Journal of

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Background and Aim: Onychomycosis is the fungal infection of nails. Patient’s immune system has an important role in initiation of onychomycosis. One of the causes of the increased prevalence of onychomycosis is the increasing number of patients with local or general immune system disorders. In hormonal disorders such as diabetes mellitus, Cushing's syndrome and hypothyroidism superficial vascular disorders and individuals with immune deficiency, onychomycosis prevalent. The aim of this study was to investigate onychomycosis in individuals with underlying diseases who referred to Razi hospital in Tehran.

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Background and Aim: Tinea unguium is a common disease with worldwide distribution most commonly seen in adult patients. Trichophyton rubrum and T. interdigital are the most common causes. The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of tinea unguium causative agents in a referral dermatology hospital in Tehran, Iran. Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted in 2010 and 2011 on clinically suspicious patients for tinea unguium referred to the Mycology Laboratory, Razi Hospital, Tehran, Iran. Samples from 700 patients were examined using direct smear microscopy and culture. Direct microscopic examination of the specimens was carried out using 20% potassium hydroxide solution. The specimens were cultured on Sabourad dextrose agar culture media containing chloramphenicol and cyclohexamid (Scc). For identifying the species of dermatophytes, complementary tests were used. Frequencies and relative frequencies were demonstrated in tables and chi-square and Fisher's exact tests were used to investigate any association between the categorical variables. Results: Of 700 dystrophic nail samples, 53 samples (7.6%) were positive according to both direct examination and culture. Thirty-eight patients were males. The most common clinical type was distal subungual onychomycosis which was observed in 79.2% of cases. The most frequent detected dermatophyte species. was T. interdigital (39.6%) followed by T. rubrum (37.7%). Forty-seven patients had tinea unguium on their toe nails, 4 patients on their finger nails, and 2 patients had it on both finger and toe nails. Nineteen patients had underlying diseases, and the most common underlying disease was cardiovascular disease (26.3%). Conclusion: Tinea unguium is a disease with worldwide distribution and identifying the causative agents and predisposing factors are necessary for better management of the patients.

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Background and Aim: The adolescence is one of the phases that adolescents experience significant physical changes during it, these change can causes the changes in body image especially in girls but body image is a psychological phenomenon that be powerfully affected by sociocultural factors. So, it is necessary to study body image in cultural context. The present study aimed to investigate the role of the sociocultural pressures and mediators mechanisms in the development of dissatisfaction among Iranian Adolescent Girls.

Methods: A sample of 250 adolescent girls, ages 15 to 18, were selected from Karaj city by using multi-stage cluster random sampling and responded a set of questionnaires including "The Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Scale-4 (SATAQ-4)", "Physical Appearance Comparison Scale-Revised (PACS-R)" and "Body Areas Satisfaction Scale (BASS)". The collected data analyzed using Lisrel and was used path analysis method.

Results: The results of the path analysis indicated that the paths of media and peer pressure on internalization had significant coefficients but the path of parent pressure was not significant. Also, the mechanisms of the appearance compare and internalization mediate the relationship of sociocultural pressures and body dissatisfaction.

Conclusion: The results indicate sociocultural perspective can predict the development of dissatisfaction among Iranian Adolescent Girls based on sociocultural pressures and their mediator mechanisms.