Somayeh Khazaei

Global Incidence and Mortality Rates of Stomach Cancer and the Human Development Index: an Ecological Study.

BACKGROUND Stomach cancer (SC) is the second leading cause of cancer death with the rate of 10.4% in the world. The correlation between the incidence and mortality rates of SC and human development index (HDI) has not been globally determined. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the association between the incidence and mortality rates of SC and HDI in various regions. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this global ecological study, we used the data about the incidence and mortality rate of SC and HDI from the global cancer project and the United Nations Development Programme database, respectively. RESULTS In 2012, SCs were estimated to have affected a total of 951,594 individuals (crude rate: 13.5 per 100,000 individuals) with a male/female ratio of 1.97, and caused 723,073 deaths worldwide (crude rate: 10.2 per 100,000 individuals). There was a positive correlation between the HDI and both incidence (r=0.28, <0.05) and mortality rates of SC (r=0.13, P = 0.1) in the world in 2012. CONCLUSIONS The high incidence and mortality rates of SC in countries with high and very high HDI is remarkable which should be the top priority of interventions for global health policymakers. In addition, health programs should be provided to reduce the burden of this disease in the regions with high incidence and mortality rates of SC.

Suicide rate in relation to the Human Development Index and other health related factors: A global ecological study from 91 countries

There has been no worldwide ecological study on suicide as a global major public health problem. This study aimed to identify the variations in suicide specific rates using the Human Development Index (HDI) and some health related variables among countries around the world. In this ecological study, we obtained the data from the World Bank Report 2013. The analysis was restricted to 91 countries for which both the epidemiologic data from the suicide rates and HDI were available. Overall, the global prevalence of suicide rate was 10.5 (95% confidence intervals: 8.8, 12.2) per 100,000 individuals, which significantly varied according to gender (16.3 in males vs. 4.6 in females, p < 0.001) and different levels of human development (11.64/100,000 individuals in very high development countries, 7.93/100,000 individuals in medium development countries, and 13.94/100,000 individuals in high development countries, p = 0.004). In conclusion, the suicide rate varies greatly between countries with different development levels. Our findings also suggest that male gender and HDI components are associated with an increased risk of suicide behaviors. Hence, detecting population subgroups with a high suicide risk and reducing the inequality of socioeconomic determinants are necessary to prevent this disorder around the world.

Comparison of QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube (QFT-GIT) and tuberculin skin test (TST) for diagnosis of latent tuberculosis in haemodialysis (HD) patients: a meta-analysis of κ estimates

Diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) is a concern in haemodialysis (HD) patients. Many studies have compared QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube (QFT-GIT) and tuberculin skin test (TST) for detecting LTBI and reported the κ statistic of agreement between QFT-GIT and TST in HD patients. The present study aimed to systematically review this literature and conduct meta-analysis of individual studies that estimated the κ between QFT-GIT with TST among HD patients. All relevant published studies that were available as full-text were obtained by searching Medline (1950), Web of Sciences (1945), Scopus (1973) through May 2016. The κ was re-estimated from the individual studies and pooled using random effect meta-analysis. Subgroup analysis and meta-regression were applied to evaluate the effect of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination, TST cut-off points, quality of studies, sample size and age on variation of κ estimate. Eight studies involving 901 HD patients were included in meta-analysis. The pooled κ estimate was 0·28 (I 2 = 18·4%, P = 0·239, 95% confidence intervals 0·22-0·34). The discordance of TST-/QFT-GIT+ was more than TST+/QFT-GIT-. History of BCG vaccination, TST cut-off points and age are related to variation of κ estimates. TST and QFT-GIT are not comparable in detecting LTBI in HD patients. The higher TST-/QFT-GIT+ ratio compared with TST+/QFT-GIT- ratio, may indicate the superiority of QFT-GIT over TST for detection LTBI in HD patients.

Effects of Human Development Index and Its Components on Colorectal Cancer Incidence and Mortality: a Global Ecological Study

Geographic disparity for colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence and mortality according to the human development index (HDI) might be expected. This study aimed at quantifying the effect measure of association HDI and its components on the CRC incidence and mortality. In this ecological study, CRC incidence and mortality was obtained from GLOBOCAN, the global cancer project for 172 countries. Data were extracted about HDI 2013 for 169 countries from the World Bank report. Linear regression was constructed to measure effects of HDI and its components on CRC incidence and mortality. A positive trend between increasing HDI of countries and age-standardized rates per 100,000 of CRC incidence and mortality was observed. Among HDI components education was the strongest effect measure of association on CRC incidence and mortality, regression coefficients (95% confidence intervals) being 2.8 (2.4, 3.2) and 0.9 (0.8, 1), respectively. HDI and its components were positively related with CRC incidence and mortality and can be considered as targets for prevention and treatment intervention or tracking geographic disparities.

Incidence and pattern of tuberculosis treatment success rates in different levels of the human development index: a global perspective

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) treatment success rate remains a public health challenge in many developed and developing countries. The correlation between the incidence and pattern of TB and the Human Development Index (HDI) has not been globally determined. This study aimed to determine the correlation between incidence and pattern of TB treatment success rates and HDI around the world.Methods: In this global perspective, we used data on incidence and treatment success rates of TB and HDI from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and World Bank, respectively.Results: The highest estimated incidence and lower treatment success rates of TB were restricted to countries with low HDIs. Life expectancy, education level, gross national income, HDI, and urbanisation were significantly associated with both TB incidence and treatment success rates.Conclusion: Patterns in TB incidence and treatment success rates are correlated with Human Development Indices. In addition to following WHO strategies, policy makers nee...

Geographic distribution of the incidence of colorectal cancer in Iran: a population-based study.

OBJECTIVES Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer and the fourth most common cause of cancer death in the world. The aim of this study was to investigate the provincial distribution of the incidence of CRC across Iran. METHODS This epidemiologic study used data from the National Cancer Registry of Iran and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education of Iran. The average annual age-standardized rate (ASR) for the incidence of CRC was calculated for each province. RESULTS We found that adenocarcinoma (not otherwise specified) was the most common histological subtype of CRC in males and females, accounting for 81.91 and 81.95% of CRC cases, respectively. Signet ring cell carcinoma was the least prevalent subtype of CRC in males and females and accounted for 1.5 and 0.94% of CRC cases, respectively. In patients aged 45 years or older, there was a steady upward trend in the incidence of CRC, and the highest ASR of CRC incidence among both males and females was in the age group of 80-84 years, with an ASR of 144.69 per 100,000 person-years for males and 119.18 per 100,000 person-years for females. The highest incidence rates of CRC in Iran were found in the central, northern, and western provinces. Provinces in the southeast of Iran had the lowest incidence rates of CRC. CONCLUSIONS Wide geographical variation was found in the incidence of CRC across the 31 provinces of Iran. These variations must be considered for prevention and control programs for CRC, as well as for resource allocation purposes.

Trend of smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis in Iran during 1995-2012: A segmented regression model

Background: Describing trend in tuberculosis (TB) over time can play an important role to assess the disease control strategies and predict the future morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to determine the incidence trend of smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis (SPPT) in sub-age and sex groups during the years of 1995–2012. Methods: This retrospective cohort study was performed in 2015 by using the dataset regarding National Statistics of SPPT reported by World Health Organization during 1995–2012. Annual percent changes (APCs) and average annual percent changes (AAPCs) were estimated to determine the summery statistics of trend using segmented regression model. Results: During 1995–2012, there were 96,579 SPPT case notifications in Iran (male to female ratio: 0.99). There was only one change point in 1997 for SPPT incidence in subgroups of age and sex during 1995–2012. The AAPCs for both genders and also all three age groups had a significant descending trend during the time period (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Our results showed a downward trend in the SPPT incidence. It seems that to achieve the set goals and high successful in TB control program especially reduction in SPPT, pay more attention to old age and males should be considered. In addition, improvement of clinical and medical care services and notification processes would be imperative.

Human Development Inequality Index and Cancer Pattern: a Global Distributive Study

This study aimed to quantify associations of the human development inequality (HDI) index with incidence, mortality, and mortality to incidence ratios for eight common cancers among different countries. In this ecological study, data about incidence and mortality rates of cancers was obtained from the Global Cancer Project for 169 countries. HDI indices for the same countries was obtained from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) database. The concentration index was defined as the covariance between cumulative percentage of cancer indicators (incidence, mortality and mortality to incidence ratio) and the cumulative percentage of economic indicators (country economic rank). Results indicated that incidences of cancers of liver, cervix and esophagus were mainly concentrated in countries with a low HDI index while cancers of lung, breast, colorectum, prostate and stomach were concentrated mainly in countries with a high HDI index. The same pattern was observed for mortality from cancer except for prostate cancer that was more concentrated in countries with a low HDI index. Higher MIRs for all cancers were more concentrated in countries with a low HDI index. It was concluded that patterns of cancer occurrence correlate with care disparities at the country level.

A study of pedestrian-vehicle accidents in Iran in 2013

Received: July 2016, Accepted: October 2016 Background: In recent decades, ‎due to the increase in users of roads and inadequate attention to the creation and development of appropriate passageways for traffic, there has been a growing trend in traffic accidents and casualties caused by them. The traffic accidents among pedestrians to take necessary measures in a timely fashion should be well studied. This study was conducted with the goal of survey traffic accidents among pedestrians in 2014. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted using data from the National Accidents Record Program ‎regarding 2013. In this study, all traffic accidents in which the injured person was referred to a public or private ‎hospital in the country to receive health services or was transferred to the hospital by EMS 115 and ‎received remedial measures on an outpatient or inpatient basis in all provinces were considered‎. The incidence of pedestrian-vehicle accidents‎ was calculated per ten thousand. Map GIS software package was used for the mapping of occurrence of events and Microsoft EXCEL and Stata software were used for data analysis. Results: In this study, the 82066 pedestrians who were injured in road accidents consisted of a total of 53240 men and 28826 women. The rate of traffic accidents was higher in men than in women (64.87% and 35.13%, respectively) and the majority of individuals affected were in the age group of 20 to 24 years. Most pedestrian-vehicle ‎accidents had occurred on the street (89.8%). Conclusion: Pedestrians are at risk of the irreversible outcomes of traffic accidents; therefore, effective and regular training on the prevention of injury and secure environment is essential to reduce injuries.