Journal of Preventive Medicine

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Abstract

Introduction: High blood pressure is an important health problem in developing countries. It is the one of the most important risk factors for cardiovascular disease (Myocardial Infarction and Heart Failure) and stroke. This study was designed to determine prevalence and distribution of the hypertension in Bandar Abbas population who aged higher than 18 years.

Methods: In this cross –sectional study 2078 subjects (1397 women , 681 men) were selected through a cluster randomized sampling procedure and their data including age, BMI , marriage status, and hypertension family history were collected. In addition, blood pressure was determined in two arms after 10 minutes of rest. Data were analyzed using independent t-test, ANOVA, covariance analysis, and correlation tests with 95% confidence intervals.

 Results: A total of %21 of subjects were hypertensive (BP> 140/90 mm Hg). Systolic blood pressure was positively correlated to age but diastolic blood pressure had no significant changes in ages upper than 64 yr. Mean of blood pressure in men was upper than women. Marriage status (age was controlled) and positive family history in two sex had significant effect on blood pressure.

Conclusion: Identification of high blood pressure risk factors is important and can help health policy makers to find high risk groups, increase the screening efficiency, and establish preventive measures. In addition, periodic blood pressure measurement in high risk groups seems to be necessary.

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Introduction: Shift-working is one of the most important problems among the nurses and co-exposure to noise can worsen this problem. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of shift working and noise exposure on blood pressure of nurses in hospitals in the south of Iran in 2019.
 Methods: In this cross sectional and descriptive-analytical study all 350 nurses from three hospitals in the south of Fars province were enrolled and using a researcher made questionnaire necessary data including occupational data, number of day and night shifts per week, demographic characteristics, and nurses' life habits were collected. Noise pressure level, noise frequency analysis at the workstations, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure were measured before and after the work shift. SPSS software version 19 was used to evaluate the relationship between these variables.
Results: The mean noise pressure level in the Nurses' workstations before and after shift work was 51.67 and 69.27 dB, respectively. The highest equivalent noise pressure level was observed for nurses working in the delivery ward (mean: 64.33 dB-A). The average systolic and diastolic blood pressure of the nurses before and after the work shift was 104/ 66 and 109/ 70 mmHg, respectively. The mean and standard deviation of the number of night shifts per week in studied nurses were 1.49 ± 1.29. The results showed that increasing the level of noise and the number of night shifts per week increases the systolic and diastolic blood pressure of the nurses (R² = 0.79 and 0.86, respectively).
Conclusion: Noise emitted from different sources in hospitals and simultaneous shift working aggravates cardiovascular disorders in nurses. Therefore, managerial and engineering interventions are needed to prevent adverse effects of noise and shift working.
 

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Introduction: The present study investigated the effect of noise on blood pressure and heart rate of workers in an oil and gas industry in Khuzestan province.
Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 60 employees of one of the oil and gas industries who worked in administrative, warehouses, and operation units. A demographic questionnaire, a Beurer blood pressure monitor (BC16), and a sound level meter (TES1358) were used for data collection. Blood pressure and heart rate were measured before, during, and after the work. ANOVA and Paired Sample Test were used for data analysis in SPSS software.
Results: Occupational exposure of administrative, warehouse, and operation unit workers to noise were 50-60, 85-75 and 95-85 dBA, and their heart rate was 79.38, 82.12, and 85.73 beats per minute (BPM), respectively. Before exposure to noise the mean heart rate of workers in the operation unit was 82.29±3.58 BPM and after exposure it was 85.73±1.92 BPM, and the difference was statistically significant (P-Value<0.001). The mean blood pressure of exposed to noise workers was significantly higher than that of non-exposed to noise workers (P-Value<0.001). The heart rate of operation unit workers was significantly higher, compared to other studied workers (P-Value<0.001).
Conclusion: Considering the effect of noise on blood pressure and heart rate and the direct relationship between these parameters and cardiovascular diseases, it can be claimed that noise is one of the risk factors of cardiovascular diseases.
 

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Introduction: High blood pressure is one of the most common non-communicable diseases that is caused by unhealthy lifestyle. The aim of this study was to assess the lifestyle of people with hypertension and compare it with healthy people in Bandar-e-Lengeh city.

Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive-comparative study, 385 people (183 patients with a history of hypertension and 202 healthy people), who reffered to Bandar-e-Lengeh health centers in year 1398, were selected using a combined sampling method as the study sample. The data collection tool was a questionnaire with three parts including demographic information and disease history, clinical examinations, and LSQ lifestyle questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software and univariate and multivariate logistic regression. A P-Value of   <0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: The results showed that the mean age in the group with hypertension was 55.30±13.16 years and in the healthy group it was 49.23±12.69 years. Among the life style dimensions, psychological health (R = 0.96 and P-Value <0.05) and avoiding the use of drugs and narcotics (R = 0.92 and 0.05). P-Value <0.05) had the highest correlation with the blood pressure.

Conclusion: According to the findings, health can be improved by improving the dimensions of lifestyle. Therefore, health policymakers need to look at lifestyle dimensions to identify high-risk groups, increase screening efficiencies, and promote the health.

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Introduction: High blood pressure is one of the major risk factors for cardiovascular diseases in developed and developing countries. Controlling blood pressure requires lifelong self-care behaviors. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of intervention based on social cognitive theory on self-care behaviors of patients with hypertension.
Methods: The target population of this quasi-experimental study were patients with high blood pressure in health centers of Farsan. Participants were randomly divided into two groups of intervention (90 people) and control (90 people). Data were collected using the self-care activity and social cognitive theory questionnaires before and 3 months after the educational intervention. The training program were held in 12 sessions with 60 to 90 minutes duration, using lecture, group discussion, practical demonstrations, questions and answers, and video/film methods, as well as the use of a WhatsApp group for the intervention group. Data were analyzed using SPSS ver. 22 software.
Results: After the educational intervention, the mean scores of knowledge, social cognitive theory constructs, and self-care behaviors in the intervention group increased significantly compared to that of the control group. Results of the regression analysis showed that more changes in the constructs of observational learning, self-regulation, and outcome evaluation results in the better self-care behavior in patients with hypertension.
Conclusion: In interventional studies based on social cognitive theory, in order to improve the self-care behaviors of patients with hypertension, special emphasis should be placed on observational learning, self-regulation, and outcome assessment costructs.