International Journal of High Risk Behaviors and Addiction
Volume:4 Issue: 3, Sep 2015

Myocardial infarction (MI) is a heart condition caused by the suspension of blood circulation in a part of the myocardium. There are different risk factors contributing to a heart attack. Some believe that endorphins and endogenous opioids play an important role in causing MIs.. This study intended to determine the relationship between opium dependency and mortality rate among patients with MI..Patients and This retrospective study investigated patients who had MI for the first time and were hospitalized in the coronary care unit (CCU) of Khatamolanbia hospital in Zahedan, Iran, from 2007 to 2010. These patients were either opium dependent or not. Four hundred patients were selected. The patients’ possibilities of death and re-hospitalization after the first MI were confirmed over the phone. Data was analyzed through t-test and chi-squared test.. Of all the patients, 19.5% were opium-dependent. The mortality rate in the non-opium-dependent group was 5.9%, while in the dependent group this rate was 11.5% (P = 0.072). The number of re-hospitalizations due to heart problems was higher in the opium-dependent patients (P < 0.001).. There was no meaningful relationship between the mortality rate of patients with MI who were either opium-dependent or non-opium-dependent. The number of re-hospitalizations due to heart problems was meaningfully higher in the opium-dependent patients; hence, educating people and training them on the destructive effects of opium, specifically in patients with heart conditions is highly recommended..

Drug abuse is a chronic and enduring phenomenon, which is among the important challenging public health problems. One of the main aspects in drug abuse is the relapse.. The aims of this study were to estimate the time to relapse (survival rate) and to evaluate some of its associated variables by survival analysis..Patients and This research was conducted in four addiction treatment centers on 140 self-referred addicts in Ilam city, Iran, in 2012. Cluster sampling method was used for selecting the samples and data were collected by interview and referring to the subjects’ records. The gathered data were analyzed through the life table, Kaplan-Meier analysis, log rank test, and Cox regression.. The relapse rate was 30.42%, mean and median of the time to relapse (survival time) were 27.40 ± 1.63 months (CI 95%: 24.19 - 30.60) and 25 ± 2.25 months (CI 95%: 22.5 - 27.5), respectively. In the first six months, the cumulative survival rate was 83%, while in the 24th month it was 46% and the following time was consistent. Job status (OR = 2.64), marital status (OR = 1.55), family size (OR = 1.20) and age (OR = 0.23) were statistically significant in Cox regression model.. In the initial treatment, it seems necessary to supervise and monitor the treatment process through staff in addiction treatment centers together with the company of the addicts’ families to reduce relapse rate..

Reliability and validity are the key concepts in measurement processes. Young internet addiction test (YIAT) is regarded as a valid and reliable questionnaire in English speaking countries for diagnosis of Internet-related behavior disorders.. This study aimed at validating the Persian version of YIAT in the Iranian society..Patients and A pilot and a cross-sectional study were conducted on 28 and 254 students of Qom University of Medical Sciences, respectively, in order to validate the Persian version of YIAT. Forward and backward translations were conducted to develop a Persian version of the scale. Reliability was measured by test retest, Cronbach’s alpha and interclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Face, content and construct validity were approved by the importance score index, content validity ratio (CVR), content validity index (CVI), correlation matrix and factor analysis. The SPSS software was used for data analysis.. The Cronbach’s alpha was 0.917 (CI 95%; 0.901 - 0.931). The average of scale-level CVI was calculated to be 0.74; the CVI index for each item was higher than 0.83 and the average of CVI index was equal to 0.89. Factor analysis extracted three factors including personal activities disorder (PAD), emotional and mood disorder (EMD) and social activities disorder (SAD), with more than 55.8% of total variances. The ICC for different factors of Persian version of Young Questionnaire including PAD, EMD and for SAD was r = 0.884; CI 95%; 0.861 - 0.904, r = 0.766; CI 95%; 0.718 - 0.808 and r = 0.745; CI 95%; 0.686 - 0.795, respectively.. Our study showed that the Persian version of YIAT is good and usable on Iranian people. The reliability of the instrument was very good. Moreover, the validity of the Persian translated version of the scale was sufficient. In addition, the reliability and validity of the three extracted factors of YIAT were evaluated and were acceptable..

Smoking among the youth is an important public health concern. Although several studies have investigated the correlates of smoking behavior, no theory-based study has particularly assessed this problem among medical students.. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of the extended theory of planned behavior (TPB) to predict smoking behavior among a sample of Iranian medical students..Patients and This is a cross-sectional study carried out in Ahvaz, Iran, 2014. The data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire, which included items on demographics, smoking behavior, and components of the TPB model (attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavior control, and intention), and an added construct on smoking refusal skill. Data were analyzed using descriptive correlation, and linear regression statistics by SPSS, version 16.. One hundred and seventy medical students with a mean age of 21.25 (SD = 2.9) years were enrolled in the study. Of them, 24 (13.5%) students were smokers. All components of the TPB model and smoking refusal skill were statistically significant as to intention to smoke (P < 0.001). The TPB constructs with and without smoking refusal skill accounted for 77% (adjusted R2) and 78% of the variance observed for intention to smoke, respectively. The results also revealed the highest weight for perceived behavior control (β= -0.40).. The findings of this study indicated that all TPB variables are useful tools for prediction of the smoking behaviors among students. Particularly, students’ perceived behavioral control and attitudes towards smoking were found to be important determinants of smoking intentions. Thus, the findings could be used for planning effective tobacco control programs targeting University students..

Both alcohol and other substances are utilized for emotional and cognitive regulation.. The purpose of the present study was to compare metacognitive styles and distress intolerance in patients with alcohol and other substance dependence..Patients and According to DSM-IV TR criteria, 45 patients with alcohol dependence (AD), 44 patients with substance dependence (SD), and 43 volunteers without AD or SD (control group) were enrolled. Socio-demographic information form, Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS), and metacognitive questionaire-30 (MCQ-30) were used to evaluate the participants.. Patients with AD had significantly lower “tolerance” subscale and total DTS scores than those with SD and control group(P = 0.008 for SD sample and P = 0.004 for control group). Patients with SD had significantly higher scores in “appraisal” subscale DTS than control group (P = 0.005). Patients of both AD and SD groups had significantly higher scores in “positive beliefs” subscale of MCQ-30 than control group (P = 0.012 for AD group and P = 0. 001 for SD group). There was no significant difference between AD and SD groups in any MCQ-30 subscale and total scores (P = 0.440).. Metacognitive regulation strategies are more considerable prediction than emotional regulation strategies in SD group than in AD group. Individuals with AD use alcohol as a means of both cognitive and emotional regulation strategy..

During withdrawal, patients experience different symptoms. These symptoms are associated with relapse. Understanding different outcomes of methamphetamine abstinence is useful for finding better treatments for dependence.. This study aimed to show the effects of abstinence on depression, anxiety, and quality of life in methamphetamine users..Patients and A prospective quasi-experimental (before and after study) method was used to show the effect of 3 weeks abstinence on depression, anxiety, and quality of life. A convenient sample of addicted people entered into the study and 34 people completed the study. Beck Depression Scale, Cattell Anxiety Inventory and Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) (for assessing quality of life), were used for outcome assessments.. The mean depression score after abstinence decreased significantly (P < 0.001). Both hidden and obvious anxiety and total anxiety had a high level at admission and after 3 weeks of abstinence, the mean level of anxiety did not change significantly (P < 0.096). However, the quality of life increased after 3 weeks of abstinence (P < 0.001).. Depression and anxiety are prevalent in methamphetamine users. Short-term abstinence improves depression and quality of life but does not improve anxiety in methamphetamine abusers. During follow up of these patients, addressing depression and anxiety is important to achieve better results..

Substance dependency is one of the biggest problems and worries of the world. It stunts the growth of society and causes various problems such as reduction in public health, increase in mortality, rise in social and domestic traumas, loss of educational and occupational opportunities, involvement with the judicial system, and development of the substance-abuse cycle.. The aim of this study was to determine the role of metacognition and body image in predicting alexithymia in substance abusers..Patients and The research sample included addicts (males and females aged 10 to 70 years) who referred to the addiction treatment and counseling centers of three Iranian cities of Zahedan, Sari, and Neyriz. Participants were selected by random sampling. The metacognitive strategy questionnaire (MCQ-30), physical self-description questionnaire (PSDQ), and Toronto alexithymia scale (TAS-20) were used for data collection. The hypotheses were tested using the Pearson’s correlation method and regression analysis.. According to the results of the current study, the highest correlation was between alexithymia and the cognitive awareness subscale (r = 0.305; P < 0.01).There was no significant correlation between alexithymia and body image. Based on the multiple regression analysis, the three predictors explained 11% of the variance (R2 = 0. 11, F = 3.981; P < 0.01). Cognitive awareness significantly predicted 9% of the variance (β = 0.305; P < 0.01), and the other subscales predicted about 2%.. These findings demonstrated that metacognition had an important role in predicting alexithymia in the substance abusers, which underscores the necessity of precautionary measures..

Allergic Rhinitis (AR) is the most common allergic disease, affecting 30% of population around the world. The disease is predominantly associated with exposure to some aeroallergens like cigarette smoking. Skin Prick Test (SPT) is a method of detecting immediate allergic reactions and is applied for controlling disease and therapeutic modality.. This study was designed to investigate the effect of cigarette smoking on SPT results among male and female individuals with AR disease..Patients and A total of 478 patients with AR admitted to the 2 main hospitals of Zahedan City from 2005 to 2012, were recruited in this analytic-descriptive study. Categories of smokers and never smokers were used based on patient’s statements and their history of smoking. SPT was performed with panel of some allergens and results were recorded and analyzed statistically. Odds ratio and confidence interval method were calculated using univariate logistic regression.. The results of this study indicated that 41.4% of patients with allergic rhinitis was smoker with ages ranged from 15 to 70 years. The result of this study also showed that smoking has no effect on SPT results of pollen and weeds aeroallergens conducted on male and female AR patients. However, male were significantly more sensitive than female in terms of sensitivity to the aspergillus, cladosporium, house dust mite, grasses, wheat, cockroach, and feather allergens.. Our findings did not support the effect of cigarette smoking on SPT reactivity to pollen and weeds aeroallergens. However, male were significantly more sensitive than female in terms of sensitivity to some allergens..

Anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) are abused by athletes.. The present study was designed to evaluate chronic administration of high doses of nandrolone decanoate (ND) on the pituitary-gonadal axis and hematological parameters in normal male rats.. Thirty Wistar-Albino male rats were divided assigned to control (C), placebo (P) and test (T) groups (n = 10). Group T received 15 mg/kg intramuscular (IM) ND for eight weeks. Group P received the same volume of peanut oil, but group C did not receive any agent during the trial period. At the end, animals were anesthetized, killed and blood samples collected from cervical vessels. Serum follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) levels were determined by sensitive rat gonadotropins kit, using ELISA methods. Serum testosterone and hematological parameters were measured by ordinary laboratory methods. Obtained data was analyzed using SPSS 17 by ANOVA and Tukey statistical tests. Results were expressed as Mean ± SD. Statistical difference considered significantly by P < 0.05.. Serum testosterone, LH, FSH, weight gain, food and water intake in group T were significantly decreased compared to other groups (P < 0.05). In addition erythrocyte, leucocytes, hemoglobin and hematocrit in group T were significantly increased compared to those of other groups (P < 0.05).. Chronic administration of high doses of ND can alter serum FSH, LH and testosterone and hematological parameters in male rats..

Diuretics and laxative abuse as a means of purging is common in patients with bulimia nervosa and there may be an underestimation of the true prevalence of diuretic abuse, as some are also available without prescription.. A 28-year-old woman presented with tetany due to hypocalcemia, hypokalemia and hypomagnesemia. She had a history of laxative and diuretic abuse, and salt craving. Psychiatric evaluation revealed a disturbed social history with masked depression that necessitated treatment.. Multiple prescription drug abuse and salt/salty food addiction usually reflects a personality of addiction, which leads to harmful use and dependence..