Journal of Health in the Field

Background and Aims: Measuring and determining the components of quality of work life is one of the most important concerns of human resource management. This study examines the relationship between quality of work life with musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and hearing loss as indicators of HSE in an automobile manufacturing company.

Materials and Methods: The statistical population of this descriptive-analytical study consists of 392 employees of company who were randomly selected from different departments using Morgan table. Required data was collected using an improved NIOSH quality of work life questionnaire, body map and audiogram.  SPSS software (version 23) was employed for descriptive and regression analyses. All stages of this research were conducted ethically.

Results: The findings showed that the mean score for quality of work life was 171.13, ranging from 101 to 212. The greatest sensation of pain, based on the results, was at the end of the lumbar region with a frequency of 40.31 percent and the least was reported in palm left hand with a frequency of 6.38 percent. Furthermore, 6.3% of respondents showed hearing disability. Statistical analyses showed that there is significant relationship between the quality of work life and musculoskeletal diseases (p = 0.000) as well as the quality of work life and the rates of hearing loss (p = 0.000).

Conclusion: Also, statistically significant relationship were noticed between the quality of working life and the level of health and safety, mental health, physical health, and employment in a noisy environment . If correct management issues of quality of work life were implemented, improved health indicators and subsequently improved quality of work life could be seen in an organization.

Keywords: Quality of Work Life, Musculoskeletal Diseases, Hearing Loss

Background and Aims: Hypertension is a health problem worldwide. In low and middle income countries, about half of the people with hypertension are aware of their illness, half of whom receive treatment, and most of them do not control their blood pressure. Health education is an important intervention for controlling blood pressure. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of education based on health belief model on hypertension in elderly women affiliated with Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in 2018.

Materials and Methods: The present study is an interventional study of before-after type that was conducted on 39 females aged 60-79 years old with hypertension which were selected with convenient sampling method. According to all ethical standards, demographic data sheets were filled and blood pressure was measured. Educational intervention was performed in 3 sessions of 45 minutes. Blood pressure was measured one month later at the end of the intervention. Data were analyzed by SPSS using descriptive statistics and paired t-test.

Results: The mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure before intervention was 145.3 ± 13.7 and 93.4 ± 5.8 mm Hg, and after training was 142.5 ± 13.2 and 91.4 ± 7 mm Hg. This difference was statistically significant in systolic blood pressure (P=0.046), but it was not significant in diastolic blood pressure.

Conclusion: Education based on health belief model is effective in reducing hypertension in elderly women with hypertension. It is suggested that this model be used to control blood pressure in elderly women.

Keywords: Hypertension, Elderly Women, Health Belief Model

Background and Aims: Healthcare centers coupled with hospitals are the most important organizations that provide health related services for people and society. On the other hand, high quality of work life is necessary to maintain and motivate employees. This study conducted with the aim of assessing quality of work life and its related factors in healthcare staff.

Materials & Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on totally 158 respondents consisting of all employees of nursing, laboratory, radiology and operating room of Imam Khomeini hospital and health centers of Islamabad Gharb city. In order to data collection, the questionnaires of demographics and Walton's quality of work life were used. In this study, all ethical issues were considered throughout all steps. Data was analyzed with Pearson correlation coefficient, Mann-Whitney, and Kruskal-Walis test via SPSS19 software.

Results: Among all participants, 36.7% of employee had low quality of life, 61.4 medium and 1.9 reported high quality of work life. There was no significant relationship between quality of life and sex, age, marital status, place of work, work patterns, education level and the type of employment (P-valve > 0.05).

Conclusion: Regarding low and medium quality of life in studied employees, some interventions seem necessary to increase the quality of life level such as improving work condition, better relationships in workplace, and more financial and moral supports.

Background and Aims: Pregnancy has its own side effects and thus it is vital for women to be informed about the risk symptoms.  The present study has been designed to investigate the effectiveness of mobile based education regarding signs of pregnancy risks.

Materials and Methods: An experimental intervention study was conducted on 120 pregnant mothers by cluster sampling method. The study population was then randomly divided into control and intervention groups. Twenty one educational text messages regarding risk symptoms and common complaints were sent to the intervention group on a daily basis. During two weeks thereafter, the important points were resent as remembering message. A questionnaire was used for collecting data. For data analysis, SPSS software version 22 was used for statistical analysis, using variance analysis, Friedman, and Cochrane. The significance level was considered as 0.05.

Results: In this study, the knowledge score of both groups improved after intervention, but the changes observed in the intervention group were not statistically significant. The behavioral pattern was better in the two groups after the intervention, but the observed changes in the intervention group were higher than the control group.

Conclusion: Despite the specific features of the educational model, the plan can be effective in improving the quality and quantity of pregnancy care as a continuous intervention in all health care centers.

Keywords: Health Education,  Mobile Health, Pregnant Mothers, Danger Signs in Pregnancy, Text Message, Knowledge, Behavior

Background and Aims: Noise induced hearing loss is a sensory-neural phenomenon which happens slowly due to continued or alternative sound exposure. Singers are one of the working groups who are at the risk of hearing loss. This study aimed to assess the hearing loss of Iranian professional pop singers.

Materials & Methods: In this study, two SoundLog and Temporary Hearing Loss Test softwares have been used to measure temporary threshold shift (TTS), level of sound (LAeq), maximum level of sound, as well as the level of equivalent sound in 8 hours (LAeq, 8h)  with and without hearing protection device (HPD). Data analysis was conducted using SPSS 18 software. All stages of this research were conducted ethically.

Results: The sound level, maximum sound level and equivalent level of sound in 8 hours without using hearing protection equipment and by using hearing protection equipment were 84.3 ± 9.6 and 86.7 ± 7.1; 118.9 ± 2.8 and 120.7 ± 2.7 and 78.4 ± 8.9 and 82.5± 5.8, respectively. Also, the hearing loss level in the sample was 2.4 ± 7.1 and 0 db, according to the intervention.

Conclusion: The results indicated the applicability of the programs. Therefore, without the need for an expert, a person can understand the sound exposure level during his performance. Thus, these tools, suitable personal protective equipment and continuous monitoring will lead to early detection of hearing loss in these groups.

Background and Aims: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of educational program implementation using mobile phone SMS service on knowledge and attitude towards self-care in type 2 diabetic patients.

Materials and Methods: This quasi-experimental clinical trial was performed with 74 diabetes patients in Chabahar. Patients were selected through purposeful sampling and randomly divided into two groups of 37 person, intervention and control groups. The data collection tools were demographic, knowledge and attitude questionnaires. Educational text messages were sent to the intervention group on a daily basis for four weeks. Two months after the intervention, the questionnaires was completed by participants in both groups. Data were analyzed by SPSS software version 16 and Chi-square, independent t-test, paired t-test and Mann-Whitney test. All stages of the study were conducted according to moral standards.

Results: Although the demographic variables were consistent in both groups (P˃0.05), the mean scores of knowledge and attitude of the two intervention and control groups were not significantly different before the training (P>0.05). However, following desired education, the difference in mean of knowledge and attitude scores between two intervention and control groups was statistically significant (P<0.001(.

Conclusion: The results indicated the effectiveness of educational intervention in improving the knowledge and attitude of patients through Sending SMS Educational Method (SSEM). Considering the advantages of this method, such as affordability and easy access, it is necessary to pay more attention.

Keywords: Knowledge, Attitude, Type 2 Diabetes, Self-care, SMS, Mobile Phone