[Exposure to asbestos in patients with malignant mesothelioma in Iran]

Background: Cancer is the third cause of death in Iran. Approximately 5-10% of all human cancers are thought to be caused by occupational exposure to carcinogens. Diffuse mesotheliomas of the peritoneum and pleura are considered [signal tumors,] or pa-thognomonic of exposure to asbestos. There is also evidence that nonasbestos agents can induce malignant mesotheliomas

So, we need to study the history of exposure to asbestos in patients suffering from mesothelima to determine relationship between them in Iran, especially in occupational settings

Methods: We received the data of 272 mesothelioma's patients having been registered in 1385 to 1389 in Cancer Bureau, in Ministry of Health. One hundred fifty four of them had telephone number. Finally we could interview with 60 families and gathered data of patient's history of occupation, cigarette smoking and residence place interred in the designed questionnaire

Then we brought out the variants of age, sex, the province of birth place and the involved organs from the data of Cancer Bureau

Analysis of frequency of variants was carried out and compared once in 272 patients being registered in Cancer Bureau and then in the interviewed 60 patients

Results: Distribution of age, sex, the province of birth and living place and the involved organ were similar in cancer registry's data and the interviewed patients. Distribution of cigarette smoking and exposure to asbestos in the interviewed patients were 28% and 63% respectively. Occupational distribution of interviewed patients consisted of con-struction workers 20%, oil company employees 13.3%, administrative staff 8.3% and drivers 6.7%

Conclusion: The results of our study specified the jobs with high risks of exposure to asbestos and approved the relationship between the exposure to asbestos and the incidence of mesothelioma in Iran, according to researches in other countries. So the consumption of asbestos in Iran, like 20 other countries in the world is necessary to be banned

[One year study of musculoskeletal disorders and their relation to occupational stress among office workers: a brief report]

Musculoskeletal disorders [MSDs] are the most common reported occupational health problem which cause high financial burden and reduce efficiency of workers. MSDs are often multifactorial. This study was done to determine the frequency of MSDs and their relation to occupational stress among office workers. 332 office workers were recruited in descriptive-analytical study. To assess the frequency of MSDs, we used Nordic questionnaires and to assess the occupational stress, we used the general Nordic questionnaire for psychological and social factors at work [QPS Nordic+34 questionnaire]. The collected data were processed and analyzed. Our study showed that the frequency of MSDs among office workers was higher than the general population and the stress index was higher [P=0.002] among the office workers with MSDs than employees without it. This study showed that occupational stress was a risk factor for MSDs, especially in the upper extremities