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Background: Hepatitis B infection is a major public health problem worldwide. An important way to prevent hepatitis infection, especially among the high-risk populations including healthcare workers is vaccination. So, this study was conducted to evaluate the post- vaccination immunologic response of health staff in Kashan University of Medical Sciences during 2012-2013. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was performed on 227 staff randomly selected from the ones received the last dose of vaccine three months ago. Their blood samples were tested for Anti-HBs and Anti-HBc using the ELISA and RAPID tests, respectively. Results: Among 227 subjects, 167(75.6%) cases were female and 56 (24.4%) male (mean age, 31.35±7.85 years). Ninety-five percent of the women responded to the vaccine (10.8% hypo-response; 14.4% intermediate-response and 70.1% hyper-response). On the other hand, 95.3% of the men responded to the vaccine (20.4% hypo-response, 20.4% intermediate-response and 55.6% hyper-response). Conclusion: The results of this study reveal the appropriate immune responses to vaccine one year after the vaccination. Although among the subjects the immunologic response to vaccine after one period of vaccination has not been 100%, the current protocol for hepatitis B vaccine yields the remarkable response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The purpose of this study was to compare the self- efficacy, self -esteem, social anxiety, shyness and aggression among the high school students with different levels of assertiveness. Materials and Methods: In this study, 311 first and second grade high-school students were selected from the five regions of Tehran (North, South, Central, East, and West) through cluster sampling. The low, high and moderate-assertive participants were recognized based on the mean and standard deviation of assertiveness. Multivariate analysis (MANOVA) was used to compare the research variables in the three groups. Results: The results showed a significance value of F for Wilks lambda (F=4.12, P=0.001) indicating the overall differences in different levels of assertiveness. There was a significant difference in self-efficacy (P<0.001, F: 13.77) and self-esteem (P<0.001, F: 4.80) in three groups of assertiveness. Moreover, a significant difference was found in aggression (P<0.001, F: 12.1), social anxiety (P<0.001, F: 5.24) and shyness (P<0.001, F: 8.65) among the high, low and moderate-assertive students. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, the high-assertive students had the higher levels of self-efficacy and self-esteem and lower levels of social anxiety, shyness and aggression as compared to the low and moderate-assertive students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Type 1 diabetes is the most common metabolic and endocrine disorders in infants and adolescents. Regarding the importance of the disease control and its effect on adolescents' life, this study aimed to evaluate the relationship between quality of life and self-care capability among the diabetic adolescents. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 74 diabetic adolescents were selected from Kashan diabetes center using convenience sampling. The adolescents filled out standardized quality of life questionnaire including 41 general and special questions with Likert answers (1-4) and self-care capability questionnaire including 37 questions on attitude, function and family sections with 35 Likert answers (1-4) and two answers yes/no. HbA1c measurement was performed and the demographic data including sex, age, diabetes duration and insulin injections were registered. Results: The mean age of patients and diabetes onset were 14.44±1.8 and 4.12±1.94, respectively and the patients received 33.7±12.45 (IU/day) insulin. Results showed no significant relationship between the quality of life and HbA1c level (P=0.58). Moreover, no significant relationship was found between the self-care capability and HbA1c level (P=0.79). However, a significant relationship was found between the quality of life and self-care capability (P=0.001). Conclusion: Considering the low HbA1c level, the quality of life and self-care capability in diabetic adolescents were not desirable in this city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]