The relationship between blood lead levels and occupational exposure in a pregnant population.

BACKGROUND: Pregnant women exposed to lead are at risk of suffering reproductive damages, such as miscarriage, preeclampsia, premature delivery and low birth weight. Despite that the workplace offers the greatest potential for lead exposure, there is relatively little information about occupational exposure to lead during pregnancy. This study aims to assess the association between blood lead levels and occupational exposure in pregnant women from Durango, Mexico. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out in a population of 299 pregnant women. Blood lead was measured in 31 women who worked in jobs where lead is used (exposed group) and 268 who did not work in those places (control group). Chi-square test was applied to compare exposed and control groups with regard to blood lead levels. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated. Multivariable regression analysis was applied to determine significant predictors of blood lead concentrations in the exposed group. RESULTS: Exposed women had higher blood lead levels than those in the control group (4.00 ± 4.08 µg/dL vs 2.65 ± 1.75 µg/dL, p = 0.002). Furthermore, women in the exposed group had 3.82 times higher probability of having blood lead levels ≥ 5 µg/dL than those in the control group. Wearing of special workwear, changing clothes after work, living near a painting store, printing office, junkyard or rubbish dump, and washing the workwear together with other clothes resulted as significant predictors of elevated blood lead levels in the exposed group. CONCLUSIONS: Pregnant working women may be at risk of lead poisoning because of occupational and environmental exposure. The risk increases if they do not improve the use of protective equipment and their personal hygiene.

[Knowledge and acceptance of vaccine against human papillomavirus among mothers of students from Durango city, Mexico]. / Conocimiento y aceptación de la vacuna contra el virus del papiloma humano entre madres de estudiantes de la ciudad de Durango, México.

BACKGROUND: Human papillomavirus (HPV) causes one of the most common sexually transmitted infections. The causal relationship between HPV and cervical cancer is one of the most important advances in the field of the prevention of this disease. The Food and Drug Administration recently approved two vaccines to prevent HPV infection. OBJECTIVE: To assess the degree of knowledge about HPV and the acceptance of the vaccine against these viruses in mothers of 9 to 15 years old female students from the city of Durango, Mexico. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A prospective, observational, cross-sectional and descriptive study of 470 mothers. The selection was made through random sampling stratified by age and socio-economic status of students from public and private schools in the city of Durango. We applied a questionnaire of 60 questions, 12 open and 48 closed. Groups of acceptance of the vaccine were compared by Student's t and chi2, depending on the type of variable. Reasons for prevalence of non-acceptance and its 95% of risk confidence interval were estimated. RESULTS: The 94% of the women surveyed knew about the vaccine. The 89% would accept vaccination of their daughters if it was free of charge, but only 40% would be willing to buy it; 88% considered that was important to their daughters to receive extensive information about the vaccine from nine years of age. The risk factors identified in this study to not allow vaccination were: not knowing the existence of the vaccine, which increased this risk 3.5 times; not having comprehensive information of the sexually transmitted diseases, which increased it by 2.49 times; and the fear to initiate their sexual life at younger age, which raised it 4.58 times. No difference was found in acceptance to the vaccine for religious or socio-economic reasons; 9% of mothers did not accept the vaccine despite of knowing its existence and the role of HPV in the genesis of cervical cancer. CONCLUSION: The vast majority of surveyed mothers accepted vaccination. The degree of knowledge about the vaccine is an important factor for its acceptance.

Propiedades psicométricas de la CES-D/IS en población universitaria de la ciudad de Durango, México / Psychometric properties of CES-D/IS in university population in Durango city, México

Introduction Depression has been frequently related with suicidal behavior. Evidences of depressive symptoms in adolescents and young people with suicidal ideation or suicidal intention have been showed in several studies. For that reason, it is necessary to have an adequate instrument to measure and identify some characteristics associated with self-destructive behavior in university students. Objective To evaluate the psychometric properties of CES-D/IS in students at the University Juarez of the State of Durango (UJED). Material and Methods The universe of study selected for the schooling period of 2008 consisted of 943 students from 13 academic units. CES-D/IS scale was applied. Before the interview informed consent was obtained from all the participants and they were informed about the nature and scope of the study. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted to evaluate the instrument validity, and Cronbach alpha for internal consistency. Further analysis included Student t-test and Mann-Withney U test. A p-value below 0.05 was considered to indicate statistical significance. The data were analyzed with SPSS, version 15 and R v 2.7.2. Results The total scale showed a high value of internal consistency (α=0.89), and similar results for academic areas, for age and sex. Factor analysis showed a four-factor structure that accounted for 45.5% of variance Conclusions CES-D/IS scale has adequate psychometric properties in reliability and in validity.

Introducción La depresión es un aspecto que constantemente se ha relacionado con la conducta suicida. La sintomatología depresiva ha sido evidenciada en varios estudios donde ha estado presente en adolescentes y jóvenes con pensamientos e intentos de suicidio. Por esta razón es de suma prioridad e interés el contar con un instrumento válido y confiable para la identificación y la medición de características relacionadas con la conducta autodestructiva en estudiantes universitarios. Objetivo Evaluar las propiedades psicométricas de la CES-D/IS, mediante su aplicación a estudiantes de nivel licenciatura de la Universidad Juárez del estado de Durango (UJED). Material y métodos El estudio incluyó a 943 estudiantes de 13 unidades académicas durante el periodo escolarizado de 2008. Se aplicó la escala CES-D/ IS. Se solicitó a los participantes el consentimiento informado y se les aseguró el manejo confidencial de los datos. Para medir la validez del instrumento se utilizó el análisis factorial exploratorio, se evaluó la consistencia interna mediante el coeficiente alfa de Cronbach, se emplearon estadísticos descriptivos, t de Student y U de Mann-Whitney para inferencias al 0.05. Los datos se procesaron con los paquetes estadísticos SPSS v15 y R v 2.7.2. Resultados La escala presentó una consistencia interna de α=0.89. El índice resultó homogéneo cuando se analizó por área de estudio, edad y sexo. El análisis factorial mostró cuatro factores con el 45.5% de la varianza explicada. Conclusiones La escala CES-D/IS, presentó buenas propiedades tanto en su confiabilidad como en su validez.