 2.3 percent of women reported an increase in the use of at least one illicit drug. A few subjects, however, reported a decrease in drug use.Conclusion: The findings show that in the wake of disasters, especially in areas or populations where drug use is already common, an increase in use might occur; provision of preventive and treatment interventions is therefore necessary.

Objective(s): Voluntary abortion is one of the main causes of maternal mortality and morbidity worldwide. Despite the legal ban and the existing socio-cultural obstacles, women still are contemplating abortion in Iran. The goal of this study was to examine the reasons for voluntary termination of pregnancy.Methods: Using qualitative methods we performed 36 focus group interviews with women from different ethnic groups, i.e. Balouch, Turk, Torkaman, Arab, Fars, Kord, Guilak, Lor, and Mazandaran. We also performed 54 individual in-depth interviews with gynecologists, midwives, and other people who were somehow connected with the issue of abortion- such as non-trained birth attendants. To minimize the possibility of being affected by other ethnicities (through physical closeness), interviews for each ethnic group were conducted within its main area of residence.Results: The principal reasons for having an abortion were divided into four categories: rubella vaccination, maternal disease, fetal defects, and unplanned pregnancy. Among these, unwanted pregnancy was the most important factor leading to abortion in the setting of a wide range of unfavorable conditions, particularly financial constraints. Religious beliefs were cited as the main reason for refusing to have an abortion.Conclusion: Since unplanned pregnancy is one of the main reasons for abortion, new legislation would not be enough for preventing the majority of induced abortions, but it could reduce the number of unsafe abortions due to maternal disease and/or fetal defects.

Objective(s): Health and its equal distribution among people is one of the major factors of society stability. Reaching this goal would be only possible by proper planning in health, monitoring and evaluating the projects, and interventional planning in different sections. Hence, indexes that describe the burden of diseases and injuries understandably for the managers and planners are necessary. DALYs unit (Disability Adjusted Life Years) or the years that are lost because of early death or disability, holds such property. In other words, the sum of the lost life because of early death plus the time passed in disability and infirmity, is quantified by DALYs or the burden of diseases, and is shown for each disease and injury.Methods: An extensive study entitled “Estimation of the burden of diseases and injuries and their risk factors” started in 1382 at deputy for health of Ministry of Health and Medical Education, and the current project which is specified to estimation of the breast cancer burden is a part of that study. In this plan a specific methodology is defined to model the cancers in population and specific software is designed for such work. Breast cancer, the most usual cancer in women, should be significantly noticed. Breast cancer is counted as the most common reason of death in women between 40 and 44. Hence, estimation of its burden and determining its share of the total burden made by all the cancers in Iran, allow the planners to distribute the resources proportionately and evaluate the progress of combat campaigns scientifically and efficiently.Results: The burden of breast cancer was estimated 0.62 DALYs in every thousand of women population in Iran.Conclusion: The burden of the cancer in Iranian women was low relatively to Eastern Mediterranean region (1.1 DALYs/1000) and the whole World (1.99 DALYs/1000), Age peak of breast cancer in Iranian women was in 45-59 and over 80 age groups, The years lost because of early death or disability in 45-59, 60-69 and 70-79 age groups of Iranian women in every thousand population (DALYs/1000) is lower than the same cases in Eastern Mediterranean region and the World.

Objective (s): Sexual health is increasingly recognized as an integral part of health. Despite admirable efforts to meet reproductive health needs in Iran, there are as yet no comprehensive sex education programs in this country.Methods: In this study we used a matched intervention-control site design in 14 urban health centers with random selection of 160 (80 in each group) participants to evaluate a sex education program in Iran. Qualitative methods were used in a needs assessment study that also determined the content and delivery method of the program. The intervention consisted of training health providers to deliver a short educational program to female clients. Evaluation questionnaires were completed before and 6 weeks after the intervention.Results: There were no significant differences in demographic characteristics between the intervention and control groups. We observed a statistically significant impact on knowledge (median scores increased from7.02  to 13.52 and from 6.38 to 6.9 in the intervention and control groups respectively) and attitudes (mean scores increased from 88.35 to 98.98 and decreased from 89.8 to 88.76 in the intervention and control groups respectively). There was also a statistically significant change in intentions and behavior.Conclusion: This study showed that effective education can be achieved by appropriate choice of location and target population (based on cultural norms), and adopting the content to the people's religious and cultural background.

Objective(s): The aim of this trial was to study the various dimensions of quality of life in patients with gastrointestinal cancer and to compare these variables among those who knew their diagnosis and those who did not.Methods: A consecutive sample of patients with gastrointestinal cancer being treated in Cancer Institute in Tehran, Iran was prospectively evaluated. A psychologist interviewed patients using the Iranian version of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQC30). Patients were categorized into two groups: those who know their diagnosis and those who did not. Independent sample t-test was used for group comparisons.Results: In all 142 patients were interviewed. A significant proportion (52%) of patients did not know their diagnosis and 48% of patients were aware that they had cancer. They were quite similar in most characteristics. The comparison of quality of life between two groups indicated that those knew their diagnosis showed a significant lower degree of physical (P=0.001), emotional (P=0.01) and social functioning (P<0.001), whereas the global quality of life and other functional scales including role functioning and cognitive functioning did not show significantresult. There were no statistically significant differences between symptoms scores between two groups, except for fatigue suggesting a higher score in patients who knew their diagnosis (P=0.01). The financial difficulties were also significantly higher in patients who knew their cancer diagnosis (P=0.005).Conclusion: Contrary to expectation the findings showed that patients who did not know their cancer diagnosis had superior physical, social and emotional quality of life. For explaining such findings it seems that in addition to cultural issues information-giving manner might have an important role in improved or decreased quality of life in cancer patients.

Objective(s): To examine the problem of internet addiction within the perspective of consumers' personality, behavior and demographic characteristics.Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed using 3 questionnaires, including Young’s scale to measure the degree of tendency towards internet addiction and Mayer’s - Briggs Type indicator (MBTI- ( which has four dimensions for personality- and Dean’s Alienation Scales (DAS) to measure alienation. There were a total of 732 respondents, aged 15 to 39 years. Responses were analyzed using factor analysis, analysis of variance, and multiple regression techniques.Results: Thirty percent of the respondents were addicted to the internet and showed various degrees of alienation, a sense of being powerless, isolated, introverted or excessively emotional.Conclusion: It is essential to organize educational programs and counseling services to decrease internet addiction within Iranian families.

Objective(s): To determine the short-term reactogenicity of diphtheria-tetanus-whole cell pertussis (DTwP) vaccine administered to preschool children in a number of health centers of Tehran in 2006.Methods: In this prospective cohort study, 337 children aged 4-6 years were injected with DTwP vaccine manufactured by Razi Institute of Iran. Reactogenicity was assessed by the parents for 7 days postvaccination using diary cards. Local (pain, redness and swelling) and systemic (fever, loss of appetite, gasterointestinal symptoms, vomiting and eczema) side effects were recorded daily.Results: Out of 337 children, 312 (92.6%) reported local reactions and 220 (65.3%) reported systemic reactions. No serious adverse events related to vaccination were reported. Among local reactions, pain was the most frequent (86.9%), but it was mostly mild or moderate. Redness (52.8%) and swelling (41.2%) were the most frequently observed signs in the second day. The systemic reactions observed in children included fever (48.4%), loss of appetite (24%), gastrointestinal symptoms (5.6%), vomiting (8%) and eczema (2.7%).Only 3.6% of children had auxiliary fever above 39 °C. All signs were observed to have reduced or completely disappeared during a week.Conclusion: Compared with previous reports in Iran, reactogenicity of DTwP of Razi Institute seems to be reduced, but it was still more frequent than the internationally approved cellular vaccine counterparts. Reactogenicity of the cellular triple vaccine may be related to the vaccine formulation or the bacterial cell fragments used in vaccine production.