Iranian Journal of

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Background & Objectives: Job stress is common among different groups of professionals. It might be regarded as a defensive reaction allowing the individuals to cope with negative inputs and risk factors. Because of the rise in the mass production of motor vehicles in Iran over the last 2 decades, many managers in the car industry describe their jobs as highly stressful. However, there have not been any studies in Iran on the pattern of job stress in these managers. The aim of this study was to outline the epidemiologic pattern of job stress among managers of car companies in Iran.
Methods: This study was carried out among 496 managers of car industry in Iran. Using 12 different instruments the job stress of subjects was assessed. The main domains employed to assess job stress were time pressure, scheduling and timing, management at work, decision-making at work, organizational roles, development and structure, communication at work, work condition, and interaction between work and home duties.
Results: The mean age of subjects was 43.6 years with 12.1 years of job experience (SD=7.7). All subjects were males and 95% were married. The prevalence rate of job stress among subjects was 49.5%. The top four stressors were from decision-making at work (99.1%), time pressure (97.3%), time-table and scheduling (73.5%), and management at work place (50.5%). The prevalence of job stress was more common among the managers of lower level, and the younger ones (P<0.001). However, there was no significant difference by marital status and educational attainments.
Conclusions: This study showed that the Iranian managers working at car manufacture companies are at a higher risk of job stress and its effects compared to other managers in developed countries. Job stress may play a part in making them vulnerable to illness. It should be recognize as a priority of occupational health in this community. Stress management and appropriate interventions needs to be employed to control the negative effects of job stress among this group of managers.

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Background & Objectives: The main purpose of this study was to assess the pulmonary reactions associated with occupational inhalation exposure to raw materials used in ceramic production (RMCP).
Methods: Thirty three male workers with current exposure to RMCP and 20 healthy male unexposed employees, ,with almost identical demographic and socioeconomic status were interviewed and respiratory symptom questionnaires were administered to them. Furthermore, they underwent chest X-ray and lung function tests. Additionally, personal dust monitoring was carried out at dusty work sites. To determine the chemical composition, possible silica phases and SiO2 contents of dust samples, they were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) techniques.
Results: Atmospheric concentrations of dust, that contained 69% SiO2­, exceeded current permissible levels. Additionally, exposed workers had higher prevalence rates of regular cough, wheezing, phlegm and shortness of breath. Likewise, their chest radiographs showed some degrees of abnormalities. Furthermore, significant reductions in some parameters of pulmonary functions of exposed workers were noted.
Conclusions: The findings of this study indicate that a strong association exists between exposure to RMCP, prevalence of respiratory symptoms, abnormal changes in chest radiographs and functional impairments of the lungs.

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Background & Objectives: Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WMSDs) seen more in workers of manufacturing industry than others. This study was, therefore, conducted to determine prevalence rate of WMSDs symptoms among workers of a metal manufacturing industry in Shiraz.
Methods: In this study, nearly 50% of workers of the production units were randomly selected from corresponding list of each unit. Totally, 156 workers participated in this study. A self-administrated questionnaire was used to collect required data. T-test and Chi-square tests were used to analyze the data.
Results: The results showed that WMSDs occurred in considerable rate among the workers such that 76.9% of the workers studied suffered from some kind of symptoms during the last 12 months. The highest prevalence was reported in the lower back (54.5%) and knees (42.9%). Machine operators and welders reported the highest rate of symptoms. Statistical analyses revealed significant association between age, height, work tenure, weekly work hours, smoking, shift work and the symptoms (P<0.05).
Conclusions: WMSDs symptoms occurrence was prevalent among workers of this industry. To prevent WMSDs symptoms, more attention should be paid to working conditions of the machine operators and the welders, and risk factors for back and knee regions should be reduced.

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Background & Objectives: The effects of air pollutants on respiratory mortality and morbidity are among the major concerns today. Few studies have been published on the association between mortality and air pollution in Iran.
 Methods: This study was undertaken in Kerman, Iran. Mortality data was inquired from the Kerman City Health Authority (from March 2006 till Sept 2010) and air pollution data was requested from the Kerman Province Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Kerman Province EPA collects daily data on 7 air pollutants which are SO2, NO2, NO, NOx, PM10, CO and O3 by its urban measurement station. Results: The relation between respiratory disease mortality and air pollution was determined by negative binomial regression. The daily mean of PM10 in Kerman was above 150 μgr/m³(unhealthy) on some days of the year. The results showed a significant relationship between increased male respiratory mortality and increase in ambient dust (p=0.03), O3 (p=0.004) and SO2 (p=0.03), but did not show a significant increase in female mortality death for any pollutant.
Conclusion: As there seems to be a significant relationship between increased ambient dust, O3, SO2 and respiratory mortality, susceptible people and those with background respiratory diseases should practice caution in case of increases in these air pollutants.

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Background and Objectives: Brucellosis is a zoonosis disease that is important in humans and animals. Since the disease is important in ranchers and veterinarians, we conducted this study to estimate the seroprevalence of the infection in these groups in Kerman.

Methods: In this descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study, 187 industrial and semi-industrial dairy personnel and veterinary network staff of Kerman in 2012 were recruited. Rose Bengal, Wright and 2-Mercaptoethanol were done on serum samples. Demographic and occupational characteristics of the participants were recorded. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and Poisson regression via the Stata software. Results: The prevalence of brucellosis was 3.2%. In this study, the history of brucellosis in the family, working in the veterinary network, and working in semi-industrial versus industrial dairy farms were the risk factors of the disease.

Conclusion: Although the prevalence of the infection was lower than other studies, it was still considerable in these groups therefore, it is necessary to improve preventive measures in these groups.

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Background and Objectives: Influenza is an acute, highly contagious disease of a variety of both domestic and wild bird species. The aim of this study was to estimate subclinical infections or previous exposure to H5 and H7 subtypes and to discover potentially important determinants of the prevalence of this disease in industrial and backyard poultry in Iran.

Methods: A survey was conducted from September to December 2014 in Iran using a cross-sectional design throughout the entire country. The Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) was used as the screening test and all ELISA-positive samples were examined with the HI test to differentiate H5 and H7. A total of 1378 places and 31547 birds were sampled.

Results: One place (bird garden) out of 1378 was positive for the H7 subtype and six places (2 bird gardens, 3 villages, and 1 ostrich farm) out of 1378 were positive for the H5 subtype on HI test. The results of this study showed that the presence of a lake (OR=12.20, CI 95% 2.19-68.09) and live bird marketing (11.73, CI 95% 1.32-104.42) were risk factors for the H5 subtype.

Conclusion: Sampling migratory waterfowl birds is recommended for early detection of probable infections and preventing the spread of infection to the backyard and industrial poultry because of their role in the transmission of the disease and probability of circulation of the virus.

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Background and Objectives: Alcohol consumption among various occupations' staff leads to many problems. Therefore, due to the importance of the issue, this comprehensive study was conducted to determine the prevalence of alcohol consumption among industrial workers.
 
Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, the data were collected using a structured questionnaire through interview based on the workers’ self-reports. The participants included 13,128 workers across the country selected by multi-stage cluster sampling according to the population of labor workers and industrial centers in each province. The data were reported according to the consumption prevalence in the 10 spatial planning zones.
 
Results: In the optimistic situation, wokers in Ardebil (10.7%), Kermanshah (10.6%) and Guilan (7.1%) reported the highest frequency of alcohol consumption. The country’s mean prevalence of current consumption was 3.2% and the prevalence of alcohol consumption in life was up to 12.4% in the workers.
 
Conclusion: The data are based on the self-report of the participants. Therefore, the estimated prevalence rate is considered optimistic and below the actual prevalence. In the work environments of the country, especially in provinces with the highest frequency, special policies and interventions are needed to reduce the prevalence of alcohol consumption and minimize the harms caused by it.

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Background and Objectives: Pulmonary consequences of exposure to low concentrations of ammonia have been less studied. The purpose of this study was to model the pulmonary consequences of exposure to low concentrations of ammonia.
 
Methods: This historical cohort study was conducted in the fertilizer industries in 2019. The participants were divided into two groups of exposed (n=98) and non-exposed (n=105). The exposure level, pulmonary symptoms, and pulmonary function parameters were assessed using the NMAM 6016 and American Thoracic Society and European Respiratory society (ATS&ERS) protocols. Data analysis was performed using the IBM SPSS v. 22.0, and multivariate linear and logistic regression models.
 
Results: The ammonia exposure level was 4.80±1.54 ppm in the exposed group. There was no significant difference in most of the individual variables between the two groups (P>0.05). The frequency of all pulmonary symptoms was significantly higher in the exposed group compared to the non-exposed group (P<0.05). The highest prevalence of pulmonary symptoms in the exposed group was for cough (25.51%), wheezing (19.39%) and shortness of breath (18.37%). All lung function parameters were significantly lower in the exposed group versus the non-exposed group (P<0.05). The values of lung function parameters in the exposed group including FVC, FEV1 and FEV1 / FVC were 86.0%, 82.47% and 81.97%, respectively. Regression modeling results showed that ammonia exposure had a significant relationship with all pulmonary symptoms and lung function parameters (P<0.05).
 
Conclusion: The findings indicated that exposure to low concentrations of ammonia should be considered as a major risk factor in the prevalence of pulmonary symptoms and reduced lung function parameters.

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