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Diarrhea is one of the main reasons of mortality among children in the developed countries and half of all death is due to persisted diarrhea. This research is a cross-sectional and analytical study done on 708 children with acute diarrhea in village around Gorgan, to find out the effective factors on having persisted diarrhea in children under 5 years old. Face to face interview and determining the variable factors and examining health center records on children with acute diarrhea were the basis for filling the corresponding questionnaires. 14 days after the start of acute diarrhea, which was the second part of this research, the above questionnaires were fully completed by calling on the patient’s home. According to our investigation the risk factors related to the persisted diarrhea were as follow: Age, ethnicity, children length of breast feeding, chlorinated water, children consumed food at the time of acute diarrhea. The results from this investigation indicate that with 95% about probability 10.7%-11.3% of patients with acute diarrhea end-up with persisted diarrhea, which means diarrhea, was continued for more than 14 days. Therefore by controlling the above risk factors the mortality rate due to acute diarrhea could be reduced.

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Background&Objective: The evaluation and measurement of human body dimensions are achieved by physical anthropometry. Cephalomerty is a branch of antrompometry Science, in which the head and face anatomical are measured. With respect to its importance in legal medicine, plastic surgery, radiology, anatomy, orthodency and industry, this study was set up to determine and compare the face shapes in Fars and Turkman ethnic groups of normal female adults. Materials&Methods: This study was a descriptive-and cross-sectional study which was carried out on 410 girls of 17-20 years of age in two ethnic groups of native Fars and Turkman. The length and width of girls face were determined by using classic cephalometry techniqre. On the basis of this method, the shape of faces was subdivided in five interrational groups. Subsequently the prevalancy and the shape of faces in the ethnic group of Fars and Turkman were compared. Results: The prosopic (facial) indices of Fars and Turkman groups were 84.55.8 and 81.55.2, respectively. Dominant shape of face in Fars group was euryprosopic (37.7%) and in Turkman group was euryprosopic (51.7%). Rare shape of face in Fars and Turkman groups were hyperleptoprosopic (5.8%) and leptoprosopic (3%) respectively. Conclusion: This study showed that the face shape is affeiced by ethnical factor and primarily by genetic factor.

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Background and Objective: Anthropometric indeces are the best methods for determining of malnutrition and obesity in children and young adulescent worldwide. This study was designed to compare the physical growth status between Turkman and non-Turkman in rural area in Gorgan in North of Iran. Materials and Methods: This cross – sectional descriptive was done on 551 children of 2-5 years of age, Turkman and 895 of non-Turkman in the rural area of Gorgan North of Iran during autumn 2005. Height, weight and personal identification recorded by questioners. BMI percentile and under -1sd ,-2sd and -3sd from NCHS used for comparison. Data were analyzed by using Chi-Square and T-student tests. Results: Mean±SD of height in female Turkman and non-Turkman were 95.3±8.1 and 90.5±8.4 cm respectivly means±SD of height were 96.0±7.6 and 90.9±8.6 cm in Turkman and non-Turkman, respectively. Male childrens mean±SD of weight in were 14.5±2.4 and 14.2±2.9 and in male Turkman and non-Turkman children respectively. Also means±SD of weight were 15.0±2.03 and 14.5±2.3 cm in Turkman and non-Turkman male children, respectively. Turkman children are about 426 gram heavier and 4.9 cm taller than non-Turkman in all of age groups (P<0.05). Stunting and underweight were observed in 13.2% and 1.9% in Turkman group less than non-Turkman respectively by -2sd criterion. There was a significant differences between two groups by stunting (P<0.05). Obesity and overweight exist in Turkman group 24.5% and 2.6% less than in non-Turkman respectively. The difference in obesity statistically was significant between two groups (P<0.05). Underweight was shown in female more than male (7.2% vs 4.2%) and obesity in female less than male (25.6% vs 28.9%). Conclusion: This study showed that secular growth in two groups is incompatible and it is better in Turkman group than non-Turkman group. Malnutrition in Turkmans was less than Non-Turkmans children.

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Background and Objective: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a disturbance of colonic function characterized by abdominal pain or discomfort, bloating and abnormal bowel function, resulting in episodes of chronic diarrhea, chronic constipation, or both in alternation. It affects approximately 3 to 20 percent of the population. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of Irritable bowel syndrome among the high school pupile in Gorgan, in North of Iran. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive-analytical cross sectional study, data was collected by clustering, quota and randomized sampling. 1080, 15-19 years old male and female high school pupiles, residing in Gorgan participated in the survey during 2007. The data collection tool was a demographic questionnaire and standard Rome-II criteria. Results: 1063 pupiles completed the questionnaire. The Irritable bowel syndrome prevalence according to Rome-II was 5.7%. The relation between ethnicity and Irritable bowel syndrome was significant (P<0.05). The rate of Irritable bowel syndrome was higher among the Turkmen students. There was no significant relation between Irritable bowel syndrome prevalence with gender, age and family income. Conclusion: This study showed that irritable bowel syndrome prevalence in this area is nearly similar to that reported in national studies in western Iran as well as with Asian countries.

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Background and Objective: Childhood obesity is a significant public health concern due to its impacts on childhood physical and psychological health with subsequent adulthood complication. The aim of this study was to determine some related factors of obesity and overweight in girls' secondary school. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed in Gorgan Northern Iran, during 2005-06. The subjects selected by stratified random sampling. Age, height, weight, BMI, daily time of television watching, frequency of physical activity and snack consumption was recorded by parents in a questionnaire sheet during a week. Data were analyzed by using SPSS-11.5 software, chi-square and ANOVA tests. Results: In this study, 6.3% and 41.7% of subjects were obese and overweight, respectively. The mean of BMI of girls was 19.69±4.6 kg/m2. The prevalence of obesity and overweight in Fars ethnic group was more than others (P<0.05). Average spending time for television watching was 2.35±0.98 hours and the same index was higher among the obese and overweight girls but, this difference was not significant. Food consumption during watching television, frequency and duration of physical activity were significantly related with obesity and overweight (P<0.05). Conclusion: This study showed that low physical activity and imbalanced nutritional behavior are related to obesity and overweight among secondary school girls in Gorgan-Northern Iran.

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Background and Objective: SLC26A4 gene mutations after GJB2 mutations are the second currently identifiable genetic cause of autosomal recessive non syndromic hearing loss (ARNSHL) which currently is used in molecular diagnosis of ARNSHL. Several potential STR markers related to this region have been reported .This study was carried out to identity the informativeness of D7S2456 CA repeat STR marker in SLC26A4 gene region in five ethnic groups of the Iranian population. Methods: In this descriptive study, The locus was genotyped in 165 unrelated healthy individuals of five different ethnics including Fars, Azari, Turkmen, Gilaki and Arabs ethnic groups using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and fluorescent capillary electrophoresis. Data was analyzed by Gene Marker HID Human STR Identity software, Gene Pop program and Microsatellite Tools software. Results: Analysis of the allelic frequency revealed the presence of 9 alleles for D7S2456 marker in the Iranian population, which allele 5 at the D7S2456 locus with 55% frequency was the most frequent. The most frequent heterozygosity with rate of 81.8% belongs to Azari ethnic group. Analysis of deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium demonstrated that all the ethnics except Fars were in equilibrium for D7S2456 locus. D7S2456 marker is a moderately informative marker in Iranian ethnic population (PIC value within 0.44 and 0.7). Conclusion: D7S2456 is a moderately informative marker in diagnosis of SLC26A4 based autosomal recessive non syndromic hearing loss in Iranian population by linkage analysis.

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Background and Objective: Cryptorchidism or undescending testis is a developmental defect and occurred in 2-4% of male newborns. This study was done to determine the pattern and risk factors of cryptorchidism in Gorgan, northern Iran. Methods: In this cohort study, 2851 male newborns were examined for cryptorchidism at the birth and follow up for one year after birth in Dezyani referral teaching hospital in Gorgan, northern Iran during April 2010 - December 2011. Mother ethnicity, working in farmland, addiction, consanguinity, age, infant maturity and birth weight were recorded for each subject. Results: The rate of cryptorchidism was 18.9 per 1000 live birth. Bilateral and unilateral cryptorchidism was 11.7 and 7.1 per 1000, respectively. The rate of cryptorchidism in preterm newborns (30 per 1000) was significantly higher than the term (20 per 1000) and post term (11.4 per 1000) newborns (P<0.05). The Mean±SD of newborns weight with unilateral cryptorchidism (3024±537grams) was significantly lower than the healthy newborns (3253±489 grams) (P<0.05). The rate of cryptorchidism in Turkmens (10 per 1000 births) was significantly lower than Fars (21 per 1000 births) and Sistani (23 per 1000 births) newborns (P<0.05). One year Follow up of newborns showed that 41 (77.3%) testes were descent to scrotum. Conclusion: Low births weight, prematurity and ethnicity are the main risk factors of cryptorchidism in northern Iran.

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Background and Objective: Overweight, obesity and ethnicity are effective factors on pregnancy complications. This study was conducted to determine the relationship between third tri-mester body mass index (BMI) with maternal and neonatal complications. Methods: This descriptive analytic study was conducted on 551 pregnant women in third tri-mester with Fars, Sistani and Turkman ethnicities in Sayad Shirazi teaching hospital in Gorgan, north of Iran during 2012. BMI calculated at the time of labor admission and the subjects categorized into three groups of normal / underweight, overweight and obese. Results: The mean of maternal age among Fars, Sistani and Turkman ethnic groups were 26.5±5.5, 24.6±5.3 and 26.2±5.2 years, respectively. The mean of gestational age among Fars, Sistani and Turkman ethnic groups were 38.4±2.3, 38.6±2.3 and 37.4±3.2 weeks, respectively. A significant relationship was found between BMI and cesarean section and labor dystocia in Fars and Sistani ethnic groups, respectively (P<0.05), while no relationship was found between BMI and neonatal complications. Conclusion: Overweight and obesity in Fars ethnicity are at risk of cesarean section and those with Sistani ethnicity are at risk of labor dystocia.

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Background and Objective: Tuberculosis (TB) is the main cause of death in the world. Half of the patient eventually will die during first 5-year of infection if they do not receive suitable treatment. According to WHO’s report, treatment success in Iran is lower than the regional and global mean. This study was conducted to identify the effective factors of treatment failure among tuberculosis patient in golestan province- Iran.

Methods: This cross- sectional study was conducted on 331 new smear positive tuberculosis patients that detected in TB laboratory in in golestan province-north of Iran during 2014. Inclusion criteria included weight more than 30kg, age greater than 13 years, diabetes, immune deficiency, liver or kidney diseases. Patients were treated according to a protocol for a period of two months on the DOTS strategy. The criterion of treatment outcome was sputum smear at the end of the second month of treatment. The effect of gender, medication regiment, age, weight, smoking, addiction and severity of smear basilli load on treatment outcome was assessed.

Results: 50.8% and 49.2% of patients were treated with combination and separate medicinal regiments, respectively. The conversion rate of smear positive was 67.7% at the end of the second months. According to multivariate logistic regression, the age of the patient (95% CI: 0.96-0.99, OR: 0.98, P=0.017), addiction (95% CI: 1.26-4.54, OR: 2.4, P=0.008), ethnicity (95% CI: 1.86-7.02, OR: 3.62, P=0.0001) and diagnostic smear bacilli load (P<0.0001) were the important effective variables.

Conclusion: The success of two months treatment was fairly low and the important factors on treatment success during the intensive phase were patient age, smoking, addiction and diagnostic smear bacilli load.