مجله تحقیقات سلامت در جامعه
سال هشتم شماره 3 (پاییز 1401)

Accidents are one of the main causes of death that impose a great socioeconomic burden on society. This study aimed to model and predict the trend of mortality due to accidents in Golestan province, Iran, from 2011 to 2020.

The study was a secondary analysis based on the available data. The required information was obtained from the statistics unit of the Health Department of Golestan University of Medical Sciences (Gorgan, Iran) and was cleaned after being entered into the Microsoft Office Excel software (2016). Afterward, all the steps of analysis and fitting of the Lee-Carter model were performed using the Demography (version 18/1) and StMoMo packages in the R/3/62 software.

The death rate due to accidents in 2011 was 0.51 in the total population, 0.23 in women, and 0.78 in men per 1,000 population. It is predicted that in 2028, the age group of over 80 will reach 2.17 in the total population, 2.12 in men, and 1.77 in women (per 1,000 population). Both men and women over 50 years of age had the highest increase in deaths from accidents.

Based on the findings of the study, the trend of deaths due to accidents in Golestan province is upward. Therefore, it is necessary to plan to reduce accidents, and in this regard, specific strategies should be formulated and implemented by explaining the role of all stakeholders.

There has been a prevalent decrease in physical activity and mental health due to the Covid-19 pandemic in societies which has also affected people with Down syndrome. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between the level of physical activity and the mental health of children and adolescents with Down syndrome during the period of the epidemic of covid-19.

In this descriptive-correlation study that was conducted in 2021, among the exceptional schools of fifteen provinces of the country, the number of 192 girls (age: 11.98±3.35 years) and 192 boys (age: 12.30±3.16 years) from people with Down syndrome were selected by available and targeted sampling method. After the necessary arrangements, standard physical activity and mental health questionnaires were provided to the parents of children and adolescents. Data were analyzed using Spearman's correlation coefficient and Mann- Whitney U test with SPSS version 25 software.

According to the findings, the physical activity level of boys and girls was below average and unfavorable. Also, in the psychological dimension and based on the four subscales, it was found that in both sexes, there were no disorders related to anxiety, general health status, and depression, and only in the category of social dysfunction, the condition of people was unfavorable. Also, physical activity had a negative and significant relationship with social dysfunction in girls (P=0.001, r=- 0.24) and boys (P=0.014, r=- 0.17).

The results related to the comparison of mental health categories and physical activity level showed that there is no difference between boys and girls with Down syndrome. Only in the dimension of social dysfunction; the disorder of boys was more than that of girls, which probably decreases with the increase in the level of physical activity.

Investigation and recognition of the factors affecting the quality of life are essential to start the behavior, and continuing the behavior can be a key factor in improving the living conditions of the elderly in Tabriz.

This descriptive-analytical study was conducted on a random sample of older adults living in the city and villages of Tabriz in 2021. Data were collected through standardized questionnaires of healthy lifestyle and cognitive impairment, psychological well-being, and depression from 422 old people. The collected information was analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistical methods in the SPSS software (version 22). The significance level of the tests was less than 0.05 in this study.

The results of the data analysis showed that the lifestyle of the rural elderly had a significant and positive relationship with cognition (P=0.001, r=0.29). On the other hand, there was a significant and negative relationship between lifestyle and depression (P=0.001, r=-0.24) and a significant and positive relationship with psychological well-being (P=0.001, r=0.71). Among urban older adults, there was no statistically significant association between lifestyle and cognition (P=0.077, r=0.12), in addition to lifestyle and depression (P=0.9, r=0.009). However, a health-promoting lifestyle showed a significant positive relationship with psychological well-being (P<0.001, r=0.37).

According to the results of this study, the significant influence of lifestyle on cognition and memory, psychological well-being, and depression indicates the need for appropriate measures to improve the lifestyle of older adults.

The quality of life of the elderly is endangered by their special needs. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between social support and health-related quality of life among the elderly in Abadan.

This study was conducted based on a descriptive cross-sectional analytical design. The study sample included 138 elderly people in Abadan. Data collection instruments were the SF36 standard quality of life questionnaire and social support questionnaire. Data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 21) using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, Pearson correlation, and regression at a significance level of 0.05.

The results demonstrated that the quality of life of men (91.29±6.2) was higher than women (46.47±22.58), and the difference was significant (P<0.05). The mean score of social support and all three dimensions (support of family, friends, and acquaintances) in older men was higher than in older women. Social support had a significant and direct correlation with health-related quality of life (P=0.01). Social support predicted a 31.8% variance in the quality of life among the elderly.

The elderly had moderate quality of life and social support. The use of counseling, training, and support methods by the family and the community can be effective in improving their health.

Vaccine skepticism and refusal to vaccinate against infectious diseases have been recognized by the World Health Organization as one of the ten global health threats in 2019. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the knowledge and attitude of medical staff towards vaccination in order to advance immunization coverage.

This analytical cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate the knowledge and attitudes toward the Covid-19 Vaccination using a researcher-made questionnaire. In this research, 455 cases were selected via the convenience sampling method from among all the physicians and staff of Dr. Masih Deneshvari Hospital from February 2019 until the end of vaccination for four months. The obtained data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 22).

A total of 455 people participated in this study. The mean age of subjects was 36.2±8.99 years. Regarding gender, 50.6% of the participants were female. It was found that 44.8% of cases believed in vaccination, 28.6% of them considered Vaccination to be safe, and 29.9% of them considered Vaccination to be effective. The participants' knowledge of the benefits and side effects of the vaccine was reported as 24.2%. In examining the mean scores of the questionnaire questions, the highest score was related to recommending family members to get vaccinated (2.54±0.58), and the lowest score was related to the role of the media in deciding on Vaccination (1.80±0.72).

As evidenced by the results of this study, the treatment staff's attitude towards Vaccination was average, and they often did not have any attitude toward the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine. Furthermore, participants' knowledge about the benefits and side effects of the vaccine was reported to be weak, highlighting a need to increase the level of awareness among the treatment staff regarding the injection of Vaccination in emerging diseases.

Child mortality is one of the most important indicators of the development of societies. This study aims to examine child mortality in Iran according to the latest available data classified by the province of residence.

This is a quantitative study conducted with a secondary analysis of 2% of the results of the 2016 survey in Iran. Child mortality was determined by subtracting the number of surviving children from the total number of children born alive, and it was compared based on the economic and social characteristics of married women aged 15 to 49 years.

Literacy, education, and place of residence were the main variables associated with the death of children. The probability of child death among illiterate mothers was about twice as much as that among educated mothers. Furthermore, mothers with a university education had a 50% lower chance of child death, and urban women had a 30% less chance of child death.

Despite the decrease in child death in the country, economic and social variables still play a decisive role in this index. Therefore, it can be concluded that there is still a potential to further reduce the death of children in the country by improving the economic and social status of women.

The impact of psoriasis is very high on the quality of patients’ life even when a very small area of the body is involved. Psoriasis patients have a lower quality of life than the general population. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on mental pain and life engagement in patients with psoriasis.

This study was a semi-experimental type with a pretest-posttest design and a one-month follow-up with the control group. The statistical population consisted of all patients referred to skin and hair clinics in Boroujerd, Iran, in 2021, who received a definite diagnosis of psoriasis. Among these, 54 patients whose depression rate was higher than the cut-off point were selected through non-random sampling and were replaced in an experimental group (receiving ACT) and a simple random control group (18 in each group). Afterward, eight 90-min sessions of ACT were performed in the experimental group. Data were collected using mental pain (OMMP; Orbach et al., 2003) and life engagement (Hasanzadeh, 2014) questionnaires, as well as the Beck depression inventory (Beck, 1996). Data were analyzed using the SPSS software (version 22) and through repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) test.

The results showed that ACT was effective on mental pain (P<0.01, F=31.53) and life engagement (P<0.01, F= 54.08) of patients with psoriasis, which continued until the follow-up stage.

It can be concluded that ACT was effective in reducing mental pain and increasing life engagement in patients with psoriasis. It is suggested to use this treatment to reduce the psychological problems of patients with psoriasis.

Depression as a common mental disorder can seriously damage the academic procedure and psychological state of the students. Accordingly, the present study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of positive thinking skills training in academic engagement and social happiness of depressed students.

The present study was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design and a control group. The statistical population of this study included all male high school students in Zahedan, ran, in the academic year 2020-21. Among them, 30 eligible individuals were selected by purposive sampling method and randomly divided into two groups of 15 (experimental and control). Both groups answered the Reeve & Tseng (2011) Academic Conflict Questionnaire and Zare & Aminpour (2011) Social Happiness Questionnaire. The experimental group received positive thinking training by Seligman et al. (2005) as a group in eight 90-min sessions over two months. On the other hand, the control group did not receive any training. Data were analyzed using SPSS software (version 24) and univariate analysis of covariance.

The results showed that positive thinking training led to increased academic engagement (P<0.01, F=26.262) and increased social happiness (P<0.01, F=71.399) in depressed students.

The findings showed that positive thinking skills effectively improved the academic engagement and social happiness of depressed students. Therefore, the results indicate the need to use positive thinking skill training to improve the socio-educational psychological characteristics of depressed students.

The health of food products is one of the indicators of community health, and health workers provide numerous services in this regard. Therefore, it seems necessary to provide education based on the current situation and existing educational needs. The present study was conducted to investigate the knowledge, attitude, and educational needs of health workers in the field of food health, in the villages of Sirjan, Iran, in 2020.

This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on 77 health workers in the villages of Sirjan in 2020 by census method. Two questionnaires were used to collect the required data, including a questionnaire to measure knowledge and attitude and a researcher-made questionnaire to assess educational needs. Data were analyzed in SPSS version 24 using descriptive statistics.

The mean age of the participants was 23.9±84.37 years. Most of the subjects (67.5%) were female, and 87% of them were married. The mean scores of knowledge and attitude were 7.33±1.03 and 28.23±5.33, respectively, which indicated the average level of knowledge and attitude of health workers in this field. The total mean score of educational needs was estimated at 134.33±3.42. The mean scores of subscales were obtained as follows: personal hygiene (19.29±3.18), kitchenware hygiene (18.75±3.42), building hygiene (45.70±8.99), and food hygiene (51.10±9.15).

The knowledge and attitude of rural health workers of Sirjan in the field of food health were moderate and their educational needs were high. Therefore, it is essential to provide necessary training in the field of food hygiene to improve their knowledge and attitude and meet their educational needs.

Sexual and reproductive health literacy leads to personal capabilities in accessing, understanding, evaluating and applying sexual health information. Several factors were associated with sexual and reproductive health literacy. Therefore, the present study was conducted with a review of the factors related to sexual and reproductive health literacy.              

At first, a general review was done by Google Scholar search engine. Then, a systematic search was conducted using the keywords sexual health literacy and reproductive health literacy in Magiran, SID, Irandoc, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus, library of Cochrane from 2010 to 2022. Data was extracted from all the studies that met the eligibility criteria based on the study’s objectives.

Finally, a complete overview of 10 articles has been used to write this article. The findings of this review study led to the classification of data in three general categories including: demographic factors (gender, age, marriage, education, race, place of residence, place of study, field of study), socio-cultural factors (Religion, economic status, knowledge on sexual reproductive health, participation in sexual reproductive classes, sexual education and experience, and source of information), and medical-fertility factors (contraceptive methods, functional literacy on condoms, single and recurrent pregnancies).                                                                                                     

It is suggested to pay more attention to these factors in order to improve sexual health and reproductive literacy. It is hoped that the present study will serve as a perspective for appropriate interventions and a precursor for a systematic review.