Journal of School of Public Health and

Background and Aim: The lack of balance between job needs and workers' physical capacity may lead to work-related musculoskeletal disorders (Wises). WMSDs are one of the most important occupational health problems in developing countries. These problems are due to risk factors such as poor work postures, excessive force applied, repetitive movements, vibration, prolonged work duration, and psychological factors, leading, ultimately, to disorders ranging from mild low back pain to severe disabilities. This study aimed at determining the prevalence of WMSDs in different body regions, assessing posturing, and detecting ergonomic and individual risk factors causing musculoskeletal disorders, in Araki bakery workers in Arak, Iran.

Methods and Materials: In this cross - sectional study 233 randomly selected bakery workers in Arak were included, and the prevalence of symptoms of musculoskeletal disorders and their risk factors, with particular emphasis on work posture, was determined in them. The method used was OWAS and the NMQ Questionnaire.

Results: The highest prevalences of musculoskeletal disorders were in the knees (62.2%), low back (58.8%), legs (53.9%) and shoulders (44.6%) of the workers. Low back and shoulder injuries in Shaaters (workers in charge of baking the bread) and elbow, thigh and low back disorders in Choongeers (workers in charge of dividing and rounding the dough) were more prevalent than in other occupations. There is a positive association between type of occupation and these disorders (p<0/05). According to the OWAS's classification, the distribution of bakery workers' working postures was as follows: 58.5% in the action category 1 (natural posture), 34.7% in the action category 2 (stress posture), 4% in the action category 3 (harmful posture), and 2.5% in the action category 4 (very harmful posture). There was a significant relation between work service record and neck, elbow, shoulder, and knee disorders (p<0/05).

Conclusion: This study revealed that the working postures of 42.2% of Aaraki bakery workers were slightly to very harmful postures in addition, there was a high prevalence of WMSDS in different body regions of the workers. Ergonomic interventions are essential to improve the situation and protect better the health of the workers.

Background and Aim: Nowadays, prioritizing problems and distribution of resources is determined according to the basic needs of the individuals in the population. Based on the study done by researchers in Tehran University of Medical Sciences School of Public Health in Golhesar Village, Tehran, taking action about "drug abuse" was ranked by the community as the first priority. Therefore, the present study aimed to estimate the size of the population of drug abusers using the network expansion method.

Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on a purposive sample of 320 persons 15-65 years old. The study included two parts: 1. estimation of the social network based on 32 population subgroups using the frequency of network expansion approach; 2. estimation of the size of the hidden population. The relevant correction coefficients were used for adjusting errors usually observed in this method.                                                                                                                                                    Results: The mean of the social network was 160.79±16.68) 95% CIs: 128.78-194.30.(The frequencies of cigarette smoking, hookah smoking, alcohol consumption, opium use, meth use, crack use, heroin use, injecting drugs and ecstasy were 103.43, 88.25, 96.9, 76.46, 69.37, 30.03, 20.48, 7.36, and 4.23 per 1000; respectively. The percentage of drug abusers was higher among men.

Conclusion: As compared to results of previous reports, the size of drug abuser population in Golhesar Village is currently higher. In order to solve this problem an appropriate action plan should be implemented by the planners and policy-makers in partnership with community members.