Spatial inequalities and predictors of HIV/AIDS mortality risk in Hamadan, Iran: a retrospective cohort study

OBJECTIVES Understanding the geographic variation of HIV/AIDS mortality risk and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection could help identify high-burden areas. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effects of predictors of the time interval between HIV diagnosis to death, while accounting for spatial correlations across counties, and to assess patterns of spatial inequalities in the risk of HIV/AIDS mortality in Hamadan Province, Iran. METHODS This retrospective study was conducted on 585 patients. The outcome in this study was the time period between the date of HIV/AIDS diagnosis and the date of death. A Weibull regression model with spatial random effects was used. RESULTS According to multivariate analysis, there were significant associations between age, tuberculosis co-infection, and marital status and the risk of death. In terms of spatial inequalities, a cluster of counties was identified with a somewhat higher death hazard in the north, northwest, northeast, and central regions. Additionally, a cluster with a somewhat lower hazard was identified in the south, southwest, southeast, and west regions. CONCLUSIONS The spatial pattern of HIV/AIDS death risk could reflect inequalities in access to antiretroviral therapy and public health services. Our results underscore the importance of attention to vulnerable groups in urban areas

Bayesian modeling of clustered competing risks survival times with spatial random effects

n some studies, survival data are arranged spatially such as geographical regions. Incorporating spatial associationin these data not only can increase the accuracy and efficiency of the parameter estimation, but it also investigatesthe spatial patterns of survivorship. In this paper, we considered a Bayesian hierarchical survival model in thesetting of competing risks for the spatially clustered HIV/AIDS data. In this model, a Weibull Parametric distributionwith the spatial random effects in the form of county-failure type-level was used. A multivariate intrinsic conditionalautoregressive (MCAR) distribution was employed to model the areal spatial random effects. Comparison amongcompeting models was performed by the deviance information criterion and log pseudo-marginal likelihood. Weillustrated the gains of our model through the simulation studies and application to the HIV/AIDS data

Studying Psychological and Organizational Factors’ Roles on Occupational Accidents among Nurses and Nursing Aids in Qom, Iran

It is clear that safety in healthcare centres in both fields of staffs and patients is under influence of various factors and needs considering organizational and psychological variables. This study aimed to find the effects of organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB), patient safety climate (PSC) and fatalism on occupational accidents among nurses and nursing aids in one of the non-governmental hospitals in Qom, 2017. Two hundred people from the study population were selected by simple random sampling method and entered the study. A researcher-made demographics questionnaire, Williamson et al. questionnaire for fatalism and valid questionnaires for PSC and OCB were tools to gather data. The relationship between the variables was analyzed using ANOVA and T-test through SPSS V20 and structural equation was done by AMOS V8.8. One hundred and seventy-seven questionnaires out of 200 ones were entered into the analysis phase. Women with 104 (58.8%) were the most frequent and 71.8% of participants were married. Participants had an average age of 34.2(±9.37) years. Reliability of the questionnaires was acceptable. Analysis depicted effects of fatalism on occupational accidents (β=0.15), the patient safety climate on OCB (β=0.13), and OCB on occupational accidents (β=-0.13) (

Association between the religious coping of infertile people with their own quality of life and their spouses': A correlation study in iranian infertile couples

Background: Infertile couples have a lower quality of life (QoL) than that of the general population. Religious coping strategies (RCOPE) could affect QoL in distressing situations. The present study aimed to assess the association between the RCOPE of infertile people with their own QoL and that of their spouses'. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 200 infertile couples referring to Infertility Center of Qom, Iran in 2015. The data was collected using three questionnaires including Brief RCOPE scale, Short Form Health Survey, and a demographic questionnaire. p value of ≤0.05 was considered as significant level. Results: Multivariate analysis showed relationship between wives' RCOPE-N with their own QoL (β = −1.31, p < 0.001). Further, in husbands, RCOPE-P showed significant positive relationship with their own QoL (β = 0.80, p = 0.002), and their RCOPE-N had significant negative relationship with it (β = −0.61, p = 0.02). Surprisingly, wives' RCOPE-P showed negative relationship with husbands' QoL (β = −0.62, p = 0.04); whereas their RCOPE-N had no significant relationship with their husbands' QoL. In addition, neither RCOPE-P nor RCOPE-N of husbands had a significant relationship with their wives' QoL. Conclusions: In summary, we could not find an obvious and significant relationship between RCOPE of each spouse with QoL of the other spouse in infertile couples. Hence, further investigations with more participants of various religions are recommended

An Investigation of the Prevalence of Antibiotic Resistance in Enterococcus Species Isolated from Delivery Room of University Hospital of Qom City, 2015, Iran

Background and Objectives: Enterococci are Gram-positive cocci that are found in abundance in the environment. The ability of these bacteria for long-term survival in hospital environment, increases the chance of patients for infections caused by this bacterium. Therefore, identification of possible sources and reservoirs is helpful in identifying the potential sources in sudden outbreaks. The current study was conducted to determine the prevalence rate and antibiotic resistance pattern in environmental Enterococcus isolates collected from delivery room environment of Alzahra and Izadi university hospitals in Qom. Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, over a period of 3 month, sampling was performed using swabbing method from delivery rooms of alzahra and izadi hospitals in Qom, and were examined for the presence of Enterococci. After isolation, Enterococcus species were examined using different biochemical tests, and the antibiotic resistance pattern in the environmental was assessed according to disk-diffusion test according to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) standards. The data were described by frequency tables. Results: In this study, out of 216 obtained isolates, 7(3.2%) belonged to Enterococcus genus. 4(57%) out of 7 Enterococcus strains isolated from surfaces of delivery room, had multiple resistances based on antibiotic sensitivity test using antiobiogram test. Conclusion: According to increasing growth of nosocomial infection caused by resistant strains of Enterococcus spp. and their spread in hospital environment, use of infection control measures are necessary to eliminate the potential sources and prevent the infection. &nbsp

The Prevalence of Edentulism among Patients Over 35 Years of Age Referring to the Selected Dental Clinics in Qom City, Iran, 2014

Backgroung and Objectives: Edentulism is a common phenomenon among the elderly, which its prevalence is one of the community health indicators. Edentulism leads to gastrointestinal diseases, esthetic defects, and reduction of social and psychological abilities. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of edentulism among patients aged 35 years and over who referred to the selected dental clinics of Qom city. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 394 patients (aged 35 years and over) referring to the selected dental clinics of Qom city, 2014, were randomly selected. Before performing oral examination for each person, demographic characteristics, including age, sex, job, marital status, and economic status, as well as history of smoking, xerostomia, systemic diseases, oral hygiene, and causes for edentulism, were recorded in a questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square test. The level of significance was set at p<0.05. Results: The prevalence of edentulism was 23.9%, which had a significant relationship with gender, and was higher in male gender. The results of independent t-test showed that the mean age was higher in edentulous subjects and was higher (56.6). The most cause of tooth loss (75%) was tooth decay. Among edentulous individuals, 84% were under diploma and 52.6% had moderate economic status. Also, 71.9% of them were brushing rarely. Conclusion: According to the results, the prevalence of edentulism in Qom was high. Also, there was a significant relationship between edentulism and education level, smoking, caries, periodontal disease, economic status, occupation, xerostomia, oral hygiene, and systemic diseases

Analgesic Prescription Pattern in Endodontic Treatments by General Dental Practitioners of Qom City, 2015, Iran

Background and Objectives: Post-dental treatment pain is one of the main challenges of dentists. This issue is especially more important in endodontic treatments. This research aimed to determine analgesic prescription pattern by general dental practitioners of Qom city before, during, and after endodontic treatments. Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, analgesic prescription pattern by all general dental practitioners of Qom city, was investigated in 2015. The research tool was a questionnaire consisting of demographic information and questions related to pain management in three phases of before the start, during, and after the end of endodontic treatment. Data were analyzed using chi-square test. The level of significance was set at p<0.05. Results: The most commonly prescribed medicines were novafen, dexamethasone, ibuprofen, mefenamic acid, and codeine, respectively. Only 0.7% of dentists always and 89.3% sometimes prescribed analgesics before the start of the treatment as prophylaxis; 89.3% of the dentists only sometimes used intracanal drugs during treatment sessions. There was a significant relationship between working years and prescription of novafen and dexamethasone. Conclusion: The findings of this study revealed that teaching clinical pharmacology courses for dental students during the academic period and post-graduation information update, particularly in regard to premedication and use of intracanal drugs, seem to be necessary

General Health status of workers among different workplaces in Qom Province, Iran

Introduction: In a healthy organization, psychological health and physical health are as important as production and productivity; and healthy workers have higher productivity. Regarding lack of information about workers’ general health profile in Qom Province, this study aimed to assess and compare the staffs’ general health and its components among different workplaces in 2014. Methods: In a cross-sectional study, 2,276 employees working at 46 industries and organizations completed a standardized General Health Questionnaire (GHQ 28) and a demographic questionnaire. Data were analyzed using t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient by IBM SPSS version 20. Results: The mean age of the participants was 32.22 (±7.55) years. Seventy-nine point four percent of participants were married and the rest were single. Highest and lowest scores belonged to social dysfunction and depression, respectively. Also, total score of staffs' general health was 17.87 ± 10.93. The results showed that, in spite of the non-relationship between general health score difference among married and single personnel (p > 0.05), there was a significant difference between men and women and among organizations and industries with regards to general health score (p < 0.05), and drivers had the most difference with others. The relationship between workers’ ages and GH was significant (p < 0.05, Pearson's bivariate correlation coefficient = -0.05). Conclusion: The findings of this study collectively indicated that participants had an acceptable condition for mental factors, such as depression, but not in viewpoints of social dysfunction. In other words, staffs' interfaces with circumstances and personal innovation/creativity in the workplaces are at risk. Altogether, the general health score in the studied population was suitable in its entirety