Epidemiology and Health System Journal
Volume:10 Issue: 2, Spring 2023

Usually non-daily smokers do not consider themselves smokers, and they are at a higher level of health risks due to smoking compared to non-smokers. This study aimed to identify the prevalence of non-daily smoking (NDS) and its associated factors among university students.

This cross-sectional web-based study was performed in Tabriz, Iran. A proportional random sample of 3666 students from all universities of Tabriz were recruited from July to August, 2019, and an online questionnaire was used to collect data. Predictors of NDS were investigated using a multiple logistic regression model.

A total of 15.7% and 7.8% of the students were daily and NDSs, respectively. Compared to the non-smokers, the NDSs were more likely to exhibit high-risk behaviors such as substance abuse (odd ratio [OR]=2.96; 95% CI: 2.12-4.13), alcohol drinking (OR=2.54; 95% CI: 1.78-3.62), hookah smoking experience (OR=9.30; 95% CI: 6.06-14.25), and regular hookah use (OR=24.22; 95% CI: 14.86-39.46). Compared to daily smokers, NDSs were more likely to be female gender (OR=0.16; 95% CI: 0.10-0.24), denial of being a smoker (OR=11.69; 95% CI: 6.86-19.91), not addicted to nicotine (OR=10.02; 95% CI: 4.21-23.85), and less likely to have an intention for quitting in recent months (OR=2.27; 95% CI: 1.28-4.04).

Non-daily smokers do not consider themselves smokers and have no intention to quit smoking. They are more prone to present high-risk health behaviors. Health policymakers should pay more attention to NDSs while planning smoking cessation programs.

Current lifestyles, with the growing use of contemporary technologies, have resulted in changes in people’s behavior, causing them to become increasingly sedentary and develop unhealthy body habits. Posture is an essential variable determining an individual’s physical and emotional well-being. The purpose of this study was to investigate postural habits and any related joint and muscle pain among school-aged students.

An online questionnaire was utilized to measure participants’ postural habits and related joint and muscle pain. The questionnaire was completed by 43660 school-aged students (15532 boys and 28128 girls in the age range of 8-17 years) by a non-randomized convenient sampling method through Google Forms via social media on the schools’ platform in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, Iran, in the middle of 2022. The questionnaire inquired about body postural patterns and any associated joint or muscle pain.

The majority of participants (77%) reported spending most of their time in the sitting position. Overall, 57% of the students reported that they did not maintain the correct posture during their daily activities. The majority of respondents (54%) reported feeling some joint or muscle pain. The greatest pain was reported in the neck (28%), upper back (14%), and lower back (13%).

The findings indicated that schools and the medical profession may need to screen students for health risks such as poor postural status. Further, information related to bad posture should be provided to children, their families, and healthcare professionals to take care of them.

The fertility trend in Isfahan, as in other parts of the country, has decreased significantly in recent years. This study aimed to investigate the parity progression ratio (PPR) and factors affecting fertility.

This is a cross-sectional study that was conducted using a researcher-made questionnaire. Moreover, the study method was a survey, and the sample size included 662 married women aged 15 to 49 years. The study also employed a multi-stage cluster sampling method.

The results revealed that the cumulative fertility rate ((CFR=1.5) has decreased in Isfahan. There was also a significant relationship between the number of children with abortion (P=0.001), education (P=0.000), and employment of women (P=0.02). The results of multivariate regression with the control of women’s job type also indicated that the variables of the age of marriage and literacy of women (r=0.355, P<0.05) in householders, age of marriage (r=0.286, P=0.00) in unemployed, and literacy of women (r=0.336, P=0.016) in employed women have the highest explanation in childbearing.

To increase fertility and childbearing, more attention should be paid to economic issues, inflation reduction, and employment rise so that we can witness an increase in marriage, followed by childbearing to the level of succession. The best way to maintain the level of substitution is the full and comprehensive implementation of population policies and the implementation of adaptive policies appropriate to the level of fertility.

In recent years, public confidence in vaccines has been decreasing. This study was conducted aiming at explaining the challenges of accepting the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) vaccination by students.

This study is a qualitative content analysis. The samples were students who did not intend to get vaccinated against COVID-19. The applied data collection method was a semi-structured interview. Sampling continued until reaching data saturation. To analyze the data, first, the interviews were recorded and typed word by word. Then, they were entered into the MaxQ-10 software.

Two main categories of individual barriers emerged from data analysis. The first category included false wrong peace of mind after vaccination, lack of belief in the effectiveness of the vaccine, fear of the vaccine and its side effects, infection with the coronavirus, a tendency to show the insignificance of the disease, and exacerbation of the symptoms of COVID-19 in the case of vaccination. The other individual barriers were the contraction of COVID-19 in the case of vaccination and beliefs in more effects of preventive methods as compared to vaccination. The second category contained collective barriers such as not having proper information regarding the media, considering the political nature of vaccination, waiting for access to vaccines made in Iran, and preventing the family from vaccination.

Based on the results of this study, to increase the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination, there is a need to remove internal and external barriers through various methods such as providing the community with accurate and timely information through the mass media and facilitating people’s access to various vaccines, especially Iran-made vaccine.

 Cancer is emerging as a serious health issue in developing countries mainly as a consequence of metamorphosis in the demography and epidemiology of various cancers. This study aimed to describe our institutional experience in terms of demographic, clinical, and radiation treatment characteristics in cancer patients.

 A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on histopathologically proven carcinoma cases treated with radiation therapy (RT) from January 1, 2016 to May 31, 2022 at Capitol Hospital, Jalandhar. All enrolled 3753 patients’ data were retrieved from medical records on January 1, 2022. Baseline demographic, clinical information, and radiation treatment details were compiled, and chi-square test was performed to compare categorical data of age versus histology. The Jonkheere-Terpstra and Cuzick method was used to test the trend across different time periods for categorical variables (P<0.05).

 The trend analysis of the year-wise distribution and age demonstrated that the majority of diagnosed patients were in the age group of 51-70 years (mean age±standard deviation, 58±13.12). Most oncological patients represented good compliance (93.2%). The intention of radiation treatment was curative in 84.4% of patients, while the remaining patients (15.6%) were treated with palliative intent. It was found that RT plays a major role in the breast (21.1%), head and neck (20.4%), and female genitourinary (GU) (16.2%) malignancies as compared to male GU, gastrointestinal (GI), and other malignancies.

 The findings revealed carcinoma breast, cervix uteri, head and neck, prostate, and esophagus as established cancers being treated with RT. Our analysis showed good compliance to the RT of 93.8% owing to modern techniques. The most common histologies were adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma observed in the age group of 51-70 years. The findings represented that RT is utilized in various settings in the multidisciplinary management of cancer. This epidemiological distribution might contribute to planning cancer control strategies in the near future.

Staying adjacent to steel plants may raise the chance of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors for their inhabitants. The present study aimed to compare some CVD risk factors in the residents of a city adjacent to the steel plant as the exposed city in comparison with the residents of a control city in the Isfahan province.

In a cross-sectional study in 2021, the data related to the prevalence rate of hypertension (HTN), diabetes mellitus (DM), Hyperlipidemia, overweight, and obesity were collected in the over 30 years old inhabitants who were living in Chamgordan as the exposed city and Ferydounshahr as the control city and underwent cardiovascular risk assessment. The data were gathered from the Iranian electronic health file system by the census sampling method.

Among the more than 30 years old population who stayed in the exposed and the control cities, the prevalence rates of CVD risk factors were as HTN (20.53% and 16.54%), DM (10.32% and 7.13%), and overweight and obesity (32.55% and 27.07%), respectively. There were no significant statistical differences between the exposed and control cities regarding HTN (P=0.471), DM (P=0.447), and overweight and obesity (P=0.355). However, hyperlipidemia was significantly more prevalent in the exposed city by 11.53% in comparison with 0.45% in the control city (P=0.001).

Except for hyperlipidemia, there was no significant statistical difference in the prevalence rates of HTN, DM, overweight, and obesity between the exposed and the control cities.

 Due to the multi-factoriality of chronic abdominal pain (CAP) in children, this study aimed to assess the main etiologies for CAP in children and its main determinants in a sample of the community of affected children living in Shahrekord, Iran.

 This cross-sectional study was conducted on 400 children aged 3-14 years who were referred to a referral clinic in Shahrekord, Iran in 2022. Abdominal pain at least 3 times in 3 months, which disrupted daily activities, was the criterion for entering the study. A checklist was prospectively fulfilled by interviewing to assess different aimed data.

 The majority of children complained of periumbilical pain as the main site of chronic pain, and other pain points were much less common. The main characteristics that provided grounds for suspecting this type of pain included right abdominal pain without clear justification, growth disorder, and severe vomiting. The most common definitive diagnosis was functional constipation, followed by chronic gastritis and fecal impaction.

 The occurrence of periumbilical pain, along with the occurrence of severe and frequent vomiting and growth failure can be considered diagnostic markers triad when suspecting the occurrence of CAP. The most common etiologies for such pains included functional constipation, chronic gastritis, and fecal impaction.

The lack of reliable data on mortality in Iran until the last few decades has caused the early stages of the epidemiological transition to remain unknown. As such, the current study was an attempt to examine the stages and timing of the epidemiological transition in Iran in a historical effort.

This study is descriptive-analytical, and its data and information have been collected using the library method.

The historical course of the emergence of epidemics in Iran after Islam to before the Islamic Revolution is divided into four periods: (1) The period after Islam to the Safavid period (650-1501 AD): The era of plague and famine, (2) Safavid to Qajar period (1501-1796 AD): The era of continued widespread outbreaks and intermittent occurrence of plague, (3) Qajar period (1796-1925 AD): The era of subsidence of the plague and widespread cholera, and finally (4) Pahlavi period (1925-1979 AD): The era of the decline of epidemic diseases.

The continuous and substantial reduction in deaths led simultaneously to a reduction in the incidence and scope of epidemics and an increase in chronic diseases, and this process is expected to accelerate in the future.