Irtiqa Imini Pishgiri Masdumiyat (Safety Promotion and Injury Prevention)

Background and Objectives: Sharp injuries are known as one of the hazards of Health Care workers. This study was designed to determine the epidemiology of sharp injuries of  staffs in the  Qom province.

Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive-analytical and retrospective study which is done on the sharp injuries patients files in the last three years in Qom province. Statistical analysis of data was performed by using SPSS software (Ver. 22).k2, t-test and Fisher’s exact tests were used to compare groups.

Result: Totally 100 subjects (59 female and 49 men) who had a history of injuries accident were included from Qom provinces’ hospitals. The mean age of the subjects was 42±6.4 years and the frequency of those over 30 years was significantly higher than other age groups (P<0.05). The highest percentage of injuries was related to nurses and paramedics with 47% and the lowest rate to physicians (15%) (P<0.05); most of them were working at nights (57%) in surgery (21%) and emergency (20%) units. Syringe (51%) and suture (42%) needles were responsible for most of the injuries (P<0.05). Most of subjects were negative for viral infections tests, but 28% of them were HBs Ag positive. Other laboratory tests were also negative for the affected subjects.

Conclusion: As sharp injuries especially in the night shifts might have a role in the transfer of blood burn infections including Hepatitis viruses, it is necessary to recognize sharp injuries as a major occupational hazard, especially for health care staff, and accidents should be included in surveillance programs.

How to cite this article: Nateghi Rostami M, Darzi F. The Prevalence of Sharp Object Injuries and Consequences in the Hospital Staff of the Qom Province. J Saf Promot Inj Prev. 2020; 8(2):58-64. 

Background and Objectives: Numerous studies have shown that the extent of brain injury depends on the duration of blood loss. Every minute a stroke remains untreated, the patient loses about 1.9 million brain cells. It is therefore important to reduce the delays associated with the identification, transmission and diagnosis of acute stroke patients. Appropriate care for stroke patients by emergency medical services staff can be of great help in identifying, evaluating, and timely transferring patients. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the pre-hospital time intervals of emergency services for stroke patients in Arak city in 2017 in terms of location and time variables (weekdays and hours of days and nights).

Materials and Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, data on time intervals for stroke patients arrived at Arak Medical Emergency Center in 2017, and their gender and age variables were analyzed by software SPSS version 21.

Results: In this study, 56% of patients were male and 43% were female. Most patients were over 76 years of age. The mean intervals of activation, response, on-scene, transmission, recovery and total in terms of minutes and seconds were 2:51, 9:12, 18:11, 18:00, 13:58, 15:56, and 49:17, respectively. The shortest response times for in-the city missions were on Fridays and out-of-the city missions on Thursdays, and the shortest response times for in-the city and out-of-the city missions were, at 6:00-11:59 am, and 12:00 -17:59 pm respectively.

Conclusion: The results of this study showed that emergency medical personnel both inter and intra city missions had the highest time loss for the on-scene time interval, and also overall pre-hospital time intervals in out of the city missions had exceeded the national standards.

How to cite this article: Khanizade A, Khorasani-Zavareh D, Khodakarim S, Palesh M. Survey and Comparison of Prehospital Time Intervals of Emergency Services for Stroke Patients in Arak City in 2017. J Saf Promot Inj Prev. 2020; 8(2):65-74.

Background and Objectives: The effect and persistence of neuromuscular activities on the timing of lower extremity proximal muscles are questionable. So the purpose of this study was to investigate the persistence effect of neuromuscular exercise on activity timing of lower extremity distal and proximal muscles in athletes with functional ankle instability.

Materials and Methods: 26 athletes with functional ankle instability were randomly divided into two groups of neuromuscular exercises and control. Subjects were selected based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. In the pretest phase, the activity timing of muscles was evaluated with surface electromyography. The next step was to exercise group performing their own exercises for 6 weeks. Exercises were performed 3 sessions per week and each exercise session lasted 15 to 20 minutes. Then all pre-test measurements were performed in the post-test and persistence test. Repeated analysis using ANOVA and Bonferroni post hoc tests were used for statistical analysis. The significance level was considered less than 0.05.

Results: Results of Mixed-ANOVA showed the interactive effect of time(pretest-posttest-persistence) on the group(neuromuscular-control) significantly changes the activity timing of distal muscles in the neuromuscular group(P≤0/05). But there was no difference in the activity timing of proximal muscles in either of two groups in post-test and persistence compared to pre-test(P≥0/05).

Conclusion: Although neuromuscular exercises improves the activity timing of distal muscles and persistence, this improvement does not apply to proximal muscles that play an important role in the lower extremity chain. Therefore, it is suggested that in the rehabilitation of functional ankle instability, use exercises that, in addition to affecting the distal segments, also focus on the proximal muscles to reduce the risk of re-injury.

How to cite this article: Kalantariyan M, Minoonejad H, Rajabi R, Seydi F. Study of the Effect and Persistence of Neuromuscular Exercises on Activity Timing of Lower Extremity Distal and Proximal Muscles in Athletes with Functional Ankle Instability. J Saf Promot Inj Prev. 2020; 8(2):75-85.

Background and Objectives: The speed of service delivery in medical centers, especially emergencies, is of particular importance in reducing mortality and disability. Time management in providing vital and short-term health care services can endanger patients' lives. One of the most important indicators used in the evaluation of emergency centers is the waiting time for patients to receive diagnostic and treatment services. This study was conducted in 1397 in order to study the timing indicators and design of the management dashboard in a specialized heart center in Tehran.

Materials and Methods: This type of research is a section in which the emergency time indicators of the Ministry of Health were examined. All the relevant data in the emergency department was collected in a hospital in Tehran in 1397. Then, the design and creation of the dashboard was loaded based on the data of the indicators specified in the emergency department using QuickView software and the performance of this section was presented.

Results: In the present study, six emergency timing indicators were examined. Then, according to the information obtained, the relevant dashboard was designed.

Conclusion: Reducing the length of stay in the emergency department leads to increased patient satisfaction and potentially cost savings. The main mission of the emergency is to providing high quality services in the shortest possible time. Prolonged emergency stops reduced the possibility of providing services to other patients in need of emergency medical care, which can lead to patient dissatisfaction and increased casualties.

How to cite this article: Mayelafshar M, Noohi F, Riahi L, Nikravan A.Investigating the Time Indicators of the Emergency Department and Design a Management Dashboard for it. J Saf Promot Inj Prev. 2020; 8(2):86-96.

Background and Objective: Traffic accidents are always a threat to the lives of all citizens. Most of these accidents occur in certain locations across cities. Identifying such points is the first and most important step in the process of inter-city road safety management. Qom city is one of the cities that are known as the most accident-prone cities in the country due to numerous accidents. More than 5,000 accidents are recorded annually in the city.

Materials and Methods: A library and a field method used to collect the required data. Library resources were used for the basics and theoretical framework of the research and in determining the routes and accident hotspots of the Qom city inquiring field information such as information provided by accidents by Rahvar Police and Forensic Medicine of Qom Province for the years 1395 to 1397.  To analyze the data, the method of accident data coefficient method and crash density estimation coefficient in Geographic Information System (GIS) was applied to identify accident hotspots in Qom city thoroughfares.

Results:The findings of the first section show; Most accidents occur in the warm seasons of the year (29.5%), on Saturdays and Tuesdays (32.2%), as well as in the last hours of the day and the beginning of the night (25.5%). Among the accidents studied, motorcycles (46.3%) have the highest number of accidents. In terms of the location of accidents, the main thoroughfares of Qom's District 4 include Al-Ghadir Boulevards (with a coefficient of 3.127), the Islamic Republic (coefficient 2.82), Mohammad Amin (coefficient 1.009) and Shahid Sadoughi Street (1.432). As the most accident-prone boulevards in Qom. Also, not paying attention to the front view was the most important cause of accidents (24.8%).

Conclusion: All roundabouts and intersections having a higher coefficient of accidents, special routes for high-speed buses, and squares were identified as the hotspots.  Further technical studies and appropriate measures are recommended for alleviating the magnitude of these hotspots.

How to cite this article: Isalou SH, Fanni Z. Identification and Spatial Analysis of Crashs Points in Qom City. J Saf Promot Inj Prev. 2020; 8(2):97-108.

Background and Objectives: Karate is one of the most popular contact martial arts with the a high risk of physiological injuries. Hence, the aim of this study was the comparison of the immune system parameters in elite and amateur karate-ka versus non-athletes.

Materials and Methods: This study comprised of a descriptive survey employing 387 healthy volunteers in Isfahan aged 27.2 ± 7.4 years (mean ± sd). According to the athletic qualification and weekly training sessions, subjects were divided into the elite group include of the world or international karate champions (men: N=65; women: N=64); and the amateur group includes of black belt karate-ka without transnational champions (men: N=75; women: N=54).   Non-athletes were chosen with the same anthropometric characteristics but without any regular exercises (men: N=71; women: N=58). For ethical considerations, participants were informed about the processes of the survey.  After receiving their written consent and completing a biographical questionnaire, all volunteers were instructed to fast at a given time and the amount of 5cc blood samples from the brachiocephalic vein was received in tubes containing anticoagulants of EDTA. The blood samples were analyzed for CBC tests for the incidence of leukocytes via the NBT method by Sysmex. One-way ANOVA and Scheffe post hoc tests were used to analyses the data by the SPSS software version 22 and the significant level was considered at P <0.05.

Results: The results showed that there were no significant statistical differences between the parameters of immune system (neutrophils, monocytes, basophils, eosinophils, lymphocytes and white blood cells) in elite and amateur groups (P >0.05). However, these parameters belonging to elite group as well as amateur group (excluding white blood cells) were significantly lower non-athletes (P <0.05).

Conclusion: The results showed that the immune system of athletes who were active in karate-ka competitions, may be impaired, therefore the proper interventions for preventing them from viral and infectious diseases are recommended.

How to cite this article: Batavani M, Ghofrani M, Motiei E, Batavani F. Comparison of Immune System Parameters in Elite and Amateur Karate-Kas versus Non-Athletes. J Saf Promot Inj Prev. 2020; 8(2):109-118.

Background and Objective: Due to the occurrence of dry season and exploitation of water resources for higher agricultural yields, the groundwater level in the Zanjan plain has subsided. The lowered of water level of aquifer have reduced the efficiency of wells and paralleled with water quality degradation. The underground structure of aquifer was destroyed and the quality of water resources contains more salt than fresh waters.

Materials and Methods: In order to survey on the salinity of water in this region, data from 45 sampling wells (1384-1394) has been used. In the first step by collecting valid information about the chemical quality of related aquifer, investigation on fluctuation trends of ions concentrations of Ca, Mg, Na, HCO3, Cl, SO4, from 1384 to 1394has been conducted. Then, pH and EC have been surveyed for ten years (1384-1394) to determine the general chemical quality of region groundwater.  Finally, fluctuation trends of elements and water salinity have been plotted on descriptive diagrams, piper, statistical models, and other plans. In this study, all the ethical considerations have been observed and no conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Results: The data of this study demonstrated that average concentrations of sulfate and chloride are2.3 and 1.1meq/lit respectively. The concentration of these ions in water samples indicated the desirable quality of groundwater at present. However, if the current trend regarding the subsiding of groundwater level in the Zanjan plain, we could face a decrease in water quality and an increase in salinity in the coming years.

Conclusion: According to the results of the study, it can be said that the increasing trend in the concentrations of salts in the water and the declining trend of the output of the wells could reduce the chemical quality of water in near future.

How to cite this article: Jalalian A, Samiee H, Shokri-Khoubestan M, Karimi MR. Investigation of the Effects of Drought and Salinity on the Chemical Quality of the Water Resources in the Zanjans' Plain Aquifers. J Saf Promot Inj Prev. 2020; 8(2):119-29.