Iranian Journal of Epidemiology

Evaluation of Published Articles in the Journal of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran between 2000 and 2009

A Bahonar

Background and Objectives: Designing and application of experimental studies in veterinary medicine have been given paid more attention in recent years. This review aimed to evaluate the methodological quality of all published articles in Journal of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran between 2000 and 2009.
Methods: Evaluation studies with experimental designs were identified by reviewing titles and abstracts. Two reviewers coded reporting quality of articles.
Results: Of the 738 total published articles, 289 (39.16%) articles had experimental designs. Sample size was reported in 93.4% of studies, only 36% of studies explained their study design clearly and randomization was reported only in 33.6%. The ethical approval was mentioned in only two percent. Seventy six percent studies had comparison group.
Conclusion: The quality of reporting of experimental studies in the Journal of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine was not generally acceptable. Therefore it is felt that authors should consider more necessary criteria for standard publication in veterinary journals.

Ranking Maternal Health Status in Rural Areas in Iran Based on Multivariate Techniques of Factor and Cluster Analysis

H Mahjub

Background & Objectives: Maternal health status is one the important health index since it could be a hallmark of performance of health care service particularly in rural area. The aim of this study is ranking and identifying homogeneous provinces based on maternal health indices in Iran.
Methods: Based on the indices in the vital horoscope which were reported by Iran Ministry of Health in 2006, fifteen indices related to maternal health have been selected. Using factor analysis, a factor that can represent rural maternal health in provinces was chosen and provinces ranked according to it. A hierarchical cluster analysis employed for identifying homogenous province based on a distance matrix obtained from the same selected indices in factor analysis.
Results: Factor analysis demonstrated that 89% of data variation included in this model. Based on an appropriate factor as index of maternal health, ranking was run in all provinces in Iran. According to this model, the maternal health status was in good condition in the rural areas of Gilan, Mazandaran and Tehran provinces, respectively. While maternal health were in inappropriate condition in rural areas of Khuzestan, Kohkiluyeh and Hormozgan provinces. The worst rural area was the province of Sistan and Baluchestan.
Conclusion: It could be concluded that employing multivariate analysis would be an effective tool for ranking and classifying homogeneous population (provinces) in terms of maternal health indices. Therefore health policy makers should consider the practical method of this analysis for any decision making.

Change- Point in Poisson Distribution with Application in Iranian Mortality Data

A Kazemnejad

Background & Objectives: Changing the pattern of mortality gives important perspective of health determinants. The aim of this study is to detect location and time of mortality pattern change in country using statistical change point method during 1971-2009 Years.
Methods: We assume for years before and after 0 k , t y has a Poisson distribution with means 0 l and 1 l , respectively. We used several methods for estimation change point in real data by assume Poisson model.
Results: Using two simulated and real data analysis showed that the change point has been occurred in year 1993 and this confirmed by all methods.
Conclusion: Our findings have shown that the change pattern of mortality trend in Iran is related to improvement of health indicators and decreasing mortality rate in Iran.

Attitudes and Knowledge of HIV Positive Persons and High Risk Behaviors Groups in Golestan, Iran

K Etemad

Background & Objectives: The epidemic of HIV has been become worldwide. Infected people with HIV which are most intravenous drug users (IDUs) and/or people who have unsafe sex are important source of transmission of infection to other persons in a community. Since there is little known about the knowledge and attitudes of HIV positives about HIV in Iran, therefore we decided to measure the level of knowledge and attitudes of this group in Golestan province in compare with individuals with risky behavior.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 54 HIV+ persons and 134 people with high risk behavior individuals in 2007 year. Results: Our study showed that HIV- (High risk group) cases had higher education level (P=0.034). Rate of jobless was higher in HIV+ persons (P<0.001). HIV+ cases had lower income (P=0.037). Both groups had moderate knowledge and poor attitude on HIV/AIDS. Level of attitude in HIV+ positive persons was lower than high risk group (P=0.05).
Conclusion: It is concluded that these susceptible persons and also infected individuals with HIV regardless of their socio-economic levels need more continuous education in structured programs.

Couple Burnout among Fertilized and Unfertilized Women Referred to Valieasr Reproductive Center, Tehran

U Karimi

Background & Objectives: The rate of burnout may be high in unfertilized women, since there is little known about it, we designed a study to compare "couple burnout" between fertilized and unfertilized women in Tehran, Iran.
Methods: All (60 women) referred unfertilized women to reproductive center of Imam Khomeini teaching hospital were included in our study during 2009 year. By systematic random sampling we recruited 60 unfertilized women as control group. Couple Burnout’s specific questionnaire was filled up by participants.
Results: Unfertilized women experienced higher levels of couple burnout compared to fertilized cases (P<0.001). Furthermore unfertilized women with higher education showed an elevated rate of couple burnout than women with lower educational status (P=0.002).
Conclusion: In management of unfertilized families, "couple burnout" is an important underlying factor that should be considered in infertility treatment in primary health care system.

Household Food Security Status and Food Consumption among High School Students in Esfahan, Iran

AR Dorosty

Background & Objectives: Food security (access to safe, nutritious, affordable food) is one of the important determinants of health status in human life. Since monitoring and assessing of associated factors to food security are essential for health planning, this study has tried to determine household food security status and food consumption amongst high school student families in Esfahan, Iran.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in autumn 2008 on 580 high school 14-17y students of Esfahan, Iran using a systematic cluster sampling. Food security and food frequency questionnaire were completed by interviewing mothers and students.
Results: The prevalence of household food insecurity was estimated as 36.6% (95%CI: 33-40%). Household food insecurity was positively associated with frequency of some food group intakes among students, including bread macaroni potato legume and eggs (P<0.05). In addition, negative associations were observed between food insecurity and frequency of other food group intakes including rice, red meat, sausage and hamburger, poultry, fish, green vegetables, root and bulb(colored) vegetables, melons, banana, pineapple, coconut, mango, apple, orange, milk, and yogurt (P<0.05).
Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that food insecurity is prevalent among (students) households in Esfahan. In addition, students living in food-insecure households more frequently consumed cheap foods containing high energy per kilogram. Therefore, appropriate nutritional programs should be designed to improve the quality of household food consumption.

Evaluation the Need and Demand of Orthodontic Treatment in 12 Years Old School Students in Abade, Iran

T Hosseinzadeh Nik

Background & Objectives: Orthodontic treatment need and demand in 12-year-olds in Abadeh city has not previously been analysed in relation to geographic origin. The purpose of this study was to assess the12 year old students need and demand for orthodontic treatment.
Methods: Four hundred seventeen 12-year-old students was selected from public and private schools in Abade (Fars province, Iran). All the students were examined according to the AC and DHC component of Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN) by a trained dentist. Students' and parents' perceived needs were also assessed using AC component and their demand for orthodontic treatment was asked through a questionair .
Results: Twenty two percent of the students were in "no need of treatment" group when assessed by DHC component, 29.5 % were in "average need" and 48.2% were in "definite need" group. When assessed by AC score, these percents were 61.9%, 29%, and 9.1%. Parents and students percieved need for definite orthodontic treatment according to AC score was 8.6% and 7.7%, respectively. The students and their parents’ demand for treatment were 40.6% and 44.9%, respectively.
Conclusion: Orthodontic treatment need in Abade is higher in comparison with other reports according to DHC. DHC is not correlated with orthodontic treatment demand of 12 years old students, but AC had a strong relationship with treatment demand.

Dietary Intake in People with Spinal Cord Injury Based on Sex, Obesity and Injury Related Variable in Brain and Spinal Injury Repair Research Center

MR Vafa

Background & Objectives: Despite an increased risk of obesity and CHD in people with spinal cord injury (SCI), there is little known about the dietary intake in this group, therefore the aim of this study was to examine nutrient intake and body mass index (BMI) in the spinal cord injury (SCI) population according to level of injury and related variables.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 162 patients with spinal cord injury participated from Brain and Spinal Injury Repair research Center, Tehran, Iran. Dietary intakes were assessed by means of a semi quantitative food frequency questionnaire.
Results: The mean age of study population was 34.1±0.6 years. Total energy and carbohydrate intake were higher in men than women (P<0.001). Incomplete injured consumed more MUFA (P=0.03). The elderly were consumed less total calorie, saturated fat, MUFA, cholesterol (P<0.01) and PUFA (P<0.05). Injured patients with longer times had lower total calorie, carbohydrate (P<0.01), total fat and MUFA intake (P<0.05). Based on new classification 60.5% were at the risk of obesity or obese. Central obesity was seen in 33.1%of man and 48.4% of women. BMI of the paraplegia group was greater than that of the tetraplegia group (P= 0.009).
Conclusion: Macronutrients balance is moved towards higher saturated fat intake and less complex carbohydrates and protein intake in SCI patient’s .The elderly and patients who had lived with SCI longer time tended to maintain healthier diets.