مجله تحقیقات سلامت در جامعه
سال هشتم شماره 2 (تابستان 1401)

The severity of accidents and mortality rate varies between countries with different socio-economic statuses. This study aimed to model the socio-economic factors affecting the severity of injuries in traffic accidents of drivers referred to Imam Khomeini Hospital in Urmia using logistic regression.

This cross-sectional-analytical study included 250 drivers who had a traffic accident in 2020 and were referred to Imam Khomeini Medical Center in Urmia, Iran. For evaluating the relationship between socio-economic factors and the severity of injuries, the Injury Severity Score (ISS) scale was used to determine the severity of the injury, and logistic regression was used to model and study the relationship. The collected data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 16), and a p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

The results showed a significant relationship between the high severity of the injury with, marital status (OR=0.43, P=0.029), level of education (OR=4.45, P=0.005), monthly household income (OR=5.40, P=0.037), car monetary value (OR=3.22, P=0.011), and the share of health care costs (OR=0.31, P=0.004). In contrast, there was no significant relationship between job and the high injury severity.

The results showed a significant relationship between most of the socio-economic factors and the severity of the injury. It seems that paying attention to welfare and public health strategies, material and spiritual support for the recovery of patients, increasing the purchasing power of families, improving cultural views, specialized training, and upgrading the automotive industry may reduce accidents and the severity of injuries.

It is necessary to change, modify, and evaluate educational programs over time. Due to the major role of education and the need to use effective and multifaceted evaluation methods, the present study aimed to assess the training courses of health volunteers according to the Kirkpatrick model.

This quasi-experimental study was performed on 102 health volunteers in urban health centers in Mamasani city. The data collection tool was a two-part questionnaire, including demographic characteristics and evaluation of reaction levels, learning, performance, and results of training courses conducted for health volunteers and covered households. The data were analyzed in SPSS (version 25).

The level of desirability of the provided education was assessed by calculating the average scores of the desirability of the four levels. In the first level of the Kirkpatrick model, most volunteers and covered families were satisfied with participating in the training courses. At the second level, their knowledge increased significantly (P= 0.01). The average score in the field of behavior and performance of volunteers was 74.41%, and it was 74.44% in covered households. In the field of training results, the average score of health volunteers was 49.99%, and it was 49.96% in covered households, indicating the effective role of training and evaluation effectiveness.

The evaluation of the educational program for health volunteers and covered households indicated the positive effect of the training provided to achieve the goals of the program. Due to the applicability of the health volunteer program at all levels of society, the use of a multidimensional model, such as Kirkpatrick, to evaluate this program and other educational programs of the health care system is recommended.

The World Health Organization considers preventive behaviors, which are influenced by several factors, the most important factor in breaking the COVID-19 transmission chain. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the predictors of COVID-19 preventive behaviors based on an extended pattern of health beliefs in adults.

The present study is a descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study performed on 900 adults. The sample was selected through convenience sampling from the statistical population of Salamooz website users. In this study, information was collected using a researcher-made questionnaire consisting of four sections (demographic characteristics, health belief model constructs, perceived social support, and COVID-19 preventive behaviors) and statistically analyzed using the SPSS software (version 24).

Among the studied variables, age (P<0.001, B=0.04), sex (P<0.001, B=1.33), history of COVID-19 (P=0.001, B=-0.75), perceived sensitivity (P=0.007, B=0.13), perceived barriers (P<0.001, B=-0.24), perceived self-efficacy (P< 0.001, B=0.16), family social support (P<0.001, B=0.13), and friends social support (P=0.021, B=0.06) were predictors of COVID-19 preventive behaviors. These constructs were able to predict 29% of changes in COVID-19 preventive behaviors. Among them, perceived barriers were the strongest predictor of preventive behaviors.

Based on the predictors of COVID-19 preventive behaviors, it is suggested that policymakers, officials, and planners in the process of implementing behavioral change to improve COVID-19 preventive behaviors form strategies to increase mental sensitivity. In particular, they can use the risk of illness and inform families, as well as individuals, to improve their supportive role and self-efficacy to reduce barriers to performing preventive behavior.

Job performance is the most critical organizational issue determining the survival or dissolution of an organization. Professional ethics are among the major factors promoting job performance. Since professional ethics and job performance contribute greatly to the enhancement of productivity, the present study aimed to assess the relationship between professional ethics and job performance of staff in selected hospitals of Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences in 2021.

This applied research was conducted based on a descriptive cross-sectional design conducted on 180 employees of selected hospitals in 2022. The subjects were randomly selected and administered the Work Ethic Questionnaire of Gregory, C., Petty, and Job Performance Questionnaire by Patterson. Data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 16) using Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests.

The results pointed to a positive and significant relationship between professional ethics and job performance. The correlation coefficients of "interest in work', "perseverance", "healthy relationships", "collective spirit and participation in work" were reported as 0.355, 0.551, 0.483), and 0.386, respectively. Demographic variables (marriage, education, age, and professional experience) showed a significant relationship with professional ethics, and demographic variables (gender, marriage, age, and work experience) were correlated with job performance.

As evidenced by the findings of this study, the promotion of ethics can increase employees' job performance. Since job performance directly improves organizational productivity, these two variables deserve assiduous attention.

Gender equality and good governance are the most important social indicators affecting health status and well-being. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the impact of gender inequality and good governance on health status in upper-middle-income countries.

The present ecological and applied study was conducted on upper-middle-income countries using the cross-sectional data method and the Common Correlated Effect Means Group estimator by STATA software (version 16). A total of 33 upper-middle-income countries were selected non-randomly. Data for 2000-2019 were extracted from the databases of the World Bank and the United Nations.

The mean of life expectancy index, under-five mortality rate, gender inequality index and good governance were 71.25, 25.28, 0.42 and -1.26. The impact of gender inequality index, good governance index, health expenditures and women's participation rate on life expectancy were equal to -1.15, 0.031, 0.040 and 0.009, respectively, and impact of gender inequality index and per capita GDP on the infant mortality rate were 12.062 and -5.183, respectively.

Gender inequality index had a negative effect and good governance, health expenditures and women's participation rate in the labor market had a positive effect on life expectancy; Gender inequality index also had a positive effect and per capita GDP had a negative effect on child mortality rate. Therefore, policies to reduce gender inequality, such as improving women's education, increasing women's participation in parliament, and increasing women's employment are proposed.

In recent years, the rapid growth of technology and the use of computers have affected almost all workstations, and musculoskeletal disorders are very common among computer users. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the ergonomic status and prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in computer users.

This descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 100 Bank staff in Bojnurd, Iran. The Rapid Office Strain Assessment (ROSA) method and Nordic standard questionnaire were used to evaluate the ergonomic status, and determine the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders, respectively. The data were analyzed in SPSS software (version22), through the Chi-square test, one-way ANOVA, and descriptive statistics.

The mean±SD age and work experience of users were determined at 34±6.9 and 15.1±0.7 years, respectively. A significant relationship was observed between gender and pain in the back (P=0.037), wrist/hand (P=0.032), knee (P=0.024), and upper back (P=0.054).The most common skeletal-muscular disorders in people were observed in the waist, neck, and upper back areas in the body, respectively. The mean±SD final ROSA score of the chair, phone-monitor, and mouse-keyboard was estimated at 3.7±1, 3.6±1.1, and 3.65±1.2, respectively, and the mean±SD of the final ROSA score was 4.4±0.9. Based on the ROSA method, 35 workstations had a risk score≥5, indicating the need for further evaluation and immediate corrections.

According to the results of this study, it was found that work-environment factors that affect skeletal-muscular disorders include chair, mouse-keyboard, and phone-monitor, in the order of significance. Therefore, most of these injuries can be prevented by correcting the ergonomics of chairs and the proper placement of the mouse-keyboard.

Water scarcity is a daunting challenge in most areas of the world, with at least one in six people in the world does not have access to safe drinking water. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between religious attitudes and water saving in students of Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences in 2021.

This descriptive study was conducted on 299 students who were selected by the convenience sampling method. Data collection tools were the water conservation tendency and the religious attitude standard questionnaires (Marzban et al., 2019). Data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 24) using an independent t-test, analysis of variance, and Pearson correlation coefficient statistics tests.

The mean scores of religious attitude and tendency towards water saving were 4.19±0.5 and 4.25±0.36, respectively. Moreover, 92.3% and 100% of students were in favarouble conditions in terms of religious attitude and water saving, respectively. The tendency to save water consumption had a significant relationship with the university of students (P <0.05). The correlation between religious attitude and the tendency towards water saving was statistically significant (R= 0.483; P ≤0.001).

According to the positive relationship between religious attitude and tendency towards water saving consumption, as well as the religious context of our society, we can use this potential in the field of environmental protection and water saving.

The epidemiological identification of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) helps health policymakers to make appropriate decisions, which in return, contributes to controlling the epidemic. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of this disease in areas of high population density in Zahedan, southeastern Iran.

This retrospective cross-sectional study (descriptive-analytical) was performed on 230 people working and living in densely populated areas of Zahedan from May to June 2020. Data were collected based on a researcher-made questionnaire and the results of the RT-PCR test using throat and nasal swabs from the upper respiratory tract. The collected data were analyzed in SPSS-v16 software.

Based on the results, out of 230 participants in the study, 186 (80.9%) were male and 44 (19.1%) were female. The mean age of the subjects was obtained at 36.36 12±12.36 years. Less than 50% of people used personal protective equipment (e.g., masks, gloves, disinfectant solution). The prevalence of COVID-19 was 4.3% in this study and had a statistically significant relationship with such symptoms as fever and chills, headache, nausea, exhaustion, and loss of sense of smell (P<0.05).

The prevalence of the disease was not high in these areas, and because the disease is highly contagious, health politicians must take special decisions and measures to prevent its spread.