ABSTRACT
Background: Toxocarosis is a zoonotic disease with worldwide distribution. Humans' infection occurred by incidental ingestion of eggs shed in feces of dogs or cats. Studies on general population are rare in Iran. In this cross-sectional study, we investigated seroprevalence, and risk factors associated with toxocariasis among the healthy individuals in Tehran, capital if Iran
Materials and Methods: In total, 374 sera samples were investigated for the presence of anti-Toxocara IgG. We applied ELISA as screening test using available commercial kit. In addition, demographic data were obtained from participant's questionnaires. Data analysis was performed using SPSS16
Results: The overall seroprevalence of toxocariasis was found 5.6% [21/374]. Regarding the socio-demographic variables, age [P<0.001] and eating unwashed vegetables [P=0.049] were significantly associated to toxocariasis in univariate analysis. In the logistic regression analysis, only age [P<0.001] was identified as potential risk factor associated with Toxocara infection
Conclusion: This study revealed that seroprevalence of toxocariasis is relatively low in the healthy individuals in Tehran. We suggest carrying out further studies in the different part of Iran and investigate on the prevalence of toxocariasis in high-risk groups such as asthma, hyper-eosinophilic, epilepsy, rheumatism and schizophrenia patients
ABSTRACT
Objective [s]: The purpose of this study was to compare quality of life among rural and urban elderly outpatients attending the Imam Sajjad Hospital of Shahryar during 2010-2011
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of a sample of 203 rural and urban elderly outpatients. HRQoL was measured using the Short Form Health Survey [SF-36]. Data were analyzed using student t-test, ANOVA, and regression analysis in order to indicate the major quality of life determinants
Results: In a step-wise regression analysis gender, age and employment had significant effect on physical functioning. For role physical, education; for bodily pain, education, gender and living area; for general health, gender and employment; for vitality, employment; for social functioning, employment; for role emotional, living area; and for mental health, gender had a significant effect on quality of life
Conclusion: Overall the findings suggest that the urban and rural environment do not have significant effect on health-related quality of life