[Effectiveness of methadone in reduction of high risk behaviors in clients of MMT center]

Addiction as a social, health problem with its specific complications threatens societies. High risk behaviors such as violence, self mutilation, tattooing, shared injections and unprotected sex behaviors are some of the problems in addicts that need to be treated. One of these treatments is methadone therapy. The purpose of this study was to evaluate effectiveness of methadone in prevention or reduction of high risk behaviors in clients of a MMT center of Shaheed Sadoughi University of medical sciences of Yazd. This study was done on 93 clients of a MMT center. Questionnaire for this study included items from MAP and questions about some other risky behaviors. This questionnaire was completed at onset of treatment and 6 months after. Data was analyzed with SPSS software program 89.2% of participants were married and 10.8% were single. 63.5% of them were in the 20-40 years age group. Most commonly abused substances were heroin and opium. Before onset of treatment, 37.6% of participants had history of imprisonment, 35.5% had shared injections, 32.3% had had unprotected sex, 22.6% had tattooing and 5.4% had mutilated their own selves. Only 36.6% didn't have any high risk behavior. These behaviors were more common in heroin users and in the 20-40 years age group. After onset of treatment and during 6 month of MMT, 86% of clients didn't have any risky behavior. Only 14% of them continued to have unsafe sex behaviors Addiction can cause high risk behaviors. Data in this paper suggests that young age, heroin use, low education level and no or inadequate information about addictive substances and their consequences are effective and important factors that cause high risk behaviors. Treatment of addicts with methadone maintenance therapy plays an important role in reduction of risky behaviors. Development of appropriate and more MMT centers are recommended

[ stages of change in smoking cessation among smokers of Khorramabad]

Improper lifestyle is one of the factors affecting the incidence of chronic diseases. According to the World Health Organization statistics, smoking causes four million deaths annually. Studies show that in 1993, 28.6% men and 3.6% of women older than 15 years in the country were smokers. The most practical stage behavior change model is transtheoretical model. Therefore, this study used this model. This cross-sectional study was done on 200 smokers or ex- smokers of Khorramabad who had high school diploma or higher educational levels. Cluster sampling was conducted in two stages. Data was collected by a questionnaire whose validity and reliability had been approved. Data was analyzed by using SPSS statistical software 11.5 and descriptive statistics. P level <0.05 was considered as significant. Mean age was 42.5 +/- 7.85 years. Regarding stages of change, 39.5% were in pre-contemplation stage, 25.5% in contemplation stage, 12% in preparation stage, 5.5% in action stage and 17.5% were in maintenance stage. Variables that had a significant relationship with stages of change included; years of smoking [p=0.001], complications of smoking [0.000], and age [p=0.04]. There was no significant relationship between marital status, education, family and income, and stages of change. In this study, majority of the population under study were in the early stages. It is therefore necessary to provide educational programs and develop strategies for the same. Due to the significant relationship between age and years of smoking and exposure to advanced stages of change, people should be made aware of the problems of smoking earlier so that they can decide as soon as possible about smoking cessation