[Relationship of environmental tobacco smoke exposure with health beliefs and social pressure in adolescents of Yazd]

The aim of this study was to determine the environmental tobacco smoke exposure status in adolescents of the city of Yazd [Iran] and its associations with health beliefs and social pressure. A total of 281 subjects entered the present cross-sectional study using a clustered sampling. Data were collected through completion of a questionnaire for each subject and further analyzed using spearman correlation coefficient, Mann-Whitney test and Kruskal-Wallis test. Of total study population, 42.7% reported of at least one exposure within the last seven days to cigarette smoke while staying with a smoker in a room. Similarly, 53.3% mentioned of at least one exposure to smoke while in a taxi within the last 7 days and finally 52.7% stated of at least one exposure to smoke within the previous 7 days while in open space. Perceived social pressure was found to be significantly associated with the environmental tobacco smoke exposure. A high percentage of Iranian youths are being exposed to environmental tobacco smoke and perceived social pressure is considered as an important related factor. Regarding the extent of health problems associated with passive smoking, interventional education programs are necessary

[Perceived benefits and barriers of preventive behaviours of relapsed myocardial infarction]

Cardiovascular diseases are among 46% of deaths in Iran. Changing lifestyle is very important for the disease control. If the patients perceive the benefits of preventive behaviours, the barriers to those behaviours will decline and the probability of engaging in the behaviours will increase. This study carried out to determine perceived benefits and barriers of preventive behaviours of relapsed myocardial infraction. This cross-sectional study was carried out on 100 patients with a history of myocardial infraction referred to Yazd Cardiovascular Research Center during 2007. A questionnaire was used for data collection which measured perceived benefits of, barriers to preventive behaviours of myocardial infraction relapse and status of those behaviours. Data was analyzed using SPSS-13 and Pearson coefficient and regression tests. Subjects earned a mean score of 30.24 [out of 36] in perceived benefits and 22.07 [out of 68] in perceived barriers and 24.48 [out of 37] in preventive behaviours. Preventive behaviours was positively correlated with net benefit and negatively with perceived barriers. This study showed that in spit of suitable level of perceived benefits of myocardial infraction, but still the perceived barriers are significant enough and therefore removal of barriers to such behaviour are essential