Ziaee V, Fallah J, Rezaee M, Biat A,
Volume 65, Issue 8 (3 2007)
Abstract
Background: As future health care providers, medical students should be aware of the relationship between health and physical fitness, giving them an advantage toward attaining proper physical fitness. The exercise and fitness habits of first-year medical students in Iran are not known. This study examines the relationship between the body mass index (BMI) of an unselected group of first-year medical students and their personal physical fitness.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 513 first-year medical students were evaluated. BMI, skin folds (triceps, biceps, suprailiac and subscapular) and physical fitness were assessed in all students. Fitness was evaluated by the Eurofit test, which included body composition, cardiovascular endurance, flexibility, muscular endurance, muscular strength, power, balance and agility. The software SPSS (version 11) and Pearson's correlation were used for statistical analysis.
Results: The group surveyed was 67.8% female and 32.2% male, and 97.2% were entering medical school in 2004. The mean weight of the students was 60.1 kg, mean height was 163.9 cm and the mean BMI was 22.3 kg/m2. Underweight status (BMI<20) was observed in 27.1% of the subjects, 16.1% were overweight (2530). Overweight and obesity in males was higher than in females. The total physical fitness score in female students was better than that of male students. We found a negative correlation between physical fitness and weight, BMI, body fat and wrist to hip ratio in both genders. In addition, a positive correlation exits between hip circumference and physical fitness in both groups.
Conclusions: This study suggests that academically competitive premedical students may not be involved in physical activity. Medical students should be encouraged to maintain a good BMI and perform physical exercise.
Rezaee M, Ghasemi M, Joneidi Jafari N,
Volume 65, Issue 13 (Vol 65, Supplement 1 2008)
Abstract
Background: Dermal- respiratory reactions to latex glove is a common problem and
sometimes life threatening. Among health care workers, dental working personnel have
extensive use of latex gloves. A few numbers of researches have been done in Iran about
prevalence of these reactions but there is no comprehensive study for dental workers. The
purpose of this study was to evaluate reactions to latex gloves amongst dental workers in
military dental health centers.
Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive survey, dental workers with a minimum of
three months length of employment and most often use of latex gloves were asked to fill
standard questionnaire (derived from South Carolina Medical University) regarding latex
related clinical manifestation and personal medical history and predisposing factors Data
analysis was done by χ2 and Student's t test.
Results: In our study 330 personnel were assessed. The mean age and length of
employment was 31.6 and 8 years respectively. The most occupation was dentistry. A
total of 232 subjects (70.3%) reported latex gloves-allergic symptoms. 72 (21.8%) of
persons have history of atopy and food allergy was seen in 114 (34.5%). 63 (19.1%) of
subjects reported history of hand dermatitis. All of these predisposing factors had
positive regression with dermal and respiratory reactions.
Conclusion: In this survey the prevalence of allergic reactions was higher than similar
studies which may be due to type of gloves, lack of preemployment assessments and
other factors. Use of diagnostic methods such as serologic measures, SPT and pulmonary
function testing (such as spirogram) could be considered as tools for confirmatory and
differential diagnosis and important complementary for these studies. Because of
relationship between allergic reactions to latex gloves and some medical histories, it
seems to be necessary for preemployment evaluation and periodic health surveillance of
dental workers.
