[Knowledge, attitude and practice of Iran University of Medical Sciences students about AIDS]

Young people are the major group at risk of acquiring AIDS worldwide. It seems that proper education and having knowledge about prevention methods is the most effective way for reducing the risk of HIV infection among this group. The aim of this survey was to elucidate the degree of knowledge, attitude, and practice of Iran University of Medical Sciences students about AIDS in 2006-2007. The study population consisted of 4237 students, from which 550 students were selected randomly based on each school/faculty student population. A self-administered questionnaire, consisted of questions regarding demographic data, knowledge, attitude, and practice about AIDS, was used to collect data. Data were analyzed by SPSS software. Most students in different grades and schools/faculties had high levels of knowledge [above 60%] about AIDS and its transmission routes. Among them, medical students had the highest level of knowledge, compared with other students [P<0.05]. Most students [75.8%] indicated that they had been previously informed about AIDS through mass-media [radio, TV]. Seventy five percent of the samples had positive attitude towards preventive methods and believed that by strictly observing preventive behaviors, it is not only possible to reduce the chance of disease transmission, but also, to interact with AIDS afflicted individuals, properly. Around 84.7% of the students believed that proper sterilization of instruments is adequate for virus eradication and 55.5% of them believed that chlorine bleaching of blood contaminated surfaces is the best disinfection method. The results of this survey indicate that importance of education through mass media and other means such as university books, in reducing the risk of AIDS transmission. Education of preventive methods, both in simple and sophisticated language can do the most in elevating the general knowledge of people about AIDS and its methods of transmission

Translation, reliability and validity of the Newsha hearing, language and speech development scale among children in Iran

To translate and to test reliability and validity of the Newsha Hearing, Language and Speech Development Scale in Iran. The first version of Newsha scale was prepared in four developmental milestones of "hearing", "receptive language", "expressive language" and "speech" in 13 age groups from birth to 72 months via much survey on different related resources. After a pilot study on 75 children and performing necessary corrections, the test was conducted on 593 normal children of both sexes in nurseries and health centers of Tehran province from July 2006 to August 2007. The teat-retest reliability, inter-rater reliability, content validity and construct validity of the test were determined. More than 95% correlation was shown in both test-retest and inter-rater reliabilities [P < 0.001]. The content validity revealed "perfect" and "too much" options of seven choices Likert scale in more than 90%, and construct validity exhibited the effect of age on the test results. Accepting minimum or higher score was considered as the criteria of Newsha findings interpretation in all age groups of each developmental milestone. For the cases who can not accept this criterion, completion of scale in lower age[s] group to define any probable developmental delay is necessary. The sex difference was shown just in 3 items among all the 373 items of the scale [P < 0.02]. The "Newsha Developmental Scale" is an integrated and a comprehensive scale to evaluate development process and identify any delay in developmental abilities of children with Persian language from birth to 6 years of age that has good reliability and validity

[Evaluation of naltrexone augmentation to the antipsychotic drugs on positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia]

In recent years, review of opioid system and its changes in the psychopathology of schizophrenia through thear probable role our on neuronal synopses and cell body of dopaminergic neurons and also decrease dopamine secretion from acumbans nuclei and effects of opium agonists in treatment of those patients has been adventajes for clinicians. In a prospective double blind evaluation, 60 chronic schizophrenic inpatients on a stable regimen of neuroleptic medication with positive and negative symptom scale [PANSS] score of higher than 80 and were randomly assigned to either antipsychotic plus naltrexone or antipsychotic plus placebo. Thirty patients [30] received 100 mg/day of naltrexone plus antipsychotic drug while 30 received placebo plus antipsychotic drug for 6 weeks. PANSS scores were evaluated on the base of the study, biweekly throughout the study and two weeks after the trial. The treatment effect was calculated by repeated measurement ANOVA. Difference between four types of symptoms [positive symptom, negative symptom, general psychopathological symptom, total score of PANSS] in the case and control groups was not significant [P < 0.05]. In supplement two [S2] scores, a statistically non significant difference was seen in two groups [P < 0.07]. Additional treatment with 100 mg/day naltrexone in a 6 week trial had no significant therapeutic effect on typical or atypical antipsychotic drugs with regards to schizophrenia psychopathology

Swedish massage and abnormal reflexes of chidren with spastic cerbral palsy

Massage therapy is one of the most widely used complementary and alternative medicine therapies for children. This study was conducted to determine the effect of wedish massage on abnormal reflexes in children with spastic cerebral palsy [CP]. This study was a single blind clinical trial conducted on forty children with spastic CP who were recruited from clinics of the University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences. They were randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. The routine occupational therapy [OT] techniques were performed during a 3 month-period in both groups. The intervention group also received Swedish massage for 30 minutes before every OT session. Primary, spinal, brain stem, midbrain, cortical and automatic reflexes were evaluated at the beginning of the study and 3 months later. The data analysis was done by parametric and nonparametric tests. Finally, thirteen subjects in the intervention group and 14 subjects in the control group were remained and studied. The average ages in the intervention and control groups were 49.5 and 42.1 months respectively. There were no statistically significant differences in abnormal reflexes in the intervention group in comparison to the control [P>0.05]. Adding Swedish massage to traditional OT techniques had no significant effects on abnormal reflexes in children with spastic cerebral palsy. Evidently more research is required in order to completely reject the effects of Swedish massage on abnormal reflexes of children with CP