Journal of Community Health Research
Volume:1 Issue: 1, Jul-Sep 2012

The aim of this study was to investigate weight gain during pregnancy and birth weight in rural regions of Tabriz, a province in the northwest of Iran. A cross-sectional study was conducted using routinely collected data of pregnant mothers from rural health centers. Eight health centers were randomly selected in rural areas of Tabriz. Totally, 874 women aged 24.86±5.08 years with singleton term that regularly attended health centers for prenatal care and delivered between 2002 and 2007 entered the study. The data on pre-pregnancy weight, height, total weight gain during pregnancy, mother’s age, parity, newborn's birth weight, mother’s education and working status were extracted from the health records. The women were categorized based on their pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) as underweight, normal weight, overweight and obese. Pregnancy weight gain was compared with new (2009) and old (1990) recommendations of Institute of Medicine (IOM). 86.1% of underweight and 77.7% of normal weight pregnant women gained weight during their pregnancy below the lower limits of recommended ranges. While weight gain in none of the underweight pregnant women was more than the new IOM recommendations, 1.1% of normal weight, 17.8% of overweight and 36.4% of obese women gained weight more than the upper limits of the new IOM recommendations. The results of this study indicate that according to IOM guidelines, most of Iranian rural pregnant women gain weight during pregnancy less than minimum recommendations.

A major concern of human being is accumulation and toxicity of heavy metals in their body. Copper is a heavy metal ion that in concentration of 2 mg/l can cause numerous complications. Different treatment methods have been proposed for removing metals from contaminated water by researchers. Among these methods, sorption seems a better method with high removal efficiency. In this study, conditions for removal of copper ions by activated carbon sorbent were studied with continuous flow. This was a laboratory – experimental study. A 20mg/l solution of copper ions was prepared and passed through a 5 × 10 cm column with average output rate of 1.85 ml/min. Output of column was sampled every 30 minutes and the remaining amount of copper ion in each sample was measured by flame atomic absorption. The empty bed volume (EBV) was equal to 138 ml. The highest removal efficiency was 99.7 percent at 127 minutes. From equilibrium time, the removal efficiency was constant with time. The adsorption capacity of activated carbon was 0.25mg.g-1. The isotherm study indicated that the sorption data can be obeyed by both Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms (R2>0.95) but Langmuir model had higher agreement with this experimental data (R2= 0.988). The binding of ions to the sorbent in the adsorption process is extremely important. For this column 62.5 minutes after filling was appropriate, so the highest removal efficiency was obtained. Equilibrium time was dependent on the speed of influent through the column in the continuous flow. For selected column, the rate of 1.85 ml/min is a good performance.

Addiction is a habit or behavior that is often hard to quit. It is estimated that 190 million persons are substance users around the world. Substance abuse creates tolerance after a while. Shortly after taking the drug, a person will not enjoy as the beginning of its use; that is why the amount of substance used is gradually increased. The purpose of this study was to find the reasons of tendency to narcotics among addicted individuals referred to methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) center in Yazd. This study was a descriptive-analytic study on 100 addicts referred to methadone maintenance treatment center (MMT) in Yazd. Data was collected by a pre-designed questionnaire with acceptable validity and reliability. Data was analyzed using SPSS statistical software and employing descriptive statistics such as percentage, ratio, mean, standard deviation and statistical tests such as t-test and chi- square was performed. 41.9 % of addicts were unemployed, 4.77% married and 5.64% had elementary education. The most common method of substance consumption was inhalation (2.40%). Heroin was the most frequent type of substance used (1/51%) The relationship between marital status and type of substance used, and age of onset of drug use was significant. The frequency of substance consumption was significantly different regarding the history of drug use in father, brother and spouses of patients in both sexes. Results of the current study showed that subjects at an early age (adolescence and early adulthood), individuals with low educational status, those with unstable jobs and low income, presence of addicted individuals among first-degree relatives can be the causes leading to addiction in the community.

Intravenous drug users as a serious health problem in communities have economical and social effects as well as health and hygienic complications. Viral infections may be transmitted through drug injection by shared syringes among users. The aim of this study has been to determine the relative frequency of HBV, HCV and HIV infection’s markers as epidemiological data in Ahvaz. This retrospective cross sectional study was conducted on IV drug users (IVDUs) who were admitted in infectious diseases ward of Razi Ahvaz Hospital in 2004-2005. The collected data of serum markers of these patients were coded, and statistical analyses were conducted. 1890 patients were evaluated and 258 patients were IVDUs (14.6%). 154 patients (59.98%) were tested for anti HCV-Ab of whom 65 patients were HCV-Ab positive (42.2%). 205 patients (79.45%) were tested for anti HIV-Ab of whom 38 patients were HIV-Ab positive (18.53%). 67 patients (25.96%) were tested for HBs-Ag of whom 15 patients were HBs-Ag positive (22.67%). 12 patients (4.65%) were tested for anti HBc-Ab of whom 8 patients were HBc-Ab positive (66.66%). In this study, high infection rate relates to different causes such as increasing consumes of opium substances and recent differences in fumigated opium substances pattern toward injecting drug use in society level, which increases the prevalence of these infections, The present study determined some critical information about the prevalence of serum markers HBS Ag, HCV and HIV antibodies among intravenous drug users in southwestern of Iran.

It is generally accepted that breast feeding has a beneficial effect on the health of infants and children. The evidence that breast feeding protects against obesity is inconclusive also the influence of breast feeding on blood pressure in later life is uncertain. The major aim of this study was to assess the association between method of infant breast feeding and components of the body mass index and blood pressure in pre-school children. In a cohort study, a total of 800 pre-school children, 359 (47.2%) males, and 402 (52.8%) females, born in 2003 in Yazd, Iran were selected based on a systematic stratified random model. Of eight hundred questionnaires sent, 761 (95%) were returned to the investigators. At 6 years, blood pressure was measured on the right arm at rest. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated by dividing the weight in kilograms by the square of height in meters (kg/m2).Data on infants feeding were collected respectively during first two years of life. Data were managed and analyzed using SPSS (SPSS, Inc, version 13.0) Of the 761 subjects included in this study, 452 (59.4%) were exclusively breast fed, 136 (17.9%) were bottle fed and 173 (22.7%) were partially breast fed. Body mass index was not significantly different between bottle feeding, partial and exclusive breast feeding groups (P=0.398). .No relationship was found between method and duration of breast feeding, and systolic blood pressure (P=0.244), diastolic blood pressure (P=0.781) and mean blood pressure (P=0.483). We did not find association between method of infant feeding, duration of breast feeding and systolic, diastolic mean blood pressures and also with body mass index.

Delay in the diagnosis of tuberculosis increases the risk of death and enhances the transmission of disease in the community. This study aims to determine the patient and health service delay and factors affecting it in tuberculosis diagnosis. A cross-sectional survey that included all the public health centers was conducted in Markazi province from March 2009 till June 2011. Patients were interviewed after diagnosis by using a structured questionnaire. One hundred and sixty-six patients aged between 9 and 87 (median; 66) years were included in the study. They comprised 87 (52.4%) females and 79 (47.6%) males. The median and mean of patient delay was 35 and 62 days, respectively; the median and mean of health system diagnosis delay was 34 and 53 days, respectively; the median and mean of health system treatment delay was 5 and 6 days, respectively; The median and mean of total delays were 86 and 121 days, respectively for all patients. The main determinants of delay were non education, poor economic, private sector, female gender and age≥55. The results of this review suggest that there is a need for revising case-finding strategies and reduction of infectious cases for better control of tuberculosis.

Linguatula serrata is a zoonotic parasite, belonging to the class Pentastomida. The major aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of sodium chloride (NaCl) and heat on survival time of Linguatula serrata nymphs. Thirty nymphs (10 in triplicate) were separately transferred to plastic tubes, containing different concentrations of NaCl solution (2%, 5% and 10%). Meanwhile, 30 nymphs in tubes containing Phosphate Buffer Saline (PBS) were separately treated by +50°C, +60°C and +72°C. As control group, thirty nymphs were stored in PBS at +4°C. The effects of different conditions on survival time of the nymphs were evaluated by observing their motility in different periods of time. The survival time of the nymphs stored in 10% NaCl solution was too short and all of them were dead after 3 hours. But the other ones maintained in 2% NaCl solution were significantly more resistant (p<0.05) and were survived for 2 days. All the nymphs pertaining to each +60°C and +72°C treatments were found dead after first 5-minute storage interval; the nymphs stored at +50°C died totally after 20 minutes. The nymphs maintained in PBS at +4°C (control group) showed the longest survival time (p<0.05); all of them were alive until day 4 and the last ones died on day 34. It is concluded that salting and heating have significant parasiticidal effects on L. serrata nymphs and could be used as disinfecting methods in processing of meat products especially liver. However, refrigeration at +4°C increases the resistance of the nymphs in meat products and therefore might endanger the food safety.

Congenital hypothyroidism (CH) is one of the most common preventable causes of mental retardation. Its worldwide incidence is estimated to be one in 2500-5500 births. Assessment of thyroid gland in neonates is critical. The aims of this study were to demonstrate the incidence of CH in neonates born in Yazd province, Iran in 1389 (2010) and compare the results with other reported studies and investigate biochemical characteristics of affected infants. This is an analytical descriptive cross-sectional study. The study was conducted on all infants (13022 births) born in 1389 (March 2010-March 2011). Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) was measured using ELISA technique. Forty five infants suffered from congenital hypothyroidism with an overall incidence of one in 289 live births. Twenty five of the diagnosed infants were males (incidence 1:261) and twenty were females (incidence 1:325). The incidence of CH in boys was more than girls (P-value = 0.295). The highest incidence of CH was observed in spring followed by summer and the lowest incidence was in autumn followed by winter (P-value=0.000. The CH incidence was 10.3 to 13.8 times more than other countries. The highest CH incidence was in spring followed by summer and the lowest incidence was in autumn followed by winter. It is important that a larger size of cases need to be screened and more information on the aetiology of the affected infants to be obtained.