Relationship between subjective halitosis and psychological factors.

OBJECTIVES: Subjective halitosis is a growing concern in the fields of dentistry and psychology. This study was designed to determine the association between subjective halitosis and contributing psychological factors. METHODS: Data for this cross-sectional study were gathered from 4,763 participants who had answered questions on subjective halitosis and psychological factors (depression, anxiety, stress and personality traits) in the study on the epidemiology of psychological, alimentary health and nutrition (SEPAHAN). Binary logistic regression was used for data analysis. RESULT: The mean age of all subjects was 36.58 years; and the majority of subjects were female (55.8%), married (81.2%) and graduates (57.2%). The prevalence of subjective halitosis was 52.8%. The majority of subjects with the complaint of subjective halitosis were married (P<0.001) and young (P=0.07). Participants with subjective halitosis were significantly more anxious [odds ratio (OR)=1.76, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 1.38-2.24], stressed (OR=1.41, 95% CI: 1.17-1.71) and depressed (OR=1.31, 95% CI: 1.09-1.57). Among personality traits, neuroticism was a risk factor (tertile 1 vs. tertile 2: OR=1.29, 95% CI: 1.09-1.51; and tertile 1 vs. tertile 3: OR=1.74, 95% CI: 1.43-2.13) and conscientiousness was revealed to be a protective factor (tertile 1 vs. tertile 2: OR=0.82, 95% CI: 0.70-0.98; and tertile 1 vs. tertile 3: OR=0.65, 95% CI: 0.53-0.80). CONCLUSION: It seems that psychological factors, such as anxiety, depression and stress, as well as some personality traits, can be considered as risk factors for subjective halitosis. Multidisciplinary efforts by dental and psychological professionals must be considered to address this problem.

Investigating the efficiency of nursing education program from the perspective of graduate students of nursing and midwifery.

BACKGROUND: Continuous evaluation is required in order to ensure the university system's efficiency. One of the important aspects of evaluating the educational system's effectiveness is judging the system's ability in meeting environmental needs. The present research's goal has been to investigate nursing education's efficiency through investigating the graduate's condition and their views on education and studying in Isfahan University's School of Nursing and Midwifery in 2008. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a descriptive research which has investigated the nursing graduate's view on the nursing education efficiency. The sample of the present research contains one hundred graduates between the years 2001 and 2005 which have been chosen randomly to complete the questionnaire. The questionnaire is divided into five sections including; growth, demographic information, and satisfaction with professional development and the acquired scientific experiences during the education. The criteria of achieving educational goals, and acquiring individual and social development were used to determine the content of the questionnaire. Through further examination the validity of the questionnaire was calculated to be 0.85. The final analysis was done using the SPSS statistics software. FINDINGS: The majority of the participants were female and with an age range of 24 to 30. Among these, 55% were unemployed and 67% of them had no education higher than a bachelor degree. The mean scores of each of the efficiency fields were as following (the total score was 4): Professional growth 2.13 ± 0.36, Satisfaction with the obtained scientific achievement during studies 2.80 ± 0.48, achievement of the educational objectives1.95 ± 0.51 and individual and social improvement 2.70 ± 0.36, neither of which are desirable. There was no significant difference between the demographic information and education efficiency index. CONCLUSIONS: Considering the results of the present research, the nursing education system's efficiency level in Isfahan University is medium. Acquiring the educational goals is not satisfactory for the students. According to the results of this research, some changes have been suggested to change the lesson plans.

The role of Helicobacter pylori in the development of recurrent aphthous stomatitis: SEPAHAN systematic review no. 9.

Microbial factors may play a role in the pathogenesis of recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS). Because of similarities in the characteristics of peptic ulcers and oral aphthous ulcers, it seems reasonable to hypothesize that Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) could play a role in the development of RAS. The aim of the present study was to determine the relationship between H. pylori and RAS using the results obtained in other related studies. In the present systematic review, all of the relevant papers up to December 2011 were screened. The search was done using PubMed and the Cochrane library and out of 33, 9 articles were selected via the keywords of stomatitis, aphthous and H. pylori. Nine of the studies met the inclusion criteria. Among the selected articles, 6 were inconsistent with the association of H. pylori infection and RAS and 3 agreed to this assumption. The results of the literature indicate that there is no association between H. pylori infection and recurrent aphthous stomatitis.

Gastroesophageal reflux disease and tooth erosion: SEPAHAN systematic review no. 10.

Many systemic diseases affect oral health. The aim of this research was to conduct a systematic review on the association between dental erosion (DE) and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and the effect of saliva's flow rate, buffering capacity and oral microbial changes caused by GERD. All descriptive, analytical studies up to December 2011 that have relevant objectives, proper sampling method and sufficient results were included by searching PubMed and Scopus electronic data bases. Fifteen studies were selected according to our inclusion criteria (10 in adult and 5 in children population). There was a strong association between DE and GERD in the adult population, and the relationship in the children population was found to be of less importance. Early diagnosis and treatment of refluxed acid in both age groups through lifestyle changes and medications can prevent further damage and tooth loss.