Journal of Health Sciences and Surveillance System
Volume:1 Issue: 1, Jul 2013

Nowadays, self-medication of therapeutic agents is of global concern particularly in developing and underdeveloped countries. Some studies conducted in Iran showed that the frequency of self-medication was significant. This research was conducted to estimate the prevalence of arbitrary use of antibiotics in Shiraz community with special interest in its determinant factors. This cross-sectional study was conducted in Shiraz, in 2009. Approximately 710 out of all patients referred to all health care centers in Shiraz were selected to fill out a questionnaire containing 23 questions divided into two parts. The frequency of self-medication according to demographic factors was described and the association between independent variables and selfmedication was analyzed. The frequency of self-medication in this study was 44.5% and the request to prescribe antibiotics by the patients was 53.5%. Amoxicillin was the most widely used drug by the participants. There was a significant association between age and gender with self-medication. The frequent cause for self-medication was common cold. Approximately, 74.4% of the participants reported their previous experience as the main reason for self-medication. The results of this survey demonstrated the high frequency of self-medication in Shiraz. Socio-cultural determinants are the etiologic factors for self-medication. Policy makers are recommended to provide community-wide educational programs to make people aware about the adverse effects of self-medication. There was a significant association between age, gender and education with self-medication and governments could pay more attention to these factors for designing the interventional programs.

Background/ This study aimed to address the knowledge gap in citizenship education. In other words, there was an attempt to investigate the effect of a citizenship education program on knowledge, attitudes, subjective norms, and behavioral intention of high schools girls. 228 female students, 91 in the experimental and 137 in the control groups participated in this study. A questionnaire was used to collect the data. The educational program was run in the experimental group using interactive teaching-learning techniques. The research data were, then, analyzed in SPSS, using inferential statistics. The mean score of the students’ knowledge in the experimental group increased from 7.35±1.93 in the pretest to 11.14±1.78 in the posttest, while in the control group this score remained approximately the same in the pre- and post-tests. The pre- and post-test means of attitude scores were statistically different, but not in the control group. The pretest mean scores of the subjective norm in the experimental and control groups were relatively similar, but in the posttest it became significantly different (experimental: 25.78±3.77, control: 23.40±4.62). The students’ behavioral intention score increased from 18.51±2.71 to 20.87±3.04 in the experimental group. The mean scores of intention in the pretest and posttest were not statistically different in the control group. In the second posttests, the levels of these constructs remained unchanged in the control group, but they were significantly higher than pretest scores in the experimental group. This study revealed the adolescents’ need for as well as the efficacy of a citizenship education program.

The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of depression symptoms and the effect of various demographic characteristics on its severity in an elderly population in Fars province, southern Iran. This cross-sectional study was conducted during May and September 2009. A sample of 1461 men and women, aged more than 60 years were selected using a multistage stratified random sampling method. Levels of depression symptoms were measured using the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). Data were analyzed using SPSS software. Also, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and correlation analysis were performed to find the correlation between the variables and GDS score. Overall, 1443 people completed the questionnaire. The prevalence of the symptoms mild to moderate depression (GDS: 5-10) was 51.1%, while that of severe depression symptoms (GDS >10) was 19.7%. There were significant relationships between sex, marital status, educational level, occupation, residential place and the GDS scores. The prevalence of depression symptoms was high among the elderly in Fars Province. Therefore, if properly trained, primary care teams could help these patients.

Malnutrition is one of the most common hazards which compromise children’s health. Previous studies have reported high rates of malnutrition in Kohkilouyeh and Boyer Ahmad. This study was conducted to evaluate the frequency of child malnutrition in Yasuj and to explore the association between family characteristics and malnutrition. Data were collected from healthcare files of 285 infants aged 18 months and younger in Yasuj health care centers. Data included demographic information and anthropometric measurements at birth and at the last referral to health centers. Rates of underweight, stunting, wasting, and low head circumference at birth were 17.9%, 13.4%, 27.8%, and 19%, and at the last referral they were 22.5%, 11.3%, 29%, and 15.5%, respectively. The frequency of underweight and wasting had significantly increased and that of stunting and low head circumference significantly decreased during the period between birth and the last referral. Birth wasting was significantly more common in younger mothers, families with fewer children, and shorter birth interval. Birth underweight and small head circumference was significantly associated with shorter birth interval. Child stunting was related to father’s education level and child wasting was associated with mother’s education. Parents’ education did not have any association with birth malnutrition. Wasting appeared to be the major form of malnutrition among infants in Yasuj. It was very high at birth, and continued to elevate after birth. Elevating educational level of parents (over Diploma), educating parents to keep sufficient interval between pregnancies, and paying more attention to young mothers and those who are delivering their first baby are among strategies to ameliorate child wasting.

Background/ This study was undertaken to address psychological health effects of dentists’ exposure to low ambient levels of mercury. One hundred and six dentists and 94 general practitioners were randomly selected from clinics in Shiraz city, Iran. Subjects were asked to complete the Persian version of General Health Questionnaire. The data were analyzed using χ2 test, independent sample t-test and Mann-Whitney’s U test. Both groups were similar as far as all demographic variables, except age, were concerned. No significant difference was noted between the dentists’ mean total score of GHQ-28 (17.9) and that of referent subjects (16.34). These scores were significantly lower than the cut-off point of 23 (P<0.01). The mean scores for somatic symptoms, anxiety and insomnia, and depression were significantly higher in dentists than in the referent subjects. The results also showed a significant association between GHQ-28 total scores and length of exposure to mercury (P=0.034); with increase in the job tenure, GHQ-28 total score also increased, indicating a decrement in psychological health status. The current findings revealed that, in general, the dentists’ psychological health status was poorer than the referent subjects. Additionally, in all GHQ subscales, the dentists’ scores were significantly different from those of their counterparts. Given the fact that exposure to mercury is the most important differentiating variable between both groups, and that neuropsychological disorders are the most common toxic effect of mercury, the difference between psychological health status of the two groups is likely to be related to exposure to mercury.

Background/ Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are one of the most common causes of occupational injuries. This study was conducted with the objectives of determination of prevalence rate of MSDs and ergonomics assessment of the risk of MSDs among workers of a petrochemical company. In this study, 261randomly selected workers in a petrochemical company with at least one year of job tenure participated. Office and operational personnel were studied separately. In office jobs, data were collected using Nordic musculoskeletal disorders questionnaire (NMQ) and ergonomics checklist for assessment of work conditions. In operational jobs, NMQ and QEC (Quick Exposure Check) methods were applied to gather the required data. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software. The most prevalent MSDs symptoms were reported in the lower back (36.2%), upper back (31%), neck (31%) and knees (30.3%). The results showed that the prevalence of MSDs indifferent body regions of the office staff was higher than those of operational workers. Also, in 40.9% of the observed cases, total ergonomics index was in action category 1 (inappropriate working conditions) and 59.9% of the subjects taken in action category 2 (appropriate working conditions). The results of assessment by QEC technique among operational workers showed that in 82.8% of the workers studied, the level of exposure to musculoskeletal risks was high or very high. The prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in the office staff was higher than that of operational subjects. To improve the working conditions, taking risk factors of the lower back, upper back, neck and knees into consideration seems to be essential.

The German cockroach, Blattella germanica L. (Dictyoptera: Blattellidae), has become resistant to many insecticides due to control failures in hospital and student dormitory settings of southern Iran. This study was thus designed to detect and monitor carbamate resistance in two strains of German cockroach using lethal dose bioassay methods. Wild dormitory (D) and hospital (H) strains were collected. Adult males were subjected to the jar exposure procedure. A range of concentrations based on the world health organization (WHO) standard concentration of carbamate insecticides (carbaryl, bendiocarb, propoxur) were used. For each insecticide, four to seven different concentrations leading to >0% and <100% mortality were assayed. Ten insects were placed in each jar and the exposure time of contact was held constant for 30 minutes. Mortality data (as LD50) were assessed using probit analysis. Although both strains showed lethality values above those of the WHO standards, the H strain was more resistant to all of the three carbamate insecticides than the D strain, possibly due to the frequent and excessive dosage of these chemicals used in the hospital environment. The order of resistance for H strain was carbaryl > propoxur > bendiocarb. The ratio of LD50 in H strain to that of D strain for bendiocarb was about twice that of the other two insecticides indicating that German cockroaches were most susceptible to bendiocarb under both environments. It is concluded that excessive reliance on carbaryl in both D and H settings has led to resistance.

Activated carbon is an adsorbent which is mostly employed in order to remove dye from aqueous solutions; however, commercial activated carbon is expensive and this is considered as an obstacle for its usage. Therefore, the present study aimed to use waste paper as an inexpensive precursor to produce activated carbon. In the present study, KOH was used for the chemical activation process; in order to prevent the precursor oxidation during the carbonization process, a completely sealed furnace was used. In order to determine the characteristics of the prepared activated carbon texture, N2 gas adsorption and BET isotherm were used. Moreover, Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin, and Redlich-Peterson isotherm models as well as Pseudo-first order, Pseudo-second order, and intra-particle diffusion kinetic models were used to determine the characteristics of Methylene Blue adsorption on the prepared adsorbent. According to the results, SBET and VTOTAL were 66.01m2/g and 0.063cc/g, respectively. Ferudlich and pseudo-second order models were the best isotherm and kinetic models for prediction of the Methylene Blue adsorption on the produced adsorbent. Furthermore, the qmax constant from the Langmuir model was obtained as 68.03 mg/g. In comparison to other studies, the produced activated carbon in the present study had a desirable surface area and adsorptive capacity for methylene blue adsorption in aquatic environments. Moreover, it seems that preparing activated carbon from waste newspaper is inexpensive, effective, and environment friendly.