Reliability and validity of persian version of job content questionnaire in health care workers in Iran

The effect of poor psychosocial work conditions on health status has widely been discussed in occupational literature. Job Content Questionnaire [JCQ] is a widely accepted instrument for evaluation of psychosocial work conditions. To determine the reliability and validity of Persian version of JCQ. The questionnaire was translated into Persian and back translated. 490 Iranian health care workers completed the questionnaire. After 4 weeks, 196 participants completed the questionnaire once again. Factor analyses revealed an acceptable level of structure validity for the questionnaire. Cronbach's alpha was more than 0.75 for all scales except for psychological demand [alpha =0.60] and job insecurity [alpha =0.27]. Reassessment of participants after 4 weeks revealed an acceptable level of reliability for all scales except depression. The Persian version of JCQ is reliable and valid for assessing work conditions among Iranian health care workers, although revision is needed for job insecurity and depression scales

Reliability and validity of Persian version of world health organization health and work performance questionnaire in Iranian health care workers

The effect of health status on productivity has widely been studied and discussed in literature. Valid and reliable tools are needed to evaluate the levels of health and productivity and provide detailed information, before any intervention is implemented. World Health Organization Health and Work Performance Questionnaire [HPQ] is a widely used instrument in estimating the workplace costs of health problems in terms of reduced job performance, sickness absence, and work-related accidents and injuries. To assess the reliability and validity of Persian version of HPQ in Iranian health care workers. The questionnaire was translated to Persian and back translated. 102 health care workers completed the questionnaire. Absence and sick-leave data was extracted from administrative records. Factor analysis revealed acceptable validity for the questionnaire in part A [health]. Cronbach's alpha was >0.73 for all scales of Parts B [work] and C [demographic]. Questions targeting days of absence and sick-leave had acceptable correlation with administrative records [Pearson's r>0.75], while questions on total hours worked showed lower correlation. Persian version of HPQ can be considered a reliable and valid tool in Iranian health workers

Comparison of the effect of dynamic and static splints on wrist spasticity in post-stroke patients

Among several methods which are accessible for manageing wrist spasticity after stroke, wrist splinting is commonly used as an adjacent treatment, but there are many controversies surrounding its efficacy. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of the Dynamic and Static splints on wrist spasticity after stroke. In this mterntional study, 31 stroke patients were selected and randomly divided into three groups including: Dynamic splint, Static splint and control group. Participants in the intervention groups wore their own splints for three months, five days per week and on average, six hours per day. Wrist spasticity was measured by both Modified Ashworth Scale [MAS] and electromyography [EMG] tests at the baseline and after third month. Kroskal-Wallis and one-way ANOVA were used to statistically analyze MAS and Hmax/Mmax ratio scores respectively. Statistical analysis of data showed no significant reduction of spasticity during study period according to either MAS or EMG data in any of the groups [p>0/05]. Based on these findings, use of the splint as a method for reducing wrist spasticity could not be beneficial in the selected patients

Use of herbal medicine among pregnant women referring to Valiasr Hospital in Kazeroon, Fars, south of Iran

The increase in the use of herbal products is noticed all over the world. The safety of herbal drugs becomes particularly important in pregnant women and children. Despite the fact that available data are insufficient to justify herbal use during pregnancy, exposure to herbal products is frequent in these subjects. Some of the more complex reasons for preference of herbal medicine are associated with cultural and personal beliefs and philosophical views toward life and health. The present study was conducted to evaluate drug utilization pattern during pregnancy in Kazeroon, south of Iran. In all, 530 women fulfilling study inclusion criteria were interviewed at the postnatal ward of Valiasr hospital in Kazeroon, from September to October 2009. In all, 158 out of the 513 women [30.8%] had used herbal drugs during pregnancy. The most commonly used herbs in pregnancy in this study were Ammi, Saatar and Sweet Basil. The most usuall period of using herbal drugs was throughout the first trimester of pregnancy. There was no statistical difference between women using and those not using herbal drugs in pregnancy. In most instances, the women reported to have been recommended herbal drug use by family [87.3%]. In spite of the fact that side effects and teratogenic potentials of most herbal products are poorly understood, indiscriminate use of herbal remedies in different forms is very rampant. Pregnancy care providers should be aware of the common herbal supplements used by women, and of the evidence regarding potential benefits or harm

[Prevalence of refractive errors in different ages and gender, in patients examined in optometry clinic of rehabilitation of Shahid Beheshti Medical University in 2008/2009]

Since no study on the prevalence of refractive errors had been performed in this optometry clinic, this study was designed to determine the prevalence rate of refractive errors among the patients examined in this clinic in 2008/2009. In this cross-sectional study, the files of the patients examined in optometry clinic in 2008/2009 were reviewed. Variables included age, sex, rate and type of refractive errors and health of anterior and posterior eye segments. The prevalence rates of myopia, hypermetriopa, astigmatism and emmetropia were 11.83%, 15/38%, 45%, 27/34% respectively. The respective prevalence rates of refractive errors in men and women were: 10.3% and 13.1% for myopia, 16.7%, 15.1% for hypermetropia, 45.6% and 44.5% for astigmatism, and 27.4% and 27.3% for emmetropia. The mean ages of the patients with myopia, hypermetropia and astigmatism were 36.1 +/- 19.36, 41.27 +/- 22.06 and 32.16 +/- 20.98. Respectively Difference of the ratios of the patients with different ages suffering from refractive errors was significant [P<0.0001]. There was no significant difference in the male to female ratio in the patients with refractive errors [P<0.741]. This study showed that the prevalence rate of myopia increased up to the age of 20-30 years but that of hypermetropia decreased, and prevalence rates of myopia and hypermetropia in some age groups increased after the age of 40. In addition, the prevalence rates of refractive errors in different age groups were not similar and gender had no effect on the prevalence of refractive errors. These results are compatible with the results of other studies

Thallium determination using catalytic redox reaction between methylene blue and ascorbic acid

Methylene blue has been proposed as a new analytical reagent for the catalytic spectrophotometric determination of thallium [I]. It reacts with ascorbic acid in acidic medium to form a colorless product. Thallium [I] increases the rate of reaction and it can be determined base on its catalytic effect on the reaction. The reagents and manifold variables influences on the sensitivity were investigated and the optimum conditions were established. The reaction has been followed spectrophotometrically by measuring the decrease in the absorbance of methylene blue at 664 nm. A fixed time method of 180.0 s from initiation of the reaction was used. Under optimum conditions, the proposed method allows the determination of thallium concentrations in the range 3.0 - 200 micro g/mL with a detection limit of 0.09 micro g/mL. This method is free from of most interference. The results of the proposed method for water samples were comparable with atomic absorption spectroscopy and were found to be in good agreement

[ prevalence of smoking and its related personal and environmental factors in Tabrizi adolescents]

Cigarette smoking continues to be a major public health problem that specifically affects the adolescent population. The aim of this study was to ascertain the prevalence of smoking and to examine personal and environmental factors related to smoking among adolescents [15-19 years old] in the city of Tabriz. A school-based study was conducted using a random sample of 1785 students from 30 schools in five regions of Tabriz. A self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. The questionnaire inquired about smoking status, demographic characteristics, and personal and environmental factors, such as parental and friends' smoking status, and group membership. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine the association between independent variables and smoking status using SPSS software. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. About 23% of participants reported ever smoking. 77.4%, 18.2%, and 4.4% were never smoker, experimenter and regular smoker, respectively. Group membership, having smoking friends, and being offered cigarette by others, were strongly associated with smoking status in adolescents. The prevalence of smoking in Tabrizi adolescents is considerable, and having smoker friends is strongly related with adolescent smoking

[Evaluation of easy and difficult behavior and some related factors in one hundred 3-6 year old children visited in Mashhad Dental School]

Prediction of a child behavior and interaction with the practitioner, particularly a dentist, is an important factor in successful diagnosis and treatment specially at the first and generally at subsequent appointments. In this study, the major contributing factors which are important for the prediction of a child behavior and way of preparation of the practitioner were studied. In this descriptive-cross sectional study which was done during the second semester of 2001-2002 at Mashhad dental school, one hundred 3-6 year old children [50 girls and 50 boys] with normal physical, psychological and intelligence stata were selected randomly and classified according to a history through interviewing with parents and state behavior, comparing with franckles behavioral rating scale during three different dental visits. The result revealed that 10.4% of children had difficult behavioral characteristics, 40.1% had easy behavioral characteristics and the remaining were placed in difficult-easy interval. These results were consistent with other studies according to franckles behavioral rating scale, but there were no relationships between easy-difficult behaviors and any of the factors age, occupation of parents or birth order of children. According to signs and factors achieved through observation, examination and interview with parents and children. it is possible to predict the childs' behavior during examination and treatment [specially dental treatments which are stressful for most of patients] and take appropriate actions according to childs' behavior without reaching the irritation threshold of child as well as the practitioner

[Comparing the incidence and intensity of constipation in pregnant house wives and workers who refered to health centers in boujnord in 2001]

Constipation occurs in 11- 40 pregnant women and has side effects like hemorrhoid, fissure, depression and anorexia. Because of the believe in movement and hyper activity with decreasing effect, in pregnant employed women and tension of the job with increasing effect in contrast with housewives and also lack of research in this field, this research is accomplished by the objective of comparing the occurrence and intensity of constipation in pregnant housewives and employed women. This analytic, profile sectional research was done on 150 pregnant employed women and 310 pregnant housewives that each group is in three different sections, in first, second and third trisemester of pregnancy and has become constipated for at least 2 weeks and with no diseases, no medical therapy, and no suitable condition for constipation in the winter of 2000. Sampling was done by multi-stages method and data was gathered by utilizing interview form and measuring the rate of constipation by researcher for both of two groups in the health care center and gynecologist offices. Data was analyzed by using of descriptive and analytical statistics by X2 test, on way analysis of variance, log-linear and co-variance analysis by% 95 coefficients, and utilizing SPSS software Rate of occurrence in employed women was 32.6 percent and in housewives%20.9, so there was a significant difference between two groups [p= 0.009], the constipation occurrence mean in employed women group was 15.9 + 6.6 and in housewives 12.23 + 4.14 then, there were significant differences between two groups as well [p= 0.01]. Also chance of constipation occurrence in pregnant employed women was doubled in contrast with housewives [raods Ratio = 2]. Job should be considered as "risk factor" in pregnancy constipation. So researchers propose doing similar researches by provident method prospective and study of manner of job -effect on this process

[Comparative study of occurrence and intensity of nausea and vomiting in housewife and employed pregnant women referring prenatal care centers in Bojnord]

Background: Nausea and vomiting, which occur in 50 to 60 percents of pregnancies, have a vast injurious effects on the life of the pregnant women as well as their society and occupation. Stressors such as employment increase the incidence of nausea and vomiting. This research has been accomplished in order to compare the occurrence and intensity of nausea and vomiting in employed and housewives pregnant women

Methods and Materials: This observational-analytical research was accomplished by applying cross-sectional and multi-stages sampling method on 310 pregnant housewives and 150 employed pregnant women who had necessary qualification and were referred to prenatal care centers in Bojnord. In three sections of three months of pregnancy, for determining the occurrence of nausea and vomiting in the last two months from interview form, and for determining the intensity, interview form and visual index of nausea intensity and four moods of vomiting. Our analysis of data were done with X[2], T-Student, Manwithney, one way variance analysis, log linear, co-variance and by utilizing the SPSS software with 95% coefficient

Results: The occurrence of nausea and vomiting in employed pregnant women was more than that of housewives [56% vs. 39.36% nausea and 37.3% vs. 26.7% vomiting]. There was a significant relationship between the occurrence of nausea and vomiting and patient's occupation [p<0.0001 for nausea and p = 0.02 for vomiting]. Mean nausea intensity [p <0.0001] and vomiting [p = 0.003] were significantly different between the two groups, being more in employed women [6.52 vs. 4.93 for nausea and 2.06 vs. 1.59 for vomiting]. Also, there were significant differences in the occurrence of nausea [p = 0.02] and its intensity [p = 0.04] and vomiting [p = 0.009] with the mother's activity. There were significant differences between vomiting intensity and age of marriage [p = 0.002], education level [p = 0.008], occurrence of nausea [p = 0.03] and vomiting [p=0.04] with rate of marriage satisfaction as well

Conclusion: Employed pregnant women are at more risk of nausea and vomiting in comparison with unemployed ones. It is necessary to force and enhance suitable laws and more facilities to decrease their nausea and vomiting because of their bad effects on the society

[ evaluation on DMFT of 14-20 year old mentally retarded and its effective factors in the north of Tehran [2001-2002]]

Background and aim: oral and dental health status of the mentally handicapped, as compared with the healthy population, have been poor and care paid to them has been minimum. The goal of this epidemiological study was to evaluate DMFT and its effective factors among 14-20 year-old mentally retarded population residents in special institutes authorized by Behzisti organization [Charity or governmental] in the north of Tehran [2001-2002]

Methods and Materials: in this study 523 handicapped subjects [254 females, 269 males] were examined. The total number of handicapped was 535, from among them 12 persons, due to lack of cooperation, were excluded. The handicapped are classified to three groups based on IQ test: Educable, trainable and isolated. Examinations in educable and trainable handicapped were done with a plane mouth mirror number 4 [Hahnen-kratt, Germany] and straight explorer number 8 [Kicodent Germany] on a chair or dentistry unit In uncontrollable isolated handicapped dental examination was done on a bed using a wooden stick. Dental caries diagnosis was done according to Jakson and slack criteria. DMF was evaluated based on WHO recommendations. Quantitative data was analyzed using one way analysis of variance [ANOVA] and qualitative data by chi-square test. The effects of the following factors on DMFT were evaluated: Type of nutrition, method of oral cleansing, type of institute [Charity or governmental], the presence of Down's syndrome, age, sex and degree of retardation

Results: mean DMFT was 4.8324.65 which was considerably higher than the normal population [=2]. This study revealed that method of oral cleansing put a significant effect on DMFT [P<0.5]. Age and degree of mental retardation had a statistically significant effect on DMFT, too [P<0.05]. The number of decayed [D], missed [M] and filled [F] teeth was considerably in relation to the degree of mental retardation. The type of institute had no effect on mean DMFT, but between the number of D and F and type of institute was a significant correlation [P<0.05]. Sex, mode of nutrition, presence of Down's syndrome had no important effects on DMFT. The number of caries free persons was 95 [18.2%]

Conclusion: the findings of this research revealed poorer oral and dental health status and higher mean DMFT of the handicapped comparing to the normal population. Therefore, preventive and primary dental care must be stressed for the mentally retarded population