Addiction & Health
Volume:10 Issue: 4, Autumn 2018

Due to the high level of sexual relationships, prostitute women are faced with many dangers, including acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), sexually transmitted infections (STIs), fertility problems, drug use, etc. In this regard, addict prostitute women are exposed to more risks because drug use is considered as an outstanding factor in those associated with transmission of AIDS and being in an insecure sexual relationship. The purpose of this study was to find out the variables influential on the level of drug use, before or during sexual relationship. In 2010, 625 prostitute women were selected by multistage sampling from 21 centers out of 12 provinces. Then, we used a standard questionnaire for gathering data by a face-to-face interview. The multilevel ordinal logistic regression in survey model was used to find out the relationship between variables and the level of drug use before or during sexual relationship. The number of monetary customers at the last working day [adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 1.87, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.50-2.32] and having sexual relationship during the past month with monetary customers (AOR: 4.77, 95% CI: 2.61-8.70) were significantly related to the level of drug use before or during sexual relationship in the past month. Since the level of drug use before or during sexual relationship was higher in women who had more daily sexual relationships, these women are exposed to the consequences of drug use; thus, identifying the status of this group of women is important to plan for future injuries.

The growing tendency to anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) and prohibited substances misuse by female athletes is a new public health concern. Epidemiological studies in this field are necessary to introduce an effective preventive drug control program in gyms. This study directed to evaluate the prevalence of AAS and other banned substances use and assess its association with some psycho-social and also demographic parameters among Iranian female recreational bodybuilders. This study was done from January to March 2017 and 289 recreational female bodybuilders from 41 randomly-selected fitness and sports clubs in different geographic parts of Tehran, Iran, were included. Age, education level, months of sport involvement, frequency of sport participation in a week (hour), body image assessed by Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire (MBSRQ), and history of AAS and substances intake as the psycho-socio-demographic parameters were recorded by interviews using questionnaires. Subjects were all recreational female bodybuilders [mean and standard deviation (SD) of age: 26.3 ± 6.3, range: 15–52 years]. Self-report of AAS abuse was recorded in 70 bodybuilders (24.2%). Among prohibited substances, the use of stimulants (amphetamine or methamphetamine) and other illicit drugs was recorded in 10(3.5%) and 95(32.9%) athletes, respectively. 112 (38.8%)participants reported somatotropin use. Cigarette smoking, hookah use, and alcohol intake were reported by 42 (14.5%), 162 (56.1%), and 49 (17.0%) female bodybuilders, respectively. Among different evaluated parameters, merely the frequency of sport participation in a week and sport experience was inversely associated with AAS consumption. Based on the subjects’ self–statement, AAS and substance misuse was surprisingly common in recreational female bodybuilders. Some factors including weekly frequency of sport participation and the duration of sport involvement may influence the prevalence of AAS abuse.

With the evolution of technologies and the mobility factor, new digital devices have emerged, influencing human behavior and provoking diverse dependencies due to their abusive use. Collective environments begin to exhibit the symptoms of such dependencies, compromising people's quality of life (QOL). The objective of the present study was to validate the scale to evaluate the perception of leaders on digital employee addiction (EPLDDE) initially with 17 questions. The scale was constructed with real situations of digital addiction and through the evaluation of the semantic comprehension and consistency of the items by judges until final formatting of the instrument. Data collection was done via the internet. The sample consisted of 312 volunteers from a federal state-owned company. After data collection, a database was created for statistical analysis. Statistical program R was used. Bartlett’s and Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) tests confirmed adequacy for factorial analysis. Three statistical criteria were used, and scree plot presented adequate commonalities indicating 5 factors and the withdrawal of 3 questions from the scale. In the second AF, results ratified 14 questions. Cronbach's alpha showed a positive result of 0.8131717.

The 14-item EPLDDE scale was validated for the evaluation of the perception of leaders regarding digital dependence of employees in organizations. This scale can contribute to studies on organizational QOL. The limitations found did not compromise the results.

Nomophobia is the fear of being disconnected from one’s mobile phone, prevailing in modern area. To the best of our knowledge, no Persian psychometric scales are available for investigating nomophobia among Iranians. Therefore, we here aimed to translate and validate the Nomophobia Questionnaire (NMP-Q) for being used in Iran. The NMP-Q was translated from English to Persian using a classical “backward and forward” procedure. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was carried out to explore the underlying factor structure of the translated questionnaire. A principal component analysis (PCA) approach with varimax rotation was further performed. 425 volunteer students were included. Among them, 80.2% were 20-30 years old. Men and women constituted 187 (44.0%) and 238 (56.0%) of the participants, respectively. 100 (23.5%) of the subjects were medicine graduates. Using mobile phones for more than 5 years was noted in 215 (50.6%) subjects. Also, 422 (99.3%) subjects connected to the Internet via their cellphones. Regarding cellphone usage, 301 (70.8%) subjects used them less than 5 hours a day, 158 (37.2%) subjects checked their cellphones less than 10 times a day, and 92 (21.6%) subjects checked their cellphones every 20 minutes. Eigenvalues and the scree-plot supported a 3-factorial nature of the translated questionnaire. NMP-Q showed an overall Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.93 (the coefficients of 0.90, 0.77, and 0.71 for the three factors, respectively). The first, second, and third factors explained 26.30%, 20.84%, and 17.60% of the variance, respectively. The total score of NMP-Q correlated with the hours spent with mobile phones, the years of using them, and the age. Our findings showed that the Persian version of the NMP-Q was a valid and reliable tool for evaluating nomophobia among Iranians.

Iranian female methadone patients are at risk of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) due to involvement in high-risk sexual behaviours and/or needle sharing. The present study aimed to explore the perceived educational needs related to HIV among a group of Iranian female methadone patients. The research design was qualitative and the participants were sampled purposively. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 34 women and 19 clinicians in Sari, Mashhad, and Tehran, Iran. Then, qualitative content analysis was implemented. The emergence of three major themes and six minor themes was revealed. Women expressed a need to increase their knowledge including women-specific pathophysiology and disease progression and the modes of the virus transmission and prevention. Women also expressed a need to enhance their knowledge and skills related to the physical management of the virus including self-care and reproductive health. Other themes included perceived psychosocial needs including removing stigma and access to resources in the community. Women reported a wide range of educational needs from basic knowledge to advanced skills. The findings can be used in designing women-specific educational programs related to HIV in Iran. Larger studies are suggested with gender-mixed samples in the Persian context

Quality of life (QOL) is always considered as a final consequence of clinical trials, interventions, and health care. The results of studies indicate that addiction leads to lower QOL. However, studies have been conducted on the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions on improving QOL. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of mindfulness-based relapse prevention (MBRP) on QOL and craving in methadone-treated patients. This study was conducted in Qom, Iran, in 2017. A sample of 70 methadone-treated patients were randomly selected and assigned to two groups (intervention and control). Participants in both groups completed the 36-item Short Form (SF-36) QOL Questionnaire and Craving Beliefs Questionnaire (CBQ) at the beginning of the study (pre-test), 8 weeks after the study (post-test), and two months after the study (follow up). In this study, the experimental group received 8 training sessions on mindfulness prevention, while the control group did not receive general information about addiction and did not receive any psychological intervention. Finally, data of 63 patients were analyzed with the SPSS software, chi-square test, t-test, and repeated-measures ANOVA. The results of repeated-measures ANOVA showed that there was no significant difference between intervention and control groups in the pre-test, but MBRP in the intervention group significantly increased the scores of QOL and decreased the scores of craving, significantly (P < 0.001). The findings of present study indicate that MBRP training can increase the psychological and physical health in dependent methadone-treated patients and decrease craving. These findings suggest that mindfulness training can be used as an effective intervention for improving QOL and reducing craving.

Addiction and drug misuse is an illness that affects every community in every country. Based on the previous research in many parts of the world, illicit drug use is considered as a well-known risk factor for morbidity, disability, and premature mortality. Although this issue is a hot topic for public health, little studies have looked the epidemiology of substance abuse death and its trends among Iranian society. This study aims to calculate the rate of substance misuse mortality and investigate its trend in Iran. This research was a cross-sectional study. For doing this study, the demographic and epidemiological data of people who died from substance misuse from 2014-2018 were extracted from Legal Medicine Organization (LMO). Finally, descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. 15304 deaths due to drug misuse were recorded in 2014-2018. The substance abuse mortality rate has increased during the study period in men and women. There were significant differences in death rates between men and women. Crude mortality rate was significantly higher among men compared to women. The majority of deaths has occurred in young men aged 30-39 years with high school education and self-employed. The results revealed that death from substance misuse has increased during the study period. This increasing trend was observed in women and men. Further preventive measures, however, should be devised to reduce drug-related deaths. The majority of deaths occurred in young men aged 30-39 years with high school education and self-employed. In our opinion and based on the study results, programs, policies, and preventive measures should be taken to prevent these people from accessing and using the drug.

Buprenorphine sublingual tablets are now available in Iran for opioid detoxification in clinics. Aim of the present study was to compare the efficiency of buprenorphine with buprenorphine/naloxone in short-term detoxification in a group of Iranian male opioid-dependent patients. A double-blind trial was carried out on a group of male opioid dependent patients in a psychiatric hospital in Kerman, Iran, during year 2017. A group of 100 men who met the diagnostic criteria for opiate dependence were included in the study from individuals who had referred for detoxification. They were allocated to the two groups receiving either buprenorphine (n = 51) or buprenorphine/naloxone (n = 49). Severity of withdrawal symptoms and signs were evaluated by Clinical Opiate Withdrawal Scale (COWS) and Adjective Rating Scale for Withdrawal (ARSW). The mean scores of COWS and ARSW in the two groups treated with buprenorphine and buprenorphine/naloxone significantly reduced from the first day to the fifth day of detoxification (P < 0.050). Moreover, there was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of objective and subjective symptom reduction (P > 0.050). Buprenorphine/naloxone is as effective as buprenorphine in controlling opiate withdrawal symptoms.