Journal of School of Public Health and Institute of Public Health Research

Sexual health challenges of adolescents in Iran: A review article

M Simbar

Background and Aim: Becoming to an adult who is sexually healthy is one of the key developmental activities for adolescents. sexual health is included of sexual development and reproductive health and also the ability to create and maintain good interpersonal relationships, are valued for their body, Respectful engagement with both sexes in correct method and expressed a desire, love and intimacy based on personal and stable social values.
Materials and Methods: In this study, using key words adolescence, sexual behavior, sexual risk behavior and sexual health and peers, related studies from 1370 to 1390 in IranMedex, Irandoc, Medlib, SID and Google scholar were investigated.
Results: Factors and challenges are associated with adolescent sexual health can be categorized into the following 4 themes (12 sub themes): Religious beliefs and spirituality (abstinence) lack of sexual education (false beliefs and knowledge about sexual function adolescents' attitudes toward risky behavior and sexual relations information sources of adolescents skills for "say no") community and youth issues(gender differences relationships with peers monitoring and control by the family communication challenges between teen and parents socioeconomical factors Centers for reproductive health services to adolescents) adolescents sexual relationship outcomes (catching sexually transmitted diseases probability).
Conclusion: In some areas, including relationships between parents with children, gender differences, attitudes and sexual behavior and the influence of peers, Studies conducted in our country is well. But in areas such as spirituality and religious beliefs, self-control, prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS, life skills in adolescents and intervention strategies to promote sexual health of adolescents there are a great gap.

Effect of a self care program on quality of life of the elderly clients covered by health centers of Southern of Tehran.

Hassan Eftekhar ardebili

Background and Aim: The most important single determinant of the quality of life of the elderly is health. Studies have shown that health declines with age. Because of high vulnerablity of the elderly due to many problems, they need particular attention and self-care programs for their health promotion. The objective of this study was to assess the quality of life of elderly clients under coverage of the Southern Tehran Health Center and determine the effects of a self-care program on it.

Materials and Methods: This was a controlled interventional study conducted in 2010-2011. A total of 132 elderly clients (52 in the intervention, and 80 in the control, group) were selected by randomised cluster sampling from 5 Health Care Centers in Southern Tehran. A 3-month educational program was prepared with contents based on books published by the Ministry of Health and Medical Education and implemented. The quality of life was assessed in both groups at the beginning and 2 months after the intervention using a short questionnaire (sf36). Data were collected through a structured interview (demographic characterstics) and analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistical tests.

Results: The mean quality-of-life score of the experimental group increased after education the mean score of physical domain of the quality of life increased from 52.75 in 66.11 and that of the emotional domain from 53.61 to 70.85. The scores of different domains of quality of life of the control subjects did not change significantly.

Conclusion: The findings show that a self-care educational program can have a positive affect on quality of life of the elderly.

Determination of toxicological indexes of carbon nanotubes and Chrysotile according to invitro cytotoxicity on Human Lung epithelium cells

Seyed Jamaledin Shahtaheri

Background and aim: In this study the cytotoxicity to human epithelial lung cells of single-walled carbon nanotubes, multi-walled carbon nanotubes and chrysotile was compared based on the following cytotoxicity indices: no observable adverse effect concentration (NOAEC), inhibitory concentration 50 (IC50), and Total Lethal Concentration (TLC).

Materials and Methods: Human epithelial lung cells were exposed to different concentrations (1 to 1500 µg/ml) of carbon nanotubes and chrysotile for 6 and 24 hours. Cytotoxicity was assessed using the MTT assay. NOAEC, IC50, and TLC idices were determined by probit analysis.

Results: The results showed statistically significant correlations (p<0.001) between cytoxicity and exposure concentration in the case of all the three compounds. The NOAEC and IC50 indices were lowest for the multi-walled carbon nanotubes, while the single-walled carbon nanotubes showed the lowest TLC index.

Conclusion: Cytotoxicity of multi-walled carbon nanotubes at low concentrations was higher than that of single-walled carbon nanotubes and chrysotile. This would mean that exposure to this compound occurs at low concentrations. Thus, cytotoxicity of multi-walled carbon nanotubes is a cause for concern. It can be concluded, then, that, like chrysotile fibers, crabon nanotubes are also considerably toxic to human epithelial lung cells.

Application of satellite remote sensing for tracking of arthropod vectors of diseases

Ahmad Ali Hanafi bojd

Background and Aim: Arthropod-borne diseases are one of the major causes of human mortality. Since launch of the first meteorological satellites in 1960s, remote sensing has been increasingly implicated in the field of human health research and the data from satellites and their sensors with different spatial and temporal resolutions opened a new field of research in human health for scientists.

Material and Methods: Search engines and national/international scientific databanks were used to search keywords of remote sensing, satellite, tick, mosquito and sand fly and obtained articles were analyzed.

Results: Some ecological indices were used more in remote sensing of arthropod-borne diseases, including NDVI, SST, LST and CCD.

Conclusion: Data of environmental factors such as temperature, relative humidity, land use/ land cover help us to detect the habitats of vectors of diseases regard to their ecology. However, the scope of applications, beyond theoretical large potentialities, appears limited both by their technical nature and the related models developed. The main problem for application of remote sensing in health science and epidemiology of diseases, is the costs of satellite images as well as the availability in the studied times to monitor a specific subject like vector or agent of the disease. Although the majority of health studies and diseases monitoring need to application of high spatial resolution images.

Adolescent’s perspectives on the factors that influence caries development: A qualitative study

Fazl Allah Ghofranipour

Background and aim: Oral and dental diseases limit an individual&aposs activities at the school, work place and home, leading to a loss of millions of work and school hours all over the world. The period of adolescence is critical as regards shaping of healthy behaviors related to oral and dental diseases. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe school pupils&apos viewpoints on factors influencing development of dental caries.

Materials and Methods: A qualitative study with a content analysis approach was conducted to collect the perspectives of 18 Iranian students in 8 guidance schools selected by purposive sampling. Structured and semi-structured interviews were held to collect data. An informed consent was obtained and the interviews were recorded and transcribed. The data was analyzed through an inductive approach of content analysis. In order to support the validity and rigor of the data, different criteria such as acceptability, confirmability and transferability were utilized.

Results: Data analysis could identify four major factors influencing dental caries development: "family interactions in dental health", "role of school in caring for teeth", "role of dentists in caring for teeth" and "effect of education in caring for teeth". The factors influencing caring for teeth and mouth had a greater significance.

Conclusion: The students&apos experiences, as observed in this study, can help in developing mutual trust between students and dentists, delivering better services in schools by relevant organizations, and designing more effective oral health interventions, with due consideration of vital role of the parents.

Quality of working life and its relation with productivity of nurses' performance in Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences hospitals

Mohammad Arab

Background and Aim: The quality of working life is a very important variable in connection with human resources. Therefore, it should be taken into consideration by managers if they aim to improve the capabilities and efficiency of their staff, which will, in turn, lead to improved productivity and economic growth. Productivity is an important factor in the success of hospital nurses too. The objective of this study was to determine the association between the quality of working life and productivity of nurses. Knowledge of this relationship can help plan to improve the nurses' quality of working life and, subsequently, improve their productivity and, ultimately, productivity of a hospital.

Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional correlation study conducted in 2011. The study population was nurses of the Shahid-Beheshti University of Medical Sciences hospitals in Tehran, Iran. Using the randomized stratified multistage sampling method, 380 nurses were selected as the study sample. Data on the nurses' quality of working life and productivity were collected using two questionnaires and analyzed using SPSS-17, the statistical tests being Chi-2, ANOVA, T-test, and the Pearson correlation test.

Results: The findings showed that nurses' quality of work life and productivity were at the middle level, with a mean of 2.47 and 3.07, respectively. A very small number (1.55%) of the nurses reported that their quality of work life was at a high level, while the majority (82.4%) believed their quality of work life to be at a moderate level. The Pearson correlation test showed a significant positive relationship between the quality of work life and productivity of the nurses (r = 0.66, p-value = 0.001).

Conclusion: Only a low proportion of the nurses report their quality of working life and productivity to be at a high level. Therefore, bearing in mind that a statistically significant relationship exists between the quality of working life and productivity, authorities should atempt to promote the nurses' quality of work life in order to increase their productivity.

Modified Fenton oxidation of pyrene in contaminated soils using iron nano oxides

Abbas Rezaee

Background and Aim: Problems related to conventional Fenton oxidation, including neccesity of having a low pH and production of considerable amounts of sludge, have prompted researchers to consider chelating agents to improve the pH operating range and iron nano-oxide particles to reduce excess sludge. The main objective of this study was to remove pyrene from contaminated soils by a modified Fenton oxidation method at neutral pH.

Materials and Methods: Experiments were conducted using various concentrations of H2O2 (0-500 mM), iron nano-oxides (0-60 mM), reaction times (0.5-24 hours) and several chelating agents, namely, sodium pyrophosphate, ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid, sodium citrate, fulvic and humic acids, to eliminate pyrene from soil (concentrations of 100-500 mg/kg).

Results: The efficiency of removal of pyrene at an initial concentration of 100 mg/kg was 99 % at the following reaction conditions: H2O2 and iron nano-oxide concentrations of 300 mM and 30 mM, respectively pH=3 and a reaction time of 6 hours. The initial pyrene concentration of 100 mg/kg decreased to 7 mg/kg at optimum conditions using sodium pyrophosphate as the chelating agent at pH 7.

Conclusion: The modified Fenton oxidation method, using iron nano-oxide at optimum conditions as defined in this research, is an efficient alternative for chemical remediation or pre-treatment of soils contaminated wih pyrene at neutral pH.

Subclinical neuropathy in workers occupationally exposed to n-hexane

Esmail Soleimani

Background and Aims: n-Hexane is widely used in the production of glues, lacquers, paints, plastics, and rubber products. Consequently, a significant potential for exposure to this toxic solvent exists in industrial settings. This study was undertaken to assess the neurophysiological abnormalities in shoe-makers occupationally exposed to n-hexane and determine whether these abnormalities have any correlation with important occupational parameters.

Materials and Methods: Neurophysiological examinations of upper and lower extremities were made in 27 male-workers, and the results were compared with a sex- and age-matched reference group. In addition, the extent of exposure of individual workers and their urinary concentration of free 2,5-hexanedione were determined. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (version 16.0. for windows).

Results: The time-weighted average exposure to n-hexane and the mean urinary concentration of free 2,5-hexanedione were both lower than the respective TLV-TWA and Biological Exposure Index (BEI) values proposed by ACGIH. Although neurological examinations and nerve conduction velocities were normal, significant negative correlations were observed between the urinary concentration of free 2,5-hexanedione and the sensory nerve action potential (SAP) amplitudes for median (r=-0.67, p<0.001) and sural (r=-0.52, p<0.008) nerves.

Conclusions: Reduced SAP amplitude for median and sural nerves appears to be the primary neurotoxic effect of 2,5-hexanedione and can be used as an appropriate indicator for screening subclinical peripheral neuropathy in n-hexane-exposed workers.