Breast cancer screening practices among Afghan women visiting Istiqlal and Jumhuriat hospitals in Kabul city, Afghanistan

Background:The Incidence of breast cancer is rising in developed and developing countries. Early detection, screening, awareness of early signs, and symptoms are critical to improve breast cancer by seeking diagnosis and treatment. The aim of this study is to examine practices regarding breast cancer among Afghan women, visiting Istiqlal and Jumhuriat hospitals in Kabul city.Methods:A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among 410 Afghan women aged 18 years and above who visited Istiqlal and Jumhuriat national hospitals in Kabul city, Afghanistan. The data was collected using self-administrative methods and face to face interviews from February to March 2020. A standard questionnaire was used for the study and it was translated from the English language to Pashto and Dari languages. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 24.Results: The majority of Afghan women who participated in this study had weak screening practices of breast cancer. Only 27.6% of participants were practicing breast self-examination, 14.9% of them practiced clinical breast examination during the past one year and 13.9% of them performed mammograms in the past 2 years. The commonest reason for not practicing breast self-examination was that they have never taught how to perform breast self-examination. The reason for not performing clinical breast examination was that they were shy to go for clinical breast examination and the other common reason was that the clinics were far from them. The education level had a significant association with their practices of breast self-examination (p=0.001) and clinical breast examination (p=0.031).Conclusions: Overall the findings of this study indicate that Afghan women who participated in this study had weak practices of breast cancer screening. It is important to increase future screening programs and improve the awareness level about screening methods of breast cancer among Afghan women through appropriate health education campaignsBackground:The Incidence of breast cancer is rising in developed and developing countries. Early detection, screening, awareness of early signs, and symptoms are critical to improve breast cancer by seeking diagnosis and treatment. The aim of this study is to examine practices regarding breast cancer among Afghan women, visiting Istiqlal and Jumhuriat hospitals in Kabul city.Methods:A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among 410 Afghan women aged 18 years and above who visited Istiqlal and Jumhuriat national hospitals in Kabul city, Afghanistan. The data was collected using self-administrative methods and face to face interviews from February to March 2020. A standard questionnaire was used for the study and it was translated from the English language to Pashto and Dari languages. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 24.Results: The majority of Afghan women who participated in this study had weak screening practices of breast cancer. Only 27.6% of participants were practicing breast self-examination, 14.9% of them practiced clinical breast examination during the past one year and 13.9% of them performed mammograms in the past 2 years. The commonest reason for not practicing breast self-examination was that they have never taught how to perform breast self-examination. The reason for not performing clinical breast examination was that they were shy to go for clinical breast examination and the other common reason was that the clinics were far from them. The education level had a significant association with their practices of breast self-examination (p=0.001) and clinical breast examination (p=0.031).Conclusions: Overall the findings of this study indicate that Afghan women who participated in this study had weak practices of breast cancer screening. It is important to increase future screening programs and improve the awareness level about screening methods of breast cancer among Afghan women through appropriate health education campaigns

Medical evacuation system of burn casualties and characteristics of burn injuries in US Army in Iraqi war and Afghanistan War / 解放军医学杂志

Burn injury continues to be a major cause of morbidity and mortality in modern combat. During the armed combats in Iraq and Afghanistan, the US army put their new five-class medical evacuation system into service with the aim to send back the wounded to duty as soon as possible. This new system indeed increased the efficiency of treatment and evacuation of casualties with extensive burn injury. Though the evacuation time was significantly shortened under the new system, the effective and efficient evacuation of burn patients remains to be rather important problems needing further study. This review summarizes the medical evacuation system of burn casualties and features of burn injuries in US Army in the said conflicts. It may provide some ideas for our burn casualty treatment in future armed conflicts, and it may serve as a reference for treatment of massive casualties caused by catastrophic events in peace time.

Major infectious diseases affecting the Afghan immigrant population of Iran: a systematic review and meta-analysis / 한국역학회지

OBJECTIVES: As Afghans make up the largest group of foreign nationals in Iran, the aim of this study was to assess the proportion of Afghan immigrants among those afflicted by the most prevalent infectious diseases in Iran. METHODS: National and international online scientific databases were searched through November 2013. The reference lists of included studies were also searched. All descriptive studies concerning the most common infectious diseases in Iran, including tuberculosis, multiple-drug-resistant tuberculosis, malaria, cholera, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, leishmaniasis, and hepatitis B were retrieved. The nationality of patients was not considered. The selection of studies and data extraction was performed separately by two authors. Results were reported using a random effect model with a 95% confidence interval (CI). RESULTS: The overall proportion of Afghan immigrants with the aforementioned infectious diseases was 29% (95% CI, 21 to 37). According to a stratified analysis, the proportion of Afghan immigrants afflicted with tuberculosis was (29%), multiple-drug-resistant tuberculosis (56%), malaria (40%), cholera (8%), Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (25%), leishmaniasis (7%), and hepatitis B (14%). CONCLUSIONS: It is highly recommended to monitor the health status of the Afghan immigrants when entering Iran, to reduce the spread of communicable diseases, which are viewed as serious in international health regulations.

Food Insecurity and Its Sociodemographic Correlates among Afghan Immigrants in Iran.

The study determined the prevalence of food insecurity and its sociodemographic determinants among Afghan immigrants in two major cities of Iran. This cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of 310 adult females from immigrant Afghan households in Tehran (n=155) and Mashhad (n=155), who were recruited through multistage sampling. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews, using a questionnaire. Food security was measured by a locally-adapted Household Food Insecurity Access Scale. More than 60% suffered from moderate-to-severe food insecurity, 37% were mildly food-insecure while about 23% were food-secure. Food insecurity was significantly more prevalent in female-headed households, households whose head and spouse had lower level of education, belonged to the Sunni sect, and those with illegal residential status, unemployment/low job status, not owning their house, low socioeconomic status (SES), and living in Mashhad. Prevalence of food insecurity was relatively high among Afghan immigrants in Iran. This calls for the need to develop community food security strategies for ensuring their short- and long-term health.