---

Background&Objective: Sellick’s maneuver is a routinely used technique for the prevention of pulmonary aspiration of gastric contents during anesthesia. The rationale for the application of cricoid pressure necessitates that it is applied at the loss of consciousness during rapid sequence induction. Cricoid pressure therefore, may be fully applied at a level of anesthesia where awareness, and possibly recall, of the maneuver occurs. Materials&Methods: This study was setup to determine the frequency of awareness and recall Sellick's maneuver following 100 patients (ASA I, II) who candidates for lower extremity surgery were randomly enrolled in this prospective study. After induction of anesthesia and application of cricoid pressure, symptoms of awareness and recall were recorded. Data were analyzed by SPSS software and Spearman correlation. Results: The frequency of awareness and recall were 45% and 16% respectively. The frequency distribution of awareness severity based on grade 1, 2 and 3 were 16%, 6% and 1% respectively. The frequency distribution of recall severity based on mild, moderate and sever were 15%, zero and 1% respectively. The correlation between awareness severity and recall severity was statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusion: Due to high frequency of awareness and recall following Sellick's maneuver and its complications, it is advaiable to revise the procedure of this maneuver and inparticular the accurte time in its application.

---

Background&Objective: The incidence of cesarean delivery has been increased during these years. Relations are reported between mother's educational level and knowledge about various delivery methods. This study was done to find the distribution of cesarean delivery in female doctors, dentists, nurses, midwives and specialists under 45-years-old had been working in Gorgan city, 2004. Materials&Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 187 women in medical fields were recruited. A questionnaire was filled for each of them which included demographic data, causes of the cesarean delivery, and causes of personal tendency to it. Data was entered in SPSS-10 and analyzed with X2 . Results: In our study 307 deliveries were occurred, and 49.8% was cesarean delivery. The most common cause of the personal tendency to cesarean delivery was feeling less pain. Cesarean percentage in doctors, midwives and specialist was significantly higher than nurses and dentists (P<0.05). Cesarean frequency was significantly higher in nulipars (P<0.05). Conclusion: These results showed that the frequency of cesarean delivery in health care workers is higher than the general population.

---

Background and Objective: Hypertension is considered as a major public health problem in most countries due to its association with ischemic heart disease. The aim of this study was to determine people awareness of hypertension in Golestan province of Northern Iran.

Materials and Methods: This cross sectional population based study carried out on 2497 subjects (15-65 years old) including 1500 men and 1247 women in Golestan province- Northern Iran during 2006. The subjects were chosen by proportional-cluster sampling based on sex and age groups. The subjects were interviewed, antropometric indexes and serum biochemical factors were evaluated. Blood pressure was measured three times with 5 minutes interval and defined based on JNC-7 classification. Serum cholesterol and fast blood sugar (FBS) were determined using laboratory kits (enzymatic methods), and spectrophotometery technique. Data was analyzed by SPSS-16 software and Chi-Square test.

Results: In general, the prevalence of hypertension in this region was 23.9%. with higher rate among women urban area by 3.3% and 5% respectively. Only 48.7% of hypertensive patients were aware of their disease and that was significantly more in women than men (P<0.001). Low physical activity, chronical age, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, general obesity, central obesity and illiteracy were the risk factor for hypertension morbidity (P<0.05).

Conclusion: This study showed, in spite of prevalency of hypertension among 20% of subjects in this area only 48.7% of them were aware about their disorder.