Iranian Journal of Public Health最新文献

Background: Acne vulgaris is a chronic inflammatory disease predominantly known as a disease of adolescents. We aimed to assess the quality of life of adolescents with acne in the territory of northern and southern regions of Montenegro.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2024, in four secondary schools in the north and south of Montenegro with total number of 561 subjects. To assess the quality of life of adolescents with acne we used the Children's Dermatology Life Quality Index and to measure acne-related disability we used The Cardiff Acne Disability Index.

Results: The average value of the total CDLQI score among adolescents from the northern region of Montenegro was 4.45±3.31, and 4.03±3.50 among southern region. The average value of the total CADI score among adolescents from the northern region of Montenegro was 3.56±1.77, and 3.50±1.98 among adolescents from the southern region. A statistically significantly higher mean value of sub scores in adolescents from the northern region compared to adolescents from the southern region existed in the domain of symptoms and feelings, vacation and treatment (P< 0.05). The regression analysis was also performed.

Conclusion: This study confirms the negative impact of acne on the quality of life of Montenegrin adolescents, especially those in the northern region. It is necessary to give more attention to the acne problems from doctors, and to increase awareness among adolescents and provide them early and the most effective therapy.

Background: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a common complication of pregnancy that can lead to adverse outcomes. In this retrospective cohort study, maternal fasting blood sugar (FBS) in the second trimester of pregnancy, body mass index (BMI), and age were assessed as potential screening indicators of later GDM.

Methods: The study population included information on 4007 Iranian pregnant women documented by the Integrated Health Record System (SIB) record system (2019-2020).

Results: In the adjusted analysis, FBS maintained a significant relationship with GDM (P ≤0.001). In the simple ROC analysis, the AUC (SE) of FBS for the prediction of GDM was 0.905(0.09), and considering the cut-off point as 85.95, sensitivity (Se) and specificity (Sp) were equal to 0.81 and 0.71, respectively, but by stillbirth, abortion, prematurity, neonatal weight, height, and head circumference not obtained acceptable AUC (≥.60) for detection of FBS cut-off point. The cut-off point of FBS in the presence of maternal age (AUC>0.6) and BMI (AUC>0.6) by GDM was 83.75(Se= 86.4%, Sp= 80.0%).

Conclusion: Based on the evidence presented, maternal weight and BMI are important in predicting hyperglycemia leading to GDM. It is necessary to conduct more precise national studies to standardize the FBS cut-off point by controlling age and BMI variables.

Background: We aimed to review the effect of community-based health insurance on health-related outcomes in Ethiopia.

Methods: A systematic review was undertaken utilizing a major relevant published literature review from September 2017 to June 15, 2023. PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Science Direct, Google Scholar, Semantic Scholar, EMBASE, ProQuest, Hinari, and the Cochrane Library were used to search for relevant literature. Moreover, the Prisma flow model was used to select eligible findings.

Results: Overall, 72% of the articles employed cross-sectional comparative study designs and procedures, and 36% of them employed samples ranging in size from 501 to 1000 participants. Furthermore, 76% were studied using descriptive statistics and logistic regression, whereas fewer utilized a random model, a probity model, or a correlation model. Similarly, 32% of the research used two-stage stratified sampling methods, and around 40% of the data revealed that the scheme increased healthcare utilization services. About 72 % of the reviewed study results showed that the scheme reduced catastrophic health expenditure and increases utilization of healthcare services. And the 20% reviewed studies stated that the CBHI boosts household satisfaction level. Moreover 12% of the reviewed studies stated that, CBHI increased QoL (quality of life).

Conclusion: Most of the studies provide evidence of the positive effect of CBHI in Ethiopia. Mainly, its membership improved the utilization of health services and decreased the incidence of catastrophic health expenditures. Thus, all actors should cooperate to strengthen it to solve the effective attribute of the deprived value of health care and continuity of care delivery system related to the country's new policy.

Background: Economic evaluations in healthcare are designed to inform decisions by the estimation of cost and effect trade-off of two or more interventions. We aimed to evaluate the standards of systematic reviews on health economic evaluation studies using the CHEERS (Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Report Standards) tool.

Methods: We searched the PubMed database with keywords CHEERS and its complete form in combination with keywords related to cost or economic evaluation without language and time limits until November 17, 2021. The CHEERS tool was then used to include systematic reviews.

Results: Overall, 32 systematic reviews, included 610 primary studies were included. Of the 32 included studies, only 1 study (3.1%) had poor quality, 5 studies (15.6%) had good quality, remaining studies had very good and excellent quality.

Conclusion: Some studies still have problems in expressing the standards. The necessity of standards for reporting economic evaluation studies in the field of health is very serious, and Cheers is one of the most important tools.

Background: Examining death statistics at regular intervals is highly useful for assessing public health. This study aimed to analyze cause-specific mortality statistics, to ascertain their distribution over the years, and to offer remedial solutions to enhance public health outcomes.

Methods: In this retrospective descriptive study, an analysis was conducted on data sourced from the "Death and Cause of Death Statistics" provided by the Turkish Statistical Institute between 2017 and 2022.

Results: While the crude mortality rate remained stable from 2017 to 2019, a discernible increase in mortality rates has been observed since 2020, attributed to the impact of the pandemic. The crude death rate was the highest in the <5 yr and ≥65 yr age groups. Approximately 70% of the total mortality cases in Turkey were attributed to cardiovascular diseases, cancers, respiratory diseases, and diabetes.

Conclusion: Given the world's rapidly aging population, an increase in deaths related to the four major noncommunicable diseases is foreseen. Therefore, there is an imperative need to enhance efforts aimed at preventing and controlling these diseases.

Background: Calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD) is the most common heart relating disease with high morbidity and mortality, especially in elderly population. While extensive investigations have been devoted to the study of mechanistic pathways related to CAVD, the key factors and mechanisms mediating valve mineralization remain unclear. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of mirnas and their downstream targets in CAVD disease progression. A previous recent multi-omics study suggested a novel CAVD molecular interaction network contained miR-21-5p.

Methods: CAV and their pair-matched adjacent normal tissues were obtained from 15 patients pathologically diagnosed as CAVD and admitted in Yancheng Third People's Hospital (The Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University) from 2019-2021. RT-qPCR was utilized for detection of miR-21-5p and related protein expression levels to confirm the related factors in CAVD progression. Western blotting was applied to strengthen the results of RT-qPCR and confirm osteogenic differentiation of VICs via biomarker detection. The staining of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and alizarin red was performed to assess the degree of VIC mineralization.

Results: We found that miR-21-5p was remarkably increased (P<0.0001) in calcified aortic valves (AVs) whereas TGFBI was diminished (P<0.01) in CAVD samples compared to the paired normal tissues from CAVD patients. Additionally, TGFBI was targeted by miR-21-5p. Furthermore, overexpressing TGFBI could block VIC osteogenic differentiation mediated by miR-21-5p. To sum up, miR-21-5p promotes VIC osteogenic differentiation and calcification via TGFBI in CAVD progression.

Conclusion: Our work might bring a sight on underlying mechanisms of CAVD progression and provide a possible therapeutic target for diagnosis and treatment.