Million Visual Analogue Scale Questionnaire: Validation of the Persian Version

STUDY DESIGN: Descriptive cross-sectional study. PURPOSE: To validate the Persian version of the Million Visual Analogue Scale Questionnaire (MVAS), a self-administered low back pain (LBP) questionnaire. OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE: The majority of LBP questionnaires translated into Persian evaluate the impact of LBP on daily living. The MVAS is one of the most commonly used self-administered LBP questionnaires, and was developed to assess a different direction and effect of activities of daily living on LBP intensity. METHODS: The questionnaire was translated into Persian with the forward-backward method and was administered to 150 patients randomly sampled from an occupational medicine clinic in Tehran in 2017. RESULTS: Cronbach's alpha for all subscales ranged between 0.670 and 0.799. Confirmatory factor analysis showed adequate construct validity of the Persian version of the MVAS, with root mean square error of approximation 0.046, goodness of fit index 0.902, and comparative fit index 0.969. Other indexes were satisfactory. CONCLUSIONS: The Persian MVAS is a valid and reliable instrument that can assess the effect of various daily activities on the intensity of LBP.

Predicting needlestick and sharps injuries and determining preventive strategies using a Bayesian network approach in Tehran, Iran / 한국역학회지

OBJECTIVES@#Recent studies have shown that the rate of needlestick and sharps injuries (NSIs) is unacceptably high in Iranian hospitals. The aim of the present study was to use a systematic approach to predict and reduce these injuries.@*METHODS@#This cross-sectional study was conducted in 5 hospitals in Tehran, Iran. Eleven variables thought to affect NSIs were categorized based on the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) framework and modeled using a Bayesian network. A self-administered validated questionnaire was used to collect the required data. In total, 343 cases were used to train the model and 50 cases were used to test the model. Model performance was assessed using various indices. Finally, using predictive reasoning, several intervention strategies for reducing NSIs were recommended.@*RESULTS@#The Bayesian network HFACS model was able to predict 86% of new cases correctly. The analyses showed that safety motivation and fatigue were the most important contributors to NSIs. Supervisors' attitude toward safety and working hours per week were the most important factors in the unsafe supervision category. Management commitment and staffing were the most important organizational-level factors affecting NSIs. Finally, promising intervention strategies for reducing NSIs were identified and discussed.@*CONCLUSIONS@#To reduce NSIs, both management commitment and sufficient staffing are necessary. Supervisors should encourage nurses to engage in safe behavior. Excessive working hours result in fatigue and increase the risk of NSIs.

Predicting needlestick and sharps injuries and determining preventive strategies using a Bayesian network approach in Tehran, Iran / 한국역학회지

OBJECTIVES: Recent studies have shown that the rate of needlestick and sharps injuries (NSIs) is unacceptably high in Iranian hospitals. The aim of the present study was to use a systematic approach to predict and reduce these injuries. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 5 hospitals in Tehran, Iran. Eleven variables thought to affect NSIs were categorized based on the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) framework and modeled using a Bayesian network. A self-administered validated questionnaire was used to collect the required data. In total, 343 cases were used to train the model and 50 cases were used to test the model. Model performance was assessed using various indices. Finally, using predictive reasoning, several intervention strategies for reducing NSIs were recommended. RESULTS: The Bayesian network HFACS model was able to predict 86% of new cases correctly. The analyses showed that safety motivation and fatigue were the most important contributors to NSIs. Supervisors' attitude toward safety and working hours per week were the most important factors in the unsafe supervision category. Management commitment and staffing were the most important organizational-level factors affecting NSIs. Finally, promising intervention strategies for reducing NSIs were identified and discussed. CONCLUSIONS: To reduce NSIs, both management commitment and sufficient staffing are necessary. Supervisors should encourage nurses to engage in safe behavior. Excessive working hours result in fatigue and increase the risk of NSIs.

Predicting needlestick and sharps injuries and determining preventive strategies using a Bayesian network approach in Tehran, Iran / 한국역학회지

OBJECTIVES: Recent studies have shown that the rate of needlestick and sharps injuries (NSIs) is unacceptably high in Iranian hospitals. The aim of the present study was to use a systematic approach to predict and reduce these injuries.METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 5 hospitals in Tehran, Iran. Eleven variables thought to affect NSIs were categorized based on the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) framework and modeled using a Bayesian network. A self-administered validated questionnaire was used to collect the required data. In total, 343 cases were used to train the model and 50 cases were used to test the model. Model performance was assessed using various indices. Finally, using predictive reasoning, several intervention strategies for reducing NSIs were recommended.RESULTS: The Bayesian network HFACS model was able to predict 86% of new cases correctly. The analyses showed that safety motivation and fatigue were the most important contributors to NSIs. Supervisors' attitude toward safety and working hours per week were the most important factors in the unsafe supervision category. Management commitment and staffing were the most important organizational-level factors affecting NSIs. Finally, promising intervention strategies for reducing NSIs were identified and discussed.CONCLUSIONS: To reduce NSIs, both management commitment and sufficient staffing are necessary. Supervisors should encourage nurses to engage in safe behavior. Excessive working hours result in fatigue and increase the risk of NSIs.

Occupational risk of bladder cancer among Iranian male workers

Approximately 5-10% of human cancers are thought to be caused by occupational exposure to carcinogens. Compare to other cancers, bladder cancer is most strongly linked to occupational exposure to chemical toxins. This study has been performed to understand which occupations and exposures are related to bladder cancer in Iran. This study is a case-control study which is conducted on cases with bladder cancer [160 cases] diagnosed in Baharlou hospital in 2007-2009. One hundred sixty cases without any occupational exposure were considered as controls matched for demographic characteristics. Demographic data and characteristics of occupation were compared. Mean age of cases and controls were 63.7 and 64 years, respectively [P = 0.841]. History of urinary tract stone had significantly difference in two groups [P = 0.039]. Occupations such as bus and truck driving, road and asphalt making, mechanics, working in refinery and Petrochemical, plastic, metal manufactory, welding, and pipeline founded a higher risk for bladder cancer rather than controls. Our findings on Iranian workers are concurrent and compatible with findings of previous reports about occupational and environmental risk factors of bladder cancer. Although our study population was not little, further studies are needed to declare the risk of working in some occupations such as drivers and metal factories for bladder cancer

[Concurrent chemoradiation with weekly gemcitabine and cisplatin in locally advanced cervical cancer]

More than 80 years, the standard treatment of locally advanced cervical cancer was radiotherapy. However, based on several phase III randomized clinical trials in the past decade, concurrent cisplatin-based chemoradiotherapy is the current standard of treatment for this disease. Gemcitabine has potent radiosensitizing properties in preclinical and clinical trials, so it can be utilized simultaneously with radiation. Thirty Women with untreated invasive squamous-cell carcinoma of the cervix of stage IIB to stage IVA were enrolled in the study in Radiation Oncology department of Imam Khomeini Hospital in Tehran from September 2009 to September 2010. Sixty mg/m2 gemcitabine followed by 35 mg/m2 cisplatin were concurrently administered with radiotherapy to the whole pelvic region on day one of each treatment week for five weeks One and three months after treatment, patients underwent a complete physical examination and MRI to determine the response to treatment. The mean age of the participants was 58.13 +/- 11.83 [29-78] years. After 3 months of treatment, 73.3% had complete and 26.7% had partial response to treatment. Grade 3 anemia was seen in 10%, grade 3 thrombocytopenia in 3.3% and grade 3 leukopenia in 10% of the patients. According to the positive results of this study in stage IIB, further phase II and III clinical trials are suggested to evaluate the role of chemoradiation by gemcitabine in advanced cervical cancers

Prevalence of overweight and obesity among Iranian school children in different ethnicities

Malnutrition, overweight and obesity are major health concerns in modern societies and especially among children. Overweight and obesity affect children's current and future health. It is known that the prevalence of overweight differs by race, sex, and geographic location. In a cross-sectional study 30092 Iranian children aged 7-18 years in six ethnic groups were selected by a cluster sampling. Prevalence of obesity and overweight and distribution of body mass index [BMI] by gender, age, and ethnicity were measured. Cutoff points of BMI for defining obesity and overweight were based on the Iranian, and IOTF standard values. This study showed a significant ethnic difference in BMI. Prevalence of overweight and obesity among Iranian children was 9.27% and 3.22% respectively comparing international standards. The frequency of overweight and obesity was higher in boys. This study showed a significant difference in BMI among different ethnic group