Socio-economic Status and Infant Mortality Rate

Backgrounds: For more than forty years medical sociology has explained numerous examples of the social patterning of disease. They have shown a strong association between health and socioeconomic status (SES). One of the most important indicators of development in each country is the infant mortality rate, and SES is main determinant for this indicator. This study has evaluated the impact of SES on infant mortality in Shahroud, 2017. Methods: In This cross-sectional study, the information of 4242 children born in 2017 was extracted from the electronic health record with the help of the Data Collection Form. In the first part, the information was about demographics and health care of the household. The second part was related to the household economic status, it was asked to the mothers by phone or in person, including questions about the equipment and tools used by the household. The PCA method (Principal Component Analysis) was used to determine the socio-economic status, and finally, the households were divided into two high and low socio-economic groups. Confounding factors such as mothers’ gravidity, history of congenital anomalies in previous children, mother age, history of abortion, type of delivery, the interval of pregnancies, were also used in the study to investigate the effect of SES on infant mortality. Results: Based on our findings, out of 4242 children born in 2017, a total of 21 children died before one year old. The chance of death in children of households belonging to the low SES was 2.93 times more than high SES (CI95% = 1.14-7.54). Conclusions: In general, improving households’ socio-economic status can be very effective in reducing child mortality. Government, non-government, and NGO supports can help to improve the economic situation of households and they can help poor families to receive some expensive health services. It is also recommended to promote family health literacy. Keywords: Socio-economic status, Principal component analysis, Infant, Mortality, Shahroud

Socioeconomic Status and Low Birth Weight: Shahroud 2017

Background Low Birth Weight (LBW) is one of the most important health indicators and is one of the most important causes of infant mortality. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of family socioeconomic status (SES) on LBW in Shahroud.  Methods In this cross sectional study, 4242 neonates were entered in the study.  Data gathering tool was a valid and reliable questionnaire and also we use electronic records of household’s health profile to complete data collection Form.   Determinants of household’s SES were 10 economic factors, including household assets like; car ownership, computer and Internet access, microwave, cooking place, number of residential house rooms, type of heating and cooling equipment, bathroom in the house, mother’s history of foreign travel-tourism and for social factors there were 4 variables; father's education, mother's education, father's job and number of children. The logistic regression model was used by controlling the confounding variables to investigate the effect of socioeconomic factors on LBW. Results Among study subjects, 312 (7.4 %) of them were LBW (CI 95%=6.6-8.1). The chance of low birth weight in neonates with low socioeconomic group was 2.6 times more than high class group (95% CI= 3.47 - 2.01). Conclusion  The quality of health services and the improvement of the socio-economic situation must be taken into account to reduce the inequity of LBW between poor and rich family neonates. (Keywords): Neonate, Socioeconomic status, Low Birth Weight, Shahroud

Socioeconomic Status and Low Birth Weight: Shahroud 2017

Background Low Birth Weight (LBW) is one of the most important health indicators and is one of the most important causes of infant mortality. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of family socioeconomic status (SES) on LBW in Shahroud.  Methods In this cross sectional study, 4242 neonates were entered in the study.  Data gathering tool was a valid and reliable questionnaire and also we use electronic records of household’s health profile to complete data collection Form.   Determinants of household’s SES were 10 economic factors, including household assets like; car ownership, computer and Internet access, microwave, cooking place, number of residential house rooms, type of heating and cooling equipment, bathroom in the house, mother’s history of foreign travel-tourism and for social factors there were 4 variables; father's education, mother's education, father's job and number of children. The logistic regression model was used by controlling the confounding variables to investigate the effect of socioeconomic factors on LBW. Results Among study subjects, 312 (7.4 %) of them were LBW (CI 95%=6.6-8.1). The chance of low birth weight in neonates with low socioeconomic group was 2.6 times more than high class group (95% CI= 3.47 - 2.01). Conclusion  The quality of health services and the improvement of the socio-economic situation must be taken into account to reduce the inequity of LBW between poor and rich family neonates. (Keywords): Neonate, Socioeconomic status, Low Birth Weight, Shahroud

Validity and reliability of a smartphone motion analysis app for lower limb kinematics during treadmill running

Objective: To investigate the validity and reliability of a smartphone application for selected lower-limb kinematics during treadmill running. Design: Validity and reliability study. Setting: Biomechanics laboratory. Participants: Twenty healthy female runners. Main outcome measure(s): Sagittal-plane hip, knee, and ankle angle and rearfoot eversion were assessed using the Coach's Eye Smartphone application and a 3D motion capture system. Paired t-test and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) established criterion validity of Coach's Eye; ICC determined test-retest and intrarater/interrater reliability. Standard error of measurement (SEM) and minimal detectable change (MDC) were also reported. Results: Significant differences were found between Coach's Eye and 3D measurements for ankle angle at touchdown and knee angle at toe-off (p < 0.05). ICCs for validity of Coach's Eye were excellent for rearfoot eversion at touchdown (ICC = 0.79) and fair-to-good for the other kinematics (range 0.51–0.74), except for hip at touchdown, which was poor (ICC = 0.36). Test-retest (range 0.80–0.92), intrarater (range 0.95–0.99) and interrater (range 0.87–0.94) ICC results were excellent for all selected kinematics. Conclusion: Coach's Eye can be used as a surrogate for 3D measures of knee and rearfoot in/eversion at touchdown, and hip, ankle, and rearfoot in/eversion at toe-off, but not for hip and ankle at touchdown or knee at toe-off. Reliable running kinematics were obtained using Coach's Eye, making it suitable for repeated measures

Mizaj assessment and data analysis methods in Amirkola health and aging project (AHAP cohort)

Background: One of the principles of Persian medicine (PM) is the individualized approach that is presented with the concept of Mizaj. In this viewpoint, Mizaj is determined for every person based on 10 criteria, which is a result of the Mizaj of the main organs, including the brain, liver, and heart. There is no standard diagnostic tool for Mizaj assessment in the elderly. The purpose of this study is to explain the method of Mizaj assessment and data analysis in the elderly in the second phase of the Amirkola health and aging project (AHAP) in Iran. Methods: In this study, a novel Mizaj assessment method in two phases is presented. In the first phase, 1541 elderly were assessed by a PM expert and typical diagnoses were determined. At the second phase, an expert panel including 5 PM experts evaluated the cases. The paraclinical and metric data of the elderly whose Mizaj agreed in the expert panel was used to assess its correlation with Mizaj. Conclusion: In the lack of valid and reliable questionnaires to assess the personalized viewpoint of PM, a new expert-based method has been introduced that can be used in similar studies. The result of the Mizaj assessment in this way will be used to obtain objective values for the Mizaj assessment

Effect of extrinsic and intrinsic parameters on inulinase production by Aspergillus niger ATCC 20611

Background: Inulinase is a versatile enzyme from glycoside hydrolase family which targets the \u3b2-2, 1 linkage of fructopolymers. In the present study, the effect of medium composition and culture conditions on inulinase production by Aspergillus niger ATCC 20611 was investigated in shake-flasks. Results: The highest extracellular inulinase (3199 U/ ml) was obtained in the presence of 25% (w/v) sucrose, 0.5% (w/v) meat extract, 1.5% (w/v) NaNO3 and 2.5 mM (v/v) Zn2+, at initial pH of 6.5, temperature 35\ubaC and 6% (v/v) of spores suspension in the agitation speed of 100 rpm. Surfactants showed an inhibitory effect on enzyme production. The optimum temperature for inulinase activity was found to be 50\ubaC. TLC analysis showed the presence of both exo- and endo-inulinase. Conclusion: Sucrose, Zn2+, and aeration were found to be the most effective elements in inulinase production by A. niger ATCC 20611. TLC analysis also showed that the crude enzyme contained both endo and exoinulinases. The strain is suggested as a potential candidate for industrial enzymatic production of fructose from inulin

Atypical Ataxia Presentation in Variant Ataxia Telangiectasia: Iranian Case-Series and Review of the Literature

Ataxia-telangiectasia (AT) is a rare autosomal recessive neurodegenerative multisystem disorder. A minority of AT patients can present late-onset atypical presentations due to unknown mechanisms. The demographic, clinical, immunological and genetic data were collected by direct interview and examining the Iranian AT patients with late-onset manifestations. We also conducted a systematic literature review for reported atypical AT patients. We identified three Iranian AT patients (3/249, 1.2% of total registry) with later age at ataxia onset and slower neurologic progression despite elevated alpha-fetoprotein levels, history of respiratory infections, and immunological features of the syndrome. Of note, all patients developed autoimmunity in which a decrease of naïve T cells and regulatory T cells were observed. The literature searches also summarized data from 73 variant AT patients with atypical presentation indicating biallelic mild mutations mainly lead to an atypical phenotype with an increased risk of cancer. Variant AT patients present with milder phenotype or atypical form of classical symptoms causing under- or mis- diagnosis. Although missense mutations are more frequent, an atypical presentation can be associated with deleterious mutations due to unknown modifying factors

Sleep patterns and habits in high school students in Iran

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Sleep patterns and habits in high school students in Iran have not been well studied to date. This paper aims to re-address this balance and analyse sleep patterns and habits in Iranian children of high school age.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The subjects were 1,420 high school students randomly selected by stratified cluster sampling. This was a self-report study using a questionnaire which included items about usual sleep/wake behaviours over the previous month, such as sleep schedule, falling asleep in class, difficulty falling asleep, tiredness or sleepiness during the day, difficulty getting up in the morning, nightmares, and taking sleeping pills.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The mean duration of night sleep was 7.7 h, with no difference between girls, boys, and school year (grade). The mean time of waking in the morning was not different between genders. About 9.9% of the girls and 4.6% of the boys perceived their quality of sleep as being bad, and 58% of them reported sleepiness during the day. About 4.2% of the subjects had used medication to enhance sleep. The time of going to bed was associated with grade level and gender. Sleep latency was not associated with gender and grade leve, l and 1.4% experienced bruxism more than four times a week.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results are in contrast with that of previous studies that concluded sleep duration is shorter in Asia than in Europe, that boys woke-up significantly later than girls, and that the frequency of sleep latency category was associated with gender and grade level. The magnitude of the daytime sleepiness, daytime sleepiness during classes, sleep latency, and incidences of waking up at night represent major public health concerns for Iran.</p

Socio-economic Status and Infant Mortality Rate: Socio-Economic Status and Infant Mortality Rate

Backgrounds: For more than forty years medical sociology has explained numerous examples of the social patterning of disease. They have shown a strong association between health and socioeconomic status (SES). One of the most important indicators of development in each country is the infant mortality rate, and SES is main determinant for this indicator. This study has evaluated the impact of SES on infant mortality in Shahroud, 2017. Methods: In This cross-sectional study, the information of 4242 children born in 2017 was extracted from the electronic health record with the help of the Data Collection Form. In the first part, the information was about demographics and health care of the household. The second part was related to the household economic status, it was asked to the mothers by phone or in person, including questions about the equipment and tools used by the household. The PCA method (Principal Component Analysis) was used to determine the socio-economic status, and finally, the households were divided into two high and low socio-economic groups. Confounding factors such as mothers’ gravidity, history of congenital anomalies in previous children, mother age, history of abortion, type of delivery, the interval of pregnancies, were also used in the study to investigate the effect of SES on infant mortality. Results: Based on our findings, out of 4242 children born in 2017, a total of 21 children died before one year old. The chance of death in children of households belonging to the low SES was 2.93 times more than high SES (CI95% = 1.14-7.54). Conclusions: In general, improving households’ socio-economic status can be very effective in reducing child mortality. Government, non-government, and NGO supports can help to improve the economic situation of households and they can help poor families to receive some expensive health services. It is also recommended to promote family health literacy. Keywords: Socio-economic status, Principal component analysis,&nbsp;Infant, Mortality, Shahroud