مجله علوم پیراپزشکی و بهداشت نظامی
سال هجدهم شماره 2 (پیاپی 48، تابستان 1402)

Mycoplasma hominis (M. hominis) is one of the smallest free-living prokaryotes and it is one of the most famous pathogenic Mycoplasmas of the human reproductive system which causes miscarriage, vaginosis, infertility, premature birth with low weight, meningitis, and pneumonia. This research aimed to study the prevalence of premature rupture of membranes (PROM) of pregnant mothers due to M. hominis in women's hospitals of Ardabil province with two techniques of PCR and culture.

Methods and Materials: 

This case-control study was conducted on 100 pregnant women with PROM and 50 healthy women without symptoms (control) referring to women's hospitals in Ardabil province. After sampling by cervical swap, the samples were evaluated for the presence of M. hominis by culture and PCR methods.

In the case group of 100 studied patients, 39 samples (39%) were recognized positive for M. hominis by culture method and 51 samples (51%) were recognized positive by PCR method. Furthermore, in the control group, out of 50 examined samples, 7 samples (14%) were diagnosed as positive for M. hominis by culture method and 9 samples (18%) were recognized positive by PCR method. There were statistically significant relationship among age group, history of abortion, vaginal infection before pregnancy and spontaneous rupture of membranes in pregnant women with the risk of contracting M. hominis followed by PROM in pregnant women (p<0.05).

PROM of pregnant mothers due to contamination with M. hominis is high and it is more common. Compared to the culture method, the PCR method is more suitable and specific for identifying positive cases of M. hominis in pregnant women who have PROM.

The open reading frame 9 (ORF9b) proteins, which is an accessory protein of SARSCoV- 2, can play a role in the virulence of the virus through mechanisms. Mutations in this coding gene region can affect protein function. Therefore, the present study investigated mutations in the ORF9b gene of SARS-CoV-2 isolated from Iran.

Methods and Materials:

 ORF9b sequences of SARS-CoV-2 viruses isolated from Iran, which were submitted to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database; moreover, the ORF9b sequence of the Wuhan strain were extracted as a reference strain. The amino acid changes were investigated and the phylogenetic tree of the extracted sequences with Wuhan reference strain was drawn using Mega software version 7 and neighbor-joining (NJ) algorithm.

Finally, 24 complete genome sequences of SARS-CoV-2 were extracted from NCBI. Analysis at the amino acid level showed that ORF9b related to newly isolated viruses has undergone changes compared to the Wuhan reference strain. Three of these changes were in the binding region of this protein to Translocase Of Outer Mitochondrial Membrane 70(TOM70). Furthermore, the drawing of the phylogenetic tree showed that the ORF9b gene of SARS-CoV-2 has become different over time in the isolated strains.

Considering the role that the ORF9b protein has in the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 and mutation occurs in this protein, it is suggested to monitor the changes in this viral protein in new variants that were detected.

Sometimes, laboratory diagnosis accompany by errors. Detection of these errors could be effective in preventing their occurrence. This study aimed to evaluate random errors and their causes in a Hamadan teaching hospital laboratory during the years of 2020 to 2021.

Methods and Materials:

 In this cross-sectional and retrospective study, recorded random errors in a Hamadan teaching hospital laboratory was gathered during 2020 to 2021. The data were analyzed by SPSS software version 24. Frequency and percentage of desired variables were presented.

According to the results, 312 random errors had been recorded. 98 (31.42%) of them had been only detected by Westgard method and 214 (68.58%) had been detected by both of Westgard and WHO methods. 98 (31.42%) of the random errors had been detected by R4S Westgard rule and 214 (68.58%) of them had been detected by 13S Westgard and WHO rule. The most common causes of random errors were equipment failure (109, 34.93%), reagent failure (82, 26.30%), environmental factors (68, 21.79%) and human error or procedure change (54, 17.07%) respectively. The most errors were related to biochemistry 200 (64.10%), hematology 70 (22.43%) and coagulation department 42 (13.47%) respectively.

The main causes of random errors were equipment and reagent failure. Equipment update, reagent quality control and staff training could be effective in the reduction of these errors.

Divorce is one of the social harms that reduce the general health and quality of women’s life. Divorced women are considered as one of the vulnerable groups of society that suffered from social exclusion. This research aimed to investigate factors affecting the social exclusion of divorced women.

Methods and Materials:

 This descriptive and analytical study was conducted on 400 adults living in Tehran in 2020. Sampling method has been used until the sample size was completed. The measurement tool was an online standard social exclusion questionnaire including 38 questions with a five-point Likert scale. Independent t-test, one-way analysis of variance, multiple linear regression and Pearson correlation coefficient were used to investigate the relationship between social deprivation and demographic variables. SPSS Statistics version 22was used for data analysis with a significance level of P>0.05.

There was a significant relationship between social exclusion and employment status (P <0.001), economic status (P < 0.001), and marital status (P < 0.001).In addition, there was a significant correlation between social exclusion and age (P < 0.001). Economic dependency based on marital status had the highest average among the five domains.

Divorced women had a higher understanding of social exclusion than other respondents. It is recommended to use the results of the present study to implement effective interventions to reduce social deprivation and improve the living conditions of divorced women.

Radiographers’ awareness about the principles of radiation protection and the physical principles of digital radiology devices can play an important role in obtaining quality images and reducing the dose of patients. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the level of students and radiologists awareness of Khorasan province in the field of radiation protection principles and physical principles of digital imaging systems.

Methods and Materials:

 A digital radiography questionnaire was used in this study whose validity and reliability were confirmed. The first part of the questionnaire included demographic questions. The second part included 11 questions about the principles of radiation protection and 11 questions about the physical basics of working with digital radiography devices. If the answer is correct, a positive score is given and other options are given a zero score. The third part, which was specific to radiographers, included a question about participating in previous training workshops.

The level of awareness about the principles of radiation protection in radiographers (score 49.08 ± 14.45) was significantly higher than that of students (score 66.63 ± 16.99) (P < 0.05). The level of awareness about physical basics in students (score 54.27 ± 17.09) was significantly higher than radiographers (score 39.36 ± 10.45) (P < 0.05). The level of awareness about physical principles had a significant and negative relationship with age and work experience (P < 0.05).

Radiographer’s level of awareness about the physical basics of digital imaging systems is insufficient. It is necessary to increase radiographer’s level of awareness in this field through the development of continuous training programs.

X-rays play an important role in medical imaging; however, exposure to radiation can also bring risks. Therefore, the quality control of diagnostic radiology devices is actually vital. Moreover, it is possible to reduce the dose received by patients and maintain the quality of the images by applying quality control programs.

Methods and Materials: 

The present study was conducted in the imaging departments of Imam Reza (AS), Valiasr (AS), and Razi hospitals in Birjand. In this study, seven quality control tests including exposure reproducibility, voltage accuracy, time accuracy, linearity of the output with respect to mA and linearity of the output with respect to s, measuring the half value layer (HVL) and matching the optical and radiation fields was performed in accordance with the standards of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. These tests have the greatest effect on the dose of patients.

The minimum and maximum error in kVp was related to rooms number 1 and 3 (emergency department) of Imam Reza hospital respectively. In addition, the error percentage in the investigated voltages was less than 5% in all the studied devices. All the devices were accepted in the tests of output reproducibility and output linearity with respect to mA and time and HVL. In the test to check the validity of the radiation time, the error observed for 2.3 and 5 milliseconds in the emergency department of Imam Reza Hospital was higher than the acceptance criteria, which needs to be corrected. Fortunately, in most of the studied devices, the amount of non-compliance of the light and beam fields was less than the acceptance criteria and it needed to be corrected in only one device.

The lack of quality control of medical imaging devices can lead to repeated irradiation, which increases both patient dose and department costs. Moreover, it potentially reduces patient satisfaction. The results of this study showed that most of the diagnostic radiography devices installed in the teaching hospitals of Birjand University of Medical Sciences have suitable conditions in terms of quality control.

The outbreak of the Covid-19 disease has led to protective and preventive measures including social distancing and quarantine around the world. This stressful period may lead to psychological problems, including increased substance and tobacco use. The purpose of this review study is to investigate the impact of covid-19 disease on tobacco and alcohol using.

Methods and Matreials: 

This review article has been performed using alcohol, tobacco, cigarettes, corona virus, and covid-19 keywords and their English equivalents in various data bases including PubMed, Scopus, Google scholar, SID, and Magiran from 2014 to 2023. 124 articles were extracted and finally 20 articles were included in the study.

The findings indicate that alcohol consumption and smoking increased slightly during quarantine compared to the pre-quarantine period as a method of self-medication against restrictive measures caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the research findings and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the pattern of smoking and alcohol consumption, it is suggested to adopt a multidisciplinary approach including psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health specialists in order to reduce the amount of such high-risk behaviors.

Punctual rehabilitation of cancer patients or survivors has a great impact on improving their physical and mental conditions. Therefore, a proper follow up method is essentioal. This systematic review aimed to investigate the effect of telerehabilitation on improving the Physical Activity (PA) and Quality of Life (QoL) of cancer patients or survivors.

Methods and Materials: 

We conducted a systematic search on the PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science databases on 25th of August in 2022. A literature search was also conducted using Google search engine to identify the most recent possible evidence. This study was conducted by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) to report evidence from studies included in this systematic review. We included the studies of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that used telerehabilitation approaches to improve PA among cancer survivors and patients. These studies full text were available in English and they were considered as inclusion criteria without time limits.

Among the 12 included studies (8, 67%), a significant improvement was seen in the PA of cancer patients and survivors in the intervention group compared to the control group. However, in four studies, the PA of the patients improved in both the control and intervention groups. However, there was not any significant difference between the control and intervention groups. The QoL of the patients was evaluated in 4 of the included studies. In 3 studies, the QoL of the patients in the intervention group significantly improved compared to the control group.

All of our current findings support the idea that telerehabilitation approaches can be an effective alternative for improving PA and QoL compared to traditional cancer rehabilitation. These widespread methods may minimise barriers such as distance, time, and cost. As a result, by increasing access to care services, they may cause rapid feedback, reduce costs, and generally improve the health of cancer survivors.