مجله دانشکده پزشکی اصفهان
پیاپی 627 (هفته سوم امرداد 1400)

The siblings of children with autism disorder spectrum (ASD) may struggle socio-behavioral development disorders; however, the issue has remained controversial. The current study aimed to assess socio-behavioral disorders among the siblings of the children with ASD.

This cross-sectional study was conducted on 51 siblings of children with autism and 138 siblings of children without autism in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences (Isfahan, Iran) during the years 2019-20. Social development was assessed using Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) and behavioral development using Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ); the findings were compared between the two groups.

The mean age was 9.61 ± 2.28 and 8.31 ± 1.10 years in case and control groups, respectively (P = 0.087). 28 cases (54.9%) and 65 controls (47.1%) were boys (P = 0.140). Mean SRS score was 43.35 ± 36.84 and 29.69 ± 11.20 in case and control groups, respectively (P = 0.020). Outcomes of SDQ revealed scores of 5.93 ± 5.53 and 3.26 ± 2.57 in case and control groups, respectively (P = 0.020).

Based on the outcomes of this study, siblings of children with autism are involved with more socio-behavioral disorders as compared to the control group.

High-risk behaviors are of the most important health and psychological and social challenges that most countries in the world are involved with in some way. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Youth Risk Behavior Assessment Questionnaire (YRBS 2019) for the Iranian youth population.

This was a descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study in which the statistical population consisted of university students in Mashhad City, Iran, in the academic year of 2020-2021. Participants were 400 eligible students who were selected using stratified random sampling method. After translating the questionnaire using translation-retranslation method, content validity was assessed using relative content validity coefficient (CVR) and content validity index (CVI), construct validity using factor analysis, reliability using intra-cluster correlation coefficient, and internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach's alpha.

The mean age of students was 23.54 ± 2.36 years. Indices related to content and face validity of 40 items were confirmed. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the structure of 6 factors, and the total of 25 questions. Cronbach's alpha value was confirmed in all domains and in total, more than 0.7 for all. The intra-cluster correlation coefficient (ICC) was 0.735 (P = 0.007) which indicated the reliability of the questionnaire. 

The YRBS short form questionnaire had the necessary psychometric properties for assessing high-risk behaviors of young people. In this study, 6 factors extracted in YRBS questionnaire were consistent with the factors extracted in the original version; therefore, it is suggested to use this tool to detect high-risk behaviors in young people. 

Streptococcus agalactiae (Group B Streptococcus or GBS) is a natural resident of the gastrointestinal tract of healthy individuals, and is the most common cause of sepsis, meningitis, pneumonia, and severe diseases in newborns. Resistance to penicillin and macrolides, as selective antibiotics for the treatment of GBS infections, is increasing. In this study, we aimed to determine the capsule serotypes and antibiotic resistance pattern of Streptococcus agalactiae isolated from pregnant women referred to the Valiasr hospital in Borujen City, Iran.

In this descriptive cross-sectional study, a total of 760 vaginal samples were collected from pregnant women in the period between 35-37 weeks of gestation. Following conventional phenotypic evaluation and GBS confirmation, GBS isolates resistance to antibiotic disc was assessed through disk diffusion test. Finally, capsular serotypes were determined using multiplex polymerase chain reaction (multiplex PCR) method.

Out of 760 pregnant women participating in this study, 70 (9.2%) were carriers of GBS. Our finding disclosed that the lowest and highest resistance among GBS isolates were related to penicillin (0%), and tetracycline (92.85%), respectively. The most common capsular serotypes were III (45.71%), followed by II (17.14%), VI (14.28%), Ib (11.42%), V (8.57%), and Ia (2.85%), respectively.

In this study, we detected low prevalence of GBS, as well as low level resistance to macrolides. In addition, predominant capsular serotype was III.