مجله تحقیقات سلامت در جامعه
سال پنجم شماره 1 (بهار 1398)

 Over-consumption of antibiotics in the community has caused more concern worldwide about increasing microbial resistance. Several factors are associated with excessive consumption of antibiotics. This study investigated the level of parental knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding antibiotic use and the factors influencing it in children under the age of 12 years who referred to Khatam-al-Anbia Hospital in Shahrood, Iran. Totally, 97 parents of children who were under 12 years of age were enrolled in this descriptive cross-sectional study during 2017. The data were collected using parental knowledge, attitudes, and practices of antibiotic use questionnaire in children younger than 12 years of age. Moreover, the data were analyzed using SPSS software (version 20). P-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. According to the results, the parental levels of knowledge were poor (n=11, 11.3%),  moderate (n=23, 23.7%), and good (n=63, 64.9%). Moreover, the mean score of parental knowledge level was obtained at 8.7±2.66. In addition, the attitude levels were moderate and good in 27 (27.8%) and 70 parents (72.2%), respectively. The mean score of parental attitude level was estimated at 7.97±1.35. Furthermore, regarding the parental practice domain, 8 (8.2%), 30 (30.9%), and 59 (60.8%) parents were considered poor, moderate, and good, respectively. The mean score of parental practice level was determined at 5.8±2.07. It should be noted that parents with higher levels of education and previous history of infectious diseases in the family showed higher levels regarding knowledge, attitudes, and practices in terms of antibiotic use. The improvement of parental awareness and knowledge levels about antibiotic use will increase the level of attitude, decrease the demand for antibiotics, improve the practices of parents, and reduce the use of antibiotics, thereby decreasing the growth of antibiotic resistance in the community.

The efficient hospital waste management requires a detailed  knowledge of  the quantity and type of medical centers generated waste. The most important factor in planning and management of hospital waste is the estimation of the generated waste. It is worth mentioning here that modern methods of waste disposal are necessary, due to the harmful potential of medical waste. A total of 62 hospital under the supervision of Iran University of Medical Science were studied. The data were obtained from waste self-reporting form, the results of biological and chemical tests, and calibration result of medical waste sterilization equipment. It should be noted that the hospitals were divided into three groups of state (H1), private(H2), and the other hospitals (H3) to facilitate the process of study. Thereafter, the obtained data were analyzed in Excel 2013. waste generation rate (kg/bed. Day) is 4.09, 4.12, and 4.9, in state, private, and the other hospitals, respectively.  Based on the results, all hospitals except the four  psychiatry hospitals were equipped with the medical waste sterilization equipment (e.g., autoclave, hydroclave, chemiclave, and dry heat). In addition, all H1, H3, and 98% of  H2  used biological indicators. Furthermore , all H2, H3 and 91.6% of  H1, used chemical indicators. Biological supervision of the hospitals showed the positive and desired results with indicating no microbial growth in 76.4%, 86.4%, and 56.2% of H1, H2, and H3, respectively. According to the results of the research and other similar studies, the process of waste generation and separation, as well as the performance of the waste sterilization equipment need further optimization.

Intellectual capital is the key factor in value creation for organizations. Social responsibility means taking some measures for the improvement of  the community welfare beyond the interests of the organization and legal requirements. To researchers, ethical behavior in the organization means acting in ways consistent with the ethical values of the organization. In this regard, this study was conducted to determine the relationship between intellectual capital and social responsibility and its relationship with the professional ethics of faculty members of the Faculty of Medical Sciences of Abadan, Iran. This research was descriptive-correlational. The required data were collected from 78 people using census method. To this end, information was collected by researchers using intellectual capital, social responsibility, and ethical behavior questionnaires. Finally, the data were analyzed using SPSS software, Pearson correlation coefficient, and regression tests. There was a positive and significant relationship between intellectual capital and all its subscales with the ethical behavior of the faculty members (P<0/05). According to the results, all components of intellectual capital were able to predict ethical behavior. Furthermore, a positive and significant relationship was found between social responsibility and all its subscales with the ethical behavior of faculty members and all components of social responsibility were able to predict ethical behavior. The faculty members with high intellectual capital and social responsibility will show more ethical behavior in educational and research activities. Therefore, they will improve the level of the university and the scientific community of the country.

Antibiotics are a large group of pharmaceutical compounds which are stable in the environment. When they are not being removed during refinery wastewater treatment, they enter receiving water bodies which lead to environmental pollution. This study aimed to investigate the efficiency of alum and poly aluminum chloride coagulants in the removal of ciprofloxacin antibiotic from aqueous solutions. The batch experiments were conducted in this laboratory study. Optimum conditions of pH parameters, slow mixing time, initial concentration of ciprofloxacin, alum concentration, poly aluminum chloride concentration, and turbidity were determined during the process of coagulation on synthetic wastewater using the jar test. Maximum removal efficiency of ciprofloxacin for both coagulants with pH=6 were determined at coagulant concentration of 20 mg/l and ciprofloxacin concentration of 25 mg/L. Moreover, it was estimated at 65% and 64% for poly aluminum chloride and alum, respectively. As the findings indicated, poly aluminum chloride was more efficient than alum for ciprofloxacin removal. Therefore, the coagulation process can be used as an efficient method to remove antibiotics from aqueous solutions.

Effluent of wastewater treatment plant after reaching to the standards is commonly used as the source of irrigation in agriculture in many developing and developed countries. Before using wastewater in agriculture, it is better to evaluate the phytotoxic effects of wastewater on crops. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to evaluate the impacts of raw and treated hospital wastewater on seed germination and growth parameters of selected vegetable species. In this study, the toxicity effects of different concentrations (i.e., 0%, 10%, 30%, 50%, 70%, and 10% v/v) of raw and treated hospital wastewater on seed germination, root growth, as well as stems and leaves of three vegetables, namely Coriandrum sativum, Anethum graveolens, and Lepidium sativum, using Petri dish cultivation method were studied through three replications in a completely randomized design. The parameters, such as germination percentage, germination rate index, and growth parameters (i.e., the length of the root, shoot, and leaf), were calculated after 0-10 days. In addition, Biochemical Oxygen Demand, COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand), Toxic Shock Syndrome, pH, Total Dissolved Solids, EC (Electrical Conductivity), free chlorine residual, and microbial quality of wastewater were analyzed in the present study. Obtained results showed that no significant relationship was observed between the control, as well as raw and treated wastewater samples, in seed germination capacity. According to the finding, the length of the root, shoot, and leaf increased with an increase in the concentration of wastewater. Therefore, hospital wastewater had no negative effect on the seed germination of the plants. Hospital wastewater can contain hazardous substances, such as pharmaceutical residues, chemical hazardous substances, pathogens, and radioisotopes. In this regard, it is required to investigate more qualitative parameters regarding the reuse of hospital wastewater in agriculture.

Proper nutrition during pregnancy is of utmost importance in the maintenance of maternal and fetal health. This study aimed to determine the effect of educational intervention based on the theory of planned behavior in the promotion and  nutritional behaviors of pregnant women referring to comprehensive health centers in Amol, Iran in 1397. This semi-experimental interventional research was performed on 72 pregnant women in the first trimester of pregnancy who were randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. The instrument utilized in this study was a questionnaire developed by the researcher and used after the validity and reliability confirmation. The P-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. The results showed that there was a significant difference between the mean scores of knowledge, attitude, abstract norm, perceived behavior control, behavioral intention, and the behavior of the experimental group after the intervention in educational intervention group (P <0.001). Based on the results of this study, educational intervention based on planned behavioral theory was effective in the promotion of nutritional behaviors of pregnant women. Educational intervention of this theory could be a appropriate theoretical framework for the design and implementation of interventions to promote nutritional behavior of pregnant women.

The observational methods are the most common techniques for postural assessment. Afterwards, preventive interventions for musculoskeletal disorders are performed as the best strategy. Therefore, the most important point in the first phase is the selection of suitable assessment method. With this background in mind, this study was conducted to evaluate the correlation and agreement between the results of Novel Ergonomic Postural Assessment (NERPA) and Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) methods to determine the appropriate technique. In the current study, 41 postures were investigated following the exclusion of similar postures. Photos of postures were prepared and assessed according to the instructions of NERPA and RULA methods by an assessor. The score of each organ and the final risk level of both methods for right and left sides were evaluated by the Wilcoxon method. Moreover, the results were compared using the Spearman correlation coefficient and the Kappa coefficient. Our findings indicated that higher scores for risk levels 1 and 2 were obtained by  NERPA method, while the RULA score was higher for levels 3 and 4. It should be noted that the mentioned difference was significant for the right side. In terms of the scores of body organs, there was a significant difference in the wrist score. The results of analyses demonstrated that the correlation coefficient of NERPA and RULA methods for left and right sides was 0.605 and 0.697, respectively. Furthermore, the Kappa agreement coefficient was revealed as 0.206 and 0.401 for left and right sides, respectively. According to the results of the present study, NERPA method identified the low risks better than RULA technique. As a result, considering the involvement of the freedom degree of body organs in neutral zone in NERPA method and the significant difference between the two techniques, NERPA application is recommended. On the other side, although the two methods did not have a good agreement, the results showed that they were correlated. Therefore, both methods can be used in industries similar to the current investigation.

Previous epidemiological studies suggested a close correlation between suspended particles and the prevalence of respiratory diseases, cardiovascular problems, cancer, and mortality. Moreover, it was reported that the city space contains pollutions of motionless and moving sources. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the concentration and release status of PM10 and PM2.5 particles in the air of Gorgan, Iran in 2016-2017 and to provide effective solutions. In this descriptive cross-sectional study, the concentration of air pollutants in Gorgan was measured at eight stations in different parts of the city for one year during July 2016-June 2017. Afterwards, the results of monthly PM2.5 and PM10 measurements by the portable device were modeled following the calculation of the quality index and estimation of their effect on health in the Geographic Information System using the Air Quality Index (AQI) Calculator software. In addition, the measurements were compared with national and international standard values. Furthermore, solutions were provided for reducing pollution. Our findings demonstrated that the highest amount of PM2.5 and PM10 were recorded in December (116 and 76 μg/m3) and the lowest was in April (40 and 34 μg/m3). The results of one-way analysis of variance revealed a significant difference in the mean concentrations of the two particles between months. According to the results of this study, air inversion in cold seasons was effective in the concentration of these pollutants. The annual mean of PM10 and PM2.5 was reported as 41 and 30 μg/m3, respectively. The latter means were lower and higher than the EPA standards of 50 and 12 μg/m3, respectively. The results of the current investigation showed that the highest AQI was related to PM2.5 in the central regions of the city, Municipality Square, and Mazandaran Square. In addition, the highest PM10 pollution was measured in the central and southern parts of the city. This could be attributed to the high density of cars, which is the most important factor in the production of particles in cities.