Iranian Journal of Public Health最新文献

Due to the significant advancement of modern societies, higher education, career growth, and economic independence, more young girls are likely to delay childbearing beyond 30 years of age. The trend of delayed childbearing is more pronounced in industrialized countries but is also becoming common in emerging countries. Delayed childbearing has been linked with several adverse maternal-perinatal outcomes, including hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, abnormal placentation, gestational diabetes mellitus, pre-term births, low birthweight, perinatal mortality, congenital birth defects, and chromosomal abnormalities. In this review, we have highlighted the trend of delayed childbearing age, the role of education and employment in delayed childbearing age, and its potential impact on adverse maternal-perinatal outcomes in developed and developing countries.

Background: We aimed to investigate the subject matters and the quality of publications detailing the findings of cohort studies within the realm of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).

Methods: A scoping review was conducted on cohort studies in the CAM field up to the conclusion of 2023. The evaluation of their quality was carried out utilizing the 'Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology' (STROBE) checklist. Moreover, an analysis of their research settings and associated variables, including publication year, type of disease, intervention method, and study field, was conducted.

Results: Overall, 215 articles were identified. The majority of these cohorts, approximately 42.3%, originated from Taiwan, with stroke and cardiovascular diseases emerging as the most prevalent outcomes of interest. The mean STROBE score was 1.38 (SD=0.57) out of 2. The lowest scores were associated with the methods and funding sections. Methodologically, the principal weaknesses were linked to sample size, loss to follow-up, and bias control.

Conclusion: The frequency of cohort studies in CAM was limited, predominantly concentrated in a few countries. Chinese medicine and acupuncture were the main intervention methods, while other CAM interventions received less focus. Furthermore, the quality of these studies was deemed unsatisfactory in most cases.

Background: Air pollution has become a serious threat to public health. Epidemiological and clinical evidence in recent years has shown air pollutants are associated with respiratory diseases. We aimed to analyze the impact of environmental factors on influenza incidence by examining the most polluted countries in the world.

Methods: To analyze the relationship between environmental factors and influenza incidence in eighteen countries, we used a system generalized method of moments (GMM) using data from 2010 to 2020.

Results: The results suggest a positive effect of air pollution (PM_2.5 and NO₂) and population density on the incidence of influenza. While government health expenditures and education have a negative effect on influenza in the studied countries.

Conclusion: Our results confirmed the importance of environmental and social factors in the incidence of influenza. Furthermore, our results are interesting and informative for policymakers to design public health policies synchronized with other policies such as education, industrial, and environmental policies, for better management of influenza.

Background: We used the Predictive Model Bias Risk Assessment tool (PROBAST) tool to systematically evaluate the existing models worldwide, in order to provide a reference for clinical staff to select and optimize DFU recurrence risk prediction models.

Methods: Literature on DFU recurrence risk prediction model construction published in CNKI, China Biomedical Literature Database, Vipu China Knowledge, China Biomedical Literature Database, Vipu Chinese Journal Service Platform, Wanfang Data Knowledge Service Platform, Embase, PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library and other databases were systematically searched. The search period was until January 29, 2024, encompassing all relevant studies published up to that date. Literature screening and data extraction were conducted by two researchers, and the PROBAST was used to evaluate the bias risk and applicability of the included literature.

Results: Finally, 9 literatures were included, 13 prediction models were established, and the area under the AUC or C-index ranged from 0.660 to 0.943. Nine models were validated internally and one model was validated externally. All the models constructed in the included literature are of high-risk bias, and the applicability of the models is reasonable. Common predictors in the prediction model were Wagner scale, glycosylated hemoglobin, and diabetic peripheral neuropathy.

Conclusion: Although most of the existing DFU risk prediction models have good prediction performance, they all have high risk of bias. It is suggested that researchers should update the existing models in the future, and future modeling studies should follow the reporting norms, so as to develop a scientific, effective and convenient risk prediction model that is more conducive to clinical practice.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on global suicide attempt rates. This study evaluated the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on suicide attempts in the Kerman Province, eastern Iran.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. Data on suicide attempt cases in Kerman Province was obtained from the database of Mental, Social, and Addiction Health Office of the Deputy for Health of Medical Sciences Universities from 2018 to 2021. An interrupted time-series model was used to assess the changes in suicide attempts before and after the pandemic.

Results: Suicide attempts exhibited a decreasing trend before the pandemic, with a monthly decrease of 0.9% (P<0.001). The immediate effect of the pandemic indicated that, at the beginning of the pandemic, there was a 4.5% increase in suicide attempts (P=0.134). The sustained effect of the pandemic showed that in the months following the onset of the pandemic, the rate of suicide attempts increased by 1.8% compared to before the pandemic (P<0.001). By the end of 2021, the number of suicide attempts per month exceeded the predicted amount based on pre-pandemic data. Factors such as marital status, education, occupation, place of residence, and previous suicide attempts were found to influence suicide attempts during the pandemic.

Conclusion: Given the significant increase in suicide attempts following the onset of the pandemic, it is crucial to prioritize the implementation of prevention and intervention programs during this crisis.

Background: Disabled college students are facing special life pressures and social challenges due to physical and psychological obstacles. Given such difficulties, they may experience a high level of negative emotion (NE) that aggravates their risk of suicidal ideation. As a positive psychological trait, self-acceptance is very important to promote the mental health of disabled college students and reduce their risk of committing suicide. A state of high-intensity hopelessness easily mediates the influence of the NE and self-acceptance of disabled college students.

Methods: A group questionnaire survey was conducted among 663 college students with disabilities across 16 universities from Zhejiang Province, Jiangsu Province, Shanghai City and Anhui Province of China. These surveys involved the use of a self-acceptance questionnaire, NE questionnaire, suicidal ideation questionnaire, and the Beck hopelessness scale, and the mediating role of hopelessness in the influence of NE and self-acceptance on the suicidal ideation of disabled college students was tested.

Results: Self-acceptance had a significantly negative influence on suicidal ideation (P<0.01), while NE exerted a significantly positive influence (P<0.01). Hopelessness partially mediated the influence of NE on the suicidal ideation of disabled college students and exerted a masking effect on the influence of self-acceptance on suicidal ideation. Hopelessness was a key psychological mechanism that bonds NE and self-acceptance with suicidal ideation.

Conclusion: The mental health intervention measures for disabled college students should include self-acceptance strategies and skills for reducing these students' NE to relieve their hopelessness and further reduce their risk of committing suicide.

Background: The unmet need for family planning is an indicator in monitoring and evaluating family planning programs in the decentralization era. Spatial analysis is an analytical tool that can understand the existence of family planning disparities among regions. This study aimed to conduct a systematic review of the application of spatial analysis in research related to the unmet need for family planning and to review its results.

Methods: The databases used in the literature search are PubMed, Scopus, and SpringerLink. The keywords used in the search were: "unmet need for family planning" OR "unmet need for contraception" AND (spatial OR geographic). Full-text articles from 2013 to 2022 were included.

Results: Of the 334 identified articles, 3 (three) articles were reviewed. The three studies used spatial analysis at the level of spatial data exploration by using global and local Moran Index tests, Getis-Ord Gi* local statistics, and natural break spatial techniques.

Conclusion: The use of advanced spatial analysis such as GWR and other regression analyzes is needed to investigate factors associated with regionally specific unmet need for family planning so that policy makers can allocate resources effectively.

Background: We aimed to elucidate the potential correlation between single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in miRNA machinery genes and colorectal cancer (CRC) risk in an Iranian cohort.

Methods: We conducted a robust case-control study involving 507 participants, which included 213 patients diagnosed with CRC and 294 healthy controls at Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases in Tehran Province, Iran in 2018. The study focused on genotyping four specific SNPs, RAN (rs14035), GEMIN3 (rs197412), GEMIN4 (rs2740348), and Dicer (rs3742330), using advanced ARMS-PCR and Tetra-primer ARMS-PCR techniques.

Results: Notably, our investigation revealed the significant inverse association between the C/C genotype of rs197412 in the GEMIN3 gene and CRC risk (OR=0.54, 95% CI=0.33-0.87; P=0.0087). In stark contrast, the T/T genotype of rs14035 in the RAN gene was strongly associated with a heightened risk of developing CRC (OR=4.44, 95% CI=2.60-7.57, P<0.0001). Furthermore, we found that the G/G genotype of rs2740348 in GEMIN4 posed an increased risk for CRC (OR=2.9, 95% CI=1.44-5.85, P=0.0041) and it has a major effect on CRC risk in our population. The alleles and genotypes of rs3742330 in Dicer, however, did not exhibit a significant correlation with CRC.

Conclusion: Our study provides compelling evidence that SNPs within miRNA processing genes significantly contribute to susceptibility to CRC among the Iranian population. Our research not only contributes to the growing body of miRNA-related genetic studies but also opens avenues for population-specific risk assessment and personalized medicine approaches in cancer therapy.

Background: Truancy is correlated with variety of unfavorable outcomes that can negatively impact adolescents' development and well-being. We investigated the prevalence of truancy and its associated factors among school-going adolescents in Malaysia in 2022.

Methods: We used secondary data from the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2022. It is a cross-sectional study with a multistage stratified cluster sampling study design including 32,290 students aged 13 to 17 years old. It utilized the self-administered questionnaire from the validated Malaysian Global School-based Health Survey (GSHS). The associations between the truancy and its associated factors were examined using multivariate logistic regression, a complex sample analysis with sampling weightage.

Results: The prevalence of truancy was 25.6% (95% CI=24.25, 26.98). In the multivariate analysis, truancy was significantly associated with older age groups (P<0.001), adolescents with separated/ divorced/ widowed parents (P<0.001), those with current any tobacco product use (P<0.001), those with ever drug use (P<0.001), those who have been physically attacked (P<0.001) and being bullied (P<0.001).

Conclusion: Gender, age, parent marital status, and adolescents with risk behavior were associated with truancy. This information may provide evidence for the implementation of effective prevention and intervention strategies to reduce truancy among these school-going adolescents.