Journal of School of Public Health and

  Background and Aim: Motor vehicles are an absolute necessity used extensively in all countries of the world. They are a major cause of air pollution with highly undesirable consequences. Thus, exposure to traffic pollution is a growing public health concern. Several studies indicate that people in the cabin of a vehicle inhale air with high concentrations of pollutants such as nitrogen oxides(NOx), particulate matter (PM), volatile compounds (VOCs) and carbon monoxide (CO).

  Materials and Methods: Eexposure of drivers inside motor vehicles to CO was assessed during one year in Tehran, Iran. For this purpose, the concentration of CO was measured in the breathing zone of 72 male taxi drivers using a portable real-time instrument equipped with electrochemical sensors. In addition, records of fixed air pollution monitoring stations in Tehran were examined and the CO concentration in those records were compared with those measured in the taxis.

  Results: The mean in-vehicle CO concentration was 19.91 ± 4.37ppm, while records of fixed air pollution monitoring stations showed the concentration of this pollutant in the air to be 3.69 ± 1.03ppm.

  Conclusion: It can be concluded that factors such as traffic density, weather conditions and vehicles lifespan affect the extent of exposure of taxi drivers to carbon monoxide.

Background and Aim: Exercise is one of the major factors influencing health. Modern media such as   the Internet can play an important role in shaping an individual’s attitude towards physical exercise and behavior. This study aimed to identify priority of factors influencing use of the Internet to expand physical exercise in a university environment.

Materials and Methods: A 23-item questionnaire (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.98) was designed to test the effect of virtual environment on expanding physical exercise among the university staff, faculty and students (Likert scale; 1, fully disagree to 5, fully agree). A sample of 500 individuals were selected by cluster-sampling and completed the questionnaire.

Results: The data showed that, based on the Friedman test, priority factors were not similar among the different categories of university audiences (p<0/001). While among the students and the staff the communication network factor ranked first, with an average rank of 3.56 and 3.46, respectively, among the faculty members it was information that ranked first, with an average rank of 3.64. Further analysis of the data showed a statistically significant difference among the three groups of university audiences – students, faculty and staff – as regards the total score of cyberspace application in university sport (F= 9.776, p < 0.05). There was no difference between the two genders. (t=0.78, p<0.5).

Conclusion: The findings show that the Internet can be quite effective in expanding university sport. It can provide an appropriate tool or substrate for expanding physical exercise/sport due to its popularity among university audiences. Hence, it is essential that university sport managers and planners use this cyberspace substrate to expand university sport by adopting appropriate relevant strategies.

Background and Aim: This study was conducted to identify deterrents to women's participation in sport activities in Alborz Province, Iran.  

Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive field study. The statistical population was all the working women in Alborz province, Iran, approximately 100000, from among whom a random sample of 384 was drawn based on Morgan table. A standard questionnaire designed with 31 5-choice items, whose reliability had been determined (Cronbach Alpha coefficient 90%), was used for gathering data. The deterrent factors for participation of the women in sports were determined in six areas, namely, cultural and social; economic; specialist manpower; family attitude; equipment and facilities; media and advertisement. The descriptive demographic data on the subjects (age, educational field, etc.) were first analyzed using the SPSS software, followed by nonparametric analysis using the Friedman and Kruskal- Wallis tests to prioritize questionnaire items as well as compare priorities in various age groups.

Results: Organizational life creates mental pressure, stress and tiredness in the work environment. Furthermore, women working in an organization are faced with restrictions in many areas, especially as regards participation in sport activities and programs. The resulting immobility among girls and women would mean physical and mental health deprivation, as well as unhappiness and low work efficiency, of an important segment of the society, which would lead to irreparable damage to the whole society.

Conclusion: Based on the findings it can be concluded that the most important deterrent factors for participation of working women in sport activities in Alborz Province are economic factors and equipment and facilities.  Family attitude was found to be the least important deterrent.