JOURNAL OF INJURY & VIOLENCE RESEARCH
Year:2018 | Volume:10 | Issue:1|Papers Count:8

on November 12, 2017 at 21: 48 local time, an earthquake with a moment magnitude of 7.3 struck Ezgeleh, Kermanshah Province, Iran. It is estimated that 600 to 700 people were killed, and more than 10, 000 injured. This unfortunate event gives us pause to re-examine, and thereby improve, Iran’s disaster planning, preparedness, mitigation, and program responses...

Background: Unsafe behaviors are main causes of accidents mostly influenced by personal characteristics, social environment and also individual biorhythm cycles. This study was carried out to find out whether personality traits and biorhythm could affect the incidence of unsafe behaviors among city bus drivers.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 224 bus drivers in Shiraz, Iran, 2014. The data were collected using NEO personality traits questionnaire. Also, a self-constructed checklist was used to investigate the drivers' unsafe behaviors. Information on drivers' biorhythm was analyzed by Natural Biorhythm software version 3.2. The relationship between demographic characteristics, personality traits and biorhythm were examined by T-Test, One-way ANOVA, correlation coefficient and Chi square tests. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to investigate the factors influencing the incidence of unsafe behaviors.Results: 28.6% of participants have experienced critical days in their biorhythm cycles. Also the mean percentage of unsafe behavior was 54.08 ± 11.91 among the subjects of the study. Significantly negative correlations were observed between each personality factor and the percentage of unsafe behaviors. Also, there was a significant relationship between percentage of derivers' unsafe behaviors and the general cycle of biorhythm (having at least one critical day in each of the cycles).Conclusions: Taking the measures including selection of low-risk traffic routes in the critical days and considering the personality traits at the time of employment could be effective in reducing the unsafe behaviors and accidents.

Background: Increasing firearm violence has resulted in a strong drive for stricter firearm legislations. Aim of this study was to determine the relationship between firearm legislations and firearm-related injuries across states in the United States.Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of all patients with trauma related hospitalization using the 2011 Nationwide Inpatient Sample database. Patients with firearm-related injury were identified using E-codes. States were dichotomized into strict firearm laws [SFL] or non-strict firearm laws [Non-SFL] states based on Brady Center score. Outcome measures were the rate of firearm injury and firearm mortality. Linear Regression and correlation analysis were used to assess outcomes among states.Results: 1, 277, 250 patients with trauma related hospitalization across 44 states were included of which, 2, 583 patients had firearm-related injuries. Ten states were categorized as SFL and 34 states as Non-SFL. Mean rate of firearm related injury per 1000 trauma patients was lower in SFL states (1.3±0.5 vs.2.1±1.4; p=0.006) and negatively correlated with Brady score (R2 linear=-0.07; p=0.04). SFL states had a 28% lower incidence of firearm related injuries compared to Non-SFL states (Beta coefficient, -0.28; 95% CI, -1.7- -0.06; p=0.04). Firearm related mortalities resulted in overall 9, 722 potential life years lost and more so in the non-SFL states (p=0.001).Conclusions: States without SFL have higher firearm related injury rates, higher firearm related mortality rate, and significant potential years of life lost compared to SFL states. Further analysis of differences in the legislation between SFL and non-SFL states may help reduce firearm related injury rate.

Background: Mobbing (bullying at work) refers to a form of psychological harassment that occurs in the workplace, in which the victim must be systematically and continuously persecuted for a long period of time. The aim of this work is to analyze the court judgments related to mobbing.Methods: The data, collected from a website that included judgments from an Italian court, were analyzed according to the literature, identifying the type of victims, consequences, methods of harassment, type of mobbers, and compensation decided by the court.Results: A total of 35 court sentences were analyzed. The findings showed that the duration of the mobbing campaign was on average 1.5 years and that the frequency of harassment was every day in most cases. In the majority of cases (17, 48.6%) the mobbing occurred in a private company. The gender of the victims who reported the mobbing experience was predominantly female (19, 54.3%), and on average, the victims were 44.54 years of age. The victims were classified as captives (12, 34.3%), scapegoats (8, 22.9%), ambitious (8, 22.9%), passives (5, 14.3%) and hypochondriacs (2, 5.7%). The mobbers were predominantly men (25, 71.4%) and on average 53.20 years of age. They were classified as casual (12, 34.3%), sadists (11, 31.4%), instigators (8, 22.9%) and choleric (4, 11.4%). The witnesses were described in the majority of cases as active, while the asymmetry of power was vertical. On average, the victims suffered 4.9 types of harassment, and the most cited consequences were anxiety disorder and physical symptoms. The motives for beginning the mobbing campaign were principally related to difficulties in relationships. The compensation imposed by the court ranged from less than 20, 000 to more than 70, 000 euros.Conclusions: The sentences analyzed showed that for different types of victims, there are behaviors, motives and consequences that are linked to different types of perpetrators.

Background: Road traffic collisions (RTC) remain a major problem especially among young road users. Injury prevention measures and licensing systems have increasingly been developed to counteract some of the negative effects of RTCs in youth. The Prevent Alcohol and Risk Related Trauma in Youth (P.A.R.T.Y.) program is an injury prevention program that promotes prevention through reality education. In this study, the impact of the program on different sociodemographic subgroups of school students was analyzed. The aim was to find out which subgroups were influenced the most and how improvements to the program can be made.Methods: Evaluation was performed in a pre-post-intervention setting by means of a standardized questionnaire. The questionnaire contained three different sections with a total of 22 questions to identify students’ responses regarding risk-behavior and risk-assessment.Evaluation was done at two different points on the same day (pre- and post- intervention). Data were analyzed with a focus on gender, age, residential area and level of education. Cronbach’s alpha was used to check all questions for reliability. Data were analyzed using the t-test and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test with significance defined as p less than 0.05.Results: The study sample contains 193 students (range 14-17 years of age, 44% male). Female students show better results regarding risk-behavior and risk-awareness. The same applies to students of a higher educational level. And students≥16 years showed significantly better results in all three sections compared to younger students.Conclusions: Morbidity and mortality due to RTCs is a major problem in the group of young road users. Especially male road users between 14 and 17 years of age with a low educational level are at high risk to sustain road traffic injuries. Our results show that the P.A.R.T.Y. program has a stronger effect on young female students. Additionally, a significant effect was measured on students≥16 years of age and on students with a higher educational level. Prevention measures need to be evaluated and further improved particularly in order to address the high-risk group of young, male road users with a lower educational status.

Background: Given the significant health effects of domestic violence against women, the present study was conducted in 2016, in Tehran, Iran in order to compare the socioeconomic status, perceived social support and mental status in women of reproductive age experiencing and not experiencing domestic violence.Methods: This descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study was conducted on 500 women. The data collection tools used included questionnaires: demographic information, Socioeconomic, Beck’s Depression, Spielberger’s Anxiety, Cohen’s Perceived Stress, Sarason’s Perceived Social Support and WHO’s Domestic Violence Inventory.Results: The results showed that 43.2% of women said they had experienced at least one case of domestic violence, among which 16.4%, 15% and 36.6% of women had experienced physical, sexual and emotional-verbal types of violence, respectively. The mean age (p less than 0.001) and educational level (p=0.018) of violated women and their spouses (p less than 0.001) were lower than those of non-violated women. Furthermore, violated women experienced lower socioeconomic status (p less than 0.05), higher perceived stress (p less than 0.008), higher depression (p less than 0.001), and higher overt anxiety (0.002. They also perceived lower levels of social support (p less than 0.001).Conclusions: The issue of domestic violence was rather prevalent in the participants of the present study, particularly the younger, less educated and more socioeconomically deprived communities and families.

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine the epidemiology and history of knee injury and its impact on activity limitation among football premier league professional referees in Iran.Methods: This was a descriptive study.59 Football Premier League professional referees participated in the study. The knee injury related information such as injury history and mechanism was recorded. Injury related symptoms and their impacts on the activity limitation, ability to perform activities of daily living as well participation in sports and recreational activities was obtained through the Knee Outcome Survey (KOS).Results: The results indicated that 31 out of 59 participants reported the history of knee injury. In addition, 18.6%, 22.4% and 81% of the referees reported that they had been injured during the last 6 months of the last year, and at some point in their refereeing careers, respectively. Results further indicated that 48.8% of the injuries occurred in the non-dominant leg and they occurred more frequently during training sessions (52%). Furthermore, the value of KOS was 85±13 for Activities of Daily Living subscale and 90±9 for Sports and Recreational Activities subscale of the KOS.Conclusions: Knee injury was quite common among the Football Premier League professional referees. It was also indicated that the injuries occurred mainly due to insufficient physical fitness.Therefore, it is suggested that football referees undergo the proper warm-up program to avoid knee injury.

Background: Sleep Quality Disorder (SQD) plays a major role in road accidents. So, this study was carried out to determine the prevalence of SQD among occupational drivers using systematic review and meta-analysis in Iran.Methods: All Persian and English articles between January, 2000 and October, 2015 which had reported the SQD prevalence in Iranian drivers by Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) with cross-sectional design, after the quality evaluation process and achieving the required score, were selected. The heterogenic index of the studies was distinguished by using Cochran (Q) and I2 tests.Based on heterogeneity results, a random effects model was used to estimate pooled prevalence of SQD. Meta-regression was also used to investigate the heterogeneity of suspected factors.Results: In total, 936 articles were found from national and international databases. Ten articles entered to meta-analysis process, ultimately. Since heterogeneity index suggested that there is a considerable heterogeneity among the results of primary studies (I-squared=98.8%, Q=754.1, p less than 0.001), the overall estimation of SQD among Iranian drivers was conducted using random-effects model and its rate was estimated to be 53.4% (95% CI: 38.9-67.8).Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that more than half of Iranian drivers have SQD. Identifying the drivers with SQD by periodic examinations and providing advice and health care among occupational drivers could be appropriate solutions for decreasing the accident risks.