Journal of

Background and Aim: Work related musculoskeletal disorders shape a high percentage of physical and mental problems especially in health system work force. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of ergonomic interventions by training the basics of ergonomics and exercise on neck pain in nurse staff of Tohid Hospital of Sanandaj. 
Materials and Methods: This semi-experimental and interventional study was conducted on 60 nurses of Tohid Hospital of Sanandaj who had neck pain in the last quarter of 1394 and they were chosen by random sampling method and were divided into intervention and control groups. Data were gathered using standard Modified Qswestry Neck Pain Questionnaire and pain Numeric Rating Scale. After providing ergonomics trainings and exercises to intervention group, re-evaluation was carried out and the results were compaired to the control group. Data was analyzed using Mini tab 16 software, descriptive and analytic statistics, paired t-test, the correlation coefficient and linear regression.
Results: The average age in intervention and control groups was 35 and 33 years, and the average work experience was 13 and 12.9 years respectively. There was a statistical significant relation between three variables of age, work experience and marital status with the pain intensity variable (p-value<0.05), but gender had no effect on the pain intensity (p-value=0.128).
Conclusion: Standardization of the work methods and implementing exercises, can reduce neck pain and increase physical ability of work staff, which can reduce their work absenteeism and increase their motivation.   

Background and Aim: High blood pressure and increased lipid profile are risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. To improve cardiovascular health, lifestyle changes should be considered as a guide to reduce people’s inactivity and modify healthy eating patterns. Spirulina is a green alga and has been considered as a food supplement for the treatment of various diseases. This study was conducted with the aim of determining the effect of spirulina supplement and eight weeks of combined exercises on blood pressure and lipid profile in women with high blood pressure.
Materials and Methods: The study was conducted as a clinical trial in 40 women with high blood pressure (50-60 years old). People were included in the study in 4 intervention and control groups. The data were collected during two stages of pre-test and post-test in terms of changes in blood pressure and lipid profile. The supplement intervention group consumed 4.2 grams of spirulina supplement daily and had an exercise intervention of 8 weeks of combined aerobic and resistance exercises. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS software (version 23), one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey’s post hoc test at level 0.05.
Results: The results of ANOVA showed that there was a significant difference between systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, and VLDL, after the test, in the study groups (P-value<0.05). The highest mean±standard deviation (SD) of systolic blood pressure (141.90±9.85), and total cholesterol (213.30±28.93), after the test, was observed in combined exercise group and the mean± SD of VLDL after the test (34.60±6.46) was observed in the control group. Also, the results of Tukey’s post hoc test showed that there was a significant difference between the mean blood pressure in the control groups-spirulina supplement, control-combined exercises, spirulina supplement-spirulina supplement and combined exercises, and combined exercises-spirulina supplement and combined exercises. Also, there was a significant difference between the mean of total cholesterol and VLDL in combined exercises-spirulina supplement, combined exercises, and control-spirulina supplement groups, respectively (P<0.05).
Conclusion: It seems that the use of spirulina supplement and eight weeks of combined exercises may have beneficial effects on blood pressure and lipid profile in women with high blood pressure.