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Background Considered the most common form of arthritis worldwide, Osteoarthritis (OA) prevalence has been continually due to the aging population and obesity. Based on the results of the last Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study, the North Africa and Middle East (NAME) was reported to have a high OA prevalence, hence the current study aimed to describe the burden and its attributable risk factors. Methods The OA was classified by kellgren Lawrence grading system. The burden (prevalence, incidence, and Years Lived with Disability (YLDs)) and attributable burden (YLDs) to high body-mass index (BMI) were reported based on GBD 2019 globally and for the 21 countries in the region by age, sex, and socio-demographic index (SDI). Results Globally, the age-standardized prevalence, incidence, and YLDs rates were estimated as 6348.3 (95% uncertainty interval 5776.3–7023.0), 492.2 (438.7-551.5), and 228.0 (115.3-452.7) per 100000, respectively. In the NAME region, the prevalence age-standardized rate (ASR) has increased by 9.3% (8.1–10.5) since 1990. Furthermore, the incidence ASR was estimated as 430.4 (382.2-481.9) in 2019 which has increased by 9.4% (8.3–10.5). Also, the YLDs ASR increased 10.0% (8.7–11.4); [185.4 (92.8-370.2) in 2019]. Among NAME countries, Saudi Arabia had the highest ASR followed by Kuwait and Iran in 2019 and Oman showed the highest increase from 1990 to 2019. The regional attributed YLDs increased by 57.6% (42.1–85.2). Conclusion As OA proves to have major public health impacts both globally and in the NAME region, health data and strategies must be improved to control the disease’s burden better.

In autoimmune bullous diseases (AIBDs), autoantibodies loosen molecular adhesions in the skin and/or mucosa and lead to blisters and erosions. Immunosuppressive drugs reduce mortality of the AIBD; therefore, patients will have to live longer with comorbidities.This study aims to determine the quality of life of AIBD patients undergoing systemic treatment while investigating the survey's relationship with various factors.In this 2-step cross-sectional study, we initially included 53 consecutive pemphigus patients to investigate reliability and validity of the Persian version of Treatment of Autoimmune Bullous Disease Quality of Life (TABQOL) questionnaire. Then, we conducted the study on 119 AIBD patients, currently under treatment at an AIBD clinic in Iran.The mean TABQOL score for our patients was 13.87 ± 7.51. The highest TABQOL was for epidermolysis bullosa acquisita (24 ± 8.485) followed by pemphigus foliaceus (20.5 ± 14.181) and the lowest for pemphigus vulgaris (13.24 ± 6.54). There was no significant difference between patients' TABQOL scores and their gender, history of rituximab injection, and disease severity scores. We only found a positive correlation between TABQOL and prednisolone dose.Treatments of AIBD considerably impact the quality of life of patients and an impairment in quality of life is correlated to higher doses of prednisolone.

In a large population-based study of Iran, the age-standardized prevalence of osteoporosis was 24.6% in men and 62.7% in women aged ≥ 60 years. Osteoporosis was negatively associated with body mass index in both sexes, and with diabetes in men and hypertriglyceridemia in women. Population aging has made osteoporosis and osteoporotic fractures an important health problem, especially in developing countries. This study aimed to explore the prevalence of osteoporosis and associated factors among the elderly population of the south-west of Iran. Baseline data of the second stage of the Bushehr Elderly Health program was used. Spinal, total hip, or femoral neck osteoporosis was described as a BMD that lies 2.5 standard deviations or more, below the average values of a young healthy adult in the lumbar spine, total hip, or femoral neck, respectively. Osteoporosis at either site was defined as total osteoporosis. Age-standardized prevalence of osteoporosis was estimated. We used the modified Poisson regression with a robust variance estimator to identify the factors related to osteoporosis, adjusting for potential confounders. Overall, 2425 individuals (1166 men) aged over 60 years were included. In all, total osteoporosis was detected in 1006 (41.5%) of the participants. Using the reference value derived from Caucasian women aged 20–29 years, the age-standardized prevalence of total osteoporosis was 24.6 (95% CI: 21.9–27.3) in men, and 62.7 (95% CI: 60.0–65.4) in women. In men, osteoporosis was positively associated with age, smoking, history of fracture, and history of renal/liver diseases and negatively associated with body mass index (BMI) and diabetes. BMI, hypertriglyceridemia, and education were negatively correlated with osteoporosis in women, while years after menopause and history of fracture increased the likelihood of osteoporosis, significantly. Results support the high prevalence of osteoporosis and osteopenia in the elderly population. Considering the importance of severe complications, especially fractures, comprehensive interventions should be expanded.