Epidemiology of Traumatic Brain Injury in Iran: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of leading cause of death and disability in Iran that has serious consequences on people's health. Understanding of epidemiology of TBI can be helpful for policy making in health care management. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the epidemiology of TBI in Iran. Methods: PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Google scholar, and internal databases including, SID, Magiran, and IranMedex were searched to identify the relevant published studies up to Feb 2022. Moreover, the references list of key studies was scanned to find more records. The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) tool was used to assess the quality of included studies. The Excel and Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software were to analyze the data. Results: Overall, 23,446 patients from 15 studies were included in the study. The overall mean age of the patients was 31.36 ± 0.13 yr (95%CI: 31.10 to 31.61). The majority of the patients were male (74.37%), with a male to female ratio of 3:1. The incidence rate of TBI was 15.3 to 144 per 100,000 population. The mortality rate of TBI was estimated to be 10.4% (95%CI: 5% to 19%). The most common causes of injury were road traffic accidents (RTAs) (60%; 95%CI: 49% to 70%), and falling (20%; 95%CI: 16% to 26%), respectively. The most frequent type of head injury was subdural hematoma. Conclusion: Our findings highlight that appropriate control and prevention strategies should be focused on male, road traffic accidents, and the group under 40 yr.

Relationship between the status of occupational health management and job satisfaction among farmers: A health promotion approach.

BACKGROUND: Job satisfaction is one of the most important issues related to human resources in the organization which can reduce organizational productivity. In this regard, occupational health is an important science related to the health of the workforce in any organization, paying attention to it will help health promotion. The aim of the present study was to determine the relationship between the status of occupational health management and job satisfaction among farmers with a health promotion approach. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2020. The number of 209 farmers from all villages of Zabol was included by census method. Data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire that consisting of three sections of demographic information, occupational safety and health status, and standard job satisfaction questionnaire. At first, the validity and reliability of the questionnaire were evaluated. In addition, 5-10 staff working in Agricultural Jihad Organization were asked about the content, clarity, and simplicity of the questionnaire terms. Content validity index and content validity ratio indexes were calculated as 0.68 and 0.83 for occupational health management and 0.69 and 0.83 for job satisfaction questionnaires, respectively. Instrument reliability was also assessed using the Cronbach's alpha coefficient, which was 0.872. Finally, after verifying the validity and reliability of the instrument, a questionnaire was used to collect the research data. Shapiro-Wilk, Wilcoxon, and Spearman correlation tests were used to analyze the findings. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS software version 19. Armonk; NY, USA: IBM Corp. RESULTS: The results of the study indicate that occupational health management was at a moderate to a high level (3.701) and job satisfaction (3.381) was at a moderate to a high level. The standard regression coefficient between occupational health management and job satisfaction was obtained as 0.571. With a confidence of 95%, it can be stated that occupational health management in Zabol city under the supervision of jihad-e-agriculture organization has a significant impact on farmers' job satisfaction. In addition, the research findings confirmed a positive and significant relationship between occupational health management and job satisfaction of employed farmers and showed that the implementation of occupational safety and health programs in the jihad-e-agriculture organization can affect the job satisfaction of farmers. CONCLUSION: According to the evaluation of research findings, job satisfaction and occupational health management in the Agricultural Jihad Organization are relatively favorable among farmers in Zabol city. It was argued that there is a relationship between occupational health management and job satisfaction, that the implementation of programs related to occupational safety and health management system such as Health and Safety Executive will promote health.

Determination of the psychometric properties of the Patients' Self-Efficacy Scale in blood pressure patients.

INTRODUCTION: This study was designed to determine self-efficacy and its related factors in patients with hypertension. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study is descriptive-sectional from the correlation. A total of 250 patients from a blood pressure clinic of Semnan city (in Iran) completed Medication Understanding and Use Self-Efficacy Scale were randomly selected in 2017. Data were analyzed using variance, Pearson's Correlation, and χ2 using the LISREL 8.8 software. RESULTS: The items 1, 6, 7, and 8 have high correlation (at least higher than 0.60), indicating the possibility of aggregation of these four variables in the first factor (taking medication), and the four items 2, 3, 4, and 5 are highly correlated with each other, which are the second factor (learning about medication). In addition, Cronbach's α of reliability (taking medication) for the first factor was 0.67 and 0.63 for the second factor (learning about medication) and 0.69 for the whole scale. CONCLUSION: The effectiveness of blood pressure self-efficacy is an appropriate tool for measure-taking responsibility for the time and taking medications by patients, and researchers can use it as a valid tool in therapeutic, psychological, and health research.

Awareness of and attitude towards blood donation in students at the Semnan University of Medical Sciences.

BACKGROUND: Despite the increasing demands for blood and its products, some people, especially the youth, have little interest in donating blood. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the university students' awareness of and attitude towards blood donation. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, a descriptive analytical approach was used to examine awareness of and attitude towards blood donation among students in Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran. The study was performed in 2015-2016. A total of 749 university students participated in this study. A special questionnaire was used to collect demographic information and the participants' awareness of and attitude towards blood donation. Before beginning the main phase of the study, the reliability and validity of the questionnaire were examined and verified. The SPSS software, version 16, was used for statistical analysis. We used descriptive statistics, specifically chi-square and Friedman tests, to analyze the data. A p-value of <0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: 63.55% of the participants were female. Only 9.74% of the participants had a history of blood donation. Based on the results, 253 participants (35.33%) had low awareness, 352 participants (49.16%) had moderate awareness, and 111 participants (15.5%) had good awareness of blood donation. In addition, 176 participants (23.59%) had negative attitude, 438 participants (58.71%) had moderate attitude, and only 132 participants (17.69%) had good attitude towards blood donation. Results also showed a statistically significant relationship between gender and awareness of the history of blood donation (p=0.047). However, there was no significant relationship between gender and attitude towards blood donation (p=0.27). When asked about their favorite method of receiving information about blood donation, 376 participants (50.2%) preferred social media. CONCLUSION: A considerable percentage of students have low awareness of and negative attitude towards blood donation. The low awareness and negative attitude towards blood donation can be considered as important factors contributing to the lack of interest and poor participation in blood donation among this population. Therefore, there is a critical need for training and culture building activities and programs in order to increase university students' awareness and improve their attitude towards blood donation.

Health information technology and health care activists: Where is the place of Iranians?

BACKGROUND: The level of knowledge and using health information technology by clinicians, students and staff has always been one of the essential issues in the field of health. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the present study was to evaluate HIT knowledge, attitude, and practice habits among health care professionals and students in educational hospitals in Iran. METHODS: This case study was carried out in 2016 on 539 personnel of 65 educational hospitals in Iran entailing three subgroups of physicians (n=128), medical students (n=97), and health record staff (n=314). A pretested self-administered questionnaire was designed to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and practice of health information technology. It was comprised of three parts of "baseline general characteristics", "knowledge categories", and "attitude and practice". RESULTS: In total, 28.8% of participants had a good level of knowledge about computer science, whereas 37.7% had a poor level of knowledge. A total of 40% showed good attitude and practice, while 25.6% had poor attitude and practice. Furthermore, 16.4% of physicians, 32% of students and 33.1% of health record staff had good knowledge, while poor knowledge was reported in 45.3% of physicians, 25.8% of students, and 37.6% of staff (p=0.304). The trend of good attitude and practice habits were respectively 28.9%, 50.5%, and 40.8% in physicians, students, and staff, whereas these trends were respectively 30.5%, 4.1%, and 29.9% for poor attitude and practice (p=0.163). Generally, the knowledge level of participants was positively related to the rate of attitude and practice (r=0.847, p<0.001), so the higher knowledge level brought about the higher score in attitude and practice. CONCLUSION: The level of knowledge and practice of HIT was low among the physicians, students, and staff. Our university can provide a plenary program to promote the level of knowledge and information on practice of HIT.

Evaluation of noise pollution level in the operating rooms of hospitals: A study in Iran.

INTRODUCTION: Noise pollution in the operating rooms is one of the remaining challenges. Both patients and physicians are exposed to different sound levels during the operative cases, many of which can last for hours. This study aims to evaluate the noise pollution in the operating rooms during different surgical procedures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, sound level in the operating rooms of Hamadan University-affiliated hospitals (totally 10) in Iran during different surgical procedures was measured using B&K sound meter. The gathered data were compared with national and international standards. Statistical analysis was performed using descriptive statistics and one-way ANOVA, t-test, and Pearson's correlation test. RESULTS: Noise pollution level at majority of surgical procedures is higher than national and international documented standards. The highest level of noise pollution is related to orthopedic procedures, and the lowest one related to laparoscopic and heart surgery procedures. The highest and lowest registered sound level during the operation was 93 and 55 dB, respectively. Sound level generated by equipments (69 ± 4.1 dB), trolley movement (66 ± 2.3 dB), and personnel conversations (64 ± 3.9 dB) are the main sources of noise. CONCLUSION: The noise pollution of operating rooms are higher than available standards. The procedure needs to be corrected for achieving the proper conditions.

Geographic Information System (GIS) capabilities in traffic accident information management: a qualitative approach.

BACKGROUND: Traffic accidents are one of the more important national and international issues, and their consequences are important for the political, economical, and social level in a country. Management of traffic accident information requires information systems with analytical and accessibility capabilities to spatial and descriptive data. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the capabilities of a Geographic Information System (GIS) in management of traffic accident information. METHODS: This qualitative cross-sectional study was performed in 2016. In the first step, GIS capabilities were identified via literature retrieved from the Internet and based on the included criteria. Review of the literature was performed until data saturation was reached; a form was used to extract the capabilities. In the second step, study population were hospital managers, police, emergency, statisticians, and IT experts in trauma, emergency and police centers. Sampling was purposive. Data was collected using a questionnaire based on the first step data; validity and reliability were determined by content validity and Cronbach's alpha of 75%. Data was analyzed using the decision Delphi technique. RESULTS: GIS capabilities were identified in ten categories and 64 sub-categories. Import and process of spatial and descriptive data and so, analysis of this data were the most important capabilities of GIS in traffic accident information management. CONCLUSION: Storing and retrieving of descriptive and spatial data, providing statistical analysis in table, chart and zoning format, management of bad structure issues, determining the cost effectiveness of the decisions and prioritizing their implementation were the most important capabilities of GIS which can be efficient in the management of traffic accident information.