Background: Sleep problems are common complaints in health care workers that can affect quality of life and productivity, both in patients and healthy individuals. This study evaluates the prevalence of low sleep quality in health care workers with no health issues or complaints of sleep problems.Methods: In this cross-sectional study was conducted on healthy employees of a health care organization in Tehran. The presence of physical and mental health issues and satisfaction from their sleep quality was assessed by means of a self-administered questionnaire. Sleep quality was evaluated by the Persian version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). PSQI scores of 5 or less were considered as good sleep quality.Results: From 925 participants, 56.9% were good sleepers. There was a significant association between poor sleep quality and female sex, divorced, shift-working, and age; it was not associated with education level. Self-rated health (SRH) had a significant positive correlation with sleep quality.Conclusion: Poor sleep quality is common in our study population and associated with a lower SRH. The high prevalence of poor sleep quality in a group of healthy non-complaining employees can be an important early sign of underlying physical or mental health issues. Providing screening and monitoring programs to detect the underlying health conditions and their consequent treatment can promote health and productivity of employees and improve society’s health, both directly and indirectly.

The members of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) known as causative agents of human tuberculosis. Tuberculosis infection is one of the most important occupational risks for healthcare workers (HCWs) in most countries، such as Iran. In general، there are two types of tuberculosis، they include: latent infection and active TB. Latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) means: a patient is infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis but، the patient does not have active tuberculosis، clinical symptoms and radiological findings. According to studies، TB infection from patients to health care workers، depending on geographic region and economic situation is two to five times more than general population. The lowest incidence and the highest rates of LTBI prevalence among HCWs were 7% in Mashhad and 82. 8% in Zahedan respectively. The risk factor acquisition of TB infection was a significant relationship with certain hospital wards (lung disease unit، laboratory، etc. )، Increasing age and duration of employment. And results of this study show that TB is a significant problem among HCWs in Iran. Infection control and personal protective measures with training programs to patients and HCW is required to reduce the occupational risk of TB. Early detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and prevention treatment in people with latent TB are key elements in control of tuberculosis. Until now، different methods for detection of latent tuberculosis infection has been introduced that are not gold standard none of them. However، the most important methods، tuberculin skin test and the tests that based on measuring the production of interferon gamma are recommended، but each one of them has advantages and disadvantages. However، in all the articles of the tuberculin skin test is used for screening and early diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection. So، the aim of this study was to Incidence and prevalence of latent tuberculosis infection in health care workers and risk factors، advantages and disadvantages of each method for diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection and evaluate different strategies for reducing the incidence of latent tuberculosis infection in health care workers.

Aims: Application of Information Technology in health domain has led to improvement of treatment, optimization of management methods and reduction of health costs. The aim of this study was to propose a framework for healthcare employees' health monitoring system assessment and treatment based on the timetable, questions and the indexes of assessment.Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out in 2010. The statistical population consisted of individuals who were familiar with electronic health systems and had related job experience.35 people were selected by systematic sampling method. Library research, Internet search and e-mail were used for data collection and indexes were classified based on their importance and a 20-question questionnaire was designed based on it. Data were analyzed by SPSS 14 software using Pearson correlation and non-parametric Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests.Results: There was significant relationship between the health monitoring system assessment efficacy and efficiency improvement (p<0.001), between the health monitoring system assessment recognition of the weak points of the services (p<0.05), between the managers' decision making and the employees' health situation (p<0.001) and between the system assessment and responding the researchers' needs (p<0.001). There was no significant relationship between the given scores and age, gender, job experience and education level (p>0.05).Conclusion: Most assessments of health monitoring systems focus more on economic factors, but human factors and knowledge development should also be observed. Assessing the Health Information System in three areas of effectiveness measurement, efficiency improvement and knowledge development before, during and after the system administration are presented in the suggested framework of the present research.

Objective: To assess the attitude of Jordanian health care workers toward surrogacy. Materials and methods: Three municipalities in Jordan were randomly selected, one from each region: north, south and central of Jordan. A total of: four public hospitals, three private hospitals, one university hospital, 40 health centers and 40 private clinics were included in the study. Healthcare workers in the selected facilities were randomly approached using a self–,administered questionnaire to collect data. Distributions of attitude by gender, job title, and physician’, s specialty were used to describe participants’,attitude toward surrogacy. Results: Responses of 382 participants were reported, of whom, 230 (60. 2%) were females. Three in every four participants didn’, t support legalizing surrogacy in Jordan. Majority reported negative attitude toward commercial surrogacy (85. 1%) and noncommercial surrogacy (76. 4%). Religious considerations were the main reason (71. 1%) for the attitude toward surrogacy. Most items describing attitude toward surrogacy were significantly distributed across different job titles: nurses, medical doctors, and other healthcare workers (p < 0. 05). Conclusion: Negative attitude among health care workers toward surrogacy was mainly driven by religious beliefs. However, there are core cultural changes in the community which might alter the attitude toward surrogacy in the future.

Background and Objectives: Although stigma related to COVID-19 disease has been documented since the start of the pandemic, little is known about COVID-19-related stigma among healthcare workers (HCWs). We aimed to examine the psychological aspects of COVID-19-related stigma in HCWs. Methods: This cross-sectional study evaluated 478 HCWs from May to June 2021. They filled out an online researcher-made self-administered multiple-choice questionnaire on four scales about COVID-19-related stigma, COVID-19-related anxiety, awareness, and practice. Furthermore, it covered demographic characteristics, history of COVID-19 infection, family members infected/lost with COVID-19, income change during the pandemic, preexisting anxiety/depression, and underlying comorbidities. T-test, Univariate analysis, and multiple regression analysis were used to identify variables associated with COVID-19-related stigma. Results: HCWs with younger age, a history of COVID-19 infection, having family member loss by COVID-19, decreased income during the pandemic, and preexisting anxiety/depression disorder showed a higher stigma score. COVID-19-related stigma was also associated with higher COVID-19-related anxiety and lower awareness and practice. Multiple regression analyses showed that higher COVID-19-related anxiety, lower practice, and awareness, preexisting anxiety/depression, history of COVID-19 infection, and decreased income significantly predict higher COVID-19-related stigma in HCWs in decreasing order. Conclusion: COVID-19 generates considerable stigmatization among HCWs. Screening and psychological support should be enforced to minimize stigma in HCWs.