[Comparison of general health status and sleeping quality of shift workers in a car industry workshop 2008]

Sleeping disturbances considered as a remarkable health problem among shift workers, which may lead to physical and mental disorders. This study aimed to examine the sleeping quality and its relationships with the general health among shift workers in a metal press workshop. Descriptive study was conducted and assists 196 subjects of shift workers who were working in press workshop in a car industry. General Health Questionnaire [GHQ-28] and Pittsburg sleep quality Index [PSQI] was used. In addition, some information was collected through interview in the workplace and was analyzed by Fisher and Chi-Square statistical tests. findings suggest that undesirable general health status and poor sleep quality rates were 36.7% and 50% respectively. Statistical tests showed significant associations between sleeping quality and general health [p<0.001]. 50% and 31.4% of permanent daytime workers and shift workers categorized undesirable general health respectively. Furthermore, poor sleeping quality was 57.1% and 47.1% in permanent daytime workers and shift workers. There was no significant association between shift work with general health [p= 0.33] and sleeping quality [p= 0.75]. According to our findings, intervention planning should focus on reducing physical stressors and workers' education on healthy sleeping

[ assessment of risk factors for prostate cancer in Mazandaran province, Iran]

Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men and it is the second leading cause of cancer deaths among men after lung cancer. Therefore, this study was done to assess of risk factors for prostate cancer in Mazandaran province, Iran. A matched case-control study was conducted on 104 prostate cancer patients and 104 controls in Mazandaran province during 2005. The addresses of the patients were obtained using the cancer registry information existed in Babol research center in Iran. The data were collected using a questionnaire by in-person interview of cases and their controls and were analyzed using STATA [8.0]. Univariate condition logistic regression showed that age, prostatitis, drinking alcohol, using chopoghe, family history of prostate cancer, having other cancer, intensity of activity, time of job activity were found to be the risk factors although higher BMI and execreise were protective for prostate cancer [P<0.20]. In multivariate analysis, after adjusting for the effect of the confounders, prostatitis, age, alcohol consumption and family history of prostate cancer were found to the most important risk factors. This study identified prostatitis, age, alcohol consumption and family history of prostate as the independent risk factors for prostate cancer. We suggest that men after the age of 60 should be screened for prostate cancer annually