Investigation of the factors related to low birth weight in the south of Iran: a case-control study

Background and Aim: Since birth weight is one of the most important health indicators, we decided to investigate the factors related to the low birth weight [LBW] of the infants in the south of Kerman Province

Material and Method: This case-control study included 300 cases of neonates in Jiroft City. 150 neonates with low birth weight [less than 2500 g] were placed in the case group and our control group included 150 neonates with normal birth weights. Data were extracted from the health documents of the neonates and categorized into four groups including demographic data of the parents, pregnancy data, parental risk behaviors and infant characteristics. UsingSPSS software version 20, data were analyzed by single and multivariate logistic regression

Results: Single-variable regression analysis showed the possibility of having LBW neonate was higher in the mothers over 35 years of age, or with a history of illness, smoking and drug abuse compared to the neonates in other groups. Also, poor care, old age of fathers and high maternal weight were associated with an increased rate of LBW. Multivariate regression analysis revealed a significant difference between all the above - mentioned variables except the age of the fathers, in relation to LBW of the neonates. In addition, low birth weight was more likely in the babies born through cesarean section and neonates born to the mothers with high school diploma compared to the neonates in other groups

Conclusion: Prevention of pregnancy at an older age, mothers' education about avoiding drug use and smoking, as well as prenatal care are suitable measures for prevention of LBW

Shiraz medical students' perceptions of their colleagues' professional behavior

Introduction: Today, development of professionalism is a critical aim of medical schools. Studies have demonstrated that medical students' perceived level of professionalism is inadequate worldwide. This study aimed to investigate the medical students' perceptions of their colleagues' professional behavior

Methods: This study is a cross-sectional study with 280 medical students at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in their fifth to seventh year of study as the sample. The study was performed during one month in 2013, using stratified random sampling method. The instrument of the study was the Persian version of the questionnaire of the American Board of Internal Medicine [ABIM].The questionnaire includes demographic information, questions about the meaning of the professionalism, history of medical ethics education programs and 12 behavioral questions. The data were analyzed using student t-test and Pearson correlation test. The significance level was set as 0.05

Results: Forty percent of respondents did not know the meaning of professionalism. The mean +/- SD score of behavioral questions was 5.9 1 +/- 1.2 on a scale from 0 to 10. The mean +/- SD score of excellence questions was 4.94 +/- 1.7. It was 7.05 +/- 1.9 for 'honor/integrity', and 6.07 +/- 2.1 for 'altruism/respect' questions. There was a significant association between gender and excellence score [p=0.007]

Conclusion: Medical students assessed their colleagues' professional behavior as poor. They did not have proper information about professionalism. Medical students are future general practitioners and respecting medical ethics by them is very important in a perfect health system. Universities should emphasize the importance of teaching professionalism to medical students and faculty members, using innovative education methods

qualitative study of the causes of improper segregation of infectious waste at Nemazee hospital, Shiraz, Iran

Medical waste management is a major concern for healthcare facilities. One important element is the segregation of infectious waste from domestic, non-infectious waste. The aim of this qualitative study was to identify factors that negatively affect proper segregation at Nemazee Hospital, which is affiliated with Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. Study data came from focus groups involving hospital workers. Participants expressed their opinions regarding barriers to proper segregation of medical wastes. The participants gave their permission to have their comments recorded. Data analyses were based on a grounded theory approach. The results indicated that managerial weakness was an important factor in suboptimal disposal of medical waste. It appears that hospital authorities should pay better attention to educational planning, organizational resources and supervision. Together, these considerations should help reduce waste-management errors. The results also suggest that healthcare worker training needs improvement. In general, patients and their companions, as well as the local population, did not appear to have sufficient knowledge concerning disposal of infectious medical waste. Hospital authorities should conduct a broad review of medical waste management, including improved employee training. This step should have a positive effect on local health, as well as the environment. Improvement is also needed in the infection prevention performance of hospital healthcare workers. This approach should reduce additional production of infectious waste and costs associated with healthcare

Study of antibiotics self-medication at primary Health Care Centers in Shiraz, Southern Iran

Background: Nowadays, self-medication of therapeutic agents is of global concern particularly in developing and underdeveloped countries. Some studies conducted in Iran showed that the frequency of self-medication was significant

Objective: This research was conducted to estimate the prevalence of arbitrary use of antibiotics in Shiraz community with special interest in its determinant factors

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Shiraz, in 2009. Approximately 710 out of all patients referred to all health care centers in Shiraz were selected to fill out a questionnaire containing 23 questions divided into two parts. The frequency of self-medication according to demographic factors was described and the association between independent variables and self-medication was analyzed

Results: The frequency of self-medication in this study was 44.5% and the request to prescribe antibiotics by the patients was 53.5%. Amoxicillin was the most widely used drug by the participants. There was a significant association between age and gender with self-medication. The frequent cause for self-medication was common cold. Approximately, 74.4% of the participants reported their previous experience as the main reason for self-medication

Conclusion: The results of this survey demonstrated the high frequency of self-medication in Shiraz. Socio-cultural determinants are the etiologic factors for self-medication. Policy makers are recommended to provide community-wide educational programs to make people aware about the adverse effects of self-medication. There was a significant association between age, gender and education with self-medication and governments could pay more attention to these factors for designing the interventional programs