Background:The aim of this study was to evaluate the results of amblyopia screening in Ardabil Province in three examination levels by kindergarten teacher, optometrist, and ophthalmologist.Methods:In a cross-sectional study, the results of the national amblyopic prevention program in 2–6 years old children in Ardabil Province were investigated in 2012. The results pertained to the examinations of children participating in this research were collected in the national approved forms. The data were entered into the computer and were analyzed using statistical methods in SPSS 18.Results:Around 38,844 children (51.7%) out of 75173 with 2–6 years old qualified children participated in the screening program in Ardabil Province. In the first stage of screening, 1068 children (33.1%) are visually impaired in one eye and 2160 children (66.9%) are visually impaired in two eyes. In the second stage, the results related to the examinations by optometrists indicated that the prevalence of refractive errors, strabismus, and others were 70%, 27.8%, and 2.2%, respectively. Refractive errors problem was most prevalent in Ardabil city (72.6%).The prevalence of refractive errors, strabismus, and other reasons in amblyopic children was 51.3%, 23.9%, and 24.8%; respectively.Conclusions:The present investigation showed that coverage of amblyopia screening program was not enough in Ardabil Province. To increase the screening accuracy, standard instruments and examination room must be used; more optometrists must be involved in this program and increasing the validity of obtained results for future programming.

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Background: Self-medication is one of the main health problems. Given the high prevalence of self-medicationin society and between students, the aim of this study was to assess the rate of self-medication among Ardabil medical students.Methods: This cross–sectional study has been done on 150 students which selected randomly from Ardabil Medical University Science students. Data collected by a questionnaire and then analyzed by statistical method in SPSS.19.Results: The rate of self-medication among students was 65%. Most of usage drug was sedatives with 77.1%. 7.2% of students were prepared drugs from places other than pharmacies and most of self-medication was the existence of drug free market with 71%.Conclusions: Given the high prevalence of self-medication among students it is necessary to promote a culture of drug use among students, education in the field of self-medication and its side effects are given to students.

Background and Purpose. Trauma is the leading cause of death for youth in developing countries. Given the prevalence of head trauma (HT) in society and its complication and burden, the epidemiologic study of head trauma is necessary and is the main aim of this study. Materials and Methods. This retrospective population-based survey describes the epidemiology of head injury in a defined population in Ardabil city. It includes all 204 patients with head injury referred to the University Hospital of Ardabil, Iran, during 2013-2014. Data were collected by a checklist and analyzed by statistical methods in SPSS.19. Significance level p < 0.05 was considered. Results. Of all registered cases, 146 (71.6%) were male and the rest of them were female. Most of HT patients lived in Ardabil city (60.8%). The mean age of patients was 22.6 ± 25.9 and most of victims were young. 24.5% of traumatic patients have injuries in severe to critical level (grade 3-4). The most cause of trauma was accidents (41.7%). Most of injuries occurred in night (55.9%) and in summer season (42.2%). Causes were traffic accident in 41.7%. Conclusion. Results showed that the leading cause of head trauma especially in the warm seasons is accidents and so, designing programs to reduce road accidents can dramatically reduce the rate of trauma in the future in Ardabil province.

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