History and Objectives: Depression is a debilitating factor in life. Its frequency is estimated to be around 15-20%. It’s prevalence among students groups were reported from 10 to 64%. Depression may lead to suicide, drug dependence, low self confidence and may lead to low school performance among students and it will have adverse effect directly and indirectly on the society as a whole. The present study was carried out in order to determine the prevalence of depression among university students in Kashan in 1996-1997.

Materials and Methods: A descriptive study was carried out on 310 subjects. Individuals were selected on random basis. A short version of Beck standard questionnaire was given to each student. Personal records were collected.

Results: From 307 individuals, the prevalence was 35.8%. Depression was most prevalent among health and hygiene students (42.3%) and the medical students had the lowest prevalence (28.4%). Depression was not related to gender and residency of students.

Conclusion: Due to relative high prevalence of depression among students, preventive measures ought to be designed in order to reduce stressful situations.

Background: Due to the negative effect of stress on the quality of life this research was designed to consider the effects of relaxation techniques on the stress and the quality of life of dormitory female students at Tehran university of Medical Sciences.

Materials & Methods: A field trial and before-after study was conducted on a random sample of 200 female dormitory students of Tehran Medical Sciences University. The students of two dorms were considered as the experimental group and the students of two other dorms were chosen as control group. A pretest was administered on both groups using the spielberger anxiety inventory and WHO quality of life questionnaire. Then the experimental group was instructed to do the relaxation techniques for two months. A posttest was administered on both groups after two months. The data were analyzed statistically using t test, paired t test and c 2.

Results: The mean age of samples was 22.97±2.47. Half of the control and 62% of the experimental group were between the 2-4 years of their studying. The majority of both groups were in dorms for 27.77±19.07 months. The mean score of stress for control and experimental group were 1.51 and 1.29 their mean scores of total QOL were 3.15 and 3.16 respectively. So no significant difference was detected between the quality of life scores of both groups before the intervention (p=0.87). However, significant differences were noticed between the two groups after the intervention (p<0.05). The quality of life did not significantly change in control group except for the physical health domain (p=0.02). However the scores of most of domains increased in experimental group (p<0.001). The overall quality of life score was higher in experimental group after the two months of relaxation exercises (p<0.05).

Conclusions: The relaxation techniques can relieve the stress and improve some aspects of the quality of life. A more comprehensive study with matched random allocated groups is recommended.

Background : Sport injuries are inevitable events associated with school sports. They can be prevented if they are well scrutinized. This research was conducted to determine the frequency rate of trauma in student competitions in Kashan institutional sport contest during 2005-2006.

Materials and methods : In this descriptive cross-sectional study on 80 sport events including 2256 student athletes, at the elementary, intermediate, and high school levels injuries were recorded by direct observation of the sport arenas at the city of Kashan during the educational year 2006-2007 championship events. All injuries due to any cause during the competitions were recorded.

Results : A total of 50 injuries were recorded during the competitions. The highest frequency of injuries was observed in high school competitions with 21(42%) cases followed by elementary school competitions and intermediate school with 17(34%) and 12(24%) cases respectively. The highest frequency of trauma was observed in Basketball competetions with 16 (32%) cases and 4.7 per 100 athletes, followed by Football and Handball by 13 (26%) and 3.6 per 100 athletes, and 7 (14% ) cases and 3 per 100 athlete injuries, repectively.

Conclusion: The pattern of sport injuries in this research was similar to those found in the literature. It is suggested that special care be taken in all sport competetions , particularly care be devoted to Basketball competetions at high school levels.

Background: Metabolic syndrome or X syndrome is a combination of disorders such as: central obesity, hypertension, increased blood glucose and impaired blood lipids. Metabolic syndrome increases risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, dislipidemia and some cancers. This study was carried out to determine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in students of Kashan University of Medical Sciences in 2008.

Materials & Methods: This study is a cross-sectional survey carried out on 221 students in an age range of 19-27 years. Metabolic syndrome was defined having at least three of the Third Report of the Adult Treatment Panel (ATP III) criteria as the following: triglycerides ≥150 mg/dL high blood pressure (systolic blood pressure≥130 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure ≥ 85 mmHg) fasting glucose≥110 mg/dL waist circumference≥102 cm in men and ≥ 88 cm in women and HDL<40 mg/dL in men and<50 in female.

Results: Approximatry 30.8% of subjects had one component of metabolic syndrome. The most prevalent metabolic syndrome components had high blood pressure (16.7%) and low HDL (26.2%).

Conclusion: The results show that the important metabolic syndrome risk factors among students are high diastolic blood pressure and low HDL.

Background: Considering the important role of happiness in mental health, the vulnerability of students and also moving toward a positive-oriented approach of psychology, this study was carried out to evaluate the level of students' happiness and its related factors.

Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study with a census type sampling was done on the undergraduate first year students of Kashan University of Medical Sciences (No=1444). The questionnaires were filled out by all eligible students during the first month of the semester. The standard Oxford test and a researcher-invited questionnaire were used to measure the level of happiness and the related factors in respectively. Chi-square, Independent t-test, ANOVA and were used to analyze data statistically.

 Results: 78.7% of participants were girls and the rest were boys. The mean value of happiness among the students was 42.57±13.96. There was a statistical correlation between happiness and factors like: gender, economic status, extracurricular activities, hopefulness for future occupation, academic education satisfaction, mean score of courses, current living place and stress status during last year, but no relation was found with age, marital status, types of academic education (formal/informal), domesticity of students, level of family education and wealth, number of brothers and sisters, birth order, job and financial income. The mean value of happiness among females was more than that in males.

Conclusion: Paying attention to high-risk students, especially females, with poor economic status, and student under stress and low scored in courses is a mandate.

Background: The prevalence of depression among teenagers is %10-%70. Among the different risk factors, insufficient satisfaction of psychosocial needs is notable. Hence, the present study was carried out for evaluating the prevalence of depression among this age group and also determining its correlation with psychosocial need satisfaction (PSNS) by their parents.

Materials & Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on 762 female high school students in Kashan province during the year 2006. Sampling was done using random clustering method from different grades among the public and private schools. The Beck depression test, PSNS questionnaire as well as the relevant demographic data were collected. Data was analyzed using ANOVA, Chi-square and Pearson correlation coefficient tests.

Results: The prevalence of depression in our study was %53.5. The frequency of undesired PSNS by parents was %27.8. While there was a significant correlation between depression and PSNS of teenagers met by parents (P=0.01) or also father's education (P=0.05), but no significant correlation was seen between depression and the student’s age, parent’s age, job, mother’s education and also the years of parent education.

Conclusions: Inclusion of regular meetings in psychosocial health program by parents is recommended for relief of depression.

Background: Self-esteem, a sublime mental feeling highly effective for improving physical and mental health, can be considered as one of the areas of vulnerability to depression disorders. The purpose of this study was to promote the self-esteem of students using the educational workshop held at Kashan university of medical sciences.

Materials and Methods: This experimental study with a random-allocation block design was performed on 106 students (54 in the experimental group and 52 in control group) at Kahsan university of medical sciences. A six-hour training workshop was held for the experimental group and an Eysenck self-esteem questionnaire for one-month post-workshop follow up. Finally, the average scores of self-esteem in two groups, before and after the intervention, were reported.

Results: The mean score of self-esteem in the experimental group was significantly increased from 20.50 to 23.22 (P=0.001). Moreover, The average test score for one-month post-workshop follow up was 22.60, signifying the difference in self-esteem promotion (P=0.001) however, the mean score in the control group was decreased from 21.29 to 21.24. In addition, the average follow up score was 21.27 and no significant difference was seen for self-esteem score.

Conclusion: The results indicate that holding educational self-esteem workshop enhances students' self-esteem.

Background: One of the most important topics in clinical psychology is finding and measuring of independent tools that have the same results for the evaluation of a psychological characteristic. There are only few studies that have examined the agreement between these methods. This study aimed to compare the three screening instruments for mental disorder among students of Kashan University of Medical Sciences during 2011-2012.

Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 983 students of Kashan University of Medical Sciences were selected using simple random sampling during 2011-2012. Students were asked to complete three mental health questionnaires including GHQ-28, BSI and MMPI. Data were analyzed using SPSS software.

Results: Findings showed that the prevalence rates for mental disorder based on the GHQ-28, BSI and MMPI questionnaires were 39.1%, 44.8%, and 44%, respectively. Correlation coefficients for GHQ-28 with BSI, GHQ-28 with MMPI and BSI with MMPI were 0.588, 0.488, and 0.533, respectively. The corrected classification of GHQ‌28 with BSI was 73.3%, GHQ‌28 with MMPI 71.5% and MMPI with BSI 69.8%. Kappa coefficient showed high level of agreement between the three tests.

Conclusion: According to the results of the study, there is a relatively high correlation between the three instruments in diagnosis of mental disorder among the students.

Background: Streptococcus pneumoniae, as an important human pathogen, is a leading cause of serious infections (e.g., sepsis, pneumonia and meningitis). Nasopharyngeal colonization is often the first step in the development of pneumococcal infections. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of S. pneumoniae serotypes in the nasopharynx of students in Kashan and its related risk factors.

Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 1289 students in Kashan from November 2011 to December 2012. Demographic and clinical data were collected from patients using a questionnaire. Samples were cultured on a selective media. Moreover, S. pneumoniae strains were identified using gram staining, detecting alpha hemolysis, catalase, optochin susceptibility and bile solubility tests.

Results: One-hundred eighty one out of 1289 (14%) students were carriers for nasopharyngeal S. pneumoniae. There was a significant correlation between sex, age, previous respiratory infections, asthma, runny nose and previous hospitalization with an increased rate of the pneumococcal carriers.

Conclusion: According to the high prevalence of pneumococcal carriers and a significant correlation between increased rates of colonization and sex, age, previous respiratory infections, asthma, runny nose and previous hospitalization, applying preventive strategies such as student vaccination seems to be necessary.

Background: Studies has shown the effect on environmental conditions on psychological well-being. In this regard, psychological characteristics have an important role. This study aimed to investigate the role of mindfulness, psychological flexibility and integrative self -knowledge amonge the university students.

Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on the students of Kashan university of medical sciences (n=300) and based on quota sampling, a number of students (n=241) were selected based on the faculty and the major of the study. The administered tools were Ryff scale of psychological well-being (RSPWB-18), mindfulness (MAAS), acceptance and actions (AAQ-II) questionnaires and integrative self-knowledge scale (ISKS). Finally the data were analyzed using correlation and stepwise regression.

Results: Pearson correlation disclosed a positive and considerable relation between mindfulness, integrative self-knowledge, psychological flexibility and psychological well-being. In addition, the findings showed significant role of mindfulness, integrative self-knowledge and psychological flexibility to predict the psychological well-being of the students; so these variables can predict 21% of psychological wellbeing changes.

Conclusion: This study disclosed that the mindfulness, psychological flexibility and integrative self -knowledge can in part specify the variance of psychological well-being.