Reinforcement Behavior Therapy by Kindergarten Teachers on Preschool Children’s Aggression (Iran)

Background:

Aggression is a kind of behavior that causes damage or harm to others. The prevalence of aggression is 8–20% in 3–6 years old children. The present study aimed to assess the effect of training kindergarten teachers regarding reinforcement behavior therapy on preschoolers’ aggression.

Methods:

In this cluster randomized control trial, 14 out of 35 kindergarten and preschool centers of Mohr city, Iran, were chosen using random cluster sampling and then randomly assigned to an intervention and a control group. All 370 kindergarten and preschool children in 14 kindergarten were assessed by preschoolers’ aggression questionnaire and 60 children who obtained a minimum aggression score of 117.48 for girls and 125.77 for boys were randomly selected. The teachers in the intervention group participated in 4 educational sessions on behavior therapy and then practiced this technique under the supervision of the researcher for two months. Preschoolers’ aggression questionnaire was computed in both intervention and control groups before and after a two-month period.

Results:

The results demonstrated a significant statistical difference in the total aggression score (P=0.01), verbal (P=0.02) and physical (P=0.01) aggression subscales scores in the intervention group in comparison to the control group after the intervention. But the scores of relational aggression (P=0.09) and impulsive anger (P=0.08) subscales were not statistically different in the intervention group compared to the controls.

Conclusion:

This study highlighted the importance of teaching reinforcement behavior therapy by kindergarten teachers in decreasing verbal and physical aggression in preschoolers.

Full article at:   http://goo.gl/ByrXqA

By:  Shahrzad Yektatalab, PhD,1 Abdolrasool Alipour, MS,2 Mitra Edraki, MS,3 and Pouran Tavakoli, MS2

¹Community Based Psychiatric Care Research Center, Department of Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

²Department of Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

³Community Based Psychiatric Care Research Center, Department of Pediatric, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shiraz University of Medical Science, Shiraz, Iran

Corresponding author: Shahrzad Yektatalab, PhD; Community Based Psychiatric Care Research Center, Department of Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Namazee Square, Shiraz, Iran Tel: +98 71 336474254; Fax: +98 71 36474250; Email:ri.ca.smus@hsatkey

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Hepatitis E Virus Seroprevalence in HIV Positive Individuals in Shiraz, Southern Iran

Background and Objectives:

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the most common cause of acute viral hepatitis in the world. It is usually a self-limited disease but may leads to the deaths of about 20% of pregnant women in developing countries. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of HEV infection among HIV individuals .

Materials and Methods:

This is a cross-sectional survey of HIV positive individuals in voluntary counselling and testing center of Shiraz in 2013 Using the systematic random sampling method, 158 patients enrolled for the research. They were asked about their age, gender, area of residence, marital status, number of children, education level, occupation, history of imprisonment, mode of HIV transmission, and viral hepatitis co-infection Three ml venous blood sample was drawn from each subject and transferred to the laboratory of voluntary counselling and testing center.

Results:

The overall seroprevalence of hepatitis E was 26 (16.4%), where it increased significantly with age ranging from zero in subjects less than 30 years of age to 47.4% in those aged 50 years or older.

Conclusion:

Co-infection of HIV positive individuals with HEV is an issue that should be of concern to health care providers.

Full article at:  http://goo.gl/ArLMem

By:  Hassan Joulaei,1 Omid Rudgari,1 Nasrin Motazedian,1,* and Samaneh Gorji-Makhsous2

¹Shiraz HIV/AIDS Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

²Health Policy Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

^*Corresponding author: Nasrin Motazedian, MD. Address: Shiraz HIV/AIDS Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, 2nd floor, Voluntary Counseling and Testing Center, Lavan Ave, Delavaran-e Basij Blvd, KhatounSq, Shiraz, Fars, Iran. Post Code: 71659-83885, Tel: +98-711-7386272, Fax: +98-711-7386272, Email:moc.oohay@nnaidezatom

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The Prevalence & Risk Factors of Hepatitis Delta Virus in HIV/HBV Co-Infected Patients in Shiraz, Iran, 2012

Evidence has shown that liver disease caused by hepatitis viruses can be more aggressive and severe in HIV infected subjects. Therefore, the present cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the seroprevalence of HDV infection among HIV/HBV co-infected clients in Shiraz, southwest Iran. In this study, 178 patients co-infected with HBV and HIV individuals were enrolled. The diagnosis of HIV infection was documented based on serological assays. The demographic and complementary data were collected by a questionnaire. HBsAg and HDV Ab were detected by commercial quantitative enzyme linked immunosorbent assay kits according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were also measured. The mean age of the participants was 37.4±7.4 years (range 22-63). 175 (98.4 %) patients were male and 3 (1.6 %) were female. Among 178 patients co-infected with HIV/HBV, 35 cases (19.7%, 95% CI: 14%-25%) were anti-HDV‏ positive and 143 (80.3%) were negative for anti-HDV. HDV exposure in HIV/HBV co-infected patients was associated with blood transfusion (P=0.002, OR: 14.3) and prison history (P=0.01, OR: 2.31) but not with age, marital status, unsafe sex contact, and injection drug abuse. Our data showed a relatively high prevalence of HDV infection in HIV infected population in Shiraz, Iran. The high frequency of HDV Ab in patients with blood transfusion and prison history reveals that HDV transmission occurs more frequently in the parental route than sexual contacts; therefore, blood screening for HDV diagnosis in the high-risk group is recommended.

Table 1

Main characteristics of HIVinfected individuals with positive HBs Ag according to delta status

Variable	All HBsAg patients	HDV Abpositive	HDV Abnegative	P value
Number	178	35 (19.7%)	143 (80.3%)	-
Median age (years)	34 (2262)	38 (3062)	37 (2258)	0.045
Marital status	29	6 (17%)	23 (15.4%)	0.9
Unsafe sexual contact	40	6 (17.1%)	34 (23.7%)	0.64
Intravenous drug use	68	15 (42.9%)	53 (37%)	0.8
History of blood transfusion	9	7 (20%)	2 (1.4%)	0.004
History of being imprisoned	69	25 (71.4%)	44 (30.7%)	0.01
ALT level (IU/L)	13.6±8.8	13.2±5.5	13.7±9.4	0.95
AST level (IU/L)	9.2±6.2	8.8±3.7	9.3±6.6	0.92
Median CD4 count (cells/uL)	281	276	289	0.47

Read more at:  http://ht.ly/Sv37y 

By: Mohammad Motamedifar, PhD,1,2 Mohammad Taheri, MSc,2 Kamran Bagheri Lankarani, MD,3 Mina Gholami, BC,2Mahmood Amini Lari, MD,1 Hossein Faramarzi, MD,1 and Jamal Sarvari, PhD2

²Department of Bacteriology and Virology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

³

1Shiraz HIV/AIDS Research Center (SHARC), Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

2Department of Bacteriology and Virology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
3Health Policy Research Center (HPRC), School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

1Shiraz HIV/AIDS Research Center (SHARC), Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

Attitudes Toward & Experience of Singles with Premarital Sex: A Population-Based Study in Shiraz, Southern Iran

The population of Iran is young and millions of youths are at risk for unprotected sexual relationships and their consequences. This questionnaire-based study was conducted in Shiraz, southern Iran. Singles were asked about premarital sex (PMS) and sexual health issues. 

A total of 1076 participants (634 males, 58.9 %) with a mean age of 24 ± 5.8 years participated in this study. One out of 2 singles reported PMS and 1 out of 2 singles with PMS reported multiple partners. Median age at first sexual contact was 18 years. Of all singles, 452 (41.9 %) were heterosexual, 61 (5.6 %) were bisexual, 366 (33.9 %) were alcohol users, 252 (23.3 %) were smokers, 57 (5.2 %) were opium users, and 392 (36.3 %) did not know about preventive methods for HIV. Of 528 singles who had PMS, 126 (23.8 %) never used a condom, 223 (42.2 %) used it inconsistently, and 59 (11.1 %) used it mainly against sexually transmitted diseases. 

In the regression analysis, alcohol use was the strongest associated factor of PMS in singles (OR 4.9, 95 % CI 3.3-7.4), followed by lack of religious beliefs (OR 2.3, 95 % CI 1.4-3.8). As a result, the PMS situation in our setting is cause for alarm and to protect singles against the risks associated with PMS, a multidisciplinary intervention including improving access to sexual behavioral counseling centers, education about sexual health and especially condom use, abstinence from alcohol use, and commitment to religious values is urgently needed to be established by health policymakers.

Via; http://ht.ly/RXdy8

By: Honarvar B1, Salehi F, Barfi R, Asadi Z, Honarvar H, Odoomi N, Arefi N, Lankarani KB.

• 1Health Policy Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, 45794-71348, Iran, honarvarbh32@yahoo.com.