Showing 5 results for Afshari
A Afshari Safavi , H Kazemzadeh Gharechobogh , M Rezaei,
Volume 11, Issue 3 (Vol 11, No 3 2015)
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Missing data is a big challenge in the research. According to the type of the study and of the variables, different ways have been proposed to work with these data. This study compared five popular imputation approaches in addressing missing data in the questionnaires.
Methods: In this study, 500 questionnaires were used for self-medication in diabetic patients. Missing in the observations was artificially generated by random selection of questions and then deleting them. Five imputation ways included: 1) the mean of the questions, 2) the mean of the person, 3) the mode of the person, 4) linear regression, and 5) EM algorithm. For each method, the mean and standard deviation were compared with imputation. The Spearman correlation coefficient, the percentage of incorrectly classified and kappa statistic were also calculated.
Results: A kappa higher than 0.81 represented almost perfect agreement at 10% missingness. The EM algorithm showed the highest level of agreement with the results of actual data with a Kappa of 0.886. With increasing missingness to 30%, the EM algorithm and the mean of the person showed a rather similar agreement with a Kappa of 0.697 and 0.687, respectively.
Conclusion: In this study, the EM algorithm was the most accurate method for handling missing data in all models. The mean of the person method is easy for handling missing data, especially for most non statisticians.
Sm Hosseini , A Afshari Safavi , A Esmaeil Zade , S Beig Rezaei ,
Volume 13, Issue 2 (Vol.13, No.2, Summer 2017)
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Using the anthropometric indicators of children is one of the ways of monitoring their growth. Because of the racial divisions and levels of health and welfare, comparing these indicators with the global reference is not reasonable; therefore, designing a local reference seems necessary. This study aimed to evaluate the growth indices for boys and girls aged 5 to 18 years old living in Isfahan and to compare the indices with standard values.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 53,839 subjects were included. Percentiles of body mass index, height, and weight were calculated using the LMS method in the LMS Light software. After normalization of the growth indices, their mean and standard deviation were calculated for each age group and anthropometric indices curves were plotted versus the 5th, 50th and 95th percentiles of the NCHS reference.
Results: In all age categories, the mean SDS scores of BMI in boys and girls was -0.004 ± 0.029 and 0.014 ± 0.062, respectively, indicating no difference with reference values. However, the 95th percentile of the body mass index for the reference population was consistent with the 90th percentile for the population studied. Also, weight in boys below 13 years of age was higher than the reference line while in girls, weight was always higher than the reference value.
Conclusion: Due to differences in the pattern of growth and also lower anthropometric values, particularly among boys, it seems that a national growth curve can be a better guide for future decisions.
M Khadem Rezaiyan , L Jarahi, F Moharreri, R Afshari, Sm Motamedalshariati , N Okhravi, M Khajedaluee,
Volume 13, Issue 2 (Vol.13, No.2, Summer 2017)
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Suicide is one of the public health challenges. It involves the individual, family, and even society. Epidemiological study of suicide is one of the most important measures in primary prevention and integration program for suicide in primary health care system. This study evaluated cases who attempted suicide in Khorasan Razavi Province in 2014-2015.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on individuals who were visited at health care centers of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences from August 2014 to July 2015. Seventeen trained interviewers from 14 countries and three major referral centers collected demographic data, time, reason, and method of suicide. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-square test and Mann-Whitney test. P-value<0.05 was considered significant.
Results: Totally, 893 individuals were evaluated which was equals to an annual incidence rate of 21.2 per 100000. Seventy-six percent (675) were female and 57% (496) were in the age group 15-24 years. In both genders, married individuals (61%, 543), high school degree (63%, 548) and a monthly income below 160$ were dominant (80%, 438). The most frequent reason and method for committing suicide was family dispute (47%, 380) and drug poisoning (81%, 632), respectively.
Conclusion: Suicide is mostly being dealt with caution. However, the very first step is to know the current situation completely, so epidemiological studies can elucidate different dimensions of this public health problem.
Am Mosadeghrad, M Afshari, P Isfahani,
Volume 16, Issue 4 (Vol.16, No.4 2021)
Abstract
Background and Objectives: A nosocomial infection (NI) is defined as an infection occurring in a patient after 48 hours of hospitalization or up to 72 hours after discharge from the hospital, which was not present or incubating at the time of admission. NIs increase hospital mortality, decrease patient satisfaction, reduce hospital productivity, and increase health system costs. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of NIs in Iranian hospitals.
Methods: This study was performed using a systematic literature review and meta-analysis. Seven electronic databases and two search engines were searched using appropriate key words to identify research studies on NIs published in Persian and English languages from April 1997 to March 2019 in Iran. Finally, 15 empirical studies out of 89 records were reviewed. Data were analyzed using the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software.
Results: The studies reported a prevalence of 0.32% to 9.1% for NIs in Iranian hospitals. The pooled prevalence of NIs in Iranian hospitals was 0.01 % (95% CI 0.0% - 0.02%). The most common type of infection was urinary tract infection and the most common microorganism was Escherichia coli. The highest rate of nosocomial infections was seen in the intensive care unit, internal medicine ward and hematology ward. Suction was the most important risk factor for nosocomial infections.
Conclusion: The prevalence of NIs in Iranian hospitals is low according to the published studies. Appropriate strategies should be implemented to prevent and control NIs.
H Tavakoli Ghouchani, A Delshad, Hr Shoraka, H Lashkardoost, A Afshari Safavi , J Rahimi,
Volume 16, Issue 5 (Vol 16, Special Issue 2021)
Abstract
Background and Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to major health and socioeconomic problems worldwide. This study was conducted to determine the clinical features and health behaviors related to COVID-19 in patients presenting to selected COVID-19 centers of North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out using stratified random sampling in 350 patients presenting to selected COVID-19 centers of North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences in August and September 2020. Demographic and clinical features and the data related to COVID-19 disease were collected using a researcher-made checklist and analyzed with the SPSS 24 software using chi-square test and logistic regression.
Results: Of 350 patients, 200 (57.1%) were male and the rest were female. The PCR test was positive in 72% of the patients. The highest percentage of infection was seen in self-employed subjects and driver, people in the age group 30-50 years, and male subjects. The highest observance of masking, hand washing, and social distancing was related to healthcare staff and the lowest was seen in self-employed people, drivers, and military staff. A history of attending a gas station increased the chance of a positive test by 2.3 times (95% CI: 1.13-4.79).
Conclusion: According to the results, age, gender, occupation and history of presence in crowded places are important determinants of infection and adherence to protocols.
