Health Science Monitor
Volume:2 Issue: 4, Autumn 2023

Bank employees commonly experience high job stress due to the inherent demands of their work. Although previous studies have highlighted significant occupational stress and considerable job burnout among bank employees, few investigations have specifically explored the relationship between occupational stress and job burnout within this employee group. This study aimed to examine the association between occupational stress and job burnout among bank employees.

This cross-sectional survey study was conducted in Iran, focusing on employees working at a single bank branch in Urmia. One hundred two bank employees, comprising 83 males and 19 females aged between 25 and 55 years, participated in the study. Data were collected using the Occupational Stress Inventory (OSI) and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). Correlation analysis was employed to explore the relationship between occupational stressors and their subscales as independent variables, and job burnout as the dependent variable.

The findings indicated that bank employees experienced moderate to severe levels of occupational stress, with individuals exhibiting low stress reporting no burnout. Conversely, individuals with high stress levels demonstrated moderate levels of burnout. Notably, there was a significant relationship between dimensions of the occupational stress scale, such as role overload, role ambiguity, and the physical environment, and job burnout. Among these dimensions, the physical environment exhibited a particularly noteworthy correlation with job burnout (r = 0.429, p = 0.001).

The results suggest that specific dimensions of occupational stress significantly influence job burnout, underscoring the importance of implementing organizational interventions to mitigate occupational stress and job burnout.

COVID-19 pandemic is a serious concern of the World Health Organization and is considered the most important global health challenge. This study aimed to study the effect of health measures and social restrictions on the COVID-19 epidemic based on the susceptible-infectious-quarantine-recovered (SIQR) mathematical model.

Using the SIQR model, we assessed the effect of health measures and social restrictions on the COVID-19 epidemic by considering different values for the reproductive rate parameter and constant values for the recovery rate and quarantined rate (or disease detection rate).

The results indicated that with increasing the level of social restrictions and health measures equivalent to 20, 40, 60, and 80%, the reproductive rate of the COVID-19 reduced from 2.5 to 2, 1.5, 1, and 0.5, respectively. Also, with increasing the levels of social restrictions and health measures, a smaller percentage of people in the community became infected. Considering the level of social restrictions equal to 20, 40, 60, and 80% during the COVID-19 epidemic, about 60, 50, 35, and 10% of the individuals were infected with COVID-19, respectively.

The study of the impact of health measures and social restrictions on the COVID-19 epidemic will provide appropriate information on how the disease spreads and also help researchers select the proper level of these measures and restrictions to prevent further spread of COVID-19 disease.

Unsuitable management of municipal solid waste (MSW) is one of the main factors in environmental degradation, particularly in developing countries. This study aimed to analyze the quantitative and qualitative properties of MSW for energy recovery in the city of Mahabad, located in the West Azerbaijan Province, Iran.

Sampling from MSW was taken during the four seasons in 2014. Quality and quantity analyses included chemical composition, moisture percentage, dry weight, ash percentage, and heat value, which were performed in the lab as per the American Society for Testing and Materials Method D 5231-92. The experience modeling was used to extract chemical composition and heat value.

The results showed that MSW was composed of 75% food waste, 12% ash, and 61% moisture. In the MSW organic fraction (C28.7H43.6O15.3N1S0,065), carbon/nitrogen and heat values were found at 28.7 and 2.1 × 104 Kj Kg-1, respectively. Also, in the MSW biodegradable organic fraction (C23.7H37.7O14.69N1S0.069), heat value and produced methane were calculated to be 10077 Kj Kg-1 and 207 liters (148 g), respectively. Any carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere will hang around for a long time, between 200 and 200 ton day-1, which contributes to trapping heat and warming the atmosphere.

This study shows energy recovery from MSW is a good option, due to the high heat value. However, it is not an eco-friendly method as it will produce more greenhouse and poison gases and needs control systems.

The COVID-19 pandemic drastically changed the life of the general population potentially leading to various psychological problems which affect the quality of life and causes disruption in various dimensions of performance. It is necessary to provide evidence on its psychological effects to develop effective psychological interventions. The present study aimed to investigate the association between corona disease anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and quality of life among the general population.

This cross-sectional study was conducted on 500 adults living in Urmia city, Iran. Data were collected using a standard electronic questionnaire that consisted of four sections: demographic information, Corona Disease Anxiety Scale, Impact of Event Scale-Revised, and 12-item Short-Form Health Survey, which were sent through WhatsApp to participants. Data were analyzed by SPSS 16 software using descriptive and analytical statistics.

The mean scores of corona disease anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and quality of life were 16.03 ± 11.12, 31.64 ± 18.78, and 66.12 ± 22.83, respectively. Corona disease anxiety (p value < 0.001, β = -0.396) and post-traumatic stress disorder (p value < 0.001, β = -0.225) were predictors of quality of life among the general population of Urmia

The level of anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder caused by COVID-19 was slightly lower than the moderate level among the general population of Urmia. The coronavirus is not the first virus that threatens humanity, and it will not be the last virus either. Therefore, communities should utilize effective strategies to protect themselves and others and interact better with each other in order to control and minimize the psychological consequences of disease outbreaks.

Allergic disorders are one of the most critical health problems in the world. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of childhood asthma and its related factors among urban-rural preschool children.

In this descriptive cross-sectional study, children under 5 years referred to the Asthma, Allergy, and Immunology Clinic of Motahari Hospital were included. The children were divided into two groups: urban and rural group. A checklist in the form of a questionnaire (consisting of information about demographics, parental asthma, exposure to farm animals, and tobacco, adequate home air conditioning, use of antibiotics during the first year of life, maternal gestational age, type of delivery, birth weight, age of wheezing onset, length of breastfeeding, and siblings number) was filled by the parents of the children. Data were analyzed by using SPSS 21 software.

Of 149 children with asthma, 85 were boys (40.3%) and 61 were girls (59.7%). Among the compared risk factors of asthma between urban and rural patients, the statistically significant variables were Body Mass Index (BMI) which was high among urban children (p = 0.002), the number of siblings of children (urban = 74, rural = 75) (p < 0.001), age of wheezing onset (urban = 74, rural = 75) (p = 0.014), animal exposure (urban = 28.4%, rural = 46.7%) (p = 0.021), and cesarean section delivery (urban = 63.5%, rural = 37.3%) (p = 0.001) were statistically significant.

The risk of asthma among preschool children is strongly predicted by their area of residence in early life. This risk increases further in children accompanied with other asthma risk factors such as passive smoking, type of delivery, exposure to animals, and other discussed factors.

Dear Editor-in-ChiefMonkeypox is a global public health concern that needs serious attention to prevent it from spreading worldwide and encountering a new pandemic like COVID-19 again. Since the 1970s, monkeypox has been endemic in several African countries, but the biggest outbreak of monkeypox started in May 2022 in non-endemic countries (1). On June 23, 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared monkeypox an "emerging threat of moderate public concern" due to the observation of more than 3,000 cases of monkeypox in more than 50 countries from five regions of the world in less than three months (2). Although monkeypox is a mild and self-limiting disease, it can cause severe consequences in pregnant women, children, and immunocompromised individuals (1). In this article, the authors described the epidemiology and clinical features of monkeypox and chickenpox in order to better equip clinicians and public health specialists to provide a correct and timely diagnosis.

The health and vitality of the future society depend on the health of today's infants and the future youth of the society, and one of the factors threatening this health is congenital anomalies. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the prevalence and some associated factors of major congenital anomalies at birth in Shahreza County during 2016-2018.

The present study was a cross-sectional study and the study population included all newborns born in 2016-2017-2018 in Shahreza County, whom information were extracted from the mother and child records of the only hospital in the county (Amir Al-Momenin Hospital) and information registration (Sib) system. The prevalence of major congenital anomalies was estimated from the collected data, and data analysis was performed to find statistical relationships between variables using multiple logistic regression test and SPSS software v.20. A probability of < 0.05 was accepted as significant.

In total, 91 infants with major congenital anomalies were identified from 4,516 records. The prevalence of major congenital anomalies was 2.64% in 2016, 1.89% in 2017, 1.27% in 2018, and 2.01% in 2016 to 2018. There was a significant relationship between cesarean delivery type 0.6 (0.4-0.9), infant birth year 0.3 (0.1-0.5), and 0.4 (0.2-0.7), with congenital anomalies in the infants (p < 0.05).

The decline in the prevalence of congenital anomalies during the years 2016, 2017 and 2018 could be attributed to the screening of congenital anomalies during the fetal period based on the existing protocols before the 20th week of pregnancy and the termination of pregnancy in cases of diagnosis of a major congenital anomaly, with the permission of a forensic doctor. This suggests that improving the quality of prenatal care can reduce the prevalence of major congenital anomalies. Therefore, by conducting genetic counseling and fetal screening, the occurrence of major congenital abnormalities can be prevented.

The correlation between silicosis and elevated susceptibility to lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and autoimmune disorders is well-established. Hence, it is imperative to thoroughly analyze the potential health risks posed by exposure to crystalline silica within the foundry industry. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate the mortality rate associated with silicosis and lung cancer among workers in a foundry industry located in Urmia city in 2021.

The concentration of crystalline silica in the air was determined using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) in accordance with NIOSH 7602. Estimating the excess lifetime risk of mortality and rate of silicosis-related mortality was performed using Rice et al. and Mannetje et al. models.

The average concentration of crystalline silica in six occupational groups ranged from 0.029 to 0.064 mg.m-3. Among the six occupational groups studied, sand preparation workers were the most exposed to crystalline silica. According to the model of Mannetje et al., the cumulative exposure of 87% of people exposed to crystalline silica is in the range of 0 to 0.99, which indicates the death of one person per thousand people. Also, in this industry, the risk of dying from lung cancer was 15 per thousand people.

The findings indicate that the average concentration of crystalline silica in all occupational groups exceeded the permissible occupational exposure limit of 0.025 mg.m-3 recommended by the Occupational Health Committee of Iran. Additionally, the estimated risk of death due to silicosis and lung cancer is also higher than the acceptable risk level. Therefore, the implementation of control measures against exposure to silica is highly recommended.