Iranian Journal of

  Background & Objectives : The length of stay (LOS) is a useful indicator that can be used according to the objective to improve hospital care performance. The purpose of our study was to find factors affecting infants LOS in NICU at Children's Medical Center, Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, using the Cox multiple hazards regression model.

  Methods : This historical cohort study reviewed 369 medical records of all NICU admitted newborns at Children's Medical Center in 2009. The required data were collected through a data collection form. The Cox multiple hazards regression model was used to determine the factors affecting LOS in infants who were discharged on the physician‘s order.

 Results: The median of stay in NICU was 9 days. Of 369 infants, 272 were discharged with improvement. The results of multiple Cox proportional hazards regression model showed the following factors were associated with LOS in the NICU: prematurity, referral from other hospitals, gastrointestinal diseases and infections, central venous catheterization, mechanical ventilation, and antibiotic therapy (P < 0.05).

  Conclusion : Cox proportional hazards regression model should be used when the dependent variable is time and we have censored data. Improving prenatal health care, constructing NICU in hospitals with high risk labor, reduction of preterm birth risk factors, and improving primary health-care services can help us to reduce LOS in NICU.

Background & Objectives: The number of road traffic accidents (RTAs) and their mortality are increasing in the world. In Iran, RTAs have caused life losses and economical damages. Death is the most important consequence of the accidents in terms of social, economic, and even political expenditures. This paper reports the statistics of the mortality status in the last decade.

Methods: A 10-year study was conducted on national and provincial data of the last decade collected by Legal Medicine Research Center. The population information provided by the National Center of Statistics was used. SPSS 15.5 and Microsoft Office Excel 2007 were used for data analysis.

Results: Between 2001 and 2010, the annual average of 34.6 per hundred thousand people were killed in traffic accidents, more than 80% of the casualties are men. The highest number of deaths and injuries was observed in 2005 and the lowest occurred in 2001. RTAs had a descending trend trough the last decade but the rate of injuries increased. The death rates in Semnan, Qazvin, and Kerman were the highest and in Tehran, Ardabil, and West Azarbaijan were the lowest.

Conclusion: Although mortality rates due to RTAs declined during the last four years of the study period, direct and indirect costs of deaths resulting from RTAs in Iran are a sign of crisis.