Investigating the prevalence of antibiotics prescription in the toxicology ward of a referral hospital in the North of Iran

Antibiotic resistance of microorganisms is a serious problem in medicine. One of the most common reasons for this issue is the improper prescription of antibiotics by physicians. The purpose of the study was to investigate the prevalence of using antibiotics in the toxicology ward of Razi Hospital. In this retrospective descriptive cross-sectional study, 338 patients admitted to the toxicology ward of Razi hospital were enrolled from March 2018 until March 2019. A checklist of investigated factors including age, gender, fever, paraclinical findings, type of poisoning, and type of antibiotic prescribed was completed for all patients. About 52.1% of the participants were males and 47.9% were females. The mean age of participants was 37.07 ± 17.36 years. Antibiotics had been prescribed for 49 patients. The most common form of poisoning was benzodiazepines. Also, ceftriaxone was the most common antibiotic prescribed to the patients. Fever existed in 69.4% of the patients receiving antibiotics. The most common paraclinical finding was abnormal complete blood count (CBC) in patients (leukocytosis) which was seen in 83.7% of them. The antibiotics mostly had been prescribed in the first two days of hospitalization. In the present study, antibiotics were prescribed in the toxicology ward for only 14.5% of the poisoned patients. Considering that ceftriaxone has been the most commonly prescribed antibiotic, its use has to be based on clinical evidence based on the necessary indications according to scientifically substantiated sources

Investigating air quality status and air pollutant trends over the Metropolitan Area of Tehran, Iran over the past decade between 2005 and 2014

Studies on the trend of air pollution in Tehran, Iran, as one of the most polluted metropolis in the world are scant, and today Tehran is known for its high levels of air pollutants. In this study, the trend of air pollution concentration was evaluated over the past 10 years (2004-2015). The data were collected from 22 stations of the Air Quality Control Company. Daily concentrations of CO, NO2, SO2, O3, PM10 were analyzed using SPSS 16 based on the statistical method, repeated measures, and intra-group test to determine the pattern of each pollutant changes. As a result of the 22 air pollution monitoring stations, NO2 and SO2 concentrations have been increasing over the period of 10 years. The highest anomaly is related to SO2. The CO concentrations represent a descending pattern over the period, although there was a slight increase in 2013 and 2014. The O3 concentrations declined in the following years. The average concentration of PM10 has been rising during the period. Also we evaluated changes of each pollutant in different months and calculated the number of clean, healthy, unhealthy days for sensitive, unhealthy, very unhealthy, and dangerous groups. The study findings illustrated the necessity for larger investment in air pollution abatement. Overall, trends have been progressed to worsening, the number of healthy days has been declined and the number of unhealthy days has been increased in recent years

Effect of general health status on chronicity of low back pain in industrial workers

Recognizing patients at a higher risk of developing chronic low back pain (LBP) is important in industrial medicine. This study aimed to assess the power and quality of General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) for prediction of the odds of chronicity of acute LBP. This study was conducted on industrial workers. All subjects with acute LBP who met the inclusion criteria were enrolled. Demographic characteristics, occupational, physical, and mental parameters and the general health status of subjects were evaluated; they were followed up for developing chronic LBP for one year. Cigarette smoking, high body mass index, job stress, physical load and high GHQ scores were found to be the risk factors for the progression of acute LBP to chronic LBP (P0.05). High GHQ score can be a risk factor for progression of acute LBP to chronic LBP. The GHQ in combination with the Job Content Questionnaire can be used as a quick and simple screening tool for detection of subjects at high risk of chronic LBP when evaluating acute LBP in an occupational setting. © 2016 Tehran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved.

Assessments the effective factors on returning to work among dental students during the COVID-19 pandemic

Background: Guilan is one of the provinces with the most SARS-CoV-2 cases in Iran since the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic. Occupation incapacity imposes a massive economic burden on society, which results in individual, social and economic consequences. Due to the fact that no study has been conducted in this regard, we decided to investigate the effective factors on returning to work among dental students of Guilan University of Medical Sciences under the influence of Covid-19 pandemic.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from September 2021 to November 2021, including demographical and clinical data (gender, age, body mass index (BMI), underlying disease, academic year (fifth or sixth), SARS-CoV-2 infection, positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for COVID-19, computed tomography (CT) scan result, clinical symptoms of COVID-19, physician diagnosis in favor of COVID-19, duration of hospitalization, home hospitalization, recovery duration, health insurance, physical and psychological status, and duration of return to work) among dental students of Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Anzali, Iran, who were working in the dental clinic during the COVID-19 pandemic and willing to participate in the study. The statistical analysis was performed via SPSS software version 22.Results: The mean duration of return to work was 7.18 ± 3.29 months. Gender was related to the duration of return to work with the mean of 9.17± 4.89 months in males, and 6.25± 1.63 months in females. BMI was reported as a related factor with duration of return to work, consequently by increasing the BMI, duration of returning to work also increases. Age, underlying disease, academic year (fifth or sixth), COVID-19 infection, duration of hospitalization, recovery duration, and physical and psychological status were not related to the duration of returning to work.Conclusion: In this study, complete readiness to return to work was 62.5%.  Also, gender and BMI were determined as the most significant factors that related to the duration of return to wor

Knowledge and Practice Assessment of Workers in a Pharmaceutical Company about Prevention of Coronary Artery Disease

Coronary artery disease is one of the most common reasons of death around the world. Also, according to previous studies, the incidence of coronary artery disease is rapidly increasing in developing countries such as Iran. The aim of this study was to evaluate the knowledge and practice of pharmaceutical company workers towards the prevention of cardiovascular disease. In this cross sectional study that was conducted in Tehran, 1223 workers of a pharmaceutical company were enrolled. Data was collected using a questionnaire that assessed the level of knowledge and practice of the participants towards coronary artery disease. Regression analysis was used to evaluate the relationship between study variables and the workers knowledge level. The results of this study showed that 49% of the workers were in a good level of knowledge and according to the regression analysis, the female gender, age above 28, education level higher than high school diploma, body mass index above 25 kilograms per square meters, history of hyperlipidemia, history of diabetes, history of hypertension, history of myocardial infarction, daily activity and exercise, were significantly related to a good knowledge towards coronary artery disease. In addition, the mean score of the participants' performance in preventing coronary artery disease was 4.66 out of 9. The results of this study showed that increasing level of knowledge of labors in order to prevent missing specialized work force, leads to imposition of health costs to the industry and the labor society

Hearing Impairment Due to Cigarette Smoking and SimultaneousExposure to Occupational Noise

Background:Noise is the most common hazard in the workplace and noise induced hearing loss considered to be the most common occupational disease as well. Cigarette smoking, in some studies, has been known to induce hearing loss. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of contemporary exposure to occupational noise and cigarette smoking on hearing.Methods:478 assembly workers of an automobile plant which were exposed tothe noise more than TLV (threshold limit value)level included in this study.After considering the exclusion criteria, all participants according to the smoking status were divided in smoker and nonsmoker groups and compared for hearing impairment.Hearing impairment in this study was assessed with the offered method of American Academy of Otolaryngology (AAO).   Results :Of 478 assembly workers, 225 persons were smokers and others non   smokers.Prevalence of hearing impairment in smokers was significantly higher (p<0.001). Hearing impairment had a significant relation with smoking status even after adjusting for cofounders like age and duration of work (OR=8.23, 95% CI=3.63-18.66).Conclusion:The results of this study suggested that cigarette smokers had more hearing impairment than non smokers. According to these results we concluded that in working environments, especially in noisy ones,workers must be encouraged to quit smoking and regular audiometric tests, especially for smokers,must be applied.We must consider not only the noise, but indeed all effective elements of hearing impairment in working environment that could compromise the hearing

Suicide by Fire Extinguisher Powder Ingestion: A Case Report

A 51-year-old man committed suicide by swallowing the contents of a fire extinguisher. A few hours after his suicide attempt, he was referred to the medical center for poisoning. At the time of admission, the patient was conscious with stable vital signs. The patient complained of burning lips and mouth, mentioning diarrhea. Initial treatments included gastric lavage with activated charcoal, while paraclinical measures were requested. The patient had undergone hypernatremia (Na: 152 mEq/l) and metabolic alkalosis. Treatment focused on the adjustment of sodium level and alkalosis. On the first day of hospitalization, the patient experienced recurrent episodes of tonic-clonic seizure along with the loss of consciousness. On the third day of hospitalization, the patient developed respiratory arrest followed by cardiac arrest and death

Global Warming: Knowledge and Views of Iranian Students

Study of students’ knowledge about global warming can help authorities to have better imagination of this critical environmental problem. This research examines high school students' ideas about greenhouse effect and the results may be useful for the respective authorities to improve cultural and educational aspects of next generation. In this cross-sectional study, a 42 question questionnaire with mix of open and closed questions was used to evaluate high school students' view about the mechanism, consequences, causes and cures of global warming. To assess students’ knowledge, cognitive score was also calculated. 1035 students were randomly selected from 19 educational districts of Tehran. Sampling method was multi stage. Only 5.1% of the students could explain greenhouse effect correctly and completely. 88.8% and 71.2% respectively believed “if the greenhouse effect gets bigger the Earth will get hotter” and “incidence of more skin cancers is a consequence of global warming”. 69.6% and 68.8% respectively thought “the greenhouse effect is made worse by too much carbon dioxide” and “presence of ozone holes is a cause of greenhouse effect”. 68.4% believed “not using cars so much is a cure for global warming”. While a student’s ‘cognitive score’ could range from -36 to +36, Students' mean cognitive score was equal to +1.64. Mean cognitive score of male students and grade 2 & 3 students was respectively higher than female ones (P0.05). In general, students' knowledge about global warming was not acceptable and there were some misconceptions in the students’ mind, such as supposing ozone holes as a cause and more skin cancer as a consequence of global warming. The Findings of this survey indicate that, this important stratum of society have been received no sufficient and efficient education and sensitization on this matter

Air Pollution: The Knowledge and Ideas of Students in Tehran-Iran, and A Comparison with Other Countries

Study of students' knowledge about air pollution can help authorities to have better imagination of this critical environmental problem. This research examines guidance school and high school students' ideas about air pollution and the results may be useful for the respective authorities to improve cultural and educational aspects of next generation. In this cross-sectional study, a closed questionnaire was used to examine knowledge and ideas of 2140 randomly selected school students of Tehran-Iran about composition of unpolluted air, air pollution and its causes and consequences. Cognitive scores were also calculated. Outcomes were compared with results of similar researches in Australia, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. While a student's 'cognitive score' could range from -16 to +16, Iranian students' mean cognitive score was equal to +2.97. There was not significant statistical difference between girls and boys (P=0.32). In response to question "most common gas in unpolluted air" nitrogen was mentioned by only 23.7%, While 45.1% of students mentioned oxygen. In general, student's knowledge was not acceptable and there were some misconceptions such as "supposing oxygen as the most prevalent gas in unpolluted air". The findings of this survey indicate that, this important stratum of society of Iran have been received no sufficient and efficient education and sensitization on this matter