Lifestyle and hypertension in rural population of Tangestan town, Iran

BACKGROUND: Hypertension is an important health problem in developed countries and the risk factors of this complication are related to the individuals’ lifestyle, with most of them being modifiable. The present study was conducted with the aim to investigate the relationship between lifestyle and primary hypertension among the people referring to health centers of Tangestan Town, Iran, in 2017.METHODS: This study was a case-control study carried out on 100 patients with hypertension and 100 subjects as the control group living in the villages of Tangestan who had a health record in health centers. Data were collected through the international health promoting behaviors (HPLP-II) questionnaire and were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics in SPSS software.RESULTS: The mean and standard deviation (SD) of the body mass index (BMI) scores were 26.27 ± 4.09 and 26.20 ± 4.30 in the case and control groups, respectively, and there was no significance difference between the two groups (P > 0.050). The mean total score of overall health promotion behavior in the case and control groups was respectively 133.27 ± 29.72 and 135.84 ± 29.39 out of 208. In the case and control groups, the highest and lowest scores in the subgroups were associated with the nutritional status and physical activity, respectively. However, there was no significant difference between the lifestyle dimensions of the two groups (P > 0.050).CONCLUSION: Regarding overweight and lack of activity among the studied participants, it is necessary to perform the intervention based on psychological principles for the people prone to hypertension, especially those having positive history among their family members

Patterns of better breast cancer care in countries with higher human development index and healthcare expenditure : Insights from GLOBOCAN 2020

Funding Information: The authors would like to thank the International Agency for Research on Cancer and the World Health Organization for their efforts on cancer epidemiology estimates, as well as the GLOBOCAN project, which made this study possible. Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2023 Azadnajafabad, Saeedi Moghaddam, Mohammadi, Delazar, Rashedi, Baradaran and Mansourian.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The spiritual experiences of students of Iran University of Medical Sciences in 2020

Background: Psychologists consider the acceptance of spirituality as a cultural reality and by acknowledging the positive effects of spirituality on mental health, the World Health Organization also considers the spiritual dimension as the physical, social and emotional dimensions of human existence. Spirituality is a genuine and inner experience that It lies in the nature of every human being. The purpose of this study was to investigate the spiritual experiences of students of Iran University of Medical Sciences in 2020. Methods: The present study was descriptive-analytical. The sample size of 500 students of Iran University of Medical Sciences in 2020 was estimated. For sampling, a list of students was prepared from the faculty education and the sample was selected by regular random sampling method through random number generation software. The data collection tool was a questionnaire with demographic questions and spiritual experiences. The collected data were analyzed after completion with SPSS 20 software. A significance level of 0.05 was considered. Results: The mean score of the meaning-finding component in life was obtained at 57.98. There was a significant relationship between spiritual experiences and gender, age and educational level of students, while no significant relationship was found between spiritual experiences and marital status and residence. Conclusion: In order to ensure the spiritual health of students, it is necessary to plan properly to create a meaningful atmosphere in universities for different age and gender groups

A survey of life style and its influential Factors Among the University Students in Gorgan

Introduction: Most of the complex health issues results from chronic diseases in which the individual has areole. The role of individual healthy behaviors like Physical activity, nutrition and stress management on reduction of the rate of diseases mortality and morbidity is well known. The aim of this study is to the conditiondetermination of physical activity, nutrition, and stress in Gorgan,s university students. Material & Methods: The Participants of this cross-sectional study were 800 students of Gorgan,s Universities , selected via random sampling method. The data collections was performed using by a questionnaire including demographic and lifestyle questions. Analysis of the data was performed by Chi square test in SPSS software. A p-value less than 0.05 was considered as significant. Results: The mean age of the subjects was 22.43 and , BMI mean was 24.1. 22.1 % of them were married and 53.9% single. 24.1% of the students had a weak life style, 29.6% moderate, 22.9% good, and 23.4 % excellent. Although the relationship between life style and sex, degree of education, income, father's educational level, mother's job, type of university and cigarette smoking was significant (p-value 0.05). Conclusion: The results reveal that the life style of more than half of the student's is weak and moderate. This needs designing some program for improving university student lifestyle

Factors affecting health-promoting lifestyle profile in Iranian male seafarers working on tankers

Background: Seafaring is a risky occupation that is associated with a high incidence of lifestyle-related diseases. The present study was carried out to examine health promotion behaviour and its associated factors in seafarers of the National Iranian Tanker Company. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was performed on 200 Iranian male seafarers in 2015. A self-administered socio-demographic and Health Promotion Lifestyle Profile II (HPLP-II) questionnaire was completed. One-way analysis of variance was used to identify significant differences among the various departments. The t-test was utilised to compare the HPLP-II scores according to the demographic variables. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to assess the association between demographic variables and the overall HPLP-II score, in addition to the six health-promoting lifestyle subscale scores. Results: The mean age of the participants was 35.93 ± 9.51 years. Most of the seafarers were categorised as having a moderate (32%) or good lifestyle (61.5%). The mean lifestyle score was 136.14 ± 19.90, with the subscale spiritual growth showing the highest score (26.16 ± 5.03) and the subscale exercise behaviour showing the lowest score (19.95 ± 4.23). The lowest score for nutrition was found among the seafarers working in the engine department (engine: 20.41 ± 4.50, deck: 23.52 ± 4.97, and galley: 24.83 ± 4.64) (p < 0.05). Working in the engine department was found to have a significant negative effect on the nutrition score (B = –3.57, p < 0.05). Moreover, educational level was found to have a significant positive effect on spiritual growth (B = 2.97, p < 0.05). Conclusions: The findings suggest that health-related issues in this occupation, especially workers in the engine room, are a matter of concern

Prevalence of diabetic peripheral neuropathy in Iran : A systematic review and meta-analysis

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Economic Inequality in Healthy and Junk Foods Consumption and its determinants in Children and Adolescents: the CASPIAN- IV Study

Background: Nutritional habits and its determinants, especially in children and adolescents have recently turned into the one of the major concerns of health researches. We examine the diet contribution inequality in according to socio-demographic factors, age, gender, physical activity and body image to alleviate this gap in Iranian children and adolescents. Materials and Methods: Study sample was comprised of 14,880 students aged 6-18 years who selected from urban and rural districts of 30 provinces of Iran via stratified multi-stage sampling method. A short food frequency questionnaire was used for estimating the food group consumption. The Blinder-Oaxaca method was applied to investigate the inequality in the prevalence of healthy and junk foods consumption between the first and fifth socio-economic status (SES) quintiles. Results: The frequency of healthy and junk foods consumption showed considerable differences between the SES quintiles. The highest differences were found in the frequency of fresh fruit (25.38%), vegetable (12.92%), and milk (10.74%) consumption, respectively. The daily consumption of vegetables, and fresh and dried fruits increased linearly by increasing the SES quintiles. The highest absolute difference was seen in the frequency of fresh fruit consumption between the bottom and top of the socioeconomic groups (SII value=-32%).  The estimated SII was statistically significant for the consumption of all healthy and junk foods except for fast foods and milk consumption. The estimated C index for consumption of healthy and junk foods was positive and negative, respectively. Conclusion: This study provides the considerable information on the consumption of healthy and junk foods and its determinants among Iranian children and adolescents for better programming, developing health policies, and future complementary analyses

Patterns of better breast cancer care in countries with higher human development index and healthcare expenditure: Insights from GLOBOCAN 2020

BackgroundThe huge burden of breast cancer (BC) necessitates the profound and accurate knowledge of the most recent cancer epidemiology and quality of care provided. We aimed to evaluate BC epidemiology and quality of care and examine the effects of socioeconomic development and healthcare expenditure on disparities in BC care.MethodsThe results from the GLOBOCAN 2020 study were utilized to extract data on female BC, including incidence and mortality numbers, crude rates, and age-standardized rates [age-standardized incidence rates (ASIRs) and age-standardized mortality rates (ASMRs)]. The mortality-to-incidence ratio (MIR) was calculated for different locations and socioeconomic stratifications to examine disparities in BC care, with higher values reflecting poor quality of care and vice versa. In both descriptive and analytic approaches, the human development index (HDI) and the proportion of current healthcare expenditure (CHE) to gross domestic product (CHE/GDP%) were used to evaluate the values of MIR.ResultsGlobally, 2,261,419 (95% uncertainty interval (UI): 2,244,260–2,278,710) new cases of female BC were diagnosed in 2020, with a crude rate of 58.5/100,000 population, and caused 684,996 (675,493–694,633) deaths, with a crude rate of 17.7. The WHO region with the highest BC ASIR (69.7) was Europe, and the WHO region with the highest ASMR (19.1) was Africa. The very high HDI category had the highest BC ASIR (75.6), and low HDI areas had the highest ASMR (20.1). The overall calculated value of female BC MIR in 2020 was 0.30, with Africa having the highest value (0.48) and the low HDI category (0.53). A strong statistically significant inverse correlation was observed between the MIR and HDI values for countries/territories (Pearson's coefficient = −0.850, p-value < 0.001). A significant moderate inverse correlation was observed between the MIR and CHE/GDP values (Pearson's coefficient = −0.431, p-value < 0.001).ConclusionsThis study highlighted that MIR of BC was higher in less developed areas and less wealthy countries. MIR as an indicator of the quality of care showed that locations with higher healthcare expenditure had better BC care. More focused interventions in developing regions and in those with limited resources are needed to alleviate the burden of BC and resolve disparities in BC care

Mapping 123 million neonatal, infant and child deaths between 2000 and 2017

Since 2000, many countries have achieved considerable success in improving child survival, but localized progress remains unclear. To inform efforts towards United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3.2—to end preventable child deaths by 2030—we need consistently estimated data at the subnational level regarding child mortality rates and trends. Here we quantified, for the period 2000–2017, the subnational variation in mortality rates and number of deaths of neonates, infants and children under 5 years of age within 99 low- and middle-income countries using a geostatistical survival model. We estimated that 32% of children under 5 in these countries lived in districts that had attained rates of 25 or fewer child deaths per 1,000 live births by 2017, and that 58% of child deaths between 2000 and 2017 in these countries could have been averted in the absence of geographical inequality. This study enables the identification of high-mortality clusters, patterns of progress and geographical inequalities to inform appropriate investments and implementations that will help to improve the health of all populations

Global, regional, and national cancer incidence, mortality, years of life lost, years lived with disability, and disability-Adjusted life-years for 29 cancer groups, 1990 to 2017 : A systematic analysis for the global burden of disease study

Importance: Cancer and other noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are now widely recognized as a threat to global development. The latest United Nations high-level meeting on NCDs reaffirmed this observation and also highlighted the slow progress in meeting the 2011 Political Declaration on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases and the third Sustainable Development Goal. Lack of situational analyses, priority setting, and budgeting have been identified as major obstacles in achieving these goals. All of these have in common that they require information on the local cancer epidemiology. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study is uniquely poised to provide these crucial data. Objective: To describe cancer burden for 29 cancer groups in 195 countries from 1990 through 2017 to provide data needed for cancer control planning. Evidence Review: We used the GBD study estimation methods to describe cancer incidence, mortality, years lived with disability, years of life lost, and disability-Adjusted life-years (DALYs). Results are presented at the national level as well as by Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a composite indicator of income, educational attainment, and total fertility rate. We also analyzed the influence of the epidemiological vs the demographic transition on cancer incidence. Findings: In 2017, there were 24.5 million incident cancer cases worldwide (16.8 million without nonmelanoma skin cancer [NMSC]) and 9.6 million cancer deaths. The majority of cancer DALYs came from years of life lost (97%), and only 3% came from years lived with disability. The odds of developing cancer were the lowest in the low SDI quintile (1 in 7) and the highest in the high SDI quintile (1 in 2) for both sexes. In 2017, the most common incident cancers in men were NMSC (4.3 million incident cases); tracheal, bronchus, and lung (TBL) cancer (1.5 million incident cases); and prostate cancer (1.3 million incident cases). The most common causes of cancer deaths and DALYs for men were TBL cancer (1.3 million deaths and 28.4 million DALYs), liver cancer (572000 deaths and 15.2 million DALYs), and stomach cancer (542000 deaths and 12.2 million DALYs). For women in 2017, the most common incident cancers were NMSC (3.3 million incident cases), breast cancer (1.9 million incident cases), and colorectal cancer (819000 incident cases). The leading causes of cancer deaths and DALYs for women were breast cancer (601000 deaths and 17.4 million DALYs), TBL cancer (596000 deaths and 12.6 million DALYs), and colorectal cancer (414000 deaths and 8.3 million DALYs). Conclusions and Relevance: The national epidemiological profiles of cancer burden in the GBD study show large heterogeneities, which are a reflection of different exposures to risk factors, economic settings, lifestyles, and access to care and screening. The GBD study can be used by policy makers and other stakeholders to develop and improve national and local cancer control in order to achieve the global targets and improve equity in cancer care. © 2019 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe