Showing 6 results for Prevalence
Gh Molavi, J Masoud, I Moubedi, Gh Hassanpour,
Volume 5, Issue 3 (5-2007)
Abstract
Background and Aim: Intestinal parasites cause significant morbidity and mortality and are considered by the World Health Organization as a public health problem of global importance. These agents are estimated to infect more than three billion people worldwide. In Iran, thanks to long-time efforts by the national health system (including environmental sanitation and public education campaigns), the frequency of the most intestinal parasitic infections has significantly declined in the recent decades. Our study aimed to determine the prevalence of intestinal parasites in a high-risk occupational group, namely the municipal workers in the city of Esfahan.
Materials and Methods: A survey was conducted to determine the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections among municipal workers in several districts of Esfahan. Specimens were placed into fecal pots, labeled and kept cool before being transported to the Health Research Center Laboratory, affiliated to the School of Public Health & Institute for Public Health Research in Tehran University of Medical Sciences. The technique used for identifying infections was stool concentration by formalin & ether. All the slides were carefully studied using light microscopy with ×10, × 40, and ×100 magnification.
Results: The study results revealed that 24.6% of the workers harbored at least one parasitic species. The highest prevalence (36%) belonged to Giardia lamblia. Ascaris lumbricoides was the most common helminthic parasite (12.4%), followed by Hymenolepis nana (1.2%). The most common non-pathogenic protozoal species was Entamoeba coli (21.7%).
Conclusion: Infection with soil parasites is dependent on environmental conditions that allow parasites to complete their life cycle. Socioeconomic and cultural factors are important for the appearance and spread of intestinal parasites in communities where sanitary conditions and infrastructure are inadequate. However, soil-transmitted helminthiasis (STH) used to be prevalent throughout the country, especially in urban and rural population of the Esfahan Province. We investigated the prevalence of intestinal parasites by fecal examination of workers in Esfahan municipality, a group with a low-sanitation working environment close contact with soil contaminants. The lack of information on prevalence in the general population makes it difficult to arrive at any definite conclusions, but on the basis of unpublished data we can conclude that prevalence is somewhat higher in this occupational group compared to the population at large.
M Firouzbakht, H Eftekhar Ardebili, F Majlesi, A Rahimi, M Ansari Dezfooli, M Esmailzadeh ,
Volume 5, Issue 4 (3-2008)
Abstract
Background and Aim: Hearing impairment is one of the most common congenital defects. Unfortunately there have been no studies so far on the prevalence of various degrees of neonatal hearing, loss in Iran. As accurate determination of prevalence is crucial in estimating disease burden and planning subsequent interventions, we carried out this study to determine the prevalence of neonatal hearing impairment.
Materials and Methods: In this study, we assessed the prevalence of hearing loss among the newborns in province capitals and also looked at the role of some putative risk suggested by the Joint committee on Infant Hearing (JCIH). In this research, 76500 newborns who had undergone audiologist-administered screening tests were assessed by a special questionnaire designed specifically for this study.
Results: After trapshooting the overall prevalence of hearing loss was estimated and then cases were classified as moderate (40 - 65 db HL), severe (65 - 90 db HL), or profound (>90 db HL) hearing loss. Among the newborns examined, a total of 362 were diagnosed with hearing loss and hence the overall prevalence was estimated at 4.7 per thousand 168 cases had moderate (2.2 × 10 -3), 114 cases had severe (1.5 × 10 -3) and 80 cases had profound (1.1 × 10 -3) hearing loss.The prevalence rate ranges from 2-3 × 10 -3 (in Hamedan and Mazandaran) to 7-8 × 10 -3 (in Yazd and Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari). In newborns with a family history of sensory-neural hearing loss the prevalence was 16 × 10 -3, compared to 18 × 10 -3 in those requiring blood transfusions, 15 × 10 -3 in newborns with a history of admission to neonatal intensive care units, 17 × 10 -3 in those with craniofacial anomalies, and 19 × 10 -3 in newborns with birth weights below 1500 grams. The sample included 39376 boys and 37124 girls 193 boys (5 × 10 -3) and 169 girls (4.6 × 10 -3) were affected. The stratified prevalence in males (193) was 477 × 10 -3 for intermediate, 311 × 10 -3 for severe and 202 × 10 -3 for profound deafness. The rates in the female population were 437 × 10 -3 for intermediate, 320 × 10 -3 for severe and 273 × 10 -3 for profound hearing loss.
Conclusion: The results confirm the need for extensive neonatal screening programs, and the significant difference in prevalence between high-risk groups and the normal population provides justification for continuous audiologic screening in this group of newborns.
Hamid Reza Safabakhsh, Gharib Karimi, Hossein Hatami,
Volume 11, Issue 4 (3-2014)
Abstract
Background and Aim: Human T-Cell Lymphotropic Virus (Type I) is the cause of two major diseases : Adult T cell Leukemia-Lymphoma and Tropical Spastic Paraparasia and Myelopathy associated with HTLV-I. Disease transmission is possible during unsafe sexual contact, blood transfusion and vertical transmission method. Blood safety and minimizing the risk of transfusion transmitted infections are the main goals of blood transfusion organization. Mashhad is located in an endemic area and it is essential to investigate about the virus epidemiology.
Materials and Methods: In this descriptive study from 1388 to 1389. all the blood donation volunteers, who were eligible for blood donation but had HTLV serum positive results in both screening and confirmatory tests with Elisa and Western Blot method, respectively, were considered as HTLV infected individuals. The infected group was compared with a group of healthy blood donors as a witness group. The data were analyzed by SPSS-17 software.
Results: Out of all 432 infected donors, 353(% 81.7) were male and 79 (% 18.3) were female. The prevalence rate in two years of study was %0.26 and %0.25 Respectively . There was a significant relation between age, sex, marital status, education levels and history of blood donation with HTLV-1 seropositivity.
Conclusions: Because of the improvements in donor screening and laboratory methods , the prevalence of HTLV-1 infection among blood donors has currently decreased. According to the low rate of infection among younger blood donors, regular blood donors and donors with higher educational levels ,it should be considered to select donors from these groups.
Milad Azami, Zahra Darvishi, Milad Borji, Kourosh Sayehmiri,
Volume 14, Issue 1 (6-2016)
Abstract
Background and Aim: Anemia in pregnant women is a common disease in developing countries, the prevalence ranging between 35% and 100%. Based on a systematic review in 2005 anemia prevalence among Iranian pregnant women was estimated to be 12.4%. The objective of the present systematic review and meta-analysis was to determine anemia prevalence among Iranian pregnant women between 2005 and 2016.
Materials and Methods: This systematic review, using standard key words, included databases Magiran, Iranmedex, IranDoc, SID, Medlib, Scopus, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Cochran, Embase, Springer, Web of Science, and Online Library Wiley, as well as the Google Scholar search engine of for the period 2005-2016. All the reviewed papers meeting the inclusion criteria were included in the study. Data were analyzed using the random effect model based on meta-analyses, the software being Stata Ver.11.1.
Result: Twenty-five studies with a total sample of 56610 pregnant women met the inclusion criteria. The prevalence of anemia was estimated to be 17% (95% CI: 14-20). The highest (23%) and lowest (12%) prevalence rates were observed in the center and west of the country, respectively. The prevalence was estimated to be 21% in urban areas and 8% in the rural areas.
Conclusion: The prevalence of anemia in Iranian pregnant women has increased over the last 11 years. Therefore, appropriate intervention programs must be implemented in premarital counseling and pregnancy clinics.
Mohsen Roshanpajouh, Roksana Mirkazemi, Mehrdad Ehterami, Houman Narenjiha, Hossein Malek Afzali, Hamidreza Sarrami, Majid Rezazadeh, Fatemeh Abbasi, Saeid Noroozi,
Volume 16, Issue 4 (3-2019)
Abstract
Background and Aim: Drug abuse is a long-standing social and public health problem in Iran. Access to accurate, reliable and up-to-date data related to drug use is essential for planning and policy-making for prevention of, treatment of, and harm reduction related to, drug abuse. The purpose of this study was to access accurate data regarding drug abuse prevalence and substance use in Tehran Province population.
Materials and Methods: This study was a cross-sectional household survey with a sample of 6024 individuals aged 15-64 years residing in Tehran Province. Data on demographic characteristics and drug use during the previous week, month and year and the whole lifetime were collected using a researcher-designed questionnaire.
Results: A total of 5646 individuals participated in the study. The lifelong prevalence of cigarette-smoking, hookah-smoking, alcohol consumption and drug use were 21.9%, 26.8%, 12.1% and 7.3%, respectively. The corresponding proportions during the previous week were 12.9%, 10.5%, 1.8% and 2.2%.
Conclusion: The prevalence of cigarette-smoking, hookah-smoking, alcohol consumption and drug use is high in Tehran Province. The prevalence of lifelong cigarette and hookah smoking and alcohol consumption is higher, while that of drug use is lower, than the respective national averages.
Sahar Peikani, Naser Nasiri, Halimeh Yaghoobi, Dayoush Bastam, Fatemeh Doost Mohammadi, Mohammad Vahedian Shahroudi,
Volume 16, Issue 4 (3-2019)
Abstract
Background and Aim: Congenital hypothyroidism is the most common metabolic disease and endocrine disorder in children and a major cause of mental retardation, which can be prevented only through early diagnosis and treatment. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of congenital hypothyroidism in newborns referred to Shahid-Ghodsi Health Center in Mashhad, Iran.
Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study, including 4484 newborns referred to Shahid-Ghodsi Health Center for congenital hypothyroidism screening, was conducted during the first six months of 2015. Data were collected from the screening forms and analyzed using the statistical software SPSS 21, the tests being the two-sample T-test, analysis of variance, Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests; in all the tests the significance level was 5%.
Results: Of the 4484 neonates screened, 51% and 48% were males and females, respectively. The recall rate was estimated to be 2.6% and prevalence of the disease 1 in 370 neonates. There were statistically significant associations between hypothyroidism on the one hand and birthweight, type of feeding (nutrition), primary and serum TSH levels of the neonate on the other.
Conclusion: Based on the findings, the prevalence of congenital hypothyroidism in Mashhad is significantly higher than that national and global averages. It is essential to conduct more comprehensive research to determine the associated factors and design suitable interventions in order to prevent the disease.
