کاشان

Given the importance of the employment status of graduates for countries, the current study aims to investigate the employment status of occupational health and safety engineering (OHS) graduates from Kashan University of Medical Sciences (KAUMS), from the establishment of the field in 1996 up until 2023

The cross-sectional study examined the employment status of OHS graduates of KAUMS using a researcher-developed Google form questionnaire. The questionnaire included demographic characteristics, five questions for unemployed individuals, and 60 questions for employed individuals. Finally, descriptive and analytical analyses of the study were performed using SPSS v16 software. 

A total of 229 graduates participated in this study. The results regarding the frequency of employed and unemployed participants showed that 198 (86.5%) participants were employed, and 31 (13.5%) were unemployed at the time of the study. Most employed participants (46%, or 90 individuals) work in the industry and mining sector. Evaluating the effectiveness of the educational course of employed participants in relation to their jobs revealed that 88 participants (44.4%) believe that the subjects taught in the courses are moderately compatible with work needs. 

With the advancement of industries and the expansion of production, the need to control harmful factors and improve workers’ health is more evident than ever before, making it likely that graduates of this field will have favorable job prospects in the future. On the other hand, the academic conditions should be improved, particularly regarding the quality of the educational and curriculum programs of KAUMS.

One of the dangers that environmental health experts face at work is violence, the incidents of which are observed every year. The type and extent of this violence depend on the ethics of the operator. This s tudy aimed to determine the s tate of violence among environmental health experts in Kashan and Aran va Bidgol, Isfahan, Iran.

In this descriptive s tudy, 53 environmental health inspectors working in the centers affiliated with Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran, were selected. The data collection tool was a 58-item reliability-validated ques tionnaire consis ting of four parts, including physical violence (18 items), psychological violence (12 items), sexual violence (12 items), and racial violence (12 items), and there were three open ques tions at the end of the ques tionnaire. After the ques tionnaire was completed, information was recorded in SPSS software, and analysis was performed using independent t, Chi-square, and Fisher s tatis tical tes ts.

According to the results, 30% of the subjects experienced a physical attack, 90% verbal violence, and 7% racial violence in the pas t three years. No cases of sexual violence were reported. Moreover, the curator's insult to the inspectors had no relationship with the inspectors' behavior and was influenced by factors related to the curator himself and cultural and social factors.

Based on the results, a combination of personnel training and improving their communication skills, as well as behavioral training for attendants, would be effective in reducing cases of violence.

From the perspective of health promotion, the most critical mission of hospitals is to change the treatment-oriented mindset to a health-oriented one. Health promoting hospitals seek to institutionalize the concept of prevention and health promotion. Therefore, the current research aims to study Kashan, Aran and Bidgol hospitals in achieving health promotion standards in 2020.

The current study is a descriptive correlational study that was conducted cross-sectionally in 2020. The statistical sample studied was 65 managers and officials of 4 hospitals in Kashan, Aran and Bidgol cities (1 government hospital, 3 non-government hospitals). Data were collected using the World Health Organization (WHO)'s health promotion standards questionnaire. The authors used Kruskal-Wallis and one-way ANOVA tests to compare the mean performance scores among the hospitals. Bonferroni test was used for parallel comparison of the hospitals. Data were analyzed using SPSS 22 software with a significance level of 5%.

Findings indicated that regarding the standards of management policy, patient assessment, patient information and intervention, promotion of a healthy workplace, continuity of treatment and cooperation, performance score of non-government hospitals (private and Social Security Organization) were significantly higher than the studied government hospital in this study (p < 0.001). The total score of health promotion standards in the non-government hospitals was significantly higher than the government hospital (p < 0.001). This difference was significant.

Conclusion :

One of the variables influencing the quality of health promotion standards in hospitals is the type of hospital in terms of ownership (government, non-government). It seems that organizations using government funds, typically, have worked less than other organizations with regard to improving and upgrading their quality. Therefore, managers of government hospitals need to plan for developing standards of management policy, patient assessment, patient information and intervention, upgrading a healthy and standard work environment continuity of treatment and cooperation. Then, authorities need to monitor and evaluate these processes.

The COVID-19 pandemic and its subsequent quarantine have had various effects on the psychological and social aspects of society. Therefore, the aim of this study was to predict the level of anxiety, depression, and stress during the COVID-19 outbreak based on personality traits.

In this descriptive study, 170 adults living in Kashan from March to April 2020 were selected by convenience sampling method and answered the online questionnaires. The research tools included Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) and NEO Personality Trait Questionnaire (Big Five Inventory-10). Data were analyzed using the Pearson’s correlation test and multiple linear regression analysis.

The results showed that each of the psychological components had a positive relationship with the characteristic of neuroticism and a negative relationship with the characteristic of agreement (p<0.001), and also the characteristic of conscientiousness was negatively related to depression, and positively correlated with anxiety and stress (p<0.001). In addition, the results of regression analysis showed that the predictor variables (neuroticism, conscientiousness, and agreement) predict 30.4%, 20.3%, and 45.1% of changes in depression, anxiety, and stress, respectively. Also, according to the values of Beta index, it can be said that neuroticism has a stronger role in predicting all three variables of depression, anxiety, and stress.

According to the study findings, it can be concluded that the number of psychological problems of people during the outbreak of COVID-19 can be predicted by the characteristics of neuroticism, conscientiousness, and agreement. Given the stronger role of neuroticism, it seems necessary to provide more psychotherapeutic services in organizations for people with this characteristic.

Various methods of using medicinal herbs are among the different traditions and cultures of Iranian tribes. This study aimed to investigate the role of different socio-climatic indices in the use of medicinal herbs by women in 2015. The study population of this research were the students of University of Kashan. This descriptive-analytical study was conducted as a survey. The main tool was a questionnaire with 5 general and 47 special statements. The type of climate had a significant effect on the use of medicinal plants by women. Advices from friends and prescriptions of traditional healers played a significant role in the tendency toward this kind of care. The highest consumption rate was related to peppermint and the lowest to fennel. Women do not use medicinal herbs in all types of diseases. Also, they do not use the same amount of all the herbs. In some diseases, they tend to use these plants more and in other cases, they are less aware of them or tend to use them less.

Iran is one of the countries with most injury and death resulted from road traffic crashes. The aim of this study was to assess the risk factors related to road traffic crashes among drivers of Kashan, Iran. In this case control study, 155 victims drivers were selected as case and one driver who transported from case place in same time was determined as control. Data were analyzed using Chi-square test and logistic regression model using SPSS 21 software. In this study, 310 car drivers as the cases and 155 drivers as the control group, were examined, of which 304 (98.1%) of them were male and 6 (1.9%) were female. After eliminating the effect of confounding variables, using a logistic regression model, there was a significant relationship between occupation (OR = 6.25), education (OR = 8.33), driving habits at night (OR = 4.91), no using seat belts (OR =5.26), previous history of road traffic crashes (OR = 2.63), history of drug use (OR = 3.70), visual acuity (OR = 5.31) and occurrence of traffic crashes were found. According to the results of this study, road traffic crashes had significant relationship with different variables including lower education, driving at night, not using seat belt, history of previous crash and history of drug use. The results can be used to design efficient prevention programs and in order to promote the safety of public streets

Skin cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world, and in many parts of Iran is ranked first to second in number. However, its epidemiology has not been reviewed and studies are limited in Kashan city. This study was conducted to determine the frequency of skin cancers in this city.
Data were collected using recorded data in Pathology Laboratory of Kashan University of Medical Sciences during years 2009 to 2017. UV index (UV-I) data over the period (2009-2017) were obtained from well-known meteorological sites. Data were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics (Chi-square test and MANOVA) using SPSS software version 16.
Skin cancers totally constituted 26.4% of all cancers in Kashan during 2009-2017. 79% of them were basocellular type. Frequenty of spinoscellular and malignant melanoma were 16% and 3%, respectively. The mean age of patients with skin cancers was 48 years. Men showed higher incidence base cellular of cancer than women. The long-term survey of the UV index in the Kashan city showed that in eight months of the year, it was higher than 6 (high to high risk).
Skin cancer is one of the most common cancers in the city of Kashan, especially in men. Educational programs should be developed and conducted to prevent and reduce risk of skin cancer among residents in this city.

The CYBA (Cytochrome B-245 Alpha Chain; p22phox) gene encodes an essential subunit of NADH/NADPH-oxidase This enzyme expressed in smooth muscle cells of arterieswhich produces the active oxygen species. On the other hand oxidative stress has a significant role in the pathogenesis of coronary artery disease (CAD). The aim of this study was to investigate the association of rs7195830 (c.*49T>C) and rs9932581 (c.-930G>A) polymorphisms in CYBA gene with coronary artery disease in an Iranian population.
In this case-control study, citrated blood samples were obtained from 180 subjects including 85 patient with CAD and 95 healthy people. The fragments containing rs7195830 and rs9932581 of CYBA gene from extracted genome were amplified by polymerase chain reaction. Then the genotype of samples was detected by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. Genetic association analysis was assessed by logistic regression test.
Data analysis of c.-930G>A polymorphism revealed a significant association between AA genotype and risk of CAD (OR: 2.71, 95%CI: 1.04-7.06, p= 0.041). Also, allelic analysis revealed that there was a significant association between A allele and CAD risk (OR: 1.65, 95%CI: 1.05-2.57, p=0.029), while there was no significant association between c.*49T>C polymorphism and risk of CAD.
Findings showed that, the c.-930G>A polymorphism may have some role in the susceptibility to CAD. which it can consider as a potential biomarker in further researches.

In the healthcare team, the pre-hospital emergency medical technicians are the first individuals who encounter forensic issues. This study aims to determine the status of knowledge, attitude, and performance of emergency medical technicians on forensic issues in Kashan, 2017. This descriptive study was conducted with the participation of 110 emergency medical technicians in Kashan through using a census. Data were collected by using demographic characteristics and a researcher- made knowledge, attitude and performance questionnaire. The researcher-made questionnaire consisted of 42 questions, and each of knowledge, attitude and performance section had 10,10, and 22 questions, respectively. Data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics, t-test, chi-square and ANOVA and SPSS 16 software. This research shows that the mean scores of knowledge, attitude, and performance of emergency medical technicians on forensic issues were 5.69 ± 2.14, 30.95 ± 9.26 and 14.95 ± 4.40, respectively. Findings indicated that knowledge, attitude, and performance status are significantly related to educational level (P <0.001) and type of employment (P <0.01) and have no relationship with age, background, and type of education. Knowledge, attitude, and performance of Kashan medical emergency technicians related to forensic issues were at a medium level. Updating the knowledge, attitude, and performance of emergency medical technicians in this area is important to discover or to clarify forensic records and to protect the relevant evidence.

Street dust is consisting of solid particles with complex compositions which can be an appropriate indicator to determine urban environmental contamination. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine spatial patterns and heavy metals contamination in the street dusts of Kashan.
A total of 48 urban street dust samples were collected and total concentrations of Pb, Cu, Zn, Fe, Cr, Ni, and Cd were determined in the dust samples. The geoaccumulation index was applied to assess heavy metals contamination. In addition, the spatial patterns of heavy metals concentrations in the street dust were determined using GIS.
The results showed that the average concentrations of Zn, Cd, Cr, Fe, Ni, Pb and Cu in the street dust samples were 237.21, 0.43, 37.12, 16589.77, 13.62, 45.18 and 45.58 mg/kg, respectively. The average concentrations of Pb, Cu, Zn, and Fe were higher than their local background values. Based on geoaccumulation index, the heavy metals in the street dust were in the following decreasing order: Pb > Zn > Cu > Ni > Cd > Cr. According to the spatial analysis results, higher concentrations of heavy metals were observed in the city center and Kashan-Qom highway; whereas, lower concentrations were found in the residential regions.
Based on the obtained results, it seems the high concentrations of Pb, Zn and Cu and to a lesser extent Fe and Cd concentrations in the dust samples was derived from anthropogenic activities; whereas the concentration of Cr and Ni has been mostly affected by natural sources. The high concentrations of heavy metals in the street dusts of Kashan could be attributed to vehicle emissions and industrial activities.

Better compatibility with the environment needs a balance between motor fitness and body composition. The present study was conducted to compare the motor fitness in female adolescents of normal and abnormal body weight in Kashan in 2015.
In this descriptive study, 150 female students aged 12-15 years in Kashan city were included using the cluster sampling method. The BMI above the 85th and less than 5th percentile for age and sex by Center for Diseases Control proposed as overweight/ obesity and slim respectively and between 5-85th as normal weight. . Physical fitness tests including agility (hexagonal), speed (30 m), balance (Stork), response time (RT Nelson), power (Sargent) were measured in all subjects. Statistical methods used in this study were MANOVA and Scheffe post hoc test.
Averages time of balance test in slim, normal and overweight/obese groups were 9.43±5.54, 10.17±5.65 and 22.20±2.22 seconds respectively. Also, averages of power test were 27.37±5.39, 26.75±6.78 and 24.24±4.77 centimeters; averages of time of agility test were 14.23±2.39, 14.53±2.82 and 16.08±2.88 seconds and averages of reaction time were 2.15±0.27, 2.27±0.3 and 2.32±0.28 seconds respectively. There were significant differencesin normal and slim groups with overweight/obese group, in sub-scale of motor fitness including balance (p=0.005), muscle power (p=0.038), speed (p=0.015) and agility (p=0.006).
According to the findings, the body mass index was associated with motor fitness in female adolescents, so that students with a higher BMI, were weaker in physical fitness than other students.

Cesarean section has important role in reducing mortality rate and complications of delivery in both mothers and fetus. However, high rate of cesarean section is a major issue in the modern obstetrics. According to the World Health Organization, the expected rate of cesarean section should be 10-15 percent in different countries. In Iran, cesarean rate is about 50-65 percent. Given the high prevalence of cesarean section, this study was conducted to determine the prevalence of cesarean and its causes in governmental obstetric hospitals of Kashan in 2014.
This cross-sectional study was conducted on 5751 births in two obstetric centers of Kashan in 2014. Required information was obtained from the data recorded in the mentioned two delivery centers. Cesarean rates were obtained in relation to the total number of births in the two centers, and reasons for cesarean section were extracted from patient’s records and obtained information was entered in a checklist and the absolute and relative frequency was obtained. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, and independent t-test in SPSS-16.
The results showed that 50.9% of deliveries were performed by caesarean section in the governmental delivery centers of Kashan. The highest rate of cesarean section was in the women of 25-29 years with 1-2 pregnancies. The major reasons for the cesarean sections were previous cesarean section (35.3%), fetal distress (14.8%), excretion of meconium (8.7%) and failure of normal labor progress (7.4%).
Due to the high prevalence of cesarean in the city of Kashan, offering the strategies and interventions such as educational modules is suggested for pregnant women to reduce the incidence of cesarean delivery; also due to the high rate of repeated cesarean sections it is recommended for the policy makers and authorities to provide the essential facilities to increase vaginal birth even in women who have had prior cesarean section.

Home-related traumas are the most common traumas and are ranked the second among different types of traumas. This study aimed to determine the status of home-related traumas in patients referred to medical centers in Kashan in 2010-2012. In this cross-sectional study, 1028 patients referred to Kashan emergency medical centers were evaluated. The continuous sampling method was used for patient selection. The data collection tool was a researcher made questionnaire with two sections: demographic information and a checklist to evaluate the domestic trauma. Information was obtained by trained nurses through direct interviews with the patients and hospital records. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 0.16. Location patterns of incidents showed that the hall (27.7%), kitchen (20.3%) and yard (18.4%) were the most common injury sites. Recklessness (80.8%) was the most common cause of trauma. Most of the accidents were caused by falls (27.90%) and cutting tools (25.08%). Orthopedic injuries (50.2%) and hemorrhagic events (34.70%) were the most common traumas. The results showed that domestic traumas often occurred following reckless behaviors. As a result, these traumas could be predicted and prevented by concentration and attention during working. To reduce the incidence of domestic traumas, people should receive information and training on health and safety issues in the home setting.

Toxoplasmosis is a zoonotic disease distributed worldwide. Early infection by these protozoa can develop an antibody response which is preventive of abortion and congenital Toxoplasmosis in pregnant women. This study was conducted to determine Seroprevalence of Toxoplasmosis in women referring to Kashan Reference Laboratory. This descriptive study was carried out in 2008-2012. Blood samples of 434 women referring to Reference laboratory were examined for IgG and IgM antibody of Toxoplasmosis by Elisa method. Out of 434 women, 311 (71.66%) were seronegative, 123 (28.34%) had IgG antibody (≥10 IU/ML), and 7 (1.6%) cases were positive for IgM antibody spontaneously (>=1.1 IU/ML).The highest seropsitive rate was identified in 25-35 year-oldgroup (46.3%) and 35-45 year-old group (26%) respectively. In 36.6% of seropsitive women, a 10-50 IU/ML of IgG antibody was detected and only 5 subjects(4.1%) enjoyed up to 250 IU/ML antibody. This study showed that a high rate (71.66%) of women who had referred to Kashan Reference Laboratory were negative for Toxoplasmosis antibody. This is very important for the reason that many of the pregnant women are susceptible and thus exposed to Toxoplasmosisis. So preventive and educational measures are recommended for women in this region.

Dialysis patients experience problems related to sexual function due to the nature of their disease and its complications. The present study carried out to determine sexual function in dialysis patients in Kashan city. In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 72 hemodialysispatients referred to dialysis unit of Akhavan Hospital in 2013 were evaluated. Research instruments were demographic questionnaire and Golombok Rust Inventory of Sexual Sate (GRISS). Data were analyzed using statistical tests, such as chi-square, Fisher’s exact, Mann-Whitney, independent sample t-test. In this study, 94.4% of the hemodialysis patients had sexuality dysfunction. Sexual dissatisfaction (79.2%) and decreased sexual contact (76.4%) were the most frequent in both genders. "Lack of erection" and premature ejaculation were observed in men, each one (92.2%), and anorgasmia (90.5%) in women. In this study, there was not a significant difference between sexual dysfunction and age, gender, drug group, and duration of dialysis (p>0.05), while, a significant difference was obtained between sexual dysfunction and education level and cause of dialysis (p<0.05).The majority of hemodialysis patients suffer from sexual dysfunction, which this problem can seriously affects the patients’ quality of life. Thus, sexual dysfunction should be considered as a major health related concern in these patients. Hence, paying attention to sex function in these patients is of importance.

Nursing is arguably one of the most dangerous jobs. Since nurses are the largest providers of health care services in the community، their quality of life should be desirable to provide the high-quality care to the patients. The aim of this study was to examine the quality of life and its related factors among nurses in Kashan Shahid-Beheshti hospital during 2013-2014. This study was a descriptive cross-sectional study. The participants were selected using a stratified random sampling technique from Data were collected from the participants using the demographic and Short Form 36-item Health Survey questionnaires (SF-36). Finally، data were analyzed using SPSS software version 11. 5 along with statistical tests (t-test، variance analysis، Tukey post-hoc and Cruskal-Wallis tests). The mean quality-of-life scores in the cases were 65. 78 for social role performance and 47. 96 for physical role performance. The mean quality-of-life score in the emergency department nurses was higher than that of the nurses from the other hospital departments. Moreover، there was a significant correlation between the different dimensions of quality of life with gender، work experience and also work place. According to the results of this study، the quality of life among the nurses participated in this study was at a moderate level. Moreover، social performance of the nurses is more desirable than the other quality of life dimensions.

Iodine is one of the essential microelements for life and its deficiency is the most important threatening causes for human health. The purpose of this study is to evaluate amount of iodine in iodized salts in Kashan's shops, during the second half of 2010 and its comparison with standard and giving suitable suggestions for prevention of probable problems. In this descriptive-analytic study 13 marks of iodized salts from Kashan's shops with three different product dates were assessed. The samples were three times examined in the chemical laboratory of faculty of Health, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, by method of Pharmacopeia titration. of 13 markes iodized salts, 8 markes (61.53%) had acceptable ranges (30 -50ppm) and 5 markes (38.46%) were out of acceptable ranges. All out of ranges samples were in fewer ranges from acceptable minimum ranges (30ppm) and they were not any salts with more than iodine acceptable maximum ranges. According to the results of this study iodized salts lack the recommended standard level of iodine. Therefore, according to importance of this matter, continues control on iodized salt is necessary.

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a parasitic disease in many tropical and sub-tropical countries، caused by protozoa of the genus Leishmania and can be transm-itted by sand fly bites. This study was carr-ied out to identify the epidemiologic status of cutaneous leishmaniasis with emphasis on trend of its incidence rate in Kashan. This investigation was a descriptive and retrospective study based on existing data. Sample consists of all persons who were referred to the central laboratory in Kashan during the last five years (20 March 2005 to 19 March 2010) for parasitological diagnosis of cutaneous leishmaniasis، and their diseases were con-firmed. Demographic characteristics and clinical information of cutaneous leishma-niasis (positive cases) were recorded and analyzed. The results revealed that the nu-mber of infected cases in Kashan was 1599 people during the study. Of these patients 1315 (82. 2%) lived in urban and 284 pati-ents (17. 8%) in rural areas. Incidence rate in rural dwellers was significantly higher than urban residents (19. 10 vs. 9. 46 cases per 10،000 population). During the study، patients showed a significant increaseing and positive cases of cutaneous leishma-niasis had been increased from 192 cases to 405 cases in the last year of the study. The annual incidence rate of the disease has increased significantly. Among the patients with active cutaneous leishmaniasis، 717 (45%) were females and 882 (55%) male. 92% of cases were Iranian and the rem-aining of non-Iranian. The highest incid-ence rate was observed in the age group below 10 years، with 14. 87 per 10000 inha-bitants، and the least rate in the age group 40-49 years with 5. 93 per 10000 inha-bitants. The prevalence of active CL pati-ents in the age group less than 20 years (43. 84%) was significantly higher than the corresponding value in the same age group in the general population (34. 02%) in Ka-shan. Most commonly affected organs، hands (45. 8 % alone، 7. 1 percent، with feet and 2. 9% with face)، followed by feet. Single lesion in the majority of patients، was followed by two or more ulcers on two or more parts of the body. Discussion & The findings showed an increasing trend of the prevale-nce and incidence rate of cutaneous leish-maniasis over the period study in the regi-on. Also، cutaneous Leishmaniasis remains a public health threat in the future. There-fore، it is recommended that the regional authorities paying more attention to control the spreading of the disease.

Given the importance of aquatic arthropods as vector in medical and bioindicator in life sciences and information on the composition of such animals، this study was conducted during 2010 in the city of Kashan. Descriptive study and sampling at 13 locations and over 39 times in 2303 on the number of larvae، nymphs، Pupa and adults were collected from Lentic and Lotic waters. The collected Samples were transferred to the laboratory and identified by using a stereo microscope and morphological keys. Total 2303 samples over 39 times the sampling of the class insecta 1724 (74. 8%) crustaceans، with 579 samples (25. 2%)، were collected. from insect: Order Diptera، with 1،287 cases (55. 8%)، Order Trichoptera with 158 samples (6. 9%)، Order Ephemeroptera 153 samples (6. 7%)، Order Odonata with 61 samples (2. 6%)، Order Heteroptera with 26 samples (1. 1%)، Order Coleoptera with 26 samples (1. 1%)، Order Plecoptera with 13 sample (0. 6) were identified. From Crustacea Class، Amphipoda 414 samples (18%) from Lotic water، Ostracoda 139 samples (6. 1%)، Copepoda 26 samples (1. 1%)، from the Lentic waters was collected. For the first time، from Crustacea class، subclass of Ostracoda and from Diptera order، Ceratopogonidae، Eryphidae، Dixidae families were reported in Kashan. Therefore it can be concluded that the aquatic arthropods Fauna are very rich in Kasha..