Archives of Hygiene Sciences
Volume:3 Issue: 2, Spring 2014

Background & Aims of the Study: Hypertension was introduces as the strongest risk factor for CVD events in an Iranian population. The aim of this study was to measure the amount of undiagnosed hypertension and selected cardiovascular risk factors present among an adult population through opportunistic screening. This cross sectional opportunistic screening programme was carried out in a PHC in urban areas of Ardabil city on 354 patients and accompanying persons aged 30 years and above who attended were included. Known hypertensive patients and pregnant women were excluded. The study participants were interviewed using a pre-tested semi-structured interview schedule to collect data regarding socio-demographic variables. Blood pressure (BP) was measured for all participants. Data were analyzed with SPSS version 18 using chi-square test. A total of 354 participants were screened; 55.1% were females. Mean (SD) of age of the participants was 48.4(12.4) years. Hypertension and pre-hypertension were present in 18.6% (66/354) and 39.3% (139/354) of the participants respectively. 19.2% (68/354) of all participants were current users of tobacco. Generalised obesity was present in 32.5% (115/354) of the participants while 18.1% (64/354) were overweight. 44.9% (159/354) participants had central obesity. The prevalence of hypertension and prehypertension is high, and the results demonstrate the urgent need to develop effective national strategies to improve prevention of hypertension including life style modifications strongly recommended.

Background & Aims of the Study: Birth weight is one of the most fundamental and common health indicators used to assess the infants'' status in each country. Maternal blood and its various cell types and parameters are of vital factors have impression on the fetus. Several risk factors are considered as the causes of low birth weight; however, in many cases it has no obvious reason. This study aims at reviewing the role of effective maternal indicators on birth weight. This research is of overview type designed using 19 papers collected from academic databases and search engines such as pubmed, proquest, Elseviere, scopus. Papers were selected by cross-sectional and cohort designs, clinical trials, and systematic reviews. Papers were also searched in Persian databases, such as Iranmedex, medlib, as well as scientific journals websites. Evaluation of various maternal parameters such as hematocrit, body mass index, hemoglobin, blood lead, zinc and iron levels showed direct and meaningful relationship between child weight and maternal hematocrit, hemoglobin, and body mass index. Moreover, there exists an inverse relationship between child weight and maternal iron while it is noteworthy that there is no relationship between maternal blood lead level and child weight. at the end, it can be stated that many of the maternal parameters have adverse effects on the fetus; however, some of them has not been confirmed everywhere. Perhaps the reason for this difference in results comes from differences in race, geography, lifestyle, laboratory practices and etc. Thus, it is recommended that further studies be conducted in any region to determine the effect of each of these parameters.

Background & Aims of the Study: It is believed that immature defensive mechanisms and impulsiveness make people vulnerable to smoker and drugs, and these individuals experience more negative emotions and have less options for reducing their psychological disorders. The study sought to determine the role of difficulty in emotional self-regulation, impulsiveness, and defensive mechanisms in discriminate smoker and non-smoker students. This study is a case-control study. The sample consisted of 140 smoker students, and 140 non-smoker students who were studying at Nourabad PNU (Payam-e-Noor University) at 2013-14.Forcollecting data, Difficulty Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS), Impulsiveness Scale, and Defense Style Questionnaire (DSQ) were used. For data analysis, discriminate analysis is technique was applied, using SPSS.16 Software. The results showed that 74% of the variance of6 variables of emotional denial, emotional clarity, deregulation, cognitive impulsiveness, mature defensive mechanism and immature defensive mechanism explain the distinguishable features between the two groups of smokers and nonsmokers. The results showed that the smoker and non-smoker students could be distinguished by emotional denial, emotional clarity, deregulation, cognitive impulsiveness and immature defensive mechanisms.

Background & Aims of the Study: Birth weight is one of the most fundamental and common health indicators used to assess the infants'' status in each country. Maternal blood and its various cell types and parameters are of vital factors have impression on the fetus. Several risk factors are considered as the causes of low birth weight; however, in many cases it has no obvious reason. This study aims at reviewing the role of effective maternal indicators on birth weight. This research is of overview type designed using 19 papers collected from academic databases and search engines such as pubmed, proquest, Elseviere, scopus. Papers were selected by cross-sectional and cohort designs, clinical trials, and systematic reviews. Papers were also searched in Persian databases, such as Iranmedex, medlib, as well as scientific journals websites. Evaluation of various maternal parameters such as hematocrit, body mass index, hemoglobin, blood lead, zinc and iron levels showed direct and meaningful relationship between child weight and maternal hematocrit, hemoglobin, and body mass index. Moreover, there exists an inverse relationship between child weight and maternal iron while it is noteworthy that there is no relationship between maternal blood lead level and child weight. at the end, it can be stated that many of the maternal parameters have adverse effects on the fetus; however, some of them has not been confirmed everywhere. Perhaps the reason for this difference in results comes from differences in race, geography, lifestyle, laboratory practices and etc. Thus, it is recommended that further studies be conducted in any region to determine the effect of each of these parameters.