سال:1396 | دوره: | شماره: |تعداد مقالات:8

Free roaming dogs are increasing in numbers. They live in unhygienic conditions and are not vaccinated mostly. They create several problems in the community, particularly health threats to human. Dog biting is a commonly reported case in some hospitals in Bangladesh. Rabies is one of the killers of people in Bangladesh and transmission occurs mostly due the dog biting. Death commonly occurs in children due to rabies. Rabies death is completely preventable by vaccinating dogs at national level. Many steps have already been taken. Source identification of dogs, animal birth control program and proper surveillance are necessary. Sustainable implementation of programs to manage dog population, dog bite management and awareness raising among population can bring out fruitful result in this situation. Inhumane killing of dogs to reduce the number can never be a permanent solution. Vaccinating dogs is the most effective strategy suggested by experts. Therefore, it is not too late to implement action plans with regular monitoring and evaluation for the sake of human and animal health.

Background and aims: The aim of this study was to explore ethnic differences in demographic and socioeconomic determinants of poor physical and mental self-rated health (SRH) in the United States.Methods: We used data from the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys (CPES) 2001- 2003, which included a national household probability sample of 18 237 individuals including 520 Vietnamese, 508 Filipino, 600 Chinese, 656 other Asian, 577 Cuban, 495 Puerto Rican, 1442 Mexican, 1106 other Hispanic, 4746 African American, and 7587 non-Latino Whites. Demographic factors (age and gender), socioeconomic factors (education and income), body mass index (BMI), and physical and mental SRH were measured. Pearson correlation was used to explore correlates of physical and mental SRH across ethnic groups.Results: While age was positively associated with poor physical SRH, ethnic groups differed in the effect of age on mental SRH. Age was positively associated with mental SRH among Vietnamese, Filipino, Chinese, Cuban, Puerto Rican, and African American individuals, but this was not so for other Asians, Mexicans, other Hispanics, and non-Hispanic Whites. Chinese and Cubans were the only groups where female gender was associated with poor physical and mental SRH. With other Asians being an exception, education and income were protective against poor physical and mental SRH in all ethnic groups. Ethnic groups also differed in how their mental and physical SRH reflect BMI.Conclusion: Demographic and socioeconomic determinants of physical and mental SRH vary across ethnic groups. Poor physical and mental SRH are differently shaped by social determinants across ethnic groups. These ethnic differences may cause bias in health measurement in ethnically diverse populations.

Background and aims: One of the most important problems of public health is illicit drug use. The aim of this study was to assess the status of illicit drug use and associated factors among hookah smokers in Khalil Abad city in 2015.Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted in Khalil Abad city (northeast of Iran) in 2015. A sample of 161 hookah users was selected using 2-stage sampling. Structured questionnaires were distributed among the subjects and participants were included in the study after completing informed consent form. To analyze the data, we used chi-square, t test and logistic regression model.Results: The prevalence of illicit drug use was 36%. The result of final logistic regression model, with inclusion of confounders, showed that job status (odds ratio [OR] =4.13), smoking in the last year (OR=3.84) and prescription opioid drug use (OR=3.77), were associated with illicit drug use.Conclusion: Our results showed high prevalence of illicit drug use, which was strongly associated with unemployment and other substances use. The results of this study can be used for planning for epidemiological studies in national scale in order to implement and evaluating interventions by considering the risk factors of hookah smoking in this type of individuals.

Background and aims: Increasing prevalence of disability in Bangladesh indicates the need of special attention to disability care services within the healthcare setting. Our study aims to identify the level of satisfaction of clients using disability services as well as their opinions to improve those facilities.Methods: We have conducted a cross-sectional study in six disability service centers from Kurigram district of Bangladesh. We have chosen our study participants conveniently during each visit to the service centers. Using a structured questionnaire, the interview process was done. We excluded mentally impaired participants from the study. We have used descriptive analysis of data using appropriate statistical technique.Results: We have interviewed a total of 384 individuals. Respondents mean ± standard deviation (SD) age was 38.35 ± 16.01 years with a range of 12 to 65 years. Most of our participants were physically disabled (63%). Participants were found to be moderately satisfied with the service providers, but marked dissatisfaction were observed among the participants regarding available services and 61.7% participants were dissatisfied with the overall services. The service was not easily accessible reported by the respondents. Lack of physician was the most common complaint. Despite of indicating positive aspects, they recommended employing at least 1 physician for medical treatments and improving positive attitude towards disabled persons.Conclusion: Poor level of satisfaction towards overall disability services were observed in this surveyed community. Policy makers should initiate appropriate measures to ensure easy access and better quality of services based on the results and guidelines discussed in this study.

Background and aims: Shigellosis or bacillary dysentery is an infectious disease transmitted through water and food. It is a type of infectious colitis caused by Shigella bacteria. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence and the spatial distribution of shigellosis and its relationship with climatic factors in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province.Methods: In this study, population of infected people to shigellosis in the province during 2011 to 2014 obtained from reliable sources and analyzed. The statistics were standardized for every city in the event of illness per hundred thousand people. The relationships between incidence of the disease and the climatic factors (temperature, rainfall and humidity) were investigated by Pearson correlation coefficient after generation of zonation map using GIS and analysis of the concentration centers.Results: According to the results, Koohrang, Lordegan and Ardal cities are classified as high risk areas with an incidence more than 400 000 people. Borujen and Faarsan cities are medium risk areas with an incidence less than 250 per 100 000, and Shahr-e-kord city with an incidence less than 100 per 100 000 people is considered a low risk area. The incidence grows with increase in the temperature. Increase in the precipitation and humidity decreases incidence of the disease. Concentration and prevalence of shigellosis mostly occur in west of the province, because this area is located in the neighborhood of Khuzestan province, and also due to nomadic residence of Bakhtiari nomads in this part during summer and their unhealthy lifestyle, limited access to treated water and especially consumption of untreated surface water. The higher concentration of nomadic residence and higher contamination of water increase incidence of waterborne diseases. The frequency increase of the disease in warm seasons can be due to prevalence of Shigella dysentery in the region.Conclusion: Based on the results, significant positive correlations exist between the surface water consumption, the temperature increase, the number of pisciculture centers in the area and incidence of the disease. Significant negative correlations are also observed between the rainfall, humidity and incidence of the disease.

Background and aims: Toxoplasmosis, a zoonotic parasitic disease of warm-blooded animals, is notably influenced by environmental features. Recognizing spatial pattern of Toxoplasma gondii distribution in environment can provide significant contributions to public health and toxoplasmosis control. This study was designed to survey the frequency of T. gondii antibody in rural dogs and cats and also analyze possible relation between environmental factors and spatial distribution of T. gondii antibody in Golestan province, using GIS.Methods: From 2015 to 2016, 106 rural cats and 154 rural dogs were randomly sampled. Serum samples were tested for presence of T. gondii antibody through modified agglutination test (MAT). The relation between T. gondii antibody frequency and environmental factors was surveyed in ArcGIS and Idrisi Selva software with multiple linear regression model.Results: From sampled rural cats and rural dogs, 85 (80.1%) and 99 (64.2%) were positive for T. gondii antibody, respectively. The highest frequency was seen in areas with temperate climate, Gorgan (82.4%) with a humidity of 78%, rainfall of 551 mm and temperature of 12.5°C. The lowest rate was in Maravetappeh (60.8%) with a humidity of 70%, rainfall of 418 mm and temperature of 15.37oC. About 53% of the difference in the T. gondii antibody frequency in sampled population was explained by climatic condition of each region.Conclusion: The output presented here can facilitate the identification of high risk areas, based on climate condition, to apply effective planning control measures.

Background and aims: Physical and social environments are effective on personality traits. What is in the framework of medical geography, is physical environment that can have positive effect on the human psyche. It can also have negative effects whose investigation is in the field of medical geographers.Methods: The present study is a descriptive analytical research that discusses the modeling of the vulnerability of mood disorders (depression, bipolar) by using meta-ranking PROMETHEE, and ArcGIS software to study climatic parameters on the spatial distribution of these disorders in Isfahan Province from 2007 to 2011.Results: The prevalence of mood disorders (depression and bipolar disorder) in all the province had a direct correlation with each other. Isfahan, Lenjan, and Shahin Shahr were very high-risk cities and Nain and Semirom were low-risk cities. The prevalence and incidence of these disorders have a direct correlation with temperature, precipitation and humidity. There was no significant correlation between sunshine hours and incidence of mood disorders in Isfahan province. The percentage of incidence of these disorders was almost twice higher in men than women.Conclusion: Climatic parameters can be one of those factors that are effective in incidence and increasing of mood disorders (depression, bipolar). This issue highlights the need for more study and research in this field.

Background and aims: Positive attitudes toward future career lead to job motivation and consequently to career success. Health technology assessment (HTA) students are worried about their future career due to lack of defined vacancies. The aim of this study was to determine the attitudes of HTA students toward the field of study and future career.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2015. The samples (n=40) were selected by census and the questionnaire was sent by email to each participant. The data collection period was 6 months. The questionnaire reliability was evaluated using Cronbach alpha (a=0.85). Questions were measured by 5-point Likert scale (absolutely agree to absolutely disagree). The data were analyzed by relevant statistical tests using SPSS version 20.0. At the beginning of the study, informed consent forms along with questionnaire were sent to participants and the participants were enrolled if they were volunteered.Results: Response rate was 95%. The mean score of students’ attitudes toward the field of study and future career was 62.48 (11.15) and 62.63 (8.61) respectively. Participants’ attitudes were generally positive. There was a significant positive correlation between the 2 main areas of attitude (r=0.43, P=0.006).Conclusion: In general, the results of this study showed that the attitudes of HTA students toward the field of study and future career are positive. Proper planning in the admission process, addressing the needs of students, professor’s paying attention to motivate the students and responding to student questions, and anticipated job categories in the relevant organizations, can lead to job satisfaction and optimism about the future career.