ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to explain the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) gap between the poorest and the wealthiest quintiles in the capitals of Kermanshah and Kurdistan Provinces (Kermanshah and Sanandaj), in western Iran. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among 1772 adults. Data on socio-demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status (SES), lifestyle factors, body mass index, and HRQoL of participants were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. The slope and relative indices of inequality (SII and RII, respectively) were employed to examine socioeconomic inequality in poor HRQoL. Blinder-Oaxaca (BO) decomposition was used to quantify the contribution of explanatory variables to the gap in the prevalence of poor HRQoL between the wealthiest and the poorest groups. RESULTS: The overall crude and age-adjusted prevalence of poor HRQoL among adults was 32.0 and 41.8%, respectively. The SII and RII indicated that poor HRQoL was mainly concentrated among individuals with lower SES. The absolute difference (%) in the prevalence of poor HRQoL between the highest and lowest SES groups was 28.4. The BO results indicated that 49.9% of the difference was explained by different distributions of age, smoking behavior, physical inactivity, chronic health conditions, and obesity between the highest and lowest SES groups, while the remaining half of the gap was explained by the response effect. CONCLUSIONS: We observed a pro-rich distribution of poor HRQoL among adults in the capitals of Kermanshah and Kurdistan Provinces. Policies and strategies aimed at preventing and reducing smoking, physical inactivity, chronic health conditions, and obesity among the poor may reduce the gap in poor HRQoL between the highest and lowest SES groups in Iran.
Subject(s)
Adult , Humans , Body Mass Index , Cross-Sectional Studies , Health Status Disparities , Iran , Life Style , Obesity , Prevalence , Quality of Life , Smoke , Smoking , Social Class , Socioeconomic FactorsABSTRACT
Background: Time to first pregnancy [TTFP] has never been studied in an Iranian setting. Lifestyle, occupational and environmental factors have been suggested to affect the female reproduction
Objective: This study was conducted to measure TTFP in the south of Iran and survey the effects of several similar factors on TTFP by frailty models
Materials and Methods: The data on TTFP were available for 882 women who were randomly selected from the rural population [the south of Iran]. Only the first and the planned pregnancies of every woman were included. The data were collected retrospectively by using self-administered questionnaires. Frailty and shared frailty models were used to determine which factors had the highest impact on TTFP
Results: The median TTFP was 6.4 months and several factors were surveyed. However, only the age of marriage, height, maternal education and regularity of menstruation prior to conception were selected in the multivariable models
Conclusion: Among the several factors which were included in the study, the result of frailty model showed that the height, age of marriage and regular menstruation seemed more notable predictors of TTFP
ABSTRACT
Background and Aim: Inequality in the distribution of health resources is one of the main issues that have been a matter of concern for researchers, planner, and managers in the health sector during the last decades. This study investigated the situation and trend of inequality in the distribution of health resources across the Kurdistan province using Gini coefficient and Lorenz curve from 2006 to 2013
Material and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study, which investigated the inequality in the distribution of health resources in Kurdistan province using Gini coefficient and Lorenz curve. Data including total number of general physicians, specialists, dentists, laboratories, pharmacies, hospital beds, and health centers were obtained from the statistical calendar of the province. We used Stata V.12 and DASP software for data analyses
Results: The mean values of Gini coefficient for general physician, specialist, and dentist, laboratory, pharmacy, hospital bed, and health centers were 0.21, 0.368, 0.38, 0.2, 0.218, 0.33 and 0.23, respectively. The highest and lowest inequality rates in 2006 belonged to the number of dentists and health centers, whereas, in 2013, the highest and lowest inequality rates were related to the number of specialists and laboratories, respectively
Conclusion: Our study revealed inequality in the distribution of health resources across the Kurdistan province, but the inequality in their distribution in 2013 compared to 2006, was declined significantly. The results of the study suggested that equality in the distribution of health resources is possible by implementing appropriate distribution policies on the health resources