Caesarean section in the Islamic Republic of Iran: prevalence and some sociodemographic correlates

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of caesarean section in the Islamic Republic of Iran in different provinces and to compare the sociodemographic characteristics of married women with and without caesarean section. Data were analysed from the Iranian Demographic and Health Survey of a representative sample of married women [n = 17 991] who delivered a baby between September 1998 and October 2000. Overall, 35.0% of deliveries were by caesarean section. Women having a caesarean section were older, better educated, married at a later age and with lower parity than those who delivered normally. Provincial variations in rates were significantly correlated with indices of socioeconomic development

Impact of rural health development programme in the Islamic Republic of Iran on rural-urban disparities in health indicators

By 1979 50 years of uneven development and modernization by governments prior to the Islamic Revolution had left rural parts of the Islamic Republic of Iran with extremely low economic and health status. This paper reports on the impact of the rural health development programme implemented as an effective and inexpensive way to improve the health of the rural population, especially mothers and children. It describes the system of rural health centres, health houses and community health workers [behvarz] and demonstrates the effectiveness of the programme through declining measures of rural-urban disparities in health indicators. The implications of inexpensive rural health policies for other countries in the region such as Afghanistan and Central Asian countries with a similar sociocultural structure are discussed

Characteristics and presenting problems of children referred to a psychiatric clinic in Shiraz, Iran

This paper describes the socio-demographic characteristics, developmental histories and presenting problems of 330 children [189 boys and 141 girls] referred to a child psychiatric clinic attached to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran, over a two year period. The majority of cases were from relatively well-educated, middle class families living in the city of Shiraz. The main problems cited by parents for seeking psychiatric help were neurotic-emotional reactions, speech difficulties, aggressive acting out, habit disorders, sensory-motor deficiencies and mental retardation. Although overall developmental milestones reported for these children did not seem to deviate much from the generally expected norms, there was a relatively higher occurrence of perinatal and early postnatal complications in their reported life histories