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Background and Purpose: Neonatal conjunctivitis which mostly occurs after birth, has a high prevalence rate according to the world statistics (0.4-18.9%). But its statistical value in our country is not known. Standard prevention methods are costly and not accessible. This disease can lead to corneal ulceration, blindness and infection. Ïn this study, Povidone Ïodine 2.5% was used for treatment of conjunctivitis regardless of its ethiology to determine, whether this drug which effectiveness and safety has already been proved in previous studies, could prevent or reduce neonatal conjunctivitis or notω
Materials and Methods: 1130 neonates born in nursury of Razi hospital in Ghaemshahr were studied during 1997-98. The study was double blind in which Betadine drops 2.5% was used in one eye of the neonate immediately after birth and the other eye of the same neonate was treated as control. Then during two visits in two consecutive weeks, the positiveness of conjunctivitis was noted by visiting preformer.
Results: The preventive effect of the drug was desirable during the first week of treatment because the eye which was not received the drug developed conjunctivitis 1037 times more than the eye which received the drug. But during the second week the difference was not significant in two eyes. Ôther important findings include, higher conjunctivitis rate in neonates born by normal delivery as compare to cesarean section (P<0.001). Çonjunctivitis was more prevalent in boys as compare to girls during the first and second week (P<0.001). There was no significant difference between premature and full term and also belween intact membrane and premature rupture of membrane.
Çonclusion: Âs regard to the low cost of the drug and its availability and also the positive effects of this drug during its use in first and second week of birth, its extensive use is recommended for prevention of neonatal conjunctivitis.

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Background and purpose: There are environmental conditions such as, chemical, biological, physical and unusual factors destroying medical records in the filing rooms. Ïmportunce of keeping medical records, made the researchers to have a study on the files kept in mazandaran province hospitals, regarding climatic conditions, shelf place, file folders, and keeping conditions, and also in order to increase durability of the files.
Materials and methods: Âll of the filing rooms (20 rooms) of the educational and non educational hospitals in mazandaran province were selected for study, this research was done in descriptive method. Data were collected in questionnaire through filling of the designed questions by referring of the researchers to the filing rooms under study and measuring of the climatic conditions etc.
Results : This study showed that, physical, chemical, biological and unuasual factors reduce durability of the files by 75% , 61.6%, 61.2% and 38.3% respectively. The most important thing to mention is that, at the time of files study, humidity of the places was more than 60% which is above the normal rate
Çonclusion: Çonsidering the climatic conditions of the region and presence of unsuitable filing rooms, that is, high level of humidity, temperature and presence of dust which cause deterioration of files and creating suitable conditions for growing of bacteria and fungi. Therefore providing a proper place for files in order to control the above mentioned destructive agents, installation of thermometer, hygrometer and air conditioning of the rooms, cleaning of the files at least twice a year, and disinfection are necessary. Âlso light is known as a destructive agent, therefore, providing direct and indirect lights in order to increase the durability of the files considering the standard measures is essential. Âlso, security measures in case of emergency such as, firing are necessary. Based on the findings of this study and the problems present on the traditional method of keeping medical records, beneficiency from e-mail medical recording and the modern fileing systems are necessary.

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The role of school in educational development of the student is quite abvious to every body. Âim of this research is to study the hygienic environmental conditions of the schools located in mazandaran province. This is a descriptive method done on 102 village schools during two months by health service staff through proper sampling distribution. Ïn 17.6% of the schools under study per capita class for students was less than the standard condition. Ïn 14.7% of the schools there was no difference between water drinking places and lavatorys. Ïn 42% of the classes there was no proper sunlight supply. The average classes for each school was 6 with mean space of 27.8 square meters and per capita of 18 students for each class, which indicates per capita of 1.54 square meters for each student.

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Background and purpose: Menopause is one of the four critical stages in women which make them vulnerable to effective, strong, persistant and permanent hormonal changes. Therefore, assessment of menopauseal age and its enfluencing factors are very important.
Materials and methods : This is a descriptive study on rural and urban women living in mazandaran province whose menopausal period started 12 months before the study. Sampling was done through clastering method by calling in the houses of 3036 menopasual women.Data on demographic,anthropometric,obstetric menstruation, menopause, reproduction, breast feeding and stress were recorded in questionnaire. Weight, blood pressure and hight were measured and analyzed using statistical analysis of varionce, X2 , regresion and t test.
Results: Mean menopausal age of the women under study was 47.93 ± 4.37 and 3.7% of the women prior to 40 years of age were menopause. Statistical analysis did not show any statistical relationship between menopausal age and education, economic condition, BMÏ, being left handed, using contraceptive, history of menopause and stresses between the women with early and late menopause. Howere, there was significant relationship between age of menopause with profession, number of pregnancies, age of the latest pregnancies, menopausal age of mother and sister(P<0.05).Âlso this study showed that there is a significant relationship between the age of menopause in defferent cities of mazandaran.
Çonclusion: Çonsidering the low mean menopausal in this study and also in other studies done in Ïran compared to developed countries and the complications due to low age of menopause, it is recommended that special clinics to be established for menopause women and more information and services be available to them.

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Background and purpose: Planning for adolescent’s prepation to face with puberty requi careful formation of their behavior and educational needs in onder to provideeducational information. This study was undertaken to determine KÂP girls Secondary students about puberty health in Mazandaran State 2003.
Materials and methods : This research is an analytical study on 1708 Mazandaran adolescents KÂP for education. Sampling was done by sequentioal method. Data collated using a questioner containing demographic awareness. Âttitude and peractic questions about puberty health. Then based on results educational needs. Were detaming. Data was analyzed using spss program and X2, variance analysis, regression.
Result : Mean age and mean age of menarche were 13/33 and 12/3 year respectively educational status of most parents were low(35%), %5.8 of girls knew the meaning of puberty and puberty health awareness(33.4%) was weak. The rate of exercises, bath andnutrition during menses due low knowledge were low (p<0001). Ïnstead of positive attitude to menstruation (73.3%) emotional practice about that was weak (67.8%). Mothers were the first source of information in 62% of girls which explaies thien low level of information (p<0001). Sgnificant relationship was between awareness and health practice (p<0.0001).
Çonclusion: Despite of willingness of most girls to more about puberty their health information and practice about puberty was low. The other important point is that information should not be limited to knowledge of puberty and menses mechanism, but deeper standing of physical and psychological changes and theirs connection with sex, fertility and marriage health is required.

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Background and purpose : Çonsiderable controversy exists about the appropriate rate of cesarean deliveries. Çesarean section is a major surgery and is more hazardous to the mother and fetus than vaginal delivery. Ïn Ïran in 2002, 36% and in the Mazandaran province 56% of all deliveries were made by cesarean section. This study proposes to determine the effect of statewide policies on cesarean delivery rate in two hospitals of Mazandaran.
Materials and methods : This study was a clinical trial research and performed in two hospitals of Mazandaran province between the years 2002 (November) and 2003 (September). Letters were sent to each obstetrician to Ïnform her about proportion of conducted cesarean by herself and its differece with the world standards in case hospital at June 2003. Data collection continued during this time and last until September 2003 in two hospitals.Then data compaired before and after intervention and analyzed with descriptive (Frequerey, Mean, SD, Table) & analytical (X2, Çompare mean) statistical methods.
Results : During the study period, 2171 deliveries in case hospital and 980 deliveries in control hospital were made of which 44.8% and 46.6% were cesarean in case and contral hospitals respectively. Statistical analysis showed that hospital policies have no effect on cesarean delivery rate. Before and after the intervension in both hospitals the main indication of cesarean was cesarean repeat.
Çonclusion : Regarding the results of this study and the statewide policies, it is suggested that more supervisions on cesarean rate are necessary and vaginal birth after cesarean should be encouraged.

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Background and purpose: Most women consider menopausal symptoms as natural period in their life. Many of them experienced some problems before and after the condition. There are many side effects of hormone therapy for menopausal symptoms. In different regions with various diet regimens, menopausal symptoms are different. Glycyhrhza glabra has constituents with estrogen like activity. In this study for the first time aqueous Glycyrrhza glabra extract was evaluated for decreasing menopausal symptoms.
Materials and Methods: Aqueous Glycyrrhza glabra extract prepared by maceration method. The extract was concentrated and then powdered. The powder used as 250 mg capsule and standardized by glycyrrhizha content. After matching for age, menopausal age and BMI, 29 and 24 women were allocated in case and control groups respectively. Three 250 mg capsules were prescribed per day to women in case group and women in control group received placebo. The mean number of hot flashes and degree of menopausal symptoms, KI (Kupperman Index) were calculated every two weeks and classified as without symptom, weak, medium and severs. Data were analyzed using T-test and the effects of drug on hot flash and KI were assessed in different weeks.
Results: The mean age and menopausal age were 50.5 ± and 48± respectively. Results showed that the mean numbers of hot flashes, KI and FSH decreased significantly in case group but they were not significant in control group. Also estradiol hormone increased significantly in case group.
Conclusion: Aqueous Glycyrrhza glabra affects hot flash and KI and is a simple and cheap drug for menopausal symptoms without any side effects.

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Background and purpose: Tody, most societies face significant decrease in consuming milk products in children and this process would cause problems in providing the calcium needed by children, particularly since the osteoporosis is definitely connected to a lack of receiving sufficient calcium in children and adolescence age. Therefore, the goal of this study is to study the knowledge and pattern of milk consumption in 7-12 year old children of Sari and their mothers.
Materials and Methods: The research samples consisted 638 male and female student at 7-12 in elementary schools (urban and rural), chosen at random from 16 schools. Necessary data were obtained through separate and different questionnaires on the output of milk consumption and its products through direct interviews. The data of the study were analyzed using t-Test, ANOVA, Duncan follow up, Chi-square and correlation coefficient.
Results: In this study, 44% of children and 37.7% of mothers consumed milk and 50.1% of children and 19.4% mothers sometimes consumed milk. 5.5% of children and 19.4% of mothers did not consume milk. Mostly, the reason for non-consuming milk among children and mothers was: not having access to milk (27.9% and 17.7%). The awareness towards the advantages of milk was desirable in 67% children and 48.7% of mothers. It was almost desirable in 21.1% children and 4.5% of mothers and undesirable in 1.4% of children and 1.1% of mothers. The amount of milk consumption for 62% of urban children and 49% of rural children was only one unit, and, in sum, the amount of milk consumption for 59% of boys and 55% of girls was less than the recommended figures. The mean average of criteria deviation in the amount of milk consumption for children showed a significant difference from their educational levels (p=0.001) and insignificant difference from their sex. In addition, the pattern of milk consumption of children had significant relationship with the sex, education level and education of father however, it had significant relationship with the education level of mothers and the jobs of mother and father. Children's knowledge about the advantages of milk had a significant relationship with the education level of mothers, fathers and jobs of mothers (P<0.004) however, it had a insignificant relationship with their sex.
Conclusion: In this study, the amount of milk consumption in half of the population subjects of the study was less than the standard recommended amount therefore, to improve children's health status and prevent the destructive effects of osteoporosis in adulthood, there should be necessary actions to increase milk consumption among children.

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Background and Purpose: Due to an increase in cases of irrational drug prescription and it's health and economic consequences, evaluation of the rational use of drugs seemed necessary. Among drug groups antibiotics are greatly significant.
Materials and Methods: Utilization pattern of antibiotics in different wards of Sari Imam Khomeini teaching hospital in the first half of 2000 and 2005 were reviewed. ATC/DDD (Anatomic, Therapeutic, Chemical/ Defined Daily Dose) methodology was used.
 Results: Data showed, use of antibiotics jumped from 95.4 DBDs (DDD per patient’s bed-days) to 124 DBDs. Distribution of different class of anti-microbial, showed the highest increase in use of vancomycin and clindamycin. Use of cotrimoxazole and aminoglycosides remained fairly unchanged, howerrs consumption of Penicillin G dropped. In year 2005, ICU ward followed by gynecology, were among the University Hospital departments with the highest consumption of antibiotics. Cefazolin was the most prescribed antibiotics during this study.
Conclusion: It appers that there is a need for more national drug policities and drug education program for health care professionals. Evaluation of drug distribution in hospitals seems to be necessary.

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Background and purpose Stomach cancer is the 2nd cause of mortality in the world and one of the most important causes of mortality in Mazandaran Province. Therefore, this study was designed to explain geographical and demographic patterns of mortality caused by stomach cancer in Mazandaran province and to identify the high-risk areas.
Materials and methods: Â descriptive study was conducted between the years 2001 and 2005. Through this study, 1663 deaths from stomach cancer were registered in Mazandaran Health Çenters. Demographic and geographical data including age, gender and residential location of the Patients’ were collected and analyzed using descriptive methods and Poisson regression, using WÏN BÜGS statistical package.
Results: Ôf the 1663 registered deaths, 1210 cases (72.8%) were males and 453 (27.8%) were females. Descriptive statistics demonstrated that the mean age for males was 66 years and for females was 69.9 years. Ünivariate analysis indicated that the incidence of stomach cancer is higher in rural areas compared with urban areas (P<0.05).
Çonclusion: The results demonstrated that the mortality rate due to stomach cancer is higher in individuals with more that 50 years of age. Ït can also be said that the mortality rate in males is twice as much as in females and more common in rural areas compared with urban areas.

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Background and purpose: Gastric cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world and Mazandaran province is known as one of the areas with high incidence of gastric cancer in Iran. This study examined the survival rates and factors affecting survival of patients with gastric cancer treated in Touba Clinic of Sari. Materials and methods: In this retrospective study the information of 430 patients with gastric cancer were studied. They were followed up for a 5-year period from November 2007 until December 2012. The overall survival rates were determined using nonparametric method of Kaplan - Meier and univariate analysis, and log rank test was used to determine the factors affecting the survival rates of the patients. Results: Among the patients 68.8% were male and 31.2% were female. The mean age of male patients was 65.98 years and in female it was 61.12 years. The mean and median survival rates of these patients were 27.82 months and 19 months, respectively. The survival rate of the studied population in one, two, three, four and five years were 0.64, 0.44, 0.34, 0.28 and 0.19, respectively. Univariate analysis identified age at diagnosis (p= 0.001), degree of differentiation of tumor (p= 0.031), metastasis of disease (p= 0.000), tumor stage (p= 0.000), type of treatment for the patient (p= 0.000), histopathology type (p= 0.013), and location (p= 0.009) as effective diagnostic factors. Conclusion: Five-year survival rate of patients with gastric cancer is low in Sari. Late referred and delayed diagnosis could be the reasons, therefore, early detection and screening methods are of great importance in improving the survival rate in these patients

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Background and purpose: Studies show many factors affecting the way of using health services. we can make people behave towards achieving the goals leading to population health promotion by identifying the effective factors on the selection and behavior prediction.The purpose of this paper was to modeling of healthcare costs and other characteristics and social factors-demographic on the way people use healthcare provider system. Materials and methods: This applied study is an analytical descriptive cross-sectional study. The data of this paper was based on the ” utilitization schema of health services in the country"that were collected in1387. Totally, 2141 observation of outpatients were analyzed with NLOGIT software. Then, the two-level nested logit was fitted to the data. Results: None of the variables related to income levels, gender, family size, having insurance has impact on the utility of alternatives (P> 0.05). Living in villages and households, respectively, each with a coefficient equal to 7.3 and 9.2 had the maximum weight impact and then the age levels 20-34 and children 2-11 each with a coefficient equal to 1.7 and 1.5, and also married, cost and time, had the greatest influence on the probability of selection. So, whichever, the coefficient was equal to 1(P< 0.05). Conclusion: It seems that we need a more precise monitoring management of health insurance payment mechanism and also a fair distribution of services based on geographic area. Due to a more satisfying family physician scheme, improving the quality of services provided by the executors of this scheme is essential. Increasing society’s knowledge through training media about the disadvantages of self-care necessary to eliminate the self-care culture.

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Background and purpose: According to the Iranian Health Ministry, the incidence of renal failure is 2.5 per thousand. One of the main treatments of this disease is hemodialysis. The main aim of this study was to estimate the survival rate of hemodialysis patients and also to choose a suitable model for survival in this group of patients. Materials and methods: This retrospective cohort study was performed using the medical records of 500 patients during 2007 to 2013. Kaplan-Meier survival estimate was used and evaluation of the model was performed. Results: The median survival time was 108 months for the patients. This rate for one, two, three, five and ten years were 83%, 77%, 71%, 58%, and 42%, respectively. The median survival time was 243.69±69 for patients who did not smoke. The survival time was considerably different in patients with diabetes. Conclusion: Evaluation of the model showed that the gamma distribution fits better than other distributions for the survival of hemodialysis patients.

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Background and purpose: Modeling of Hospital Length of Stay (LOS) is of great importance in healthcare systems, but there is paucity of information on this issue in Iran. The aim of this study was to identify the optimal model among different mixed poisson distributions in modeling the LOS and effective factors.
Materials and methods: In this cross-sectional study, we studied 1256 records, including 15 variables associated with LOS in Sari Imam Khomeini Hospital (2016). Discrete Uniform-Poisson (UP) and Generalized Poisson-Lindley (GPL) distributions were fitted on LHS and modeling was performed.
Results: Mean LOS was 4.95 days. According to the Z-test, data were overdispersed (P<0.001). GPL distribution was the best model (Akaike value=5994.61). GPL regression model showed significant relationships between LOS and age, sex, marital status, occupation, death, inpatient ward, and diagnosis (P<0.05). Longer LOS were seen in patients of lower ages and those who were employed. Mean LOS in women was 1.40 times higher than men. The LOS in internal ward, surgery, emergency, and maternity wards were (2.68, 1.57, 1.62, 0.78 times, respectively) higher than those in oncology ward. Mean LOS was considerably higher in patients with musculoskeletal disorders (8.51 days).
Conclusion: Hospital length of stay was different in all wards, so any Mixed Poisson Distribution that better fits such data could be used.

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 Background and purpose: Human health is negatively affected by increase in concentration of carbon dioxide in indoor air due to the lack of proper ventilation. The aim of this study was to remove carbon dioxide from a closed space using sodium hydroxide nanofluid and determining the effect of absorbent concentration, carbon dioxide concentration, and titanium dioxide nanoparticles.
Materials and methods: The experiments were conducted in a closed chamber on a laboratory scale. An air suction pump was connected to the absorption reactor and the carbon dioxide measuring device was installed inside the chamber. By injecting carbon dioxide gas inside the chamber, different concentrations in the range of 500, 2000 and 5000 ppm were created. Sodium hydroxide absorbent solution at 0.1, 0.2, and 0.4% were examined. Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (0.008%) and surfactant (0.003%) were used to prepare nanofluids. The absorption fluids’ pH, electrical conductivity, and total inorganic carbon (TIC) were measured before and after carbon dioxide absorption.
Results: By using 0.4% sodium hydroxide solution containing 0.008% titanium dioxide nanoparticles, the carbon dioxide removal efficiency at 500 and 5000 ppm were 72% and 44%, respectively, that were higher than the solution without nanoparticles (20% and 10%, respectively). At 5000 ppm carbon dioxide, increasing the concentration of absorption solution from 0.1 to 0.4% doubled the removal efficiency. The average amount of total inorganic carbon (TIC) in nanofluids increased by about 20% compared to the base fluids. The average reduction of EC in nanofluid was about 25% higher than the base fluid. The average reduction in pH value was less than one unit.
Conclusion: Sodium hydroxide nanofluid containing 0.008% of titanium dioxide nanoparticles is effective in removing carbon dioxide from the air.
 

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Background and purpose: This study investigated the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in patients with ulcerative colitis.
Materials and methods: This descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study was conducted on 77 patients with ulcerative colitis in the Tooba dental clinic in 2023, with inclusion and exclusion criteria investigated. The OHIP-14 questionnaire was prepared from the patients and scored using two different methods. Dry mouth, DMFT, PI, GI, and SBI indices were recorded during the clinical examination. Finally, the data are analyzed statistically.
Results: In this study, the participants were categorized according to the use or non-use of removable prostheses. Statistically, women used removable prostheses significantly more (P=0.021). The average age of patients with removable prostheses was higher (P=0.003). Also, the OHRQoL score increased by 0.24 (P=0.034) as the age of the patients increased each year. OHRQoL score was higher in patients with removable dental prostheses (P=0.020). In general, patients had a higher OHRQoL score with alcohol consumption (P=0.007). In patients with removable prostheses, the average OHRQoL was significantly higher in patients with dry mouth (P=0.038).
Conclusion: In the studied population of patients with ulcerative colitis, overall oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) was found to be worse in individuals with removable prostheses, older age, and alcohol consumption. Additionally, no significant relationship was observed between OHRQoL and smoking, dry mouth, or oral-dental indices (PI, GI, DMFT, and SBI).

 

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Background and purpose: Chronic kidney disease or CKD is defined as functional failure or structural abnormality of the kidney. Diabetes and high blood pressure are the primary causes of this illness. Because the underlying causes of chronic kidney disease are more common now, the disease's financial burden on health systems around the globe has gone up. This disease can cause a wide range of complications, including changes in electrolytes and other known indicators in the blood. One of the less investigated indicators is the serum level of phosphorus in these patients. Therefore, we designed and implemented a study to investigate the relationship between serum phosphorus levels and kidney dysfunction in chronic kidney patients.
Materials and methods: This study was a descriptive and retrospective study that was conducted on 110 patients with chronic kidney disease admitted to Imam Khomeini Teaching Hospital in Sari. The census sampling method and data collection tool was a checklist. Phosphorus values ​​obtained by blood tests and recorded in patients' files were studied. The comparison between the grouped variables was done with the chi-score test and Fisher's exact test. Quantitative variables were compared between 2 groups with a t-test and in more than 2 groups with an analysis of variance or their non-parametric equivalent. Also, the correlation between serum phosphorus level and GFR was done with Pearson or Spearman correlation coefficient. Partial Correlation was used to adjust the effect of confounding variables. Also, the normality of quantitative variables was evaluated with Shapiro-Wilks and based on skewness and kurtosis indices. Data analysis was done with SPSS software version 25
Results: Of the 110 individuals that were examined, 51 (46.4%) were female and 59 (53.6%) were male. Of the 110 individuals, 95.5%, or 105 patients, had underlying medical conditions. During their time in the hospital, 21 patients (19.1%) were admitted to the intensive care unit. 19 individuals were in the G3 stage, 41 in the G4 stage, and 50 were in the G5 stage of CKD. Also, 69 patients were diagnosed with diabetes. Of these, 13 patients were in the G3 stage, 28 patients were in the G4 stage, and 28 patients were in the G5 stage of chronic kidney disease. The average level of blood urea and creatinine was reported to be 125.0255 mmol/L and 4.2975 mg/dL, respectively. Also, the calcium serum level was 8.9109 mg/dL and the phosphorus serum level was 4.6873 mg/dL. Also, the average eGFR among 110 evaluated patients was 19.2345 mL/min/1.73m^2. Serum phosphorus levels and eGFR in men are correlated, and this link is significant (P=0.000). However, the P-value of 0.087 indicates that there is no significant association between eGFR and blood phosphorus levels in women. This connection was significant in hypertensive individuals (P=0.003). Furthermore, in contrast to systolic blood pressure, there is a substantial correlation between patients' diastolic blood pressure and eGFR.
Conclusion: Phosphorus serum level plays a role in determining the severity and prognosis of chronic kidney disease. Also, there is a direct relationship between diastolic blood pressure and the severity of this disease.