Ethnicity has overtaken race in medical science: MEDLINE-based comparison of trends in the USA and the rest of the world

Ethnicity and race are among the most commonly used epidemiological variables, closely following age, sex and social class. Relative increase in the use of the term ‘ethnicity’ rather than ‘race’ in the health literature from 1966 to 2000 has been observed.These terms describe two distinct, overlapping concepts and, arguably, ethnicity is preferable to race.There are limited genetic differences between racial groups, undermining the traditional use of race as an indicator of biological difference between populations. The broader concept of ethnicity emphasizing cultural differences helps to determine aetiology, tackle inequalities, assess need, make public health plans and direct resource allocation.In Europe, race has been largely superseded by ethnicity

Project manager selection by using fuzzy simple additive weighting method

By implementing Fuzzy Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) method for selecting project manager in MAPNA Company a multi criteria decision making (MCDM) method was conducted in this paper as part of an extensive research. Project manager selection is another tough and complex issue among decision making problems. In order to use a systematic method, a framework is demonstrated in this paper to assist a group of decision makers to use linguistic variables for rating candidates. Identifying the best candidate among participants for project manager selection is the goal of this study. To achieve this objective, a fuzzy SAW method has been used. The validation of these models were inspected by using a case study of project manager selection in order to choose a right PM for project manager position in a project based company. The feedbacks reveal that this model is quite reliable in selecting project managers and can ameliorate the efficiency of decision making process

Risk factors of Atopic dermatitis in Shahrekord schoolchildren

Background and aim: Atopic dermatitis is one of the common skin diseases of childhood that creates considerable side effects on patients, their families and the health care system. This study was carried out to identify both prevalence rate and risk factors of the disease in Shahrekord schoolchildren in 2003. Methods: In a cross-sectional study from all Shahrekord schoolchildren, 1500 students (750 female, 750 male) were randomly selected and the questionnaires of atopic dermatitis were distributed among the selected students and then collected after being filled by their parents then all selected students were examined by a general physician. Suspected students were examined by a dermatologist and an ophthalmologist. The serum IgE of students with any evidence of AD was then serologically tested and the collected data were analyzed with both X2 and student-t test. Results: The mean ages of students participated in the survey was 9.2±1.4 years. According to AD criteria, the prevalence rate was 2.1 percent (32 students). There was no significant statistical relationship between sex and age with atopic dermatitis prevalence rate, but there was significant statistical relationship between AD prevalence rate and signs and symptoms of asthma, allergic renitis, family history of the atopic dermatitis and atopy (p<0.05). Conclusion: Our results showed that atopic dermitis was more frequently seen in those individual with asthema, allergic renitis, familial history for atopic eczema or familial history for atopic dermitis. But no relationship between atopic dermitis and age as well as sex was observed

Mushroom Poisoning in the Northeast of Iran; a Retrospective 6-Year Epidemiologic Study

Introduction: Toxic mushrooms are distributed across the globe with over 5000 species. Among them, 100 species are responsible for most of the cases of mushroom poisoning. This study aimed to evaluate the epidemiologic pattern of mushroom poisoning among patients referred to the main toxicology center of Mashhad province located in North-east of Iran.Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted on patients with final diagnosis of mushroom poisoning referred to the toxicology center of Mashhad, Iran, from February 2005 to 2011. Patients’ demographic characteristics, clinical presentations, laboratory findings, outcomes, and therapeutic measures were collected using a predesigned checklist and searching patient’s profile. Results: 32 cases with the mean age of 24.6 ± 16.7 years were presented to the toxicology center following mushroom poisoning (59% female). Mushroom poisoning accounted for 0.1% of all admitted cases. The mean time elapsed from consumption to referral to poisoning department was 61.9 ± 49.4 hours. 19 (59%) cases were discharged with complete recovery, 7 (22%) expired, and 6 (19%) cases left hospital against medical advice. Mushroom poisoning mortality accounted for 1.5% of deceased cases in the studied center. There was significant relationship between mortality rate and higher values of INR (p = 0.035), PT (p = 0.011) and PTT (p = 0.003). Likewise, there was significant relationship between the need for mechanical ventilation and higher values of INR (p = 0.035), PT (p = 0.006) and PTT (p = 0.014). The relationships between the need for ICU admission, mechanical ventilation, and mortality rate with the rise of hepatic transaminases and serum bilirubin were not significant.Conclusion: Based on the findings, the prevalence of mushroom poisoning among patients referred to Mashhad toxicology center was very low (0.1%), but with a high mortality rate of 22%. Nausea and vomiting were the most common early symptoms of intoxication and higher values of coagulation profile were correlated with poor outcome

Emergency Medical Service Providers’ Perception of Health- Threatening Stressors in Emergency Missions: A qualitative Study

BACKGROUND: Unknown and unpredictable situations cause emergency medical service (EMS) providers to experience various stressful factors. These factors are affected by sociocultural conditions and expectations of the casualty and affect EMS providers' performance and health at the incident scene. The present study was conducted to explore EMS providers' perception of stressful and health-threatening factors in emergency missions.METHOD: This qualitative conventional content analysis was conducted in 2020. The participants included 16 EMS providers working at the Emergency Medical Services Department in Hamadan Province, Iran. The participants were selected using purposive sampling and underwent semi-structured interviews until data saturation. Data were analyzed using the Graneheim and Lundman method.RESULTS: Analysis of the interview data yielded six subcategories (i.e., incident scene hazards, violence-related injuries, physical injuries caused by patient care/handling, ambulance crash-related injuries, emotional impact of patients' suffering and ailments, and highly stressful missions), two main categories (i.e., physical injuries and psychological tensions), and a theme of occupational injuries.CONCLUSIONS: According to the results, in addition to having concerns about caring for patients and saving the injured, EMS providers also worry about potential threats to their own health. The present study identified and described some major stressors in emergency missions. Thus, for a better and more effective efficiency, the present study results can be used to reduce or modify stressors in EMS providers