Iranian Journal of

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Background & Objectives: Drug abuse and addiction is one of the four major crises in the world. The first step in combating any disease or social problem is proper organization. The aim of this case-control study was comparing the distribution of blood groups between healthy blood donors and clients of drug rehabilitation clinics in the city of Bam.
 Methods: In this case-control study, cases were 249 drug users attending the city's rehabilitation clinic. Controls included 360 healthy blood donors at the headquarters of the Blood Transfusion Organization in Bam. We extracted and analyzed data on demographic characteristics, blood group and RH, using the software package SPSS.
Results: This study showed that the AB blood type is more common in drug addicts than in healthy blood donors.
Conclusions: Many studies have reported that an association between ABO blood groups/ RH and various health outcomes such as infections and non-infectious diseases as well as mental and social problems. Our study showed that there is a significant relationship between drug addiction, AB blood type, and negative RH. It therefore seems that genes play a role in the tendency towards addiction. This investigation may be valuable in the sense that it may prompt further research in fields such as genetic, immunology and other related disciplines.

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Background & Objectives: The aim of the study was to determine age, period, and cohort effects on trend of alcohol and drug use in the students of Tehran University of Medical Sciences from 2006 to 2009.

Methods: Between 2006 and 2009, the students of Tehran University of Medical Sciences were surveyed annually using a structured self-administered and anonymous questionnaire. Intrinsic estimator, which is a new method for resolving linear dependency between age, period, and cohort in linear regression models, was used for data analysis.

Results: In the present study, in the descriptive method, the prevalence of alcohol consumption increased in males and females with an increase in age. The prevalence of illicit drug use was higher in 2007 in comparison with other periods for males and females. In the analytical method (intrinsic estimator), there were no age, period and cohort effects for alcohol and drug use for females. For males, the age effect exhibited an increasing-decreasing-increasing trend and period and cohort effects showed a decreasing trend for alcohol use. As for drug use, the age effect exhibited gradual increases. The period effect displayed an increasing-decreasing trend and the cohort effect exhibited an increasing-decreasing-increasing trend.

Conclusion: The IE method showed no age, period and cohort effects for alcohol and drug use in females. The prevalence of drug and alcohol use increased with an increase in age in males. The high prevalence of drug use could be due to easy accessibility and low price of drugs.

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Background and Objectives: Internet addiction is a social-physiological event with emotional disturbance, depression, and disruption of social relationships. In addition, Internet addiction has a negative effect on the efficacy of the affected people. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of Internet addiction in students and graduates of medical sciences.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on the sideline of epidemiology, microbiology and pediatric diseases congresses from May to October 2013. The participants included the students and graduates of epidemiology, clinical sciences, and other basic sciences from all medical universities of throughout Iran. The Young’s addiction questionnaire was used to assess Internet addiction.

Results: One hundred and thirty one students and graduates with a mean age 36.1 (±8.4) years participated in this study. The prevalence of mild and moderate Internet addiction was 61.83% (95% CI: 40.53, 70.26) and 26.95% (95% CI: 26.95, 33.56), respectively. None of the participants suffered from severe Internet addiction.

Conclusion: Severe Internet addiction was not observed in our study. However, a high proportion of the participants had mild and moderate Internet addiction. Therefore, many participants may be at risk of severe addiction. It seems that planning for preventive measures, especially in academic groups, is necessary.

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Background and Objectives: Drug abuse is one of the medical, social, economic and cultural problems in the present era that increases the morbidity, mortality, and disability among addicts. Iran, due to its adjacency to major centers of opiate drugs production, has a severe and critical condition. Therefore, epidemiological studies are essential for comprehensive management of drug abuse disorders.   
   
Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, demographic and epidemiological data of all people whose cause of death was drug abuse in 2013-14 (1392 Hijri) were extracted by two checklists. Data were then analyzed with SPSS software.

Results: A total of 2957 deaths occurred during the study period. Most deaths occurred in unmarried young males with a low income and education level. The mean age of the subjects was 36.6  12.81 years. The mortality rate from opiate and psychoactive abuse in the whole country was 53.28 in 1000000 population. The most commonly used drugs in the study population were opium, crystal, and heroin in a descending order. Hamedan, Lorestan, and Zanjan provinces with a mortality rate of 150, 101, and 80.06 per 1,000,000 people had the highest mortality due to drug abuse.

Conclusion: Training programs and harm reduction approaches such as methadone treatment and naloxone distribution programs should be designed in high-risk groups to reduce mortality associated with drug abuse.