[Evaluation of satisfaction and its factors in patients in emergency departments of Isfahan province in 2005]

Patient satisfaction is an indicator of service quality in hospitals, especially in the emergency departments. We evaluated this item and its factors in hospitals in Isfahan province in 2005. In a cross-sectional study 1372 patients in 48 emergency departments were assessed and data were collected on the basis of a questionnaire. Mean and total scores and percent of amounts of satisfaction were used. Anova and T-test were used and p < 0.05 was considered significant. 82.8 percent of patients were satisfied with services with mean score of 111.9+1- 14.8 from maximum score of 145. Care givers' speed, accuracy and behavior were domains with most score drug availability and costs took least scores. Private hospitals and those affiliated to special organizations and foundations and all university hospitals exhibited decreasing scores as 116.9, 113.6 and 109.6 respectively. Patients' educational level showed a reverse relation to satisfaction, singles were more satisfied than married. This study reveals costs and drug availability as the major causes of dissatisfaction, hence demanding more attention

Child behaviour and family stress: the possible risk factors in accidental poisoning

The present study has aimed to examine the association between the occurrence of accidental poisoning incidents and any family stress including the child's behaviour as expected risk factors. To attempt to accomplish any possible risks, 375 incidents of accidental poisoning in children of less than five years of age were compared with 375 controls, who were selected according to the method of paired sampling with individual matching. Both cases and controls were drawn from the two pediatric hospitals in Mosul city during the period of lst. October 1991 - 31st. March 1992. This study demonstrates that males were more predominant than females in both cases and controls. The estimation of the probability value and odds ratio suggested that a presence of behaviour disorders in the affected child may possibly be regarded as a risk factor in the occurrence of accidental poisoning. Also families suffering from stress factors were significantly higher among accidental poisoning cases than among controls. The results obtained are highly valuable in monitoring a program aiming at creating a prevention strategy

Psychosocial aspects of accidental poisoning in children

The social and psychological aspects of 100 cases of accidental poisoning admitted to AI-Hikma Children's Hospital, Mosul were compared with 100 controls taken from the same hospital and matched for age and sex. The educational status of the parents disclosed significant effect on the occurrence of accidental poisoning. The same was true with the profession of the fathers, and the degree of crowding in bedrooms. Questioning about family stress factors also disclosed significantly more stress in the families of the affected children than in the controls. Also more behaviour disorders were found among the poisoned children than in their controls

Socio-economic reflection on bedwetting

Out of 1023 interview questionnaire forms sent to the selected families, 836 were received [81.72%] More than one tenth [12.44%] of the pupils aged 6-8 years were bedwetters, boys were more affected than girls. The mean birth order of the non-bedwetters was significantly higher than that of the bedwetters. The prevalence of bedwetting was significantly lower among the children whose fathers had higher grade of education. The mean income of the bedwetters families was significantly lower than those of the non-bedwetters families. The same thing was shown when the per-capital income was taken into consideration. The general crowding index had significant adverse effect on the occurrence of such events. Enuresis is defined as an involuntary discharge of urine occurring beyond the age when control of the urinary bladder should have been acquired. Nocturnal control is usually not established until two to three years of age. Some children may not be dry at night until four to six years of age[1]. Bedwetting is present in about 10-15% of otherwise normal five year old children and in about one percent of normal 15 years olds[2]. Bedwetting can be regarded as an important pediatric as well as community health problem. One reason is that it affects not only the child but the entire family, and may adversely affect the parent-child relationship and hence the community as whole. The causes and background of enuresis are usually complex and often interrelated. They include the following: delayed maturation, faulty conditioning faulty learning, the child's developing ego and personality, the personality of the mother, ignorance of normal development and its variations, psychological stress, laziness, depth of sleep, nocturnal polyuria, and small bladder capacity[3] However, little is known about the effect of the socio-economic conditions of the family on the occurrence of such phenomena. For a better understanding of the problem, the Department of Community Medicine, College of Medicine, Mosul University planned a survey of bedwetting among the pupils aged six to eight year old and their families

Smoking habits among Mosul medical students

One thousand one hundred and forty four questionnaire forms were distributed among the medical students of Mosul University, in order to study smoking habits among them. Of the total students 20.22% were smokers, only 2.17% of them were females. The proportion of smokers increased as the students proceeded through years of study. the number of cigarettes smoked per day was significantly higher for those complaining of cough and expectoration than for those who did not.The family smoking pattern revealed that the older brother and sister who smoked were more effective in the occurrence of such habit among students. The use of tobacco is one of the foremost public health problems in the world today. In the developed countries, tobacco-related diseases subtract 5-10 years of life from the average male smoker but public recognition of the danger is beginning to discourage smoking, especially among the better-educated. In the developing countries, however, there has been little attention to the hazards of smoking, and tobacco consumption has been increased by about 5% annually[1]. WHO [1975][2,3] indicated that epidemiological evidence from many countries implicates tobacco smoking as an important causative factor in lung cancer, chronic bronchitis, and emphysema, ischemic heart diseases and obstructive peripheral vascular diseases. It also shows that smoking plays a part in the causation of cancer of the tongue, larynx, esophagus, pancreas, and bladder, abortion, stillbirth, and neonatal death, and gastro-duodenal ulcer. In the developing world smoking is on the increase trend among university students, including those of medical schools. At the University of Lagos, for example, in 1976 nearly 75% of male medical students and 25% of female students described themselves as tobacco users[1]. For a better understanding of the extent of the problem and the students' viewpoint regarding the habit, the motives behind it, and the age at which they commenced smoking, with the influence of their family members, the Department of Community Medicine, College of Medicine, Mosul University, planned a study of tobacco smoking among the medical students for the academic year 1982-1983