Pattern of use of earphone and music player devices among Iranian adolescents

There is no information about the pattern of use of earphones and music players in Iranian adolescents. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and pattern of the use of earphone and music player devices as a main risk factor for hearing loss in adolescents of Tabriz city, northwest of Iran. In this cross-sectional study in November 2011, 2,359 high school students were randomly selected and were asked to complete a 20-item questionnaire about the pattern of using earphones and music players. The results showed that 44.3% [confidence interval [CI] 95%: 38.3-50.3] of the respondents had a history of hearing problems that was significantly different between males and females [42.2% of males and 47% of females, p: 0.02]. Notably, 36.8% of the participants stated that they listened to music without any rest or stop. Almost 49.6% [CI 95%: 44.4-54.4] of the students reported listening to 'somewhat loud' [gain setting at 50%] or 'very loud' [gain setting more than 50%] volume level of music. In terms of the kind of earphones, 17.1% of the participants used headphones, 34.8% used earbud-style headphones, 32.3% used supra-aural headphones, and 15.8% of them did not use any type of earphones. Students have risky patterns of using earphones and music-listening devices. Planning educational programs in this domain for adolescents especially in high schools is necessary

Prevalence of professional burnout and its related factors among nurses in Tabriz in 2010

Burnout is a syndrome containing three dimensions of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduction of personal accomplishment. Nurses are exposed to professional burnout [PB] due to their exposure to physical, mental, and emotional stressors, which can lead to numerous complications in their personal, social, and organizational life. This study aimed to define the prevalence of PB amongst nurses working in hospitals in Tabriz and to detect its related effective factors in 2010. This is a cross sectional analytical study conducted on all selected nurses working in hospitals in Tabriz. The questionnaires were filled and returned by 712 subjects after taking their consent. The data were collected by a questionnaire including questions on demographic characteristics and Maslach Burnout Inventory [MBI]. Independent t test was employed to compare mean quantitative variables in two groups of individuals with and without PB. Chi square test was also adopted to compare the prevalence of PB in levels of qualitative variables. Logistic regression test was employed for multiple analyses of PB related factors. In this analysis, variables in level of 0.2 which had an association with PB as a single variable were entered to the model. Among the nurses taking part in the study, 156 [21.9%, CI 95%: 19.0-25.1] suffered from PB based on its definition. The risk of burnout is increased by 1.12 folds for each overwork night shift. Higher education increases professional burnout by 3.17 folds. The prevalence of burnout among nurses in Tabriz was revealed. Night shift and education level were shown to have an association with professional burnout.