Health and Development Journal
Year:2016 | Volume:4 | Issue:4|Papers Count:8

Introduction: The accurate amount of stone carvers' exposure to dust cannot be always measured with dust measuring devices. In this study, the researchers tried to estimate long term exposure of stone carving workers to dust by using a researcher- made questionnaire.Methods: Stone carving workshops in Kerman, Iran were visited and after obtaining informed consent, the researcher-made questionnaire was completed for each worker. The questionnaire included 46 questions in 4 sections. Experts from Iran and abroad cooperated in confirming the face and content validity and according to their comments the questionnaire was validated in two stages. In order to prove the construct validity of the questionnaire, the scores of dust exposure and respiratory symptoms were compared. The reliability was determined by test-retest and calculating R-Cronbach.Results: Finally, 27 questions were approved for the final questionnaire. The reliability of the questionnaire was r=0.954, P<0.001 according to test retest and 0.80 according to Kappa. Internal reliability of the questionnaire was 0.86. Construct validity was confirmed and those who had higher exposure to dust showed significantly more respiratory symptoms.Conclusion: With regard to the acceptable reliability and validity, this questionnaire can be used to estimate the amount of exposure to dust in stone carving workers.

Background: Acute coronary syndrome is an emergency situation, characterized by a sudden decrease of blood flow to the heart and chest pain during a heart attack or unstable angina. High levels of anxiety increases mortality risk up to three times. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of music therapy on anxiety level and vital signs of patients with acute coronary syndrome admitted in the coronary care unit of Vali- Asr hospital, in Eghlid city.Methods: This clinical trial was conducted on 70 acute coronary syndrome patients who were eligible for the study during 2011-2012. Anxiety level was measured by the standard Spielberger Questionnaire and vital signs of patients were recorded before and after the intervention. Data were analyzed through SPSS18 and using mean, percentage, standard deviation, independent and paired t- test.Results: Music had no effect on vital signs but significantly reduced anxiety level (P=0.049). Anxiety was significantly higher in females, but showed no significant relationship with age and education. There was no significant relationship between age, sex and education with respiratory rate, heart rate and systolic or diastolic blood pressure.Conclusions: Music as an easy and low cost intervention without any complication can be used to reduce anxiety in patients in Coronary Care Units.

Background: Panoramic radiography is a simple and valuable diagnostic tool in dentistry. The aim of the present study was detecting factors influencing panoramic radiography requests by general dentists in Kerman and their compatibility with FDA recommendation.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on general dentists in Kerman. Data were collected by a questionnaire including demographic variables as well as factors influencing the selection of panoramic radiography and the diagnostic value of panoramic as compared to intra oral radiography. Data were analyzed through SPSS 19 and using t- test and linear regression test. P<0.05 was considered as the statistical significant level.Results: In the present study, 67.9% were men with mean age of 35.3±8.71 years and mean time since graduation was 6.23±5.18 years. Mean score of factors influencing panoramic radiography request was 88.80±4.78 and mean score of the diagnostic value of panoramic as compared to intra oral radiography was 13.80±11.28. There was a significant relationship between responding to the questions related to the diagnostic value of panoramic radiography and participating in continued education programs.Conclusion: Request of panoramic radiography among the general dentists in Kerman is in some cases not according to FDA guidelines and more supervision is recommended.

Background: It is probable that with increase of air pollution, the rate of respiratory disease patient admissions in the emergency departments increases as well. In this study, the effect of air pollution on the rate of admission of patients with respiratory diseases in the emergency department of one of the referral educational hospitals in Kerman, Iran was investigated.Methods: Data of patients with respiratory diseases (asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, emphysema, COPD) admitted in Afzalipour hospital during March 2006 until March 2011 were extracted based on gender and age from the archived files of the emergency department and were compared with air pollution measurements (including fine particles, NO, NO2, NOx, SO2, CO, O3) inquired from the Kerman Environmental Protection Agency with lags up to 50 days by time series through MiniTab15 and STATA11 software packages.Results: None of the pollutants showed a significant or more than 0.2 correlation with respiratory disease visits to the emergency department, except ozone and SO2. In negative Binomial regression, only SO2 increase was associated with increased visits of female patients IRR= 1.436 (95% CI 1.004-2.051).Conclusion: It is probable that some air pollutants in their current concentrations in Kerman cause increase of respiratory disease patient's visits to emergency departments. However, more research is needed.

Background: Working station includes the physical environment and arrangement of all equipment in the work place. Work-related musculoskeletal disorders are among the most common occupational injuries. The purpose of this study was ergonomic assessment of workstations, determining the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and assessing the physical condition of the workers.Methods: This descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study was conducted on 40 workers of the Central Workshop Oil refinery in Hormozgan. Worker postures were evaluated by Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) method. Finnish checklist was used to analyse workstation condition and Nordic Questionnaire was used to estimate the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Logistic regression through SPSS16.Results: In 5% of cases, work environment condition was poor, in 5% of the cases, the pressures applied to the elbow and wrist, were severe and legs and buttocks were in poor condition. The prevalences of musculoskeletal disorders of waist (55%), back (52.5%) and neck (40%) were more than those of other parts of the body. There were significant relationships between age and back disorders, job experience and back and waist disorders, and finally, weight and shoulders and knees disorders.Conclusion: The results of this study showed the high prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and poor work conditions. Therefore, it is necessary to prevent these problems through appropriate designing of workstations based on ergonomics principles and training workers in identifying risk factors.

Background: Providing healthcare services is one of the essential needs of a community that its shortcoming is considered as a state weaknesses causing widespread social discontent. Accordingly, this study was done to determine the impact of health expenditures on economic growth in D8 Organization for Economic Cooperation members.Methods: In this causal-analysis study, related data and statistics were extracted from WDI2013. Economic assessment was done through Eviews 6 software and using panel data over the period from 1995 to 2012 for D8 countries.Results: According to the results, one-percent increase in each of the variables of government health expenditure and gross capital formation increases economic growth by 0.03 and 0.09 percent respectively. Also one-percent increase in the fertility rate decreases economic growth by 0.04 percent.Conclusion: Given the significant positive impact of government health expenditure on economic growth, it is recommended that policy makers of D8 members consider this type of expenditure as an investment not a cost and by appropriate policies give priority to funding for the health sector and take a step toward achieving economic growth.

Background: Birth is a pleasant event, but premature birth and subsequently neonate hospitalization in the neonatal intensive care unit, is stressful for parents. Therefore, identifying sources of stress and applying strategies to reduce parental stress seems to be necessary. The present study was conducted to determine the sources of stress in parents of preterm infants hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit of Afzalipour Hospital in Kerman, Iran.Methods: In this descriptive analytic study, 154 parents of premature infants hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit completed the Parent Stressor Scale questionnaire. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics and through SPSS19 software package.Results: According to the results, participants experienced a moderate level of stress during hospitalization of their preterm infant (2.61±0.69). Among "environmental stressors", the sound of the monitor alarm, among "parental role alteration stressors", parents' despair in supporting their neonate against pain and painful procedures, and among stressors related to the "appearance and behavior of infants", observing neonate in pain brought the highest level of stress to parents. Parents experienced different levels of stress according to some personal characteristics such as relationship with baby, previous history of hospital admission and type of stay in the ward.Conclusion: Since preterm birth and neonate hospitalization causes parents' stress, it is necessary that medical staff, in addition to neonate care, support parents of the neonate in order to decrease their stress level and consequently prevent negative outcomes for their neonate and family.

Background: Access to family physicians plays an important role in individuals' health and health indicators. This study aimed to determine the effect of family physicians lodge on performance indicators of rural family physicians working in health centers of Jiroft and Kerman Universities of Medical Sciences.Methods: In this cross - sectional study conducted in 2013, 26 lodge physicians (as the case group) and 26 non lodge physicians (as the control group) were selected by systematic sampling from health centers of Jiroft and Kerman Universities of Medical Sciences. Demographic information of physicians and data related to health centers and indicators were collected. Average times visiting a physician, village visit and forming health files indicators were calculated. Data were analyzed using ANOVA, t-test, chi-square and Pearson coefficient of correlations and through SPSS 16 software package.Results: There was no significant difference between the two groups in regard to demographic variables. According to t-test, there was statistically significant differences between the two groups in percentage of forming health files (P=0.05) and percentage of village visits (P=0.001); and the mean of these indicators in lodge physicians was more than that in the non- lodge physicians and there was no significant difference between the two groups in average times visiting a physician (P=0.35).Conclusion: Some strategies such as increasing the number of lodge health centers, providing transportation facilities, suitable physical spaces and equipment seem necessary in order to improve indicators.