[Assessment of sick building syndrome among office workers in Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, 2008]

Building associated illnesses are a group of illnesses caused by physical or psychological conditions of workplace. One of these illnesses is sick building syndrome [SBS] which consists of a group of symptoms, including mucosal irritation, headache, fatigue, skin dryness and itching, and nausea that temporally related to presence in a particular building. This study was designed to assess SBS and factors affecting it in central building of Shahid Sadoughi University of medical sciences. This is a cross-sectional study on workers of central building of Shahid Sadoughi University of medical sciences. The prevalence of SBS was determined using self-administered indoor air quality [IAQ] questionnaire for office workers. All workers who worked at least one year in this building and had no other medical illnesses with similar symptoms to SBS, entered the study and the questionnaire was filled out for them. Data was analyzed using chi square test. Prevalence of SBS among the workers of central building was 35.7% [34.8% in male and 36.9% in female workers]. There was no significant association between prevalence of SBS and age, gender, duration of employment and level of education. The most frequent complaints mentioned by gender, duration of employment and level of education. The most frequent complaints mentioned by participants were fatigue and headache, and the most frequent causes were noise, inadequate physical space and crowded work environment. This survey showed a relatively high prevalence of SBS among office workers in this organization. So considering the effects of SBS on workers' function and productivity, it is recommended to reduce its causes, especially noise and inadequate space

[Investigation of prevalence of child abuse in addicts referring to the addiction withdrawal clinic]

Child abuse includes; abuse of the body, mental and sexual abuse or misbehavior against children that leads to damage to the child's health and comfort. Therefore, the present study was done in order to determine the prevalence of child abuse in opiate addicts referring to addiction withdrawal centers. The cross sectional study included 300 participations [150 addicts and 150 non-addicts] The addicted group comprised of opiate addicts referring to addiction withdrawal centers of Yazd. The non addicted group was selected randomly from healthy people. Data collection was performed via a standard questionnaire. Data assessment was done via statistical analysis [K S] Collected data in the addicted group showed the following results; about 56 percent were child tormentors, 1- 45.3% males, 10.7% females, 2-18.7% uneducated, 3-46% with divorce history in their family and 4-38% child body abuse. The most prevalent type of the body abuse was slapping [24%], mostly because of bad training [26%]. Collected data in the no addicted group showed the following results; 42% were child tormentors [26% male and 15.3% female] 23.4% with family divorce history, 30.4% were child body abuse and the most prevalent type of body abuse was slapping [22.79%], mostly because of bad training [33.3%] A direct relationship was observed between child abuse and persons addicted to opiates. Factors playing an important role include; illiteracy, divorce history in the family and history of child abuse in childhood period. Therefore, compilation of rules supporting children, establishment of support and parent education centers can be effective to reduce child persecution

[Assessment of academic motivation and its relationship with health-risk behaviors in male students of Yazd university]

University is a position of formal training and learning and students in order to successful in this position should have effective learning. Motivation is key to effective learning. Additional to academic motivation can have the role of prevention in high-risk health behaviors. We examined students motivation in Yazd and communication with academic motivation in high-risk health behavior study. This was a cross-sectional study and the sample size was 720. Analysis of the data, collection tool and standard questionnaire construction was achieved. In this study, 32.4 percent of students enjoyed modest motivation condition. 23.3 percent were smokers and 5.6 percent seemed to have used illicit drugs, 40.6 percent of the students exercised regularly. The findings of this research proved that there is a significant correlation between smoking status, alcohol consumption, physical involvement, high risk sexual behavior, watching movies, non-moral condition of the safety belt and academic motivation [P<0.05] There was a significant correlation between the amount of study hours and academic motivation [P<0.05]. In order to promote academic motivation in students, both students and teachers should become more acquainted with workshop models and also, students leisure time activities should be analyzed and they should be attracted towards scientific and community organizations

[ stages of change in smoking cessation among smokers of Khorramabad]

Improper lifestyle is one of the factors affecting the incidence of chronic diseases. According to the World Health Organization statistics, smoking causes four million deaths annually. Studies show that in 1993, 28.6% men and 3.6% of women older than 15 years in the country were smokers. The most practical stage behavior change model is transtheoretical model. Therefore, this study used this model. This cross-sectional study was done on 200 smokers or ex- smokers of Khorramabad who had high school diploma or higher educational levels. Cluster sampling was conducted in two stages. Data was collected by a questionnaire whose validity and reliability had been approved. Data was analyzed by using SPSS statistical software 11.5 and descriptive statistics. P level <0.05 was considered as significant. Mean age was 42.5 +/- 7.85 years. Regarding stages of change, 39.5% were in pre-contemplation stage, 25.5% in contemplation stage, 12% in preparation stage, 5.5% in action stage and 17.5% were in maintenance stage. Variables that had a significant relationship with stages of change included; years of smoking [p=0.001], complications of smoking [0.000], and age [p=0.04]. There was no significant relationship between marital status, education, family and income, and stages of change. In this study, majority of the population under study were in the early stages. It is therefore necessary to provide educational programs and develop strategies for the same. Due to the significant relationship between age and years of smoking and exposure to advanced stages of change, people should be made aware of the problems of smoking earlier so that they can decide as soon as possible about smoking cessation

[Child abuse prevalence among addicts referred to the Rafsanjan addiction withdrawal center in 2005]

Child abuse and neglect of children referred to the physical, psychological, emotional or sexual abuse, these circumstances result in detrimental impacts on health, welfare and education of children. Based on these considerations, the present study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of child abuse among addicts referred to the Rafsanjan Addiction Withdrawal Center in 2005. In this cross sectional study, 648 addicts randomly selected. A questionnaire was completed for each particpant and the data were then analysed using X[2] test. The findings of this study showed that 81.9% of the participants were child abusers and 87.8% of them were 41-60 years old. The percentages of child abuse found in the participants with a history of parenteral drug-abuse, addiction in their families, divorce, physical harassment, and neglect during their childhood were 93.3%, 89%, 95%, 90.9% and 87.9% respectively. Slapping [17.86%] and deprivation of talking and attention [16.44%] were the most common type of physical child abuse and neglect. In 20.82% cases, the child abuse occurred at the withdrawal period of addiction. The most frequent feelings after child abuse for the child abusers were regret and sadness [36.87% and 35.25% respectively]. This study showed that there is a direct relationship between child abuse and addiction to opiates. Also there are other factors related to child abuse including level of education, economic situation, a history of addiction and divorce in the family of child abuse victims. Therefore, the necessity of an organized care system for children and addicted parents and regulating of supportive rules are obvious and of superme value

[Comparing the effect of 10% lidocain spray and dorsal penis nerve block on the pain of neonatal circumcision]

Neonates have complete insight into the pain. Pain not only causes physiologic and emotional alteration in neonates but also has long-term detrimental effects. Circumcision using dorsal penis nerve block is one of the most common surgical procedures in male neonates. Despite this method is effective, it has few complications. For instance, there is the risk of injecting lidocain in the vein and also there is the possibility of formation of hematoma on the injection site. However, lidocain spray does not cause these complications. The present study is conducted to compare the effect of these two methods on the level of pain after circumcision. This randomized clinical trail study was conducted on 54 neonates who were circumcised. Of these, 25 neonates were anaesthetized using lidocain spray 10%. The remaining [n=29] were received dorsal penis nerve block for the local anesthesia. The severity of pain was measured using Neonatal Infant Pain Scale [NIPS] in three different occasions when the circumcision procedure was being condacted [time 0], and 15 and 30 minutes after circumcision. Mann Whitney U test and t-test were used for comparing the severity of pain in the two groups. In both groups severity of pain was decreasing over the time. The severity of pain among those who received dorsal penis nerve block was less than that of neonates in the other group in both occasions during circumcision [time 0] and 15 minutes after circumcision. However, there was no significant difference of pain severity between the two groups 30 minutes after circumcision. During circumaision and 15 minutes after the procedure, the effect of lidocain spray on the pain of circumcision was less than the effect of dorsal penis nerve block. However, 30 minutes after circumcision the effect of lidocain spray on the pain was comparable with the effect of dorsal penis nerve block method. It can be concluded that regarding the physiological and emotional responses after circumcision, in comparison with lidocain spray, dorsal penis nerve block can be a more effective method for relieving the pain caused by circumcision. However, more investigations are needed to study the side effects of this method