HOW DO THE STAFFS WORKING IN STEEL FACTORIES IN ARDEKAN CITY DEAL WITH THE RISKS OF MOBILE PHONES?

AKBAR BABAEI HEYDARABADI¹, ALI RAMEZANKHANI²*, MOHTASHAM GHAFFARI³, YADOLLAH MEHRABI⁴, SAJAD ZARE⁵

¹ Department of Public Health, School of Health, Student’s Research Committee, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran - ² Professor, Department of Public Health, School of Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran - ³ Associate Professor, Department of Public Health, School of Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran - ⁴ Professor, Department of Epidemiology, School of Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran - ⁵ Assistant Professor, Department of Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

Nowadays, mobile phone is one of the most important tools required for social and professional life; however, in some circumstances it can threaten the health of individuals. This study was aimed to determine the behaviors of the staffs working in steel factories in Ardekan city toward the risks of mobile phone radiation and microbial contaminations. This cross-sectional study, which was conducted in 2014, was aimed to evaluate the staff behaviors toward the risks caused by mobile phone radiation and microbial contamination. The study population was consisted of the staffs working in Steel Plant of Ardekan city. The participants of the study were selected via using cluster sampling method. A researcher made questionnaire was used to collect the data; it had 15 items which were used to assess the behavior. The validity (face and content validity) and reliability of the questionnaire were first confirmed and then it was used for data collection. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 22 statistical software. In this study, a total of 319 employees working in steel factories were evaluated. The mean age of the subjects was 33.04 ± 8.05 years, the mean work experience of the staff was 8.3 ± 6.05 years, the mean household size was 2.4 ± 1.33 persons, and the mean mobile phone bill at the last two months was 50.25 ± 43.47. The mean score of the staff behavior varied from 0.9 to 2.4. The studied staff had a poor performance in terms of health promoting behaviors. Apparently, to promote staff health it is necessary to utilize educational interventions aimed at increasing staff awareness, changing their attitudes and behavior, and finally changing their lifestyle..5%). Most cases whose reports were unsatisfactory were documented in the first phase of the study (i.e., 9 patients, 90%).

Conclusion: Cervical screening with Pap smear enables early diagnosis and management of cervical abnormalities and consequently a decrease in the rate of invasive cervical cancers. It is suggested to conduct studies with larger sample sizes to ensure the beneficial effects of cervical screening.