Journal of Health Sciences and Surveillance System
Volume:3 Issue: 1, Jan 2015

Manual load lifting is the most common and stressful activity that imposes high biomechanical pressures on the body, particularly on the back. Diverse studies have shown that load lifting can cause work-related musculoskeletal disorders among workers. This study was conducted to assess manual lifting activity using NIOSH equation and WISHA index and compare the results of the two methods in workers with manual lifting activities. This cross- sectional study was carried out among 120 workers with manual lifting activity in 7 industrial settings of Shiraz city. Nordic Musculoskeletal disorders Questionnaire (NMQ) and demographic questionnaire, as well as NIOSH lifting equation and WISHA index were used to gather the required data. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS, 19. The results showed that back problems were the most frequent musculoskeletal disorders among the workers studied (68.3%). The results of lifting evaluation indicated that 79.2% of the individuals in the NIOSH method and 39.2% in WISHA index were at risk of back injuries. The kappa value was equal to 0.29, indicating a fair agreement between the results of assessment by the two methods. The results of this study confirmed a fair correlation between these two assessment methods, so they might be used interchangeably.

Intensified strategy includes special attention to the symptoms such as cough (more than two weeks), fever (more than three weeks), night sweats (more than three weeks), and weight loss (more than 3 kg per month). If any of the above symptoms was positive, in suspected individuals for TB, more assessment should be done. The aim of this study was to compare between intensified and routine case finding for a better case selection method for diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis among HIV-Infected Persons. The sample size was calculated 237 patients (474 for the two groups). In the current study, the patients were divided randomly into two groups: A) intensified case finding group and B) routine case finding group. Considering the sputum culture as the gold standard, we calculated the sensitivity and specificity, Positive predictive value (PPV), Negative predictive value (NPV) for fever, weight loss, coughing more than two week, night sweats, and PPD test. A total of eight positive cases of tuberculosis were detected in the intensified while four were found in the routine case finding group. Sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV for cough in diagnosis of TB were 25%, 87%, 6%, and 97%, respectively. For weight loss, they were 62.5%, 83%, 10.8%, and 98.5% respectively while these amounts were, 7%, 85%, 97.6, 37.5 for night sweats. For fever, they were, 25%, 92.9%, 10.5%, and 97% respectively, and for PPD they were 87.5%, 40%, 4.6%, and 98.9%, respectively. Key symptom screening, such as cough, fever, weight loss and night sweats, has an important role in detecting TB among HIV-infected patients.

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common infections seen in all age and both sex groups which frequently occur among adolescent and young women. UTIs are the second most common cause of emergency department attendance for adolescents. Considering the importance of promoting preventive behaviors of UTI, we aimed to evaluate the effect of peer education based on health belief model (HBM) on preventive behaviors of UTI among first-grade high school female students. In this quasi-experimental study, we recruited 168 first-grade high school girl students who were assigned into intervention (n=84) and control (n=84) groups. Data were collected using an HBM questionnaire which was designed by the researcher based on the review of the literature; before, immediately after and one month after the intervention. A total of 12 students in the intervention groups were selected as peer educator and attended two 2-hour training sessions for one week and were trained by the researcher. Afterwards, the trained peers taught the learned materials to their peers in two 1-hour sessions for two weeks through conferences and question-andanswer sessions. Data were analyzed by SPSS18 using t test and RMANOVA. The significance level was set at <0.05. The results showed that the mean scores of knowledge, HBM constructs and p reventive behaviors related to UTI significantly increased in the participants of intervention group immediately after and one month after the intervention.(P<0.001) Peer education based on HBM seem to promote preventive behaviors related to UTI and reduce the risk of the disease among students.

When people maintain positive attitudes during life, their beliefs orientation will be highly beneficial to their health. In other words, those who have optimistic expectations report better physical health which is the result of their better psychological compatibility. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of educational intervention based on Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) on Shirazi male high school students’ degree of optimism. This educational randomized controlled trial was conducted on 240 male high school students in Shiraz. The research sample was selected through multi-stage random sampling. In this study, a demographic information form was used to gather the students’ demographic characteristics. Besides, a positive thinking researcher-made questionnaire was designed based on TPB. Moreover, the life orientation test (optimism scale) developed by Scheier and Carver was used to evaluate the participants’ degree of optimism. After all, the data were analyzed in SPSS statistical software (v. 19) using descriptive and inferential methods. Significance level was set at 0.05 in all the tests. Compared to the control group, all the constructs of TPB increased in the intervention group after the training (P<0.001). Moreover, Pearson correlation indicated a significant relationship between the constructs, and the highest correlation was among attitude, perceived behavioral control, and intention. According to the research findings, all the constructs of TPB played a key role in increasing the students’ positive think. Thus, educational intervention based on TPB has a positive effect on increasing the students’ positive think.

The occurrence of heavy metals in the environment is of important concern due to their toxicity and health effects on humans, including cancer. Because metals have been extensively used for centuries in commerce, environmental contamination is widespread; moreover, exposure to metals and metal compounds continues to be a significant public health problem. Electroplating sludge contains heavy metals. Solidification/Stabilization can be used to avoid leaching of these metals to the environment. The aim of this study was evaluating the effectiveness of the application of dicalcium phosphate (DCP) and sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP) on Cd, Co, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn immobilization in dewatered metal plating sludge. The ratios of STPP and DCP per dry plating sludge were determined to be 0.1%, 0.2% and 0.5% by weight. Metal leaching from the solidified plating wastes was assessed using the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP). The results showed that the concentration of metals in untreated sludge were appropriate to classify this sludge as a hazardous waste as described in The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 40 CFR 261.24. DCP and STPP lowered the concentration of metal in the effluent. Increasing DCP concentration from 0.1 to 0.5% decreases the contaminant concentration in the effluent. F or Cd, Pb, Cu and Ni increasing the percentage of STPP in the sludge increases the contaminant’s concentration resulting from TCLP extraction. Immobilization of heavy metals was more effective through application of DCP rather than STPP. Moreover, it may minimize the potential risk of groundwater eutrophication connected with the application of highly soluble phosphate like STPP.

Noise is one of the most important hazardous physical factors in industrial environments. This study aimed to determine the effects of noise exposure on serum cortisol level and some blood parameters among male workers of a steel production company. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 50 male workers in a steel production company. In order to assess the changes in blood parameters, such as serum cortisol level, lipid profile, and blood sugar, blood samples were taken from the participants before and after the work shift. Besides, CEL 440 sound level meter was used to measure the equivalent sound pressure level (LAeq) and analyze the noise in octave band frequencies. Analyses of data were performed by SPSS software (version 16) using the Paired sample t-test. The laboratory findings indicated an increase in serum cortisol at all exposure levels. However, the changes were not statistically significant. An increase was observed in blood sugar levels at all the three noise levels and the increment was statistically significant at 95 dB noise level. The present study showed that exposure to high sound levels leads to changes in biological parameters, although under the scenario explained in this study these changes did not reach statistical significant.