Predictive factors of breast cancer mammography screening among Iranian women.

Introduction: Understanding the factors that influence women's cancer screening behavior is crucial in reducing cancer mortality through early detection. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine the status of mammography and related factors among women who presented to the health centers of Khorasan Razavi province, Iran. Methods: For this study, a sample of 251,011 women who visited healthcare centers affiliated with Mashhad University of Medical Sciences was selected. The study examined several variables, including sociodemographic information, current smoking, nutrition status, and physical exercise. All analyses were performed using Python programming language and SPSS software. Furthermore, to handle imbalanced data, we used SMOTE balancing method that is an oversampling method and produce synthetic samples from the minority class. Results: The factors of age, education, being employed, having children, family history of cancer, physical activity, smoking status, and diet were all predictors of mammography screening. Moreover, findings showed that age and family history of breast cancer were most important variables to predict mammography status, respectively. Conclusions: By examining various variables such as dietary habits, exercise, smoking, and demographic properties, it sheds light on the relationships between these factors and mammography screening. This provides valuable insights into the associations between breast cancer screening behavior and preventive lifestyle behaviors. By targeting both preventive lifestyle choices and breast cancer screening behaviors, interventions can effectively promote positive changes in behavior and ultimately reduce the incidence and impact of breast cancer.

Predicting preventive behaviors of cardiovascular disease among oil industry workers based on health belief model.

BACKGROUND: Working conditions play a significant role in the process that causes cardiovascular disease. In this regard, it is required to monitor the health conditions of workers to design proper interventions to encourage healthy behaviors. This investigation was performed to determine preventive behaviors against cardiovascular disease based on the health belief model (HBM). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This research was a cross-sectional and descriptive study with 228 subjects of oil industry workers under shift work schedules in the oil regions of Khuzestan, Iran. The HBM questionnaire provided the theoretical framework for this study. Participants completed the questionnaires in person at work. Data were analyzed using SPSS 24.0. Descriptive statistics including frequencies, percentages, and means, and linear regression analysis were calculated for variables. RESULTS: Findings of the study showed that most workers were of a weak level of knowledge (55.3%), self-efficacy (82.5%), perceived severity (83.8%), perceived susceptibility (75.4%), perceived benefit (57.5%), and behavior (82.5%). Furthermore, results showed that most of the workers considered smoking (3.51 out of 5) and proper diet for good heart function (2.54 out of 5). In this study, the item of exercise was the lowest among all the preventive behaviors (1.39 out of 5). Self-efficacy was the strongest predictor of health belief about cardiovascular disease. CONCLUSION: To decrease the increasing burden of cardiovascular disease in our population, and fight against this rank-one killer, multiple useful prevention strategies must be adopted. Educational theory-based interventions and applying designed programs to improve the adoption of preventive behaviors are a necessity.

Analysis and Determination of Trace Metals (Nickel, Cadmium, Chromium, and Lead) in Tissues of Pampus argenteus and Platycephalus indicus in the Hara Reserve, Iran.

The accumulations of Cd, Ni, Pb, and Cr were measured in muscle, gill, kidney, and liver of Platycephalus indicus and Pampus argenteus. Our results indicated that all metals were found to be the highest in tissues in P. indicus (benthic species). Except Ni in P. indicus, concentrations of metals and bioaccumulation factor were in the following sequence: liver > kidney > gill > muscle. The data revealed that there is a significant negative correlation between concentrations of metals and size and age factors. The Ni and Cr levels in the muscles were higher than the maximum acceptable limit recommended by WHO and FEPA. Similarly, the concentration of Pb measured in P. indicus muscle exceeded the FAO standard limit.

Metal concentrations in marine fishes collected from Hara biosphere in Iran.

The metal levels (Hg, As, Cu, and Zn) in tissues of edible fish species (Pampus argenteus, Sillago sihama, Liza klunzingeri and Platycephalus indicus) were evaluated. The metal concentrations were found to follow the order: liver > kidney > gill > muscle, except for Zn from P. argenteus showing an inversion of liver and kidney. Generally, the benthic species (P. indicus and S. sihama) showed a marked potential for tolerating high metal levels. Significant negative correlations were found between fish size/age and metals concentration in the most organs. The element levels in the muscles were lower than the maximum allowable concentrations, except for mercury in S. sihama and P. indicus.