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Background and Aim: Gastric cancer is one the most common gastrointestinal tract cancers in Iran, with East-Azerbaijan Province ranking second in the country. The objectives of this research were to determine the feasibility of using cure models in survival analysis and factors affecting short-term and long-term patient survival rates using the mixture cure cox model. Materials and Methods: We used the available information on 184 patients diagnosed with gastric cancer in East-Azerbaijan Province cities referring to medical centers during the period 2009-2010 and followed up for 5 years. Results: The median of survival time was 8.33 months (95% CI = 5.9-10.6). Fitting the univariate and final cox cure models showed that in the short-term survival the effect of the chemotherapy factor was statistically significant (Hazard ratio =0.49, 95% CI = 0.34, 0.69, pvalue <0.001). Conclusion: If the population under study consists of two groups of susceptible and nonsusceptible individuals for the intended incident, the mixture cure models can be used for the discrete analysis of long-term and short-term survival of patients diagnosed with gastric cancer and identification of variables affecting the two survival rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Arbitrary use of antibiotics has caused resistance to antibiotics to become a major health problem. This study was carried out to investigate the effect of educational intervention based on the health belief model on reduction of arbitrary use of antibiotics in women referred to health units under coverage of South Tehran Health Center Materials and Methods: This study was a randomized controlled trial including 396 patients, conducted in 10 randomly health centers allocated as intervention or control groups. The data were collected using questionnaires. The educational intervention included holding educational classes, distribution of pamphlets, hanging posters/flyers, and sending SMSes. The content of education was based on health pattern constructs as regards effects of arbitrary use of antibiotics. Before and after the intervention, the questionnaires were completed by the subjects and the resulting data analyzed using the SPSS software and appropriate statistical tests. Results: Analysis of the data showed statistically significant differences between mean scores of the health belief model components (knowledge, perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived barriers) and practice in both the intervention and control groups before and after the educational intervention (p < 0.01). Conclusion: Considering the self-reported increased awareness and decreased practice in the intervention group, it seems that the health belief model is an appropriate model for reducing arbitrary use of antibiotics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: This study was conducted to assess the quality of life as an outcome of health services among high school students in Tehran, Iran. Shfsk shfsk kfhk s Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study included 1500 high school students in Tehran, Iran. Data were collected using the health-related quality of life questionnaire “KIDSCREEN-27” and analyzed using SPSS software version 23. The level of significance was set at p < 0.05. dfklj lsfjsl slfjsl slfjs slfj sljfls dlfjslfj slfjslf jsljf sljfsl slfjslf sl jlsjf slfjs s Results: The quality of life amongst the participants was found to be moderate. The highest and lowest scores were for the parents' relations and physical and psychological wellbeing dimensions, respectively. Based on multivariate linear regression, gender was a statistically significant predictor of the physical wellbeing dimension. Further analysis of the data showed gender and choosing a family to live with to be statistically significant predictors of psychological wellbeing dimension, while maternal education and choosing a family to live with were statistically significant predictors of parents' relations and autonomy dimension. Finally, father's job and choosing a family to live with were predictors of peer and social support and school environment dimensions, respectively. Sjfhs skh fskh skhfsljslfjsd s lhs slfhsl slfh Conclusion: The quality of life of the participants was moderate, which is not acceptable. It is recommended to design and implement intervention programs to improve the quality of life of high school students with an emphasis on physical and psychological wellbeing dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: Chemical hair color are one of the most widely used cosmetics. The presence of heavy metals in these products can affect the health of consumers. Unlike other cosmetics, no study has been conducted on the heavy metal levels in the synthetic chemical hair colors. This study determined the concentration of heavy metals in these products and the risk assessment of non-carcinogenic effects by these elements were calculated. Material and Method: 32 samples of chemical hair color from eight brands (3 local and 5 imported ones) and four most used colors were collected from the markets in Tehran. The concentration of cadmium, lead, and barium was determined using ICP-MS. The information required to assess exposure risk was gathered through a questionnaire distributed among citizens of Tehran. The assessment of exposure was conducted using Mont Carlo method and non-carcinogenic risk was determined using the index of Hazard Quotient. . Results: Barium concentration measured was 0.86 mg/kg and concentrations of Cadmium and Lead were 0.45 and 185.34 µg/kg respectively. Among the elements, Pb with Hazard Quotient equals to 7.46×10-4 had the most risk and cadmium with Hazard Quotient equals to 3.57×10-5 had the lowest risk. Moreover, the Iranian brand and blond had the highest risk among the samples. Conclusion: Based on the index of Hazard Quotient, heavy metals in the studied samples had no risk for consumers of these products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]