[Review of injuries leading to death in children aged 1to59 months in the area covered by Shahid Beheshti university of medical sciences from March 2011- March 2013]

Injuries have been identified as one of the most important causes of disability and death in humans, and children are more vulnerable to injuries than adults because of limitations in the detection of risk. The present study aimed to investigate the children aged 1 to 59 months death due to injuries cases in the area covered by the Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. This survey was a cross-sectional and descriptive study conducted during the years 2011 to 2013. In this study all of the children aged 1 to 59 months deaths due to injuries cases that have occurred in the area covered by Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences were studied. Required data was extracted from registration forms of the child health office of Ministry of Health and Medical Education. The total number of deaths due to injuries recorded for children aged 1 to 59 month was 103. The most common causes of death were transport accidents, falls, drowning and respiratory obstruction. The highest frequency of death was observed in the children aged 1 to12months [24.3%]. More than half of the children who died were boys [54.4%]. Approximately 70% of deaths due to injuries in children aged1to 59 months were due to the four following causes: transport accidents, falls, drowning and respiratory obstruction. All of these causes are preventable, thus, designing interventions in order to reduce children's deaths is essential and should be considered as a priority by the national health planners.

[Evaluation of accidents and incidents at injury registered in medical centers affiliated to Shahid Beheshti university of medical sciences [2012-2013]]

The purpose of this study is to investigate injuries resulting from accidents and incidents referred to medical centers and hospitals of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. This study is a cross-sectional study. All cases admitted to hospitals' of Deputy of Health of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, due to accidents and injuries from March 2012 to March 2013 were reviewed. Categorization of accidents and injuries data was performed according to tenth version of international classification of diseases. SPSS V.18 was used for analysis of data. The main variables in this study, the type of incident, type of accident, accident location and background variables that were studied included: gender, age. Data collected by means of forms and software injury register by Hospital emergency department staff to interview and hospital records, were completed. In total, 248438 cases were reviewed. 67.7% were male and 32.3% were female. Traumas, traffic accidents and falls were major causes of accidents and injuries. Accidents and injuries were more prevalent in 15-25 years age group. Individuals living in urban areas sustained more injuries compared to individuals from rural areas. A total of 722 deaths were reported due to accidents and injuries. Research results indicate that traffic accidents constitute a large proportion of accident and injuries. Also, men, young people were the most victims of accidents and injuries. Training of different groups, including before and during recruitment, training mothers and elderly it seems to be useful. Further studies on the improvement of accidents and injuries software is suggested for access to complete and reliable data. Promoting Knowledge and training, especially in the younger age group, intervention to resolve the accident prone spots and technical defects is recommended to reduce traffic accidents.

[Frequency of worry and anxiety in epileptic children's mothers]

Adverse effect of children's epilepsy on family members, especially mothers, is an issue that has been less considered. One of these effects is anxiety increase in mothers. This study has been done with the purpose of determining frequency of worry and anxiety in epileptic children's mothers and recognizing the factors affecting it. This descriptive cross-sectional study has been done with the participation of epileptic children's mothers referred to Mofid Neurology Clinic of Medical Training and Therapy Center of Children. Anxiety level was determined by the State Trait Anxiety Inventory [STAI] standard questionnaire. The data was analyzed using t-test, Mann-Whitney test and one-way ANOVA and in all cases, p<0.05 considered as significant. In this study, 206 mothers were surveyed. The mean anxiety scores of mothers was 45 +/- 9.5. 84 subjects [40.7%] had mild anxiety, 71 [34.5%] had moderate anxiety and 51 [24.8%] had severe anxiety. Anxiety of mothers was significantly higher in cases such as education of child in special school [p=0.018], the high number of antiepileptic drugs [AEDs] consumed for controlling epilepsy [p=0.011], worry of death [p<0.001], permanent brain damage [p=0.036], drug side effects [p<0.01] and paralysis of child [p=0.030]. Mothers who had been previously trained about epilepsy in center, had lower anxiety [p<0.001]. This study showed that the majority of epileptic children's mothers had moderate and severe anxiety. This phenomenon will be higher in cases like child's education in special school, multi medication therapy and worries of side effects of epilepsy and will be lower by increasing mothers' awareness

Socially-deviant middle eastern women at a great risk of poor reproductive health

It is important to examine scale and scope of the reproductive health among socially-vulnerable women. The study was aimed at testing the hypothesis that as compared to general population, reproductive health is poorer among socially-vulnerable women. We enrolled 100 cases and 203 controls conducted from January 2010 to January 2011. Cases were socially- vulnerable women seeking care from Tehran's Center for Improving Social Health of Socially-Damaged Women [Specific Center for Socially-Vulnerable Women]. Controls were women referring to health centers of Tehran. Mean age of cases and controls were 34.1 years and 33.8 years, respectively. Unwanted pregnancy was reported by 62.9% of cases and 33% of controls. Among socially-vulnerable women, 50.6% of abortions were reported to happen during the period in which they were using drugs. Among cases, 45.7% reported to give birth to low birth weight newborns and for controls was 11.7%. Among cases with low birth weight child, 64.9% used drug during pregnancy. Birth control was reported by 81.5% of cases and 92.8% controls. The most common method of contraception was condom among both cases [66%] and controls [31.2%]. At least one screening test for cervical cancer was reported by 82.8% of controls and for 47% of cases. Mean age at first sexual intercourse was 15.7 years among cases and 20.9 years among controls. Mean Sexual Performance Scale score was lower among cases [22.3] than controls [25.9] and sexual dysfunction was more prevalent among cases [80.6%] than controls [59.1%]. A high prevalence of reproductive health disorders was documented among socially-damaged women as compared to the women from general population

Can educational programs help ease parental anxiety following their child first febrile convulsion?

Compared to other pediatric emergencies, febrile convulsions [FC], despite having an excellent prognosis, are a main cause of considerable anxiety among mothers of children faced with their child's first febrile convulsion. Consequently, one of the physician's most important responsibilities in the management of pediatric febrile convulsions is to educate and guide mothers on how to reduce their anxiety. This study was performed on mothers whose children had been admitted to Mofid Children's Hospital following a first febrile convulsion, to determine the effect of education on lowering the levels of maternal anxiety after their child's first febrile convulsion. In this sequential control clinical trial, 84 volunteering mothers were divided in two matched groups, the intervention and the controls. Maternal anxiety levels were determined in both groups by the State Trait Anxiety Inventory [STAI] standard questionnaire [pretest]. Following this, the intervention group of mothers underwent face-to-face education for 3 hours, whereas no intervention was used for the control group. After nine days, anxiety levels were determined in the two groups using the same questionnaire [post-test]. The data was analyzed using the Mann-Whitney, the Wilcoxon Signed Rank Sum, and the McNemar tests, and chi-square analysis. Results show that in the intervention group, maternal anxiety decreased significantly [p<0.001], whereas no significant difference was seen in the control group. This study demonstrates that maternal education on FCs significantly reduces maternal anxiety, in coping with stress following their child's first febrile convulsion, and considering the results of similar studies, educational programs are highly recommended for mothers having children who suffer from the condition

Prevalence of sub-clinical vitamin A deficiency in 2-5-year-old children in Tehran

To determine vitamin A status using conjunctival impression cytology [CIC] in children aged 2- 5 years, we assessed 1257 randomly selected children in urban and rural areas of Tehran. History of using supplemental vitamin A, respiratory or diarrhoeal infection in the previous 6 months, residential location, parents' education, family economic status, and child's age, sex and weight were recorded. Sub- clinical vitamin A deficiency [defined as abnormal CIC] was found in 23.6% of the sample, a rate classified as a moderate public health problem. There was a statistically significant relationship, between sex and age and abnormal CIC [P < 0.05]