Investigating the Prevalence of Latent Tuberculosis among Healthcare Workers of Major Hospitals of Ahvaz, Iran

Background and Objective: Healthcare and laboratory workers in hospitals have a higher exposure to hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) than the general populations. Tuberculosis (TB) infection is a common HAI that is communicated from the patients with TB admitted or hospitalized in the healthcare centres. This study aims to determinate the incidence and prevalence of latent TB infection among healthcare workers in the major Hospitals in Ahvaz, Khuzestan province, Iran.Methods: This is a case-control study conducted on healthcare workers diagnosed with TB between January 2010 to December 2017. The study population consisted of healthcare workers of the three major hospitals of Ahvaz, Khuzestan including Imam Khomeini Hospital, Golestan Hospital and Shafa Hospital. All subjects underwent Mantoux tuberculin skin test (TST) and after 48 to 72 hours the reaction was measured as the length of induration. The induration equal to or greater than 10 mm was considered as positive TB. Moreover, the subjects and controls were asked to complete a self-administered questionnaire on potential risk factors for TB.Results: Among 513 subjects, male and female subjects were respectively 186 and 327. Of all subjects, 67 subjects (male: 42; female: 25) showed positive TST (10 mm ≤ induration) and 275 subjects showed 5 mm >induration. There was a significant relationship between TST result and the workplace of the subjects. Gender showed no significant relationship with the TST result.Conclusion: All healthcare workers who are in direct contact with TB patients must undergo regular TB screening test and the workers should be trained for self-conducting TST

Prevalence and predictors of low back pain among the Iranian population: Results from the Persian cohort study

Background and objectives: Low back pain (LBP) is a common health condition in populations. Limited large-scale population-based studies evaluated the prevalence and predictors of LBP in developing countries. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and factors associated with LBP among the Iranian population. Methods: We used baseline information from the Prospective Epidemiological Research Studies in Iran (PERSIAN), including individuals from 16 provinces of Iran. LBP was defined as the history of back pain interfering with daily activities for more than one week during an individual's lifetime. Various factors hypothesized to affect LBP, such as age, sex, marital status, educational status, ethnicity, living area, employment status, history of smoking, body mass index (BMI), physical activity, sleep duration, wealth score, history of joint pain, and history of morning stiffness in the joints were evaluated. Results: In total, 163770 Iranians with a mean age of 49.37 (SD = 9.15) were included in this study, 44.8% of whom were male. The prevalence of LBP was 25.2% among participants. After adjusting for confounders, the female gender [OR:1.244(1.02-1.50)], middle and older ages [OR:1.23(1.10-1.33) and OR:1.13(1.07-1.42), respectively], being overweight or obese [OR:1.13(1.07-1.19) and OR:1.21(1.16-1.27), respectively], former and current smokers (OR:1.25(1.16-1.36) and OR:1.28(1.17-1.39), respectively], low physical activity [OR:1.07 (1.01-1.14)], and short sleep duration [OR: 1.09(1.02-1.17)] were significantly associated with LBP. Conclusion: In this large-scale study, we found the lifetime prevalence of LBP to be lower among the Iranian population in comparison to the global prevalence of LBP; further studies are warranted to evaluate the causality of risk factors on LBP