Medical and veterinary professional programs are demanding and may have an impact on a student's quality of life (QOL). The aim of this study was to compare the perceived QOL of these two groups. In this study, we used the SF-36 questionnaire in which higher scores mean a better perceived QOL. Only the students in the internship phase of their program were selected so that we could compare the two groups in a similar way. In total, 308 valid questionnaires were gathered. Apart from age and body mass index (BMI), the two groups were demographically similar. The scores of five domains (physical activity limitation due to health problems, usual role limitation due to emotional problems, vitality, general mental health, and general health perception) and also the total score were statistically higher in medical students. Only the score of one domain (social activity limitation due to physical or emotional problems) was statistically higher in veterinary students. BMI, physical activity limitation due to health problems, and vitality lost their significance after binomial logistic regression. We found that, in general, veterinary students have lower scores for the perceived QOL with social function being the only exception. It can be assumed that in medical students, interaction with human patients may have a negative impact in the score of this domain. Even though medical students have shown lower perceived QOL than the general population in previous studies, veterinary students appear to have slightly lower perceived QOL than medical students.

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to explore the ergonomic risk factors for low back pain (LBP) and neck pain in an industry in which only light tasks are performed. These common disorders can be significant work-related musculoskeletal disorders. This study included 396 employees who worked in packaging units of pharmaceutical companies. The Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire and the rapid upper limb assessment (RULA) were used to generate data. This study showed an association between LBP, RULA scores, and workers' education. For neck pain, an association was found with age, gender, and subjective questions about working posture (mostly sitting/standing or alternating between the two). Absence from work more than 3 days, which could have been associated with pain, was significantly associated with both disorders.

In this study, RULA was not associated with symptoms in the upper limb in non-heavy working industries so we do not recommend it for screening purposes. The use of decades of working history and shiftwork can be considered for this purpose in the shoulder and wrist pain respectively.

Introduction: Microcytic anemia is a type of anemia with smaller than normal red blood cells. Iron deficiency anemia and thalassemia are some of the major causes. The aim of the study was to compare the pulmonary function of the subjects with microcytic anemia to the respective results of the normal population. Material and methods: This was a cross-sectional study in Bandar Abbas, Iran, conducted on the patients attending yearly occupational health checkups. Complete blood cell count and a standard spirogram were attained from each consenting participant and occupational histories of exposure to dust, fumes, solvents, and noxious gases were obtained. Results: At last, 2,199 subjects were included in the analysis, of which 335 cases had microcytic anemia. There was a significant association between having microcytic anemia and forced vital capacity (FVC) reduction, and to a lesser degree, the reduction of forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV 1). These parameters were also significantly increased together with the rise of mean corpuscular volume (MCV) in the sample population. Conclusion: It can be concluded that having microcytic anemia may reduce some spirometric parameters. Even though these changes are small, adjusting for the reduced values can help prevent an overestimation of lung disorders, mostly in borderline cases.

Background: Cancer has a high mortality rate in both developing and developed countries.