A Multilevel Latent Class Analysis of Smoking Stages in Adolescents and Its Predictors

Adolescent smoking status were powerful predictors for adult smoking where the most people who started smoking at lower ages continueed to smoke later. The smoking process is complicated and is not limited to smokers and non-smokers, but includes patterns and different stages that need to be identified and evaluated . The main objectives of the current study is to identify stages of smoking in adolescents and to assess factors influencing the patterns of smoking in this population. Using the multistage random sampling, 56 high schools with a total of 205 classrooms were randomly selected. The total number of 4907 high school students in Tabriz, Iran participated in the current study and completed a self-administered questionnaire. Multilevel latent class analysis was used in smoking stage determination. Three stages of smoking were identified non-smokers, moderate, and heavy smokers with prevalence 71.3%, 22.4%, and 6.3%, respectively. In gender specific analysis, such figures were 82.6%, 14.5%, and 2.7% for girls and 77.3%, 15.6%, and 7% for boys, respectively. Age, the grade point average, living with parents, having smoking friends and family, risk taking behaviors, self-injury, attitude and positive thinking about smoking were significantly associated with smoking stages in students. The social-economic status did not have significant association with smoking stage. Using multilevel classification technique that consider the hierarchal construct of data, a more reliable stages of smoking was measured in male and female adolescents

Determination of factors affecting relapse of vaginitis among reproductive-aged women: An experimental study

Introduction: Vaginitis is a common problem for women, especially in reproductive-aged women. It is a worldwide health problem with many side effects but could be prevented by a health-promoting lifestyle related to vagina health. The aim of this study was to determine the factors affecting relapse of vaginitis. Methods: In this experimental study, 350 reproductive-aged women with vaginitis were selected from 10 health centers in Kermanshah (Iran) during 2015 and were equally included in the intervention and control groups. To collect data, a researcher-created questionnaire, which included sociodemographic and health-promoting lifestyle questions, was used. The educational intervention was performed over 20 sessions, each lasting 25-35 minutes. An intervention group was educated by face-to-face education, pamphlets, phone contacts, text messages, and social media. Another group continued the routine clinic education and treatment without contacting the intervention group. Data were analyzed through chi-square and a logistics regression model using IBM-SPSS version 20. Results: The results of the study indicated a significant relation between sociodemographic characteristics such as women and their husbands’ literacy, job, family size, income, area for each member of family, tendency of pregnancy, body mass index (BMI), and caesarean experience (p<0.001) and vaginitis. In addition, significant relationships between health-promoting lifestyle dimensions and prevention of vaginitis were identified. Relapse after intervention in the intervention group was 27.7% and 72.3% in the control group. According to the logistic regression analysis, chance for relapse of vaginitis in the group that did not receive intervention was more than the same chance in the intervention group (OR=5.14). Conclusion: Health-promoting lifestyle intervention influences prevention of vaginitis. Health-promoting lifestyle, literacy promotion, prevention of caesarian, and obesity are beneficial to improvement in lifestyle dimensions associated with vagina health could be implemented as a successful prevention method. Therefore, it seems that applying a health-promoting lifestyle is essential for a healthy vagina and prevention of vaginitis

Time Series Analysis of Meteorological Factors Influencing Malaria in South Eastern Iran

Background: The Malaria Early Warning System is defined as the use of prognostic variables for predicting the occurrence of malaria epidemics several months in advance. The principal objective of this study was to provide a malaria prediction model by using meteorological variables and historical malaria morbidity data for malaria-en­demic areas in south eastern Iran. Methods: A total of 2002 locally transmitted microscopically confirmed malaria cases, which occurred in the Minab district of Hormozgan Province in Iran over a period of 6 years from March 2003 to March 2009, were analysed. Meteorological variables (the rainfall, temperature, and relative humidity in this district) were also assessed. Monthly and weekly autocorrelation functions, partial autocorrelation functions, and cross-correlation graphs were examined to explore the relationship between the historical morbidity data and meteorological variables and the number of cases of malaria. Having used univariate auto-regressive integrated moving average or transfer function models, significant predictors among the meteorological variables were selected to predict the number of monthly and weekly malaria cases. Ljung-Box statistics and stationary R-squared were used for model diagnosis and model fit, respec­tively. Results: The weekly model had a better fit (R2= 0.863) than the monthly model (R2= 0.424). However, the Ljung-Box statistic was significant for the weekly model. In addition to autocorrelations, meteorological variables were not significant, except for different orders of maximum and minimum temperatures in the monthly model. Conclusions: Time-series models can be used to predict malaria incidence with acceptable accuracy in a malaria early-warning system. The applicability of using routine meteorological data in statistical models is seriously limited

Epidemiology, etiology and outcomes of burn patients in a Referral Burn Hospital, Tehran

Background: Burns and its complications are regarded as a major problem in the society. Skin injuries resulted from ultraviolet radiation, radioactivity, electricity or chemicals as well as respiratory damage from smoke inhalation are considered burns. This study aimed to determine the epidemiology and outcome of burn patients admitted to Motahari Hospital, Tehran, Iran. Methods: Two hundred patients with second-degree burns admitted to Motahari Referral Center of Burn in Tehran, Iran. They were studied during a period of 12 months from May 2012 to May 2013. During the first week of treatment swabs were collected from the burn wounds after cleaning the site with sterile normal saline. Samples were inoculated in blood agar and McConkey agar, then incubation at 37 C for 48 hours. Identification was carried out according to standard conventional biochemical tests. Treatment continued up to epithelial formation and wound healing. Results of microbial culture for each patient was recorded. Healing time of the burn wounds in patients was recorded in log books. Chi-square test and SPSS Software v.19 (IBM, NY, USA) were used for data analysis. Results: Our findings indicate that the most causes of burns are hot liquids in 57% of cases and flammable liquid in 21% of cases. The most cases of burns were found to be in the range of 21 to 30 percent with 17.5% and 7% in male and female respectively. Gram-negative bacteria were dominated in 85.7% and among them pseudomonas spp. with 37.5% were the most common cause of infected burns, followed by Enterobacter, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Acinetobacter and Klebsiella spp. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the most cause of burns in both sex is hot liquid. Men were more expose to burn than women and this might be due to the fact that men are involved in more dangerous jobs than female. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was the most common organism encountered in burn infection

Data_Sheet_1_Development and evaluation of an intervention to improve food and nutrition literacy among Iranian Kurdish primary school children: An application of intervention mapping approach.pdf

BackgroundFood and nutrition literacy (FNLIT) is a relatively new term that is used to define the knowledge, skills, and behaviors necessary to achieve a healthy diet. Improving food and nutritional literacy in children is a necessary solution to eliminate nutritional disorders in this age group. The purpose of this study was to design, implement and evaluate an intervention to improve food and nutrition literacy in children aged 10–12 years old based on an intervention mapping (IM) approach.MethodsThis experimental study was performed in three phases. Through the first phase, an intervention was developed using the (IM) approach. In the second phase, the intervention was implemented for 6 months, and in the third phase, the intervention outcomes were evaluated and compared with the control group through a randomized controlled trial among 300 participants (each control and intervention group = 150).ResultsBefore the intervention, there was no significant difference between the control and intervention groups in all subscales of FNLIT. After the intervention, there was a significant difference between the control and intervention groups in all subscales of FNLIT (P 0.05). However, after 6 months of intervention, a significant difference was observed between the two groups (intra-group differences) (P ConclusionsThe school-based intervention developed and evaluated in this study provides a basis for future programs targeting the improvement of FNLIT in children, especially in poor and deprived areas such as Kurdistan province.Clinical trial registrationIranian Clinical Trials Registry (IRCT) Code: 32094.</p