Background: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of job dissatisfaction, and to ascertain the association between job strain and job dissatisfaction and socio-demographic and occupational factors among laboratory staff of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM).Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 450 research laboratory staff in 10 faculties and 8 institutes of Universiti Putra Malaysia. Probability appropriate to size sampling and simple random sampling method were used and data were collected via Job content Questionnaire (JCQ) from September 2012 to February 2013. SPSS (version 20.0) software was used for data analysis.Results: A total of 285 laboratory staff with at least one year job tenure participated in this study (Response rate: 91.3%). The finding revealed that 47% of laboratory staff reported job dissatisfaction. The results of this survey showed laboratory staffs with age 35, and less were two-fold more likely to report job dissatisfaction than the older staff (adjusted OR=2.108, 95% CI: 1.241- 3.582). Laboratory staffs with higher toxic exposures 2 times more likely to report job dissatisfaction (adjusted OR=1.887, 95% CI: 1.062-3.353).Conclusion: There is a need to have training plans to increase the knowledge on toxic exposures among younger laboratory staff, which may be helpful to reduce job dissatisfaction among them.

Background: Formaldehyde (FA) is a reactive carcinogenic compound and is used routinely in anatomy theatres. Recently, biological monitoring is introduced as a method of choice for monitoring of exposed workers to hazardous chemicals with systemic absorption. Objectives: Considering the toxicity of formaldehyde and lack of a comprehensive method for its biological monitoring, the aim of this study was to explore a new and non-invasive method for biological monitoring of formaldehyde exposure in the staffs of anatomy theatre. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional investigation and the population of this study was comprised of 20 exposed staffs in an anatomy theatre in Tehran, Iran. The personal monitoring of 20 staff was carried out during the early winter, according to a method from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health No. 2016. Biological monitoring was conducted by measuring FA in staff’ s exhaled breath after termination of the work shift. The data obtained were statistically analyzed using correlation analysis. Results: The mean FA personal exposure and its concentration in the exhaled breath of anatomy’ s staffs were 698  34 and 195  17 as ppb, respectively. Correlation of staff’ s personal exposures to formaldehyde with the excreted formaldehyde in their exhaled breath was statistically significant (P < 0. 001). Conclusions: The present study showed that the personal exposure of staffs to the FA was higher than the permissible exposure limit. Statistically significant positive correlation of staff exposure with the content of FA in their exhaled breath indicated the potential of biological monitoring of exposed group to FA through exhaled breath.

Background & Objectives: Blood-borne viral diseases represent one of the most potentially serious threats to healthcare workers & laboratory staff and since they can be asymptomatic for many years their true prevalence in medical staff have not been clearly determined.This study was carried out to determine the rate of seropositivity for hepatitis B & C viruses & HIV in the laboratory staff of Kermanshah University of medical sciences at 2002.Materials & Methods: 110 laboratory staffs participated in this descriptive study. A questionnaire asking about history of blood ingestion, needle-stick injury, occupational diseases & vaccination was completed by each of the participants. Blood samples for analysis of HBs-Ag, HCV-Ab & HIV-Ab by ELIZA method were collected.Results: 3.3% of the analyzed samples were positive for HBs-Ag. A positive HIV- Ab by ELIZA was negative when using confirmatory western blot method. No HCV-Ab positivity was identified by this method. 57.2% of cases had history of accidentally blood ingestion & 66.4% gave history of needle-stick injury.Discussion: Prevalence of HBs-Ag positivity in this study was 3.3% which is in the range of normal population in Iran and may be representative of hepatitis B vaccination affectivity in laboratory personnel.To reduce the risk of contamination use of latex gloves, eyeglasses & masks during working with blood & products is recommended.

Background: Medical Laboratory plays a critical role in maintaining and promoting health. Increasing wide applications of laboratory medicine in clinical practice have highlighted specific topics in the areas of social, professional and ethical issues in the laboratory. Despite the important role of clinical lab in health system, ethical issues have been rarely discussed for clinical labs. Considering the need to provide efficient training program for students, this study was designed and conducted to assess the views of laboratory science educators about offering a professional ethical course in laboratory science curriculum.Methods: The study population was 28 laboratory science educators at Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. A questionnaire was designed to assess instructors' views about the importance, quantity, quality, and the need to provide a professional ethical course for medical laboratory students.Results: The majority of respondents (82.15%) evaluated the importance of offering an ethical course for laboratory medicine to be at a very high level. Most educators (75%) believed that good clinical laboratory practice is extremely related to moral issues. Many lecturers (85.7%) completely agreed with the addition of professional ethical course for laboratory science students. Respondents (89.3%), also, believed that the educating professional ethical issues to medical lab students will enhance service quality and performance of the future laboratories. In addition, most professors suggested offering two credit points to cover such issues for the students (85.7%).Conclusion: We recommend offering a separate course in laboratory science curriculum to cover the clinical ethical issues, such as modality of taking samples, interaction with patients, the way of giving information about genetic tests, viral and malignancies, the way of storing data and access to medical records, the diagnosis of infertility, prenatal diagnosis, legal issues in poisonings, and the way of interacting with the doctor and medical private issues.

Background: Chemistry laboratories of universities are dangerous. However, there is no appropriate instrument to assess staffs' awareness. The present study aims at developing a standardized instrument for awareness assessment of laboratory personnel on safe work.Methods: The present study is a kind of developing instrument methodology. The study was implemented in two phases: (I) generating items based on the review of relevant literature and interviews, and (II) assessment of the content validity according to seven occupational health and laboratory sciences experts. The validity of the tool was determined based on content validity index (CVI) and content validity ratio (CVR).Results: In the item generation phase, 53 items were developed in four areas including storage of chemical substances, usage of chemical substances, personal protection equipment, and general observations. The value of CVI was in the range of 0.75-0.91, while the CVR was in the range of 0.4 to 1. Based on these values, some items were omitted and, finally, the content validity for the 40-item questionnaire was established.Conclusion: Since the content validity of this questionnaire was established, it can be used in future studies.

Background: Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in the third millennium. Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is the most fatal cardiovascular disease, and various factors are involved in the development of this disease. These factors include clinical and laboratory factors as well as stress. Occupational stress is a risk factor for heart disease, and it also increases the risk of coronary heart disease. Military work is universally considered to be stressful. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical and laboratory predisposing factors of ACS in military staff. Methods: In this prospective study, 260 patients admitted to Baqiyatallah Hospital were enrolled and divided into 2 groups: 130 patients with ACS and 130 patients with stable coronary artery disease. The study population was studied for various variables, including occupational stress, sedentary lifestyle, and some laboratory markers, including the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), the ratio of monocytes to high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and red cell distribution width (RDW). Results: There were significant differences between the 2 groups in terms of physically demanding tasks (case: 61% vs control: 43%; P = 0. 036), an average daily sitting time of more than 3 hours (case: 58. 5% vs control: 43. 8%; P = 0. 048), and an average daily television watching time of more than 2 hours (case: 56. 9% vs control: 42. 3%; P = 0. 048). There was a significant difference concerning NLR between the case and control groups (case: 4. 8 ± 1. 4 vs control: 2. 2 ± 0. 5; P = 0. 011) regarding the ratio of monocytes to HDL (case: 16. 6 ± 5. 6 vs control: 10. 6 ± 3. 1; P = 0. 034) and RDW (case: 14. 5 ± 1. 9 vs control: 12. 8 ± 1. 4; P = 0. 041). Conclusions: According to our findings, an increase in NLR and the ratio of monocytes to HDL are predisposing factors of ACS; in addition, RDW is a predicting factor of ACS in military personnel. A sedentary lifestyle and work stress are also contributing factors to the development of ACS in this population.