Effect of communication skills training on health belief model constructs about AIDS in Zanjan health volunteers [2010-11]

The prevalence of AIDS/HIV is dramatically increasing worldwide. Iran and other Middle East countries are no exception in this regard. The main aim of this study was to assess the effects of communication skills program and AIDS education on Health Belief Model [HBM] constructs among the health volunteers in Zanjan. The study was conducted as a quasi-experimental trial. Eighty health volunteers were divided into two equal groups. The interventional group participated in two educational programs on communication skills and AIDS, compared to the control group that participated in AIDS education program only. Data collection was done both prior to and 20 weeks after the intervention using a self-report type questionnaire. The results of this study show that combining AIDS education program and communication skills training had a significant effect on susceptibility, [P<0.01] severity [P<0.003] and perceived barrier [P<0.0001] constructs of AIDS in the test group. By contrast, only the perceived barrier construct [P<0.0001] showed a significant change in the control group. Self-efficacy was the strongest predictor within the HBM. Findings of this study indicate that a combination of communication skills training and AIDS education program could have a better effect on Health Belief Model constructs on AIDS in health volunteers than the AIDS education program by itself

prevalence of unintended pregnancies and its related demographic factors in hospitals of Yazd city -2008

Unintended pregnancies include unwanted pregnancies at least for one of couples. Totally, 33% [about 75 millions] of pregnancies Worldwide are unintended. Unintended pregnancies are considered a major cause of about 14 million deaths in under-5-years-old children per year. Infectious abortion following unwanted pregnancy is also one of the five major leading causes of maternal mortality. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and demographic related factors of unintended pregnancy in pregnant women referring to hospitals in Yazd city. In this cross-sectional study, 330 pregnant women referring to hospitals of Yazd in September and October 2008 were studied. Data were collected by interview using a valid and reliable questionnaire. Data were computerized and analyzed by SPSS 16 software. The prevalence of unwanted pregnancies in the women admitted to hospitals living in Yazd city was 22.9% and in the non-resident women in was 28.9%. There was a significant relationship between unintended pregnancy whait age and educational level of the couples, number of children, economic satisfaction, history of unintended pregnancy and opinion of the husband about family planning methods. Among women who had unwanted pregnancies 41.3% had used the withdrawal method to prevent pregnancy and condoms and pills had been used 20%, 16.3% respectively. According to the logistic regression statistical model, the factors affecting unwanted pregnancies was husband Literacy, number of children and the history of unwanted pregnancies. Due to a high prevalence of unintended pregnancy in this study, further investigations are suggested in this field in eluding revision in family planning programs as well as improving the education of all women especially high risk women about family planning methods and proper use of them and focusing on the participation of men

survey on the relation between satus of the environmental health and health of the carpet workers in rural of Mehriz-Yazd Iran [2007]

Carpet industry is one of the most important traditional handicraft in IRAN. Considering the long history of carpet industry in Iran and the existence of working a lot of men and women in the villages of Iran in this field, carpet industry as can be regarded a complementary industry for farming so paying attention to the health of worekers in the field can play an important role in socio economic development of our villages. This descriptive cross- sectional study was conducted on 2200 carpet handicrafters in Mehryz, Yazd, Iran, selected through census. The relevant questionnaire was filled out by occupational health specialists and intern students of medicine via inspection, clinical examination and interviewing. Results:44.4% of the target group were between 15-24 years of age. 78.5% of the married subjects had 5 children or lower and 85.2% of them had different levels of literacy. 14.7% had a history of psychologic disorders; 4.6% ophthalmologic disorders, 4.5% endocrine disorders and 19.8% had history of infectious diseases. Results: indicated that there was a significant relationship between different disorders of mind, skin, heart, muscle, and skeleton with temperature of the mind, handicrafters working environment [P<0.05]. As we expected pulmonary disease was less prevalent among the subjects who possessed a better and more appropriate ventilating system for their morking place after correlation analysis, of the data it was revealed that with increasing the working years, the subjects' visual capacity also decreased. In addition, the working hours decreased in relation to the subjects' increase in blood pressure. The result of the study showed that some diseases like pulmonary and ocular diseases is high in carpet workers.The diseases in the subjects with inappropriate working place was higher than others. So it is nesseary today more attention to health of the carpet workers and their working places

[Zanjan Islamic Azad university students' attitudes towards emergency contraception]

Unwanted pregnancy is a common health problem worldwide. Emergency contraception [EC] is the best effective approach for solving this problem. For reorganizing and correcting misunderstandings about the use of these methods, the present study was carried out on Zanjan Islamic Azad university students' in order to assess their attitudes towards emergency contraception. The attitudes of 1019 students towards EC was investigated using a self administered questionnaire including questions about demographic data and their attitude status. The data analyzed using appropriate software. About one third of the students [35.2%] had positive attitude, over half of them [64.1%] had impartial and less than one percent [0.7%] had negative attitude towards emergency contraception. Over half of them tended to use it and about one third believed that EC was very effective. 36% wished to obtain it from private health sectors and 35% cited that they did not do anything for the reason of modesty and shyness. Over one third of the subjects believed that using these methods is confronted with their religion. The most important obstacles for obtaining these devices were modesty, shyness and religious reasons which created a negative attitude. Consulting sessions can solve many of these barriers and will support a positive attitude

[Body weight and body composition changes in cancer patients during chemotherapy in Iran university of medical sciences-affiliated hospitals, 2006-7]

Bioelectrical impedance analysis [BIA] is a simple and noninvasive body composition analysis technique. The aim of this study was to assess the body composition and its trend of changes in adult cancer patients referred to Tehran Rasol-e-Akram and Firoozgar Hospitals for chemotherapy. In this cross-sectional study, 71 patients [41 men and 30 women, 51.9 +/- 15.4 years old] with different types of malignancies were selected from the 2 hospitals by stratified sampling. Body composition was determined by the BIA technique at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of the chemotherapy treatment period. Data were analyzed by repeated measure ANOVA and Wilcoxon tests, using the SPSS12 software. Nonsignificant changes were observed in the mean weight, fat-free mass, fat mass, dry fat-free mass and total body water of the 50 patients who successfully completed the treatment [average of 5 months]. Twenty-one patients died during the treatment cycles [average of 2.5 months]. They had a significant decreasing trend for weight, fat mass and dry fat-free mass [P= 0.01, P= 0.02, and P= 0.01, respectively] they had a higher reduction of fat mass than fat-free mass [2 +/- 3.8 kg and 0.7 +/- 1.9 kg respectively]. Weight reduction of the cancer patients who died during the study was due to both fat mass and dry fat-free mass reductions, while in the patients who successfully completed the treatment no significant changes in body weight or body compositions were observed. It can be concluded that weight loss due to reductions in fat mass and dry fat-free mass in cancer patients during chemotherapy may result in their decreased survival

[ effect of male participation in quality and quantity improvement of family planning in Islamabad- Zanjan]

Efficacy of family planning is an important factor in reducing fetomaternal mortality and morbidity. Since men could influence their spouses' attitudes toward reproduction, we conducted this study to investigate the role of male education and participation in increasing the use of safe contraceptive methods. This quasi-experimental study was carried out on all fertile couples of Islamabad [Zanjan] who used withdrawal method for contraception. 90 families were entered into the study and following completing the questionnaire randomly divided into two groups of treatment and control. Intervention was performed through face-to-face education by NGO'S of the related regions for two months. After 6 months the second questionnaire was filled out to investigate the contraceptive methods. The data was analyzed using chi-square statistical test. Rate of application of safe contraceptive methods [TL, OCP, condom, IUD, DMPA] was higher in treatment group than in control group compared with withdrawal method which showed a significant difference [p=0.04]. Knowledge of using OCP and condom in both groups were high. There were 4 and 1 cases of unwanted pregnancy in control and treatment groups respectively [non-significant difference]. Despite the difficulties in performing the research, the study results showed that participation of men positively affects family planning. More investigafion regarding the inolvement of men in family planning is recommended

[Evaluation of malnutrition, as a possible cause of persistence of goiter despite iodine supplementation]

Iodine deficiency is the most common cause of endemic goiter. Frequency of goiter has remained >5% despite iodide supplementation and sufficient iodide intake. Other causes have to be investigated. This study was conducted to assess influences of malnutrition on persistence of goiter frequency while iodine intake is sufficient. 1504 school age children [8-10 year] were selected randomly and examined in south of Iran - Firoozabad. 102 cases with goiter grade 2 and 3 were found. 100 completely normal children regarding thyroid examination were also selected randomly as control. Growth parameters [Weight for age, Height for age and Body Mass Index] and urinary iodine as an indicator of iodine intake were assessed in both groups. Median of urinary iodine was 21 micro g/dL in patients. [>10 micro g/dL indicates sufficiency of iodine intake.] Regarding growth indicators there was not statistically significant difference between the two groups, which rules out malnutrition as a cause of persistence of goiter. On the other hand our study may show that malnutrition [several nutritional deficiencies] could be as a cause of goiter just in the presence of iodine deficiency. Larger studies in iodine sufficient but with more severe malnutrition or comparison of frequency of goiter before and after nutritional improvement in a population with malnutrition and iodine sufficiency may be more helpful. Malnutrition per se could not be considered as a cause of goiter when iodine intake is sufficient

[Determine serum zinc level of mothers in neural tube defects in Gorgan]

Introduction: Neural tube defects [NTD] comprise a group of congenital malformation that includes spina bifida, anencephaly and encephalocele. Pervious study has shown that the rate of NTDs is 3.12 per 1000 in Gorgan. Some studies have indicated that Zinc deficiency is one of the causative factors of NTDs

Objective: This study carried out to compare the serum Zinc level in maternal affected NTDs with healthy controls

Materials and methods: This case- control study carried out to compare the serum Zinc level in 23 mothers with affected NTDs newborns and 36 healthy controls in Dezyani Hospital in Gorgan during 2003 by spectrophotometery technique

Results: Zinc deficiency was found in 13[36.5%] of the cases and 7[19.4 %] of the controls. The logistic regression analytic showed the relation between the presence of NTDs with Zinc deficiency [OR=5.06, 95%CI: 1.51-16.99] and drug exposure during 1st trimester in mothers [OR=13.12, 95%CI: 1.31-130.97]

Conclusion: Our findings indicated that maternal Zinc deficiency was thought to be one of the important factors in the NTD etiology

[Depression in truck driver: prevalence and related factors]

Depression is the most prevalent psychiatry disorder. It consist of 35-40% of all psychiatry disorders that lead to medical intervention. Driving is a dangerous job and drivers are strongly susceptible to physical and mental disorders. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of depression and to investigate factors related to depression in truck drivers. Using a descriptive cross-sectional study in Yazd province goods terminal, 222 truck drivers were evaluated by a questionnaire. Depressive symptoms were determined using the Beck Depression Inventory. Data was analyzed by the statistical package for the social sciences. The mean +/- SD of depression score was 18 +/- 11 and major depression prevalence came to 15.5%. In this study we couldn't find any statistical significant correlation between the depression score and variables such as age, benefitting from a co-driver, accident in last year, specific disease, use of specific drug, type of truck ownership, marital status, educational status, duration of driving, number of children and number of cigarettes smoked in 24 hours. But the correlation between the depression score and number of home returning days was statistically nearly significant [r=0.108, p=0.06] and showed a reverse statistical significance related to the number of sleeping hours in 24 hours [r=-0.183, p=0.005]. Also in this study there was a significant association between depression score and dwelling city and capacity of loading truck [p=0.02]. Prevalence of major depression in drivers is higher than total population. Since depression leads to disturbance in concentration and alters the nature of a person's behavior, so there must be planning for health promotion in drivers to reduce accidents