Journal of School of Public Health and

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The traditional methods is used to inspect based on the end-products in manufactures , yet. The Global movement is more commonly reffered to use HACCP system which its main characteristics is preventing contorl of hazards at all stages of food productions. The main goals of implementation of this project was based on three following points: 1-Preparation of a guidelines for application of HACCP system . 2-Familizariation of quality control officers and manufacturers with HACCP concepts,its principle,and establishment of HACCP in different food industries. 3-Establishment of HACCP in a selected Dairy plant as a pilot. To implement of this project, central and administrative groups were formed and 15 workshops were organized for introducing of system during 39 days. Then concerning to prerequistics and G.M.P, HACCP system established in selected plant successfully. This plant has been able to get the HACCP certification from a certification body. The result of this project indicated that establishment of HACCP system is possible in food industries.Preparation and implementation of HACCP has an effective movement in improvement of food safety quality management, food hygien, upgrades of food safety and consumer protection. In addition to above subjects , developing of this system throughout the country, could make a good oppourtunity for ability of competition in export fields and international trade such as join to WTO (World Trade Organization).

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In recent years the patterns of mortality have changed in Iran, and cancers are playing a greater role in this regard in this country. Various reports indicate that gastric cancer is highly prevalent it is the second most common cancer in men, and fourth in the general population. The purpose of this study was to determine the five-year survival rate of gastric cancer patients who had undergone surgical treatment at one of the most important cancer treatment centers, the Iran Cancer Institute, and to assess its associated factors. Three hundred and 30 patients with gastric cancer who had been admitted to and operated on at the Iran Cancer Institute between January 1996 and April 2000 were enrolled in this study. The patients’ life expectancy after surgery was determined, and its relationship with variables of age at the time of surgery, gender, and factors related to the disease such as the cancer site, pathologic type, stage, presence of metastasis, and sites of metastases were assessed. The five-year survival rate and the median life expectancy in the studied patients were 23.6% and 19.90 months, respectively. Univariate analysis showed that gender, cancer site, and pathologic type did not affect life expectancy significantly. But the five-year survival rate significantly decreases with age. As expected, those involved with metastasis had a significantly lower five-year survival rate, and the disease stage significantly affected the patients’ life expectancy (P<0.001). The Cox proportional hazards model was used to assess the effect of different variables simultaneously, and it showed that age, distance metastasis, and disease stage influenced the rate of survival. Gastric cancer patients in Iran have a low five-year survival rate. One of the most important reasons seems to be delayed consultation and diagnosis. Most patients are seen first with the disease in the late stages. At this point, most have lymph node and liver metastasis which makes treatment even more complex. Thus, it is necessary to employ mass media for extensive public education about the early warning signs of the disease and performing periodic examinations.

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Background and Aim: Like other cancers, gastric cancer is due to uncontrolled growth of tissues. Although there are different therapy methods to treat it, such as surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and multimodality therapy, relapse and death may occur. Reports show that in Iran gastric cancer is the first cause of death among deaths due to cancers. The purpose of this study was to determine the two-year survival rate after relapsing and its associated factors among gastric cancer patients who had undergone surgical treatment in Iran Cancer Institute, one of the most important cancer treatment centers in Iran.

Methods and Materials: A total of 330 patients with gastric cancer who had been admitted to and operated on at the Iran Cancer Institute between January 1996 and April 2000 were enrolled in this study. The patients' life expectancy after relapse was determined. Survival was defined as the elapsed time between the two successive events, relapse and death, neither of which can be determined exactly therefore the data are doubly censored failure time data. Thus, the relationships between life expectancy at relapse and such variables as age, gender, and factors related to the disease, such as the cancer site, pathologic type, stage, and sites of metastases were determined using the Cox proportional hazards model.

Results: The two-year survival rate after relapsing and the median life expectancy after relapsing were 15% and 10.15 months, respectively. Univariate analysis showed that except disease stage, no other variable (age, gender, cancer site, pathologic type and sites of metastases) affected life expectancy after relapsing significantly. The Cox proportional hazards model for doubly censored failure time data showed that age, gender, and pathologic type had the highest influence, in a decreasing order, on the rate of survival after relapsing.

Conclusion: Two-year survival rate after relapsing is very low in gastric cancer patients. One of the most important reasons seems to be delayed consultation and diagnosis. Most patients seek medical advice first with the disease in the late stages, when most have lymph node, liver or even distant metastasis which makes treatment even more complex, and when the risk of relapse and death would be increased. Thus, early diagnosis and therapy for a common stomach illness could help prevent a potential gastric cancer.

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Background and Aim: Length of stay (LOS) in a hospital is one of the best hospital indicators that can be used for various purposes. In this survey, we studied the hospital LOS and its associated factors in Tehran University of Medical Sciences Women's Hospital (a teaching hospital) in Tehran using the Cox proportional hazards semi parametric model and compared the results with the results obtained using the multiple linear regression.

Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive-analytical study in which we reviewed 3421 files of inpatients hospitalized in, and those discharged from, the oncology, surgery and obstetrics units in 2008. The required data were collected using a data collection sheet and inpatient interviews. A P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: The median of patients' LOS in the hospital was 50.8 hours, that in the obstetrics, surgical and oncology units being 48.5, 54.4 and 94.2 hours, respectively. Of all the patients, 2632 (76.9%) had been discharged with a recovery status and the rest (23.1%) with a no-recovery status. Results of the Cox proportional hazards model showed that the following variables had increased LOS: a distance longer than 200 km between a patent's residence and the hospital, hospitalization in the surgery and oncology units, admission on a Thursday, admission by an internist, hospitalization for neoplastic, endocrine, nutritional, or genitourinary system diseases (P<0.005), as well as a high number of diagnostic laboratory tests, radiographies or sonographies (P<0.001). Patients admitted and hospitalized as an emergency case had a shorter LOS (P<0.001) than others. On the other hand, based on the multiple linear regression model results, some occupations (being a worker, a farmer, a stockbreeder, or a retired spouse) admission on a Thursday, (The first day of the weekend in Iran), suffering from a neoplastic disease, and a high number of diagnostic tests or radiographies or sonographies increased, and admission by a resident decreased, patients' LOS (P<0.05).

Conclusion: Considering having censored data, the Cox proportional hazards model is a more suitable model than the multiple linear regression models for identifying factors influencing patients' LOS in a hospital. From among the LOS Cox model's associated factors as identified in this study, policy-makers and managers can only change admission days and the number of diagnostic tests. That is to say, they should try to prevent admission on a Thursday (unless emergency cases) and also perform the required primary diagnostic tests before admitting a patient into the hospital, which would lead to a more effective utilization of hospital beds and other resources.