Journal of Occupational Health and Epidemiology
Volume:7 Issue: 2, Spring 2018

Low back pain (LBP) is one of the major public health issues among health care professionals, especially among the physiotherapists. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of LBP among Bangladeshi physiotherapists and its associated factors.
A cross-sectional study was conducted among 130 physiotherapists practicing in Dhaka city. Hospitals, clinics and private chambers, and the respondents were selected conveniently (on invitation those who were agreed to participate). Verbal rating score was used to evaluate the severity of pain where the respondents also asked the necessary questions. Face-to-face interviews were conducted using a researcher-administered structured questionnaire. Both descriptive and comparative (chi-square test and binary logistic regression analysis) statistics were done using SPSS software.
Men respondents were dominator [n: 85 (65.4%)], and the mean ± standard deviation of age and body mass index (BMI) of all of the respondents were 31.1 ± 7.1 years and 23.5 ± 2.9 kg/m2, respectively. Study found three in every five [n: 79 (60.8%); 95% of confidence interval (CI): 52.4-69.2] physiotherapists suffered from LBP. Lack of maintenance of correct posture, most frequent posture during practice and absence of lumber support on chair were found significantly associated factors with LBP among physiotherapists.
Current study clearly revealed a higher proportion of Bangladeshi physiotherapists were suffering from LBP, which was associated with lack of maintenance of correct posture, most frequent postures during practice and absence of lumber support on chair.

Behavioral disorders in childhood are very important due to the possibility of behavioral-mental disorders in adulthood. The aim of this study was to determine the rate of behavioral disorders factors among children in the 4th and 5th grade of primary school in Rafsanjan City, Iran, in 2016.
In this descriptive, cross-sectional study, 500 students were selected from among the 4th and 5th grade of primary school based on the sample size formula and randomized cluster sampling method. Parents of the selected children filled out the demographic characteristics checklist and the Rutter Children’s Behavior ýQuestionnaire. Data were analyzed using the chi-square test in SPSS software.
From the parents’ points of view, 110 (22%), 45 (9%), and 5 (1%) children had behavioral disorder, symptoms of aggression, and symptoms of antisocial behavior, respectively. The association between prevalence of behavioral disorder and student's age, father's occupation (P The prevalence of behavioral disorders among children in the 4th and 5th grade of primary school in Rafsanjan was high. Due to the negative effects of these disorders on different educational and social aspects of the students, the greater attention of authorities, teachers, and parents seems necessary to identify conducive factors and find appropriate strategies to prevent the emergence of such disorders.

Occupations that deal with the health and safety of people are always stressful. Job stress and work load are factors that affect staff such as nurses. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between workload and job stress in nurses of Vasei Hospital, Sabzevar City, Iran, in 2016.
This cross- sectional study was conducted on 80 nurses of Vasei Hospital, Sabzevar City based on a probabilistic sampling method. The amount of workload was determined by NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) questionnaire having six dimensions, and job stress was evaluated using Steinmetz questionnaire. Data were analyzed by descriptive tests, analysis of variance and Pearson correlation.
The mean values for work load and job stress were 71.69 ± 10.49 and 41.60 ± 10.26, respectively. 83.8% of the subjects had high work load (> 60) and 52.5% of the subjects had moderate stress levels (30-70). The highest mean among six dimensions of workload was related to physical labor (78.00 ± 19.97), and the lowest mean was related to frustration (54.75 ± 20.70).
The results did not show a significant association between workload and job stress in the nurses of Vasei Hospital, Sabzevar City. However, the mean work load was high for most people. This situation can be improved by increasing the ability and accountability of nurses through training courses on controlling labor pressure.

Motorcycles have a higher rate of fatality than cars within the same distance travelled. Head injuries are the main causes of death in motorcycle crashes. The objective of this study is to investigate intrinsic motivation and psychological factors on use of a helmet among motorcyclists in Gorgan City, Iran, in 2016.
This cross-sectional survey was conducted among motorcycle riders at randomly selected areas such as fuel stations and service complexes in Gorgan City, Iran, in 2016. The questionnaire was composed of two parts, and 393 people were fully responsive to all questions. The first part included social demographic questions such as age, gender, education, income and marital status. The second part was consisted of questions measuring the intrinsic motivation of incentives and barriers, perceived benefits and barriers, perceived behavioral control, and behavior.
Based on both Pearson correlation and Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA), the correlation of intrinsic motivation incentives with perceived benefits under the influence of respect for the law was statistically significant (χ2 = 68.751, P In this study, care for appearance is regarded as an intrinsic motivation which has a significant correlation in almost all psychological factors and finally leads to the use or not use of a helmet. Another key factor which persuades the riders to wear a helmet is respect to the traffic regulations; thus, enforcing the law may be a fundamental strategy for increasing helmet use.

Work related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) have been described as one of the main health problems among healthcare workers. Adverse symptoms and disorders of the musculoskeletal system represent an important cause of occupational morbidity for employees around the world.
The present study was performed with the aim to identify and characterize musculoskeletal symptoms in a sample including oral and maxillofacial surgeons In Tehran, Capital city of Iran. A cross-sectional identity self-reported Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ) was sent to 45 oral and maxillofacial surgeons. Study population completed the Standardized Nordic questionnaire.
Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics in the Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) software. Of the study sample (n = 40), 63.0% and 37.0% of the participants were men and women, respectively. Musculoskeletal symptoms in the lower back with 56.8% were reported to be the most incident symptom, followed by the neck, upper back, and shoulders with a rate of 84.6%, 44.1%, and 37.4%, respectively. The most common symptoms were stiffness in the neck, pain in the lower back, numbness in the wrist/hand, weakness in the wrist/hand, and contusion in the shoulder as 84.0 %, 64.3%, 18.5%, 29.0%, and 42.0%, respectively. As the weight of most of the participants was in the normal range, body mass index (BMI) was not associated with musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs).
This study showed a high incidence of self-reported musculoskeletal symptoms in some body regions among Iranian oral and maxillofacial surgeons. This indicated the need for developing occupational health programs for managing MSDs among surgeons.

Self-medication is a challenging issue in health care systems and it seems that health literacy is a determining factor in safe self-medication behaviors. Limited studies are available in this field. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the relationship between health literacy and self-medicating behaviors among women referred to comprehensive health care centers
In this descriptive study, 540 women, who were referred to comprehensive health care centers in 2017, were selected randomly and their health literacy and self-medicating behaviors were assessed through self-reporting method. The data collection tools were the standard Health Literacy for Iranian ýAdults (HELIA), and the self-medication behaviors questionnairesý. Data were analyzed using chi-square, Mann-Whitney U, and Kruskal-Wallis H tests.
The results showed that the majority of women (94.6%) had inadequate health literacy. More than 89% of them approved self-medication and more than 98% of them performed self-medication. Older women and those who had a higher education level had lower mean health literacy scores (P = 0.021 and P = 0.001, respectively). There was no significant relationship between self-medication and demographic characteristics. Furthermore, there was no significant relationship between health literacy and confirmation and performance of self-medication.
The women had low health literacy levels and high incorrect self-medication behaviors. Self-medication behaviors are performed independent of health literacy. It seems a reform in women's health programs and the empowerment of women in the target population is necessary in order to promote health literacy skills and appropriate self-medication behaviors.

Communication is a necessity of social life which is very important in health care settings due to the type of work and clients. The aim of this study was determine the association between interpersonal communication skills (ICSs) and personality dimensions of nurses working in Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences.
In this descriptive study, 223 nurses were selected by stratified random sampling method and they completed the Burton ICSs and the Revised NEO Personality Inventory ý. Data were analyzed using the Pearson correlation, independent t-test, and multiple linear regression at a significant level of P = 0.050.
Among the selected nurses, 9.9%, 75.8%, and 14.3% had a poor, moderate and good communication skills respectively. The association between age (P = 0.026) and work experience (P = 0.025) with ICSs were inversely significant. There was a significant correlation between good communication skills and the extroversion personality aspect (P = 0.001), pleasure (P More than half of the nurses had difficulties in ICSs. The communication pattern of nurses is effective in their performance and quality of work; therefore, their personality dimensions and traits can be taken into account in the process of recruiting, transferring, or moving them. Hence, each person can be appropriately located in the right place in terms of the area of activity, and type and number of clients.

One of the key factors in the effectiveness of universities is faculty members. Paying attention to this important source brings the university closer to its goals. This study aimed to investigate job and organizational consequences of psychological empowerment with mediating role of organizational innovation, organizational justice, and organizational support among in the branches of Islamic Azad University in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran, in year 2017.
In this descriptive correlational study, from 747 faculty members in Islamic Azad University of West Azerbaijan, 300 were selected using stratified random sampling method by Morgan table. Data were collected using nine standard questionnaires and a researcher-made questionnaire, and analyzed using SPSS and Lizrel software. Besides, to examine the relationships between latent and measured variables in the conceptual model, the structural equation modeling was used.
Psychological empowerment had positive and significant correlation with citizenship behavior (r = 0.52), organizational commitment (r = 0.37), job satisfaction (r = 0.34), and job performance (r = 0.33), and negative and significant correlation with turnover intention (r = -0.24) and absenteeism (r = -0.31) (P This research showed that, the highest correlation was found between faculty member's psychological empowerment with organizational citizenship behavior, and the lowest correlation was between psychological empowerment and their turnover intention. In addition, justice, support, and organizational innovation play mediating role in the relationship between psychological empowerment and occupational and organizational consequences.