Premarital addiction test and its outcomes

Introduction: Although many people around the world are dealing with addiction, still no method that can detect and permanently treat it has been found. Premarital addiction test is one of the factors of great importance in this field. An erroneous detection in this test affects the psychosocial aspects and marital decisions of the individual. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the health system in premarital addiction tests and its psychosocial effects. Method: This interpretive qualitative study was performed using content analysis. Data were collected from 6 focus group discussions and 2 semi-structured individual interviews with couples and health care personnel. All interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim, and themes were extracted using content analysis method. Results: Qualitative content analysis determined the 2 themes of lack of professional adequacy and consequence of marriage. Conclusion: Premarital addiction test is one of the health services provided by the health care system. An incorrect diagnosis not only has a considerable impact on different aspects of individuals’ life, but is also closely related to the psychosocial concept of dignity. Therefore, the professional competence of the staff in providing these services is very important and necessary. Keywords: Addiction, Marriage, Health syste

An observational study of secondary task engagement while driving on urban streets in Iranian Safe Communities

In Iran the prevalence of traffic injuries and death from vehicle collisions are high. Driver engagement in non-driving-related tasks has been previously identified as an important contributing factor to crashes. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of drivers’ engagement in potentially distracting activities in Kashmar, Khalilabad and Bardaskan, which are three Iranian International Safe Communities. Observations took place at 12 randomly selected roadside locations in each city, which were comprised of six main streets and six side streets. In total 7979 drivers were observed. The prevalence rates of potentially distracting activities in Kashmar, Khalilabad and Bardaskan were 24.3%, 26% and 24.9%, respectively. In both Kashmar and Khalilabad the most frequently observed secondary tasks were drivers talking to passengers (10.6% and 11.5%, respectively) followed by mobile phone use (3.4% and 4.0%, respectively). Although in Bardaskan the most commonly observed secondary task was also talking to passengers (12.7%), the second most common was reaching for an object (3.2%). In all three cities younger drivers were significantly more likely to be observed engaged in a secondary task while driving. Furthermore, involvement in secondary tasks while driving was significantly higher amongst females and those driving on a working day. The percentage of drivers identified as potentially distracted in these three Safe Communities was worryingly high. Thus, interventions should be integrated into the WHO Safe Community network in these cities, including: education regarding the risks associated with engaging in secondary activities while driving, law enforcement, tougher legislation, periodic assessment, raising public awareness, as well as attracting political and social support

Spatio-temporal epidemiologic mapping, modeling and prediction of tuberculosis incidence rate in northeast of Iran

Introduction: Tuberculosis is a major public health problem in the world. The aim of the present study was to determine the incidence rate of tuberculosis through modeling and predict the disease incidence rate using spatio-temporal Kriging method in three endemic regions (Kashmar, Khalilabad and Bardeskan) in the northeast of Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted during 2007-2012. The diagnosis of tuberculosis in patients who had signs and symptoms of infection was confirmed using sputum smear test. According to fitted variogram function and Kriging method, we predicted tuberculosis incidence for all spatial and temporal points of regions in the study area. Results: Between 2007 and 2012, 155 cases of tuberculosis were observed. Among all patients, 70 (45.0%) were men and 94.0% were rural residents. Mean age of patients with tuberculosis was 64 years and 151 (97.5%) of patients were 55 years old and above. Based on the geographical coordinates, we identified the place of residence for each patient. Conclusion: Our study showed that the downward trend of the incidence rate of tuberculosis indicates good but inadequate progress with tuberculosis control. The findings of this study can be used for planning and evaluating interventions by considering the risk factors of tuberculosis infection in the northeast of Iran