Use of GIS to Estimate Recharge and Identification of Potential Groundwater Recharge Zones in the Karstic Aquifers, West of Iran

Estimating and studying groundwater recharge is necessary and important for the management of water resources. The main aim of this work is to estimate the value of the annual recharge in some parts of the Kermanshah and Kurdistan province located in the west of Iran. There are many approaches available for estimation of the recharge, but RS (remote sensing) and GIS (geographic information system) have provided and combined a lot of effective spatial and temporal data of large areas within a short time. For this purpose, nine information layers including the slope, aspect of slope, lithology, lineament density, drainage density, precipitation, vegetation density, soil cover, and karst features were prepared and imported to the ArcMap software. After preparing the information layers, they have to weigh based on their effects on the value of the recharge. In order to be weighted the different parameters, methods of judgment expert, reciprocal influences of parameters, and AHP were used. Using GIS, the results obtained from the final map indicated the average value for the recharge based on the average calculated coefficient of recharge. The annual recharge coefficient in the study area was estimated to be between 30% and 80%

Mental Health among People Living with HIV (PLWH) in Iran: A Policy Brief Teaser: The necessity of a Tool for Mental Health in PLWH in Iran

Depression and anxiety are the most common mental health disorders in people living with HIV (PLWH). Adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) is an important concern that could be significantly affected by psychological problems among PLWH. Therefore, the authors recommend using an anxiety and depression screening tool, among Iranian PLWH in HIV health care system and determine potential barriers to depression screening and effective care

Cinnarizine versus Topiramate in Prophylaxis of Migraines among Children and Adolescents: A Randomized, Double-Blind Clinical Trial

How to Cite This Article: Ashrafi MR, Najafi Z, Shafiei M, Heidari K, Togha M. Cinnarizinev ersus Topiramate in Prophylaxis of Migraines among Children and Adolescents: A Randomized, Double-Blind Clinical Trial. Iran J Child Neurol. 2014 Autumn;8(4): 18-27. AbstractObjectiveMigraines, a common health problem in children and adolescents, still do not have an FDA approved preventive treatment for patients under the age of 18 years. This study compares and contrasts the efficacy and safety of cinnarizine and topiramate in preventing pediatric migraines.Materials & MethodsIn this randomized, double-blind clinical trial 44 migrainous (from 4–15 years of age) were equally allocated to receive cinnarizine or topiramate. The primary efficacy measure was monthly migraine frequency. Secondary efficacy measures were monthly migraine intensity and ≥ 50% responder rate. Efficacy measures were recorded at the baseline and at 4, 8, and 12 weeks of treatment.ResultsDuring the double-blind phase of the study, monthly migraine frequency and intensity were significantly decreased in both the cinnarizine and topiramate groups when compared to the baseline. However, at the end of the study, the cinnarizine group exhibits a significant decrease from the baseline in the mean monthly migraine intensity when compared to the topiramate group (4.7 vs. 3, respectively; 95% CI = -0.8 to -3.2).ConclusionNo significant difference between cinnarizine and topiramate was found for the prevention of pediatric migraines. Both treatments were well tolerated.ReferencesHershey AD, Winner PK. Pediatric Migraine: Recognition and Treatment. J Am Osteopath Assoc. 2005;105:2S-8.Lewis DW, Yonker M, Winner P, Sowell M. The treatment of pediatric migraine. Pediatric Annals. 2005;34:448-460.Abu-Arefeh I, Russell G. Prevalence of headache and migraine in schoolchildren. BMJ. 1994;309:765-769.Linet MS, Stewart WF, Celentano DD, Ziegler D, Sprecher M. An Epidemiologic Study of Headache among Adolescents and Young Adults. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association. 1989;261:2211-2216.Stewart WF, Linet MS, Celentano DD, Van Natta M, Ziegler D. Age- and sex-specific incidence rates of migraine with and without visual aura. Am J Epidemiol. 1991;134:1111-1120.Stewart WF, Lipton RB, Celentano DD, Reed ML. Prevalence of Migraine Headache in the United States. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association. 1992;267:64-69.Split W, Neuman W. Epidemiology of Migraine among Students from Randomly Selected Secondary Schools in Lodz. Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain. 1999;39:494-501.Hershey AD, Kabbouche MA, Powers SW. Treatment of pediatric and adolescent migraine. Pediatr Ann. 2010;39:416-423.Hershey AD, Powers SW, Vockell AL, LeCates S, Kabbouche MA, Maynard MK. PedMIDAS: development of a questionnaire to assess disability of migraines in children. Neurology. 2001;57:2034-2039.Lewis D, Ashwal S, Hershey A, Hirtz D, Yonker M, Silberstein S. Practice Parameter: Pharmacological treatment of migraine headache in children and adolescents. Neurology. 2004;63:2215-2224.Brandes JL, Saper JR, Diamond M, et al. Topiramate for Migraine Prevention. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association. 2004;291:965-973. Lakshmi CVS, Singhi P, Malhi P, Ray M. Topiramate in the Prophylaxis of Pediatric Migraine: A Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Trial. Journal of Child Neurology. 2007;22:829-835.Lewis D, Winner P, Saper J, et al. Randomized, Double- Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of Topiramate for Migraine Prevention in Pediatric Subjects 12 to 17 Years of Age. Pediatrics. 2009;123:924-934.Winner P, Pearlman EM, Linder SL, et al. Topiramate for Migraine Prevention in Children: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial. Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain. 2005;45:1304-1312.Winner P, Gendolla A, Stayer C, et al. Topiramate for Migraine Prevention in Adolescents: A Pooled Analysis of Efficacy and Safety. Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain. 2006;46:1503-1510.Campistol J, Campos J, Casas C, Herranz JL. Topiramate in the prophylactic treatment of migraine in children. Journal of Child Neurology. 2005;20:251-253.Hershey AD, Powers SW, Vockell A-LB, LeCates S, Kabbouche M. Effectiveness of Topiramate in the Prevention of Childhood Headaches. Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain. 2002;42:810-818.Unalp A, Uran N, Ozturk A. Comparison of the effectiveness of topiramate and sodium valproate in pediatric migraine. J Child Neurol. 2008;23:1377-1381. Younkin DP. Topiramate in the treatment of pediatric migraine. Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain. 2002;42:456.Rossi P, Fiermonte G, Pierelli F. Cinnarizine in migraine prophylaxis: efficacy, tolerability and predictive factors for therapeutic responsiveness. An open-label pilot trial. Funct Neurol. 2003;18:155-159.Togha M, Ashrafian H, Tajik P. Open-label trial of cinnarizine in migraine prophylaxis. Headache. 2006;46:498-502.Togha M, Rahmat Jirde M, Nilavari K, Ashrafian H, Razeghi S, Kohan L. Cinnarizine in refractory migraine prophylaxis: efficacy and tolerability. A comparison with sodium valproate. J Headache Pain. 2008;9:77-82.Headache Classification Committee of The International Headache Society. The International Classification of Headache Disorders, 2nd edn. Cephalalgia. 2004;24(Suppl. 1):1–160.Tonekaboni SH, Ghazavi A, Fayyazi A, Khajeh A, Taghdiri MM, AbdollahGorji F, Azargashb E. Prophylaxis of Childhood Migraine: Topiramate Versus Propranolol. Iran J Child Neurol. 2013 Winter; 7 (1):9-14.Fallah R, AkhavanKarbasi S, Shajari A, Fromandi M. The Efficacy and Safety of Topiramate for Prophylaxis of Migraine in Children. Iran J Child Neurol. 2013 Autumn; 7(4):7-11.Ferraro D, Di Trapani G. Topiramate in the prevention of pediatric migraine: literature review. J Headache Pain. 2008;9:147-150

Content Analysis of Teleconsultation Enquiries in Positive Health Club, Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran, Iran

Objective: With the availability of specialists and the overflowing information in public and social networks, individuals have easy access to information about HIV and AIDS. However, medical counselling and healthcare settings still have an essential role. The aim of the present study was to analyze phone enquiries directed to the Positive Club of Imam Khomeini Hospital in Tehran; this analysis was based on demographic features of participants.Design/Methodology/Approach: In this cross-sectional study, 5255 questions were extracted and coded from the Positive Club's counselling questionnaires; the coding procedure was based on Huber and Gilapsy's decimal classification. Data were processed by descriptive statistics and SPSS software.Findings: A majority of callers were men (59.43%), most callers were aged between 26 and 30 years, and HIV transmission and high-risk sexual behaviours were among frequently asked questions (47%).Originality/Value: Taking into account that most callers were concern about transmission via sexual contact (anal, vaginal, and oral) rather than injection and its related equipment, it seems reasonable to assume that HIV transmission flow may shift from shared injection equipment to high-risk sexual behaviors

Rectal adenocarcinoma in an 9 year old girl. A case report

Rectal adenocarcinoma is rare in children. The patient described here is a 9-year-old girl who presented with rectorrhagia. Her problem started 3 months ago and she had been treated for infectious diarrhea. A colonoscopy was performed 3 months after the onset of symptoms and a non-pedunculated polyp in the rectum was noted and resected. After the colonoscopy signs and symptoms of peritonitis developed and in laparotomy a rectal perforation was noted and a biopsy from rectal mucosa was taken. The result of biopsy was adenocarcinoma. Then a low anterior resection of rectum with protective ileostomy followed by adjuvant chemotherapy was performed. During a 15 month follow-up the patient had no problems and no clinical, radiological or laboratory signs or symptoms of recurrence was found. However rectal adenocarcinoma is rare but it should be considered in the differentialdiagnosis of intestinal problems

Prevalence of Cannabis Lifetime Use in Iranian High School and College Students: A Systematic Review, Meta-Analyses,and Meta-Regression

Cannabis is the most widely used substance in the world. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of cannabis lifetime use (CLU) in high school and college students of Iran and also to determine factors related to changes in prevalence. A systematic review of literature on cannabis use in Iran was conducted according to MOOSE guideline. Domestic scientific databases, PubMed/Medline, ISI Web of Knowledge, and Google Scholar, relevant reference lists, and relevant journals were searched up to April, 2014. Prevalences were calculated using the variance stabilizing double arcsine transformation and confidence intervals (CIs) estimated using the Wilson method. Heterogeneity was assessed by Cochran's Q statistic and I-2 index and causes of heterogeneity were evaluated using meta-regression model. In electronic database search, 4,000 citations were retrieved, producing a total of 33 studies. CLU was reported with a random effects pooled prevalence of 4.0 (95 CI = 3.0 to 5.0). In subgroups of high school and college students, prevalences were 5.0 (95 CI = 3.0 to -7.0) and 2.0 (95 CI = 2.0 to -3.0), respectively. Meta-regression model indicated that prevalence is higher in college students (beta = 0.089, p < .001), male gender (beta = 0.017, p < .001), and is lower in studies with sampling versus census studies (beta = -0.096, p < .001). This study reported that prevalence of CLU in Iranian students are lower than industrialized countries. In addition, gender, level of education, and methods of sampling are highly associated with changes in the prevalence of CLU across provinces

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

Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background: In an era of shifting global agendas and expanded emphasis on non-communicable diseases and injuries along with communicable diseases, sound evidence on trends by cause at the national level is essential. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) provides a systematic scientific assessment of published, publicly available, and contributed data on incidence, prevalence, and mortality for a mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive list of diseases and injuries. Methods: GBD estimates incidence, prevalence, mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) due to 369 diseases and injuries, for two sexes, and for 204 countries and territories. Input data were extracted from censuses, household surveys, civil registration and vital statistics, disease registries, health service use, air pollution monitors, satellite imaging, disease notifications, and other sources. Cause-specific death rates and cause fractions were calculated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model and spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression. Cause-specific deaths were adjusted to match the total all-cause deaths calculated as part of the GBD population, fertility, and mortality estimates. Deaths were multiplied by standard life expectancy at each age to calculate YLLs. A Bayesian meta-regression modelling tool, DisMod-MR 2.1, was used to ensure consistency between incidence, prevalence, remission, excess mortality, and cause-specific mortality for most causes. Prevalence estimates were multiplied by disability weights for mutually exclusive sequelae of diseases and injuries to calculate YLDs. We considered results in the context of the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a composite indicator of income per capita, years of schooling, and fertility rate in females younger than 25 years. Uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated for every metric using the 25th and 975th ordered 1000 draw values of the posterior distribution. Findings: Global health has steadily improved over the past 30 years as measured by age-standardised DALY rates. After taking into account population growth and ageing, the absolute number of DALYs has remained stable. Since 2010, the pace of decline in global age-standardised DALY rates has accelerated in age groups younger than 50 years compared with the 1990–2010 time period, with the greatest annualised rate of decline occurring in the 0–9-year age group. Six infectious diseases were among the top ten causes of DALYs in children younger than 10 years in 2019: lower respiratory infections (ranked second), diarrhoeal diseases (third), malaria (fifth), meningitis (sixth), whooping cough (ninth), and sexually transmitted infections (which, in this age group, is fully accounted for by congenital syphilis; ranked tenth). In adolescents aged 10–24 years, three injury causes were among the top causes of DALYs: road injuries (ranked first), self-harm (third), and interpersonal violence (fifth). Five of the causes that were in the top ten for ages 10–24 years were also in the top ten in the 25–49-year age group: road injuries (ranked first), HIV/AIDS (second), low back pain (fourth), headache disorders (fifth), and depressive disorders (sixth). In 2019, ischaemic heart disease and stroke were the top-ranked causes of DALYs in both the 50–74-year and 75-years-and-older age groups. Since 1990, there has been a marked shift towards a greater proportion of burden due to YLDs from non-communicable diseases and injuries. In 2019, there were 11 countries where non-communicable disease and injury YLDs constituted more than half of all disease burden. Decreases in age-standardised DALY rates have accelerated over the past decade in countries at the lower end of the SDI range, while improvements have started to stagnate or even reverse in countries with higher SDI. Interpretation: As disability becomes an increasingly large component of disease burden and a larger component of health expenditure, greater research and developm nt investment is needed to identify new, more effective intervention strategies. With a rapidly ageing global population, the demands on health services to deal with disabling outcomes, which increase with age, will require policy makers to anticipate these changes. The mix of universal and more geographically specific influences on health reinforces the need for regular reporting on population health in detail and by underlying cause to help decision makers to identify success stories of disease control to emulate, as well as opportunities to improve. Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 licens

National, sub-national, and risk-attributed burden of thyroid cancer in Iran from 1990 to 2019

An updated exploration of the burden of thyroid cancer across a country is always required for making correct decisions. The objective of this study is to present the thyroid cancer burden and attributed burden to the high Body Mass Index (BMI) in Iran at national and sub-national levels from 1990 to 2019. The data was obtained from the GBD 2019 study estimates. To explain the pattern of changes in incidence from 1990 to 2019, decomposition analysis was conducted. Besides, the attribution of high BMI in the thyroid cancer DALYs and deaths were obtained. The age-standardized incidence rate of thyroid cancer was 1.57 (95% UI: 1.33–1.86) in 1990 and increased 131% (53–191) until 2019. The age-standardized prevalence rate of thyroid cancer was 30.19 (18.75–34.55) in 2019 which increased 164% (77–246) from 11.44 (9.38–13.85) in 1990. In 2019, the death rate, and Disability-adjusted life years of thyroid cancer was 0.49 (0.36–0.53), and 13.16 (8.93–14.62), respectively. These numbers also increased since 1990. The DALYs and deaths attributable to high BMI was 1.91 (0.95–3.11) and 0.07 (0.04–0.11), respectively. The thyroid cancer burden and high BMI attributed burden has increased from 1990 to 2019 in Iran. This study and similar studies’ results can be used for accurate resource allocation for efficient management and all potential risks’ modification for thyroid cancer with a cost-conscious view