Depression, anxiety and stress, comorbidity evaluation among a large sample of general adults: results from SEPAHAN study

Depression, anxiety and stress are common psychological disorders (PDs).This study aimed to assess the odds of co-occurrence of mentioned PDs in total sample and different levels of socio-demographic characteristics, specifically among a large sample of general adults.Ina cross-sectional, community-based study conducted among 4763 Iranian adults, depression and anxiety were assessed with Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and stress with General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). The loglinear analysis was applied to investigate their comorbidities. Based on selected models with pair-comorbidity of anxiety with stress, depression with stress, and anxiety with depression, the results showed the odds of comorbidity between anxiety and depression (odds ratio (OR) =12.29, 95%CI: 9.58-15.80), depression and stress (OR = 7.80, 95%CI:6.55-10.18), and stress and anxiety (OR = 4.62, 95%CI:3.71-5.75). Also, ORs of pair-comorbidities were the same, except between stress and anxiety for men compared to women (adjusted-OR = 6.47, 95%CI: 4.44-9.49 versus 3.85, 95%CI:2.95-5.00) and comorbidity between stress and depression for the participants withlower than 40 years compared to others (adjusted-OR = 9.03, 95%CI: 7.17-11.36 versus 6.41, 95%CI: 4.90-8.41), p< 0.05. Stress comorbidity with depression was higher level than other pair-comorbidities. Obvious discrepancies were also observed in terms of ORs of pair-comorbidities between three mentioned disorders in different levels of SDCs.

Attitudes towards maternal screening for hepatitis B virus infection in Iran.

Objectives: To evaluate the attitudes of pregnant women towards prenatal screening for hepatitis B. Methods: A total of 498 pregnant women attending obstetricians’ private practices or unversity clinics for routine prenatal check-ups were enrolled. They were given an informative sheet regarding the epidemiology, diagnostic assays, preventive and treatment modalities and prognosis of hepatitis B. Then, we evaluated the attitudes of enrolled population towards antenatal screening for hepatitis B through a self-administered questionnaire. Results: A total of 486 individuals returned the questionnaire (response rate: 97.6%). 393 participants (82.0%) agreed to HBV testing. Higher level of education was associated with more positive attitudes toward HBV testing. 461 subjects (95.4%) accepted medication or vaccine, if necessary, to spare their child from disease. In the case of positive HBV test, 18.2% of mothers decided to review their prior decision for another pregnancy in future. Conclusion: Acceptability for prenatal HBV screening and following preventive modalities is good in Iranian population, but more consultation and training sessions for pregnant women should be provided with respect to their socio-demographic characteristics such as age, level of education and willingness to have another child

HAV in Isfahan province: a population-based study.

INTRODUCTION: Hepatitis A infection is caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV). Improved sanitary conditions have resulted in a significant decline in the incidence of hepatitis A. There is inadequate data about the epidemiology of this infection in Iran. Therefore, this study was carried out to evaluate the anti-HAV seroprevalence in Isfahan Province in Iran in 2006. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study, 816 subjects over 6 years from urban and rural areas of the Isfahan Province in 2006 using the multi-stage cluster sampling method were selected. Demographic data and blood samples were collected and anti-HAV antibodies were measured by ELISA. Chi-square, odds ratio and logistic regression tests were used for statistical analysis and a p value<0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: The subjects of this study included 428 female and 388 male subjects. The overall anti-HAV seroprevalence rate was 8.33%. There were statistical differences between HAV seropositivity in districts of Isfahan province; the highest seropositivity was seen in Borkhar and Meimeh (28.6%) (p<0.001). There was no significant difference in HAV seropositivity between the subjects grouped according to demographic factors. CONCLUSION: HAV seroprevalence in Isfahan province is not high that can caused by improved sanitary conditions. More studeis in other parts of Iran are needed to set new strategy for post exposure prophylaxis and hepatitis A vaccination.