International Journal of Preventive Medicine
Volume:13 Issue: 10, Oct 2022

The overuse and abuse of the Internet incur the risk of Internet addiction. Besides, as adolescents spend many hours on the Internet, their general health is at stake.

The present study was a descriptive cross sectional study. The study sample included 903 female and male high school students in Bushehr City in 2018. The students took part in this study by completing Kimberly Young’s Internet Addiction Test (IAT) and Goldenberg’s Mental Health(GHQ) Questionnaire. The Frequency, mean and standard deviation measures were used to describe the data. also data were analyzed through Chi squared tests and logistic regression using SPSS software (version 22).

According to the results of the prevalence of Internet addiction it was found that 1.1% (10 individuals) were Internet‑addicted and 33.1% (299 individuals) were at the risk of Internet addiction. The findings of this study indicated that four different areas of mental health including physical condition, anxiety, depression, and social functioning have a direct relationship with Internet addiction (P < 0.05).

In the present study, a large percentage of the students were prone to Internet addiction. Hence, it is necessary to plan and perform preventive, controlling, and interventional measures for high school students.

Waterpipe smoking is associated with maternal and fetal complications, and valid data contribute to evidence‑based planning. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence and factors related with waterpipe smoking among pregnant women of Zahedan city in 2020.

This cross‑sectional study was conducted in 2020, and 400 pregnant women in the third trimester of pregnancy who lived in Zahedan participated in it by single stage randomized cluster sampling. A questionnaire was used to measure awareness of waterpipe complications, and another one investigated the status of waterpipe smoking to collect data. For data analysis, descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression were used through SPSS 21.

The findings indicated that the prevalence of waterpipe smoking was 18.8%. In the waterpipe smoking group, 46.6% smoked every day, 89.3% had tried to reduce the smoking, and 64.8% reported fetal death as their main motivation to reduce smoking. Only 5.6% of subjects stated receiving training as the reason for reduction of their waterpipe smoking. The women’s level of education, economic status, ethnicity, and awareness of the risks of waterpipe smoking were the predictors for waterpipe smoking (P < 0.05, P = 0.03, P = 0.006, and P < 0.001, respectively).

The results of this study show the high prevalence of waterpipe smoking in pregnant women of Zahedan. Further investigation and training in this regard are essential for pregnancy as well as pre‑pregnancy care. Special attention should be paid to groups with better economic status and level of education, Baluch women, and those with low level of awareness.

To assess the psychological consequences of changes during the coronavirus 2019 (COVID‑19) pandemic in the Iranian population.

We performed an anonymous online survey in the first 3 weeks of March 2020. Individuals older than 14 who could read Persian, and lived in Iran, were eligible for the study. The participants had to rate their stress levels and depressive symptoms (using a nine‑item Patient Health Questionnaire PHQ-9) during the last 2 weeks and before the pandemic retrospectively. The changes in the psychological measurements and their association with the sociodemographic factors and burdens due to confinement were assessed.

Overall, among the 3,210 subjects who participated in our study, both the stress levels and average depression scores increased. However, about 23% of the subjects reported a decrease in their stress levels. The burden of childcare, restrictions in private life, and thoughts about the future were positively correlated with the changes in the stress levels and depression scores (|r| > 0.15). However, feeling relieved in the pandemic condition, and enjoying more family time were associated with less change in the stress and depression scores. Being religious (odds ratio [OR] [CI]: 1.5 [1.3‑1‑8]) and older age (OR [CI]: 2.9 [1.8–4.6] for >55 years old) were identified as the resilience factors, whereas being a student (OR [CI]: 2.1 [1.6;2.7]), seeking a job (OR [CI]: 2.6 [1.8;3.9]), and history of a psychiatric disorder (OR [CI]: 3.2 [2.6;4]) were identified as the risk factors for depression.

The stress levels and depressive symptoms have increased during the COVID‑19 pandemic and this increase is related to different social and personal burdens due to the confinement conditions.

In the name of extensive vaccine uptake, understanding the public’s attitude, perception, and intent toward COVID‑19 vaccination is a significant challenge for public health officials.

A cross‑sectional survey via an online questionnaire rooted in the Health Belief Model and Integrated Behavioral Model was conducted to evaluate COVID‑19 vaccination intent and its associated factors. Factor analysis and multivariate logistic regression were operated to be satisfactory.

Among the 4,933 respondents, 24.7% were health care workers, and 64.2% intended to accept COVID‑19 vaccination. The adjusted odds (aOR) of COVID‑19 vaccination intent was higher for individuals with greater exposure to social norms supportive of COVID‑19 vaccination (aOR = 3.07, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) = 2.71, 3.47) and higher perceived benefits of COVID‑19 vaccination (aOR = 2.9, 95% CI = 2.49, 3.38). The adjusted odds of vaccination intent were lower for individuals with greater COVID‑19 vaccine safety concerns (aOR = 0.28, 95%CI = 0.25, 0.31). Lower vaccination intent was also associated with increasing age ((aOR = 0.99, 95% CI = 0.98, 0.999), female sex (aOR = 0.76, 95% CI = 0.65, 0.88), and working in the health care field (aOR = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.63, 0.9).

The odds of COVID‑19 vaccination intent were higher three or more times among those with a greater belief in vaccine effectiveness, lower concerns about vaccine safety, and greater exposure to cues to vaccinate, including from doctors. This last finding is concerning as vaccine acceptance was surprisingly lower among health care workers compared to others. The remarkable results of factor analysis and reliability of the questionnaire may encourage local health authorities to apply it to their regional population

Infectious diseases are one of the most important problems that affect the whole world. The World Health Organization (WHO), an active health organization, has identified coronavirus disease 19 (COVID‑19) as a public health emergency and advises governments not to waste time on effective measures and interventions to attack and suppress the virus. In Iran, so far, the total number of screening tests has exceeded 21 million tests and more than 5 million doses of vaccine have been injected. However, we are still far from controlling the epidemic wave. Given the current situation, it is necessary to identify the challenges of managing the new coronavirus epidemic (COVID‑19) in the country’s medical universities.

This qualitative study was conducted from January 2020 to January 2021 to explore the views of a group of service providers and staff managers of medical universities who were selected via purposeful sampling (n = 47). Data were collected through semi‑structured interviews and analyzed using Graneheim and Lundman’s conventional content analysis methods. The trial version of MAXQDA 16 software was used to manage the coding process.

Upon analysis of data by service providers and staff managers of medical universities, five main themes including governance and leadership, service delivery, human resources, medicine and technology, and financing and 15 sub‑themes including management and leadership, culture and society, process, infrastructure, manpower, training and skills, mental pressure, work pressure, nutrition, safety, employee motivation, medical equipment, medicine, payment, and funds were found.

Identification of the most important challenges of service providers and staff managers can play an important role in improving the management of the new coronavirus epidemic (COVID‑19). It seems that in order to solve some of these challenges, coordination is needed outside the field of health, and considering the formation of the National Corona Headquarters at the national level, it is possible to use this infrastructure to provide the necessary policies and strategies.

Choosing the right temperature probe location is important, especially in VLBW infants. We aimed to determine five points of the skin surface and compare them with the axillary temperature of potentially suitable locations as well as the best location for skin probe placement.

In a cross‑sectional study, 400 neonates with gestational age above 26 weeks were enrolled. The axillary temperature was measured using a mercury thermometer at 0 and 30 min. Then, the body temperature was measured using a surface probe on the five skin areas, including the thoracic area, epigastric region, RUQ area, hypogastric area, and left flanking area. Data recorded were compared with the axillary temperature at 0 and 30 min.

Mean neonatal axillary temperatures at 0 and 30 min were 36.60 and 36.61, respectively. The mean temperature was recorded using skin probes at 0 and 30 min in the thoracic region (36.34 and 36.35) in the epigastric region (36.45 and 36.47), in the RUQ region (36.50 and 36.52), in the Flank region (36.26 and 36.20), and in the hypogastric region (36.24 and 36.26). The lowest mean difference recorded by surface probes with the temperature measured by the thermometer in the axillary region was related to the surface probe RUQ (mean difference: 0.1 and 0.09), which was not statistically significant.

RUQ area probe has the lowest difference with the temperature calculated using the thermometer in the axillary region and is the best place to put the skin probe for prevention of hypo/hyperthermia.

Considering the key role of physicians in providing genetic counseling services and the lack of studies in this field in Iran, it seems necessary to design a valid and reliable instrument for measuring the awareness, attitude, and performance of general and specialist physicians in genetic counseling.

In this descriptive study, the design and psychometrics of the questionnaire were performed in 4 steps: first, defining the concept of awareness, attitude, and performance of general and specialist physicians in relation to genetic counseling by reviewing texts and articles; second, designing questionnaire items; third, determining the face and content validity by 10 university experts; and forth, determining reliability using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient method.

The primary version of the questionnaire was designed taking into account 60 items during the first and second stages. In the third step, one item was removed and in the final version of the questionnaire 59 items and the content validity index (CVI) and content validity ratio (CVR) were reported to be 0.98 and 0.92, respectively. Reliability with Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was determined 0.82.

The final questionnaire with 59 items had appropriate psychometric properties. This questionnaire has the ability to be used by health care providers in health care systems to measure the awareness, attitude, and performance of physicians about genetic counseling. The need for further studies is suggested to measure the other types of validity, such as the structural validity of the questionnaire

Obesity is a chronic medical illness with a higher risk of physical and mental cascade. People who seek obesity treatment were reported to have some psychiatric disorders affecting their disease and selection of management. Aims of the Study: This study aims to estimate the prevalence of depressive and anxiety disorders in obese patients seeking obesity management and explore the relationship between common psychiatric disorders (depression and anxiety disorders) and selection of the type of obesity management (surgical or non‑surgical).

Patients were recruited from Alazhar Universityhospitals,Egypt, and the total number completing the study was 1115 patients. All subjects underwent psychiatric interview through Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (SCID‑5 for DSM‑5) for diagnosis of psychiatric disorders and completed two questionnaires, Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD) and Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety (HRSA).

The prevalences of depressive and anxiety disorders were 29.23% and 25.56%, respectively, in all subjects. The most prevalent diagnoses were dysthymic disorder (20.7%), general anxiety disorder (16.95%), major depressive disorder (13.04%), and social phobia (12.4%). Our sample was divided into two groups (surgical and non‑surgical). Dysthymia was more common in the surgical group (21.4% versus 19.8% P = 0.560), whereas major depressive disorder was more common in the non‑surgical group (7.4% versus 5.4 P = 0.593); also, the non‑surgical group was more likely to have “anxiety disorders” (29.23% versus 22.4%, P = 0.840), but severity of anxiety was higher in the surgical group according to HRSA score with a highly significant difference.

A high prevalence of depression and anxiety disorders was found among patients who sought obesity treatment. Severity of anxiety was higher in the surgical group according to HRSA score with a highly significant difference, which may affect selection of treatment, so psychiatric evaluation and management are needed before and after obesity management to improve the outcome

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer among adults in Iran. The aim of colorectal cancer screening is to reduce the cancer burden in the population by diagnosing the disease in its early stages.

We adapted this guideline for the moderate CRC risk population for Isfahan to determine how to screen them and when to start and end the CRC screening. This guideline was developed by clinical appraisal and review of the evidence, available clinical guidelines, and in consultation with members of the Isfahan Chamber of Iranian association of gastroenterology and hepatology.

In screening people with average risk for CRC who use personal resources and personally pay all the costs, colonoscopy is recommended as the first choice to be done every 10 years. In case of negative colonoscopy, we recommend FIT test to prevention of interval cancer every 5 years. In screening of people with average risk of CRC, FIT is suggested to be done every 2 years as a first-choice method test for those who use public resources and do not pay for this service personally. In screening individuals with average risk for CRC, g-FOBT is not recommended as the first method of choice. Repeating positive guaiac test is not recommended and if positive, colonoscopy is suggested.

Sir, Within the past 18 months, the prevalence of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 19) pandemic in the world  (as well as in Iran) has fluctuated widely, but its trend has spread rapidly around the world. Despite the efforts of governments, this trend has been even greater in recent months in some less developed and developing countries. The prevalence of COVID‑19 depends on various factors, such as health infrastructure, health, and economic, social, and cultural policies of countries and differs from country to country. The fluctuations in the spread of this disease in the form of different waves  (first, second, third, fourth, etc.) have appeared in many countries, including Iran  (battling the fifth wave of the disease).[1,2]

To the editor: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19) has been spreading globally since December 2019. At the early pandemic, progressive affected patients and healthcare indicated a lack of proper protective measures and reflected the need for reassessment in the healthcare system and protective measures.[1]

The coronavirus disease 19 (COVID‑19) epidemic serves as a stark reminder that pandemics, similar to other unexpected diseases, have occurred in the past and will continue to do so in the future.[1] In the fight against the virus, healthcare professionals and scientists are on the front lines. Furthermore, because of the complexities of COVID‑19, this epidemic has caused havoc in the scientific community. The COVID‑19 outbreak has had a significant detrimental impact on the scientific community, forcing the closure of universities, research institutes, and laboratories. Most scientific activities, including national and international conferences, symposiums, seminars, and training programs, have been canceled or postponed.

These days, silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) have been given considerable attention and applied in medical technology due to their great antimicrobial and antioxidant features. In the present study, we aimed to synthesize Ag NPs through the reduction of silver nitrate in the presence of Vitex agnus castus L fruit extract.

After collecting fruits, their extract was prepared and added to Ag NO3 to produce Ag NPs. The effect of different parameters like AgNO3 concentration (0.5, 1, 3, and 5 mM), sunlight exposure, and sunlight irradiation time (10, 20, 30, and 40 min) was investigated in the synthesis of Ag NPs. The features of Ag NPs were characterized using UV‑visible spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope (SEM), X‑ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, and dynamic light scattering analysis. Moreover, antimicrobial function of Ag NPs was evaluated using Escherichia coli and Bacillus cereus bacteria species and minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of Ag NPs against these two pathogens was measured.

The results showed that the synthesized nanoparticles had a spherical shape and the range size of 30‑60 nm. For the first time, the antimicrobial activity of synthesized Ag NPs of Vitex agnus castus L fruit extract was shown.

It can be stated that the biosynthesis of Ag NPs using fruit extract of this plant is an environmentally friendly, economic and harmless method without any use of poisonous substances and no side effects. These Ag NPs can be considered as suitable antibacterial agents and replacements for antibiotics.