Iranian Journal of Health Sciences
Volume:10 Issue: 1, Winter 2022

Virtual social networks (VSNs) are among the most popular communication paths that have become an integral part of most people's lives, including students. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of VSNs addiction and their related factors, and identify the patterns of addictive-related factors among the students in Kerman, Iran in 2019.

 This cross-sectional study was conducted on 400 students from Kerman University of Medical Sciences. The study instrument was a standardized questionnaire. Descriptive analysis, logistic regression models, and latent class analysis were used to analyze the data. The data were analyzed using SPSS26, Stata12 and WinLTA (v. 3.1) software.

 50% of the participants were male, staying in dormitory. The number of individuals in the levels of education in the four groups was equal. Around 0.5% of the students were addicted and 36.5% were at the risk of addiction to VSNs. The most commonly used VSNs was the Telegram (76.8%), and most students (28.8%) spent between 2-3 hours a day on VSNs. In the multivariate model, using 1-2 hours (AOR = 3.33, 95% CI: 1.07 - 10.19),  2-3 hours (AOR = 7.33, 95% CI: 2.50 - 21.52) and more than 3 hours a day (AOR = 18.54, 95% CI: 6.05 - 56.8) of VSNs were associated with an increased odds of being at the risk of VSNs addiction. The Latent Class Analysis showed that high-risk addictive factors including using Telegram for entertainment, providing accommodation in the dormitory, and having a graduate degree significantly influenced the classification.

 More than one-third of Kerman college students were found to be at the risk of VSNs addiction. Providing appropriate interventions including alternative activities as well as raising knowledge especially for undergraduate students is urgently needed.

Job stress is one of the factors in the development of psychophysical symptoms in nurses. It lowers performance in organizations. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between spiritual well-being and stress coping methods to deal with job stress in nurses working in hospitals.

The study was carried out as a descriptive-analytical and cross-sectional study. Totally, 285 nurses were randomly selected from Ardabil educational hospitals from ICU, CCU, EMS and infectious diseases wards. Data gathering tools were Standard questionnaire Paloutzian and Ellison Spiritual Well-being Scale, nursing job stress scale, and Billing and Moos Coping Strategies Scale. Statistical analysis used in the present study included descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation test and analysis of variance. Subgroups were tested using LSD post hoc test. Independent samples t-test and ANOVA were also used to compare the groups (p <0.05).

The age group of 25 to 36 years were the most participants in this study. 68.4% of the participants were women and 31.6% were men. Most participants in the project were middle-income (48.4%) and very high-income (1.8%). The results indicated that income level, work shift, education, employment status, work record, and number of overnight shifts were significantly related to job stress (p<0.05). Among the different aspects of spiritual well-being, the highest mean score was obtained by religious aspect (32.47±3.42) followed by existential aspect (27.82±2.56). The highest level of job stress, according to the nurses, was about the fear of death (14.82±4.86) and heavy work load and pressure (13.85±3.63).

Given the findings, there was a significant relationship between spiritual well-being and stress coping of nurses and alleviation of job stress in them. Therefore, using a health-oriented coping strategy and improving spiritual well-being and religious aspect in particular are essential.

There are several ways to enhance marriage. Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP) are among the methods of educating relationships. Relationship education programs have made a significant contribution to the growth and development of millions of couples. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the  Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP ) on quality of life and marital commitment in married women.

  This quasi-experimental research was conducted in a pretest-posttest control group design with 15 participants in the experimental group and 15 participants in the control group. Marital Commitment Questionnaire (DCI), and World Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire (WHOQOL) were completed as research instruments by the participants. The full version of PREP.8 was presented to the group of 15 participants over a weekend for a total of 12 hours, with each segment lasting for two hours. The Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA) as well as the Univariate Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) tests were used. Hedge´s g effect size (ES) was also calculated to determine the magnitude of pairwise comparisons.

The findings indicated that there was a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in terms of quality of life (Social Relations: Exp: 12.27±1.28, Cont:11.13±1.64, P≤0.03; Environment, Exp: 30.73±3.06, Cont:28.67±3.27, P≤0.02) and marital commitment (Structural Commitment: Exp: 76.40±5.08, Cont: 70.53±3.42 ;P≤0.02).

We concluded that utilizing PREP can successfully help Iranian couples in their relationships providing them with more knowledge and skills.

The contamination by potentially toxic element (PTE) is a common environmental issue in worldwide rivers. The present study examined PTEs concentration in sediments of Talar River which is one of the main rivers in the Sothern Caspian Basin.

The sediment samples (n= 44) were collected from top 0–5 cm of surface sediment in the main channel and floodplain of Talar River using a Van-Veen grab sampler. The concentrations of trace elements were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to evaluate possible relationships between the observed variables and source identification. Enrichment factor (EF) was also applied to determine the integrated effects of different elements and evaluate the sediment quality.

The average concentration of all elements except Mo were found to be higher than the concentration of elements in upper continental crust (UCC). The result of enrichment factor (EF) indicated that most elements were unpolluted and showed minimal to moderate contamination level.  Multivariate statistical analysis indicated Pb, Cu, V, Zn, Cd, Co and Ni typically have anthropogenic sources. Whereas Mn, Sb, Sc, Mo and As showed geogenic source.

 It was concluded that sediments in Talar River was then experiencing slightly polluted status originated from local anthropogenic sources in the basin which might potentially pose detrimental effects on both ecological and health conditions in the basin.

Medical experts believe that proper use of medicine in many cases results in the treatment of the disease. This study was conducted to determine the rate of irrational drug use in households in Shiraz in 2019. The criteria for rationality of drug use were as follows: 1. Using medicine for the existing disease- 2. Preparing medicine by visiting a doctor- 3. Appropriate storage location- 4. Unexpired drug- 5. Proper drug use.

This study was a cross-sectional household survey conducted using a descriptive questionnaire based on the drug survey plan questionnaire in Oman by stratified random sampling. 156 households were surveyed. Data analysis was performed by t-test , ANOVA, Pearson Correlation Coefficients and chi-square tests using SPSS-22 software.

Out of 1944 items of medicine available in households, 542 items (27.9%) were used rationally and 1402 items (72.1%) were used or stored irrationally. Among the available drug categories, drugs related to cancer (80%) and heart (75.2%) disease had the highest rational use. Skin drugs (0%) and antibiotics (8.3%) had the most irrational use. There was also found a significant relationship between the rational consumption and the region where households lived (P-value≤0/001) (municipal regions), rational consumption and drug literacy for each drug, as well as rational consumption and how the drug was prepared (P-value ≤ 0/001).

Based on the research findings, it was found that in most households, drugs were accumulated irrationally. The high dispersion of medicine stored in households indicated the diversity and lack of a correct and coherent culture for consuming medicine among citizens and prescribing it among the medical community in Shiraz. It was then suggested that through more detailed educational planning, the health system and corresponding officials improve the pattern of drug use as well as its prescription. Furthermore, increasing people's awareness of how to use and maintain medicines can reduce their expenses.