Background:Reduced level of physical activity, as an important problem of urbanization and industrial development, has a considerable impact on the population morbidity and mortality. The rate of inactivity has been reported to be 60–85% in adults worldwide. Considering the importance of physical activity among youth, the aim of this study was to evaluate the physical activity among university students.Materials and Methods:In this cross-sectional study physical activity was assessed in 399 medical and public health students of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Physical activity was evaluated by standard questionnaire in four fields containing job, transport, work, and leisure time at home.Findings:Regarding moderate physical activity, 48.6% of students were active and the rest were inactive. Regarding severe physical activity, 32.6% were active and the rest were inactive. Mean number of hours for moderate activity per day was 1.96 ± 0.19 h/day in the last 7 days. There was a significant relationship between physical activity and sex and students’ course of study.Conclusion:The results indicated that the level of physical activity was not sufficient among students; therefore, considering its importance among students, it is necessary to educate them regarding lifestyle modification specially to increase the level of physical activity during their leisure time.

Background: Cervical cancer is one of the most common cancers in the female reproductive system. Awareness of cervical cancer diagnosis, risk factors and screening can lead to rapid treatment and their well-being. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 1900 female health workers in Isfahan province and 230 similar women in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province. A researcher-made questionnaire was used to collect data about knowledge and attitude. Numerical outcomes were analyzed using ANOVA and linear regression methods and categorical outcomes were applied to the chisquared test. Data were analyzed at 5% significant level using SPSS 23. Results: The result of linear regression showed that there was a significant difference in the mean score of knowledge about Pap smear in both provinces (P = 0.001). There was a significant relationship between the mean scores of knowledge about Pap smear in Isfahan province and marriage at an early age (P = 0.001), smoking (P = 0.005) and Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province with cervical ulcer (P = 0.03). In addition, there was a significant difference in the mean score of attitude toward Pap smear between both provinces (P = 0.001) and there was a significant relationship between the mean scores attitude toward Pap smear in Isfahan province and marriage at an early age (P = 0.001), cervical ulcer (P = 0.002), and smoking (P = 0.001) and Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province with genital infection (P = 0.012) increase the number of pregnancies (P = 0.002). Conclusions: Considering the importance of knowledge and attitude of female health worker in both provinces, it is necessary to carry out educational programs especially in the provinces of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari.

Association of lifestyle-related factors and mental health has been less studied in Middle Eastern countries. Th is study aimed to examine the prevalence of two common mental health problems, i.e., depression and anxiety, and their lifestyle determinants in a large sample of Iranian population. This study was conducted within the framework of SEPAHAN population based cross-sectional study (N=4763(. The General Practice Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPPAQ) was used to assess physical activity and the Iranian-validated version of Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was applied to screen for anxiety and depression. Logistic regression was used as the main statistical method for data analysis by SPSS version 16.0. A P-value <0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. The risk of anxiety and depression was 2.5 (OR=2.56,95% CI: 1.97-3.33) and 2.21(1.83-2.67) times higher in women than men, respectively. With every one-year increase in the age, the risk of anxiety decreased by 2% (OR=0.98,95% CI:0.97-0.99). Individuals with higher education had 56% lower risk of anxiety (OR=0.44,95% CI: 0.36-0.55) and 46% depression (OR=0.54,95% CI: 0.46-0.64) than the undergraduate group, and the risk of depression in the inactive (less than one hour of activity per week) group was 27% higher than the active group (OR=1.27,95% CI: 1.06-1.51). The risk of anxiety in the non-smoker group was 65% (OR=0.35,95% CI: 0.20-0.59) and depression was 64% lower than among smokers (OR=0.34,95% CI:0 .22-0.53). In the ex-smoker group, the risk of anxiety was 60% (OR=0.40,95% CI:0.19-0.85) and depression was 59% lower than for the smoker group (OR=0.41,95% CI: 0.24-0.73). This current study’s results demonstrated significant associations between unhealthy lifestyle factors and increased risk of anxiety and depression. Hence, special attention must be paid to preventive intervention programmes aiming to enhance healthy lifestyle among at-risk populations.

Background:Prognostic tools are widely used in the practice of Oncology and have been developed to help stratify patients into specific risk-related grouping. We sought to apply of two such tools used for patients with early-stage breast cancer and to correlate them with actual outcomes.Methods:A retrospective study was designed to include early-stage breast cancer cases seen from 1994 to 2014 at the Seyedoshohada Hospital in Isfahan, Iran. Information was derived from the patients’ records, and indices were derived from prognostic tools. Information was analyzed using descriptive statistics and one sample t-test.Results:In 233 patients, the difference between the predicted overall survival (OS) by the Adjuvant Online (AO) prognosis tools (69.28) and the observed OS (71.2) was not statistically significant (P = 0.52), and the AO prognosis tools had predicted the patients’ OS correctly. In the Nottingham prognosis index (NPI), this difference in all groups except the very poor prognosis group was not statistically significant.Conclusions:Adjuvant Online prognosis tools were capable of predicting the 10-year OS rate although not in all of the subgroups. The NPI was capable of distinguishing good, moderate, and poor survival rates, but this ability was not visible in more specific groups with moderate and poor prognosis.

Background:Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system. Etiology of the disease is not well understood; however, it is more common in women than in men and occurs mainly during reproductive age. The aim of this study was to evaluate some risk factors in women of childbearing age with MS in Isfahan Province.Methods:This analytic case–control study was conducted in MS Clinic in Isfahan, 2014. The study was done on 200 patients with MS and 200 nonpatients (matched controls) that were randomly selected for inclusion in the study. The data collection tool was a researcher-designed questionnaire consisting of three parts: Demographics, disease characteristics, and some risk factors related to reproductive age. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 20, using descriptive and inferential statistics.Results:The results showed that risk of MS had a significant relationship with age at menarche (P < 0.001), prior use of oral contraceptives (OCs) (P = 0.002), duration of use of OCs (P = 0.008), and number of pregnancies (P < 0.001). However, there was no significant relationship between age of onset of use of OCs (P = 0.80) and age at the first pregnancy (P = 0.45) with the risk of MS.Conclusions:Results of this research determined that the following risk factors were associated with developing MS, age at menarche, history, and duration of use of OCs and number of pregnancies.