Journal of Translational Medical Research

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Background and Aim: Hepatitis B virus is the cause of acute and chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Its prevalence has been reported to be 0.1%-0.5% and 1.6%-6.5% in the United States and Iran respectively. At present, the only sure preventive measure is vaccination but it does not create absolute (100%) immunity. Antibody production is between 79% to 90%, which occurs three days after vaccination. Antibody level decreases as time goes by. The present study was done aiming at determining immunogenicity due to complete hepatitis B vaccination in the nursing staff and its relationship with variables such as age, sex, body mass index, working place, and period of time elapsed after the last dose of vaccine. Materials and Methods: This descriptive cross sectional study was done in 2004 on 112 nursing staff of Birjand Medical Sciences University hospitals "Vally-e-asr" and "Imam Reza", who had been vaccinated three times and two months to five years elapsed after their last vaccination. First, 4 ml of blood was taken from each subject as their personal information was recorded in a questionnaire. Then, the samples were quantitatively measured by means of Italian Radium Kits using Anti-HBs ELISA. Results: The Study revealed that antibody titer was over 10 mIU/ml in 88.4% of the subjects.11.6% did not have protective antibody but its level was relative and appropriate in 12.5% and 75.9% respectively .There was no significant correlation between HBs-Antibody level and variables such as sex, age, ward, and body mass index in the subjects (P>0.05). Conclusion: Regarding that 11.6% of the subjects did not have protective antibody at all it is suggested that anti-HBs level should be measured in the nursing staff and non-immune- ones must be revaccinated.

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  Background and Aim: Nowadays, the relationship between spirituality and general health has been of interest to psychologists. This study was aimed to investigate the relationship between meaning of life and general health based on Frankles Logotherapy theory.

  Materials and Methods: In this descriptive study, 240 out of 404 employees of Birjand University were selected through cluster random sampling. The research instrument consists of purpose in life (PIL) and general health (GHQ) questionnaires. Data were analyzed by means of SPSS (version 11.0) using Spearman correlation test and ANOVA at the significant level of P<0.05.

  Results: The mean score of purpose in life and general health was 78/13±10/94 and 45/88±9/59, respectively. A significant correlation was observed between score of purpose in life and general health and its components including physical symptoms, anxiety and sleep disorders, social function and depressive symptoms (P<0.001). The highest correlation coefficient, was observed between purpose in life and depression (r=0/53). There was no significant association between score of purpose in life and gender, education level, age, marital status or type of staff employed.

  Conclusion: Having a purpose in life ensure the general health of individuals and a healthy functioning in the society. The highest correlation between the purpose of life and less depression emphasizes the importance of objective of life irrespective of factors such as gender, educational level, age, marital status and type of employment.

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  Background and Aim: Occupational stress is a major problem in industrial societies. Its relationship with various diseases is increasing ,but it probably has vast socio-economic consequences manifested in the form of absenteeism, labour turnover, loss of productivity and disability pension costs. The present study aimed at determining stress in the staff of a tyre factory.

  Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was done on 196 members of staff from various sections of a tire factory in 2008 through proportional classification and randomized sampling .Data was collected by means of Coudron two questionnaires "demographic" and "standardized job stress" . The obtained data was analyzed using SPSS software (v: 11.5), chi-square test, and Pearson's correlation coefficient (P ≤ 0.05).

  Results: It was found that 49.5% of the staff had severe job stress .Severe job stress was 55.8% in the production unit (No. =53), 50% in the administrative unit (No. =16) and 40.6% supporting the backing unit (No=28).

  There was a significant relationship between variables income and adequate sleep on one hand and level of job stress on the other (P < 0.001).However, no significant relationship was observed between job stress and age, marital status, education, working record ,and exercise.

  Conclusion: Based on the results of the current study, more than half of the employees suffered from job stress. Compared with employees in other industrialized countries, Iranian employees appeared to have much higher prevalence of stress. Therefore, more studies are required in order to reduce the amount of stress and its consequences.

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Background and Aim: Physical activity is an effective health behavior not only to prevent various health problems but also to promote healthy lifestyle. Transtheoretical model (TTM) is one of the models applied to assess physical activity behavior. The aim of the current study was to investigate factors affecting physical activity behavior among employees of Birjand universities, based on transtheoretical model.
Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 200 employees in deputies of Research and Education sectors in Birjand universities, who were recruited through Census method. The instrument for data collection was a questionnaire including demographic variables and having the constructs of transtheoretical model. The questionnaire was completed through self-reported method. Validity of the questionnaire was tested by experts regarding its face and content validity. The questionnaire`s reliability was confirmed using Cronbach's alpha and correlation coefficient through test-retest method. The obtained data was analyzed by one-way ANOVA, Kruscal-Wallis and post hoc Tukey's test using SPSS software (V: 16) and P<0.05 was taken as the significant level.
Results:  Mean age of the participants was 36.9 ± 8.9 years. Out of 200 subjects 90 (45%) were male. Among the participants 14% were in precontemplation stage, 28% in contemplation, 29% in preparation, 7.8% in the action, and 21.2% in maintenance stage of physical activity behavior. ANOVA test revealed a significant difference between the physical activity stage of change and pros, decisional balance, process of change, self-efficacy (p<0.001).
Conclusion: Since the majority of employees had a sedentary lifestyle, it is a necessity to conduct some planned interventions in order to promote their physical activity behavior. This, interventions based on transtheoretical model can be helpful.

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