The incidence of congenital hypothyroidism and its determinants from 2012 to 2014 in Shadegan, Iran: a case-control study / 한국역학회지

OBJECTIVES: Congenital hypothyroidism (CH) is one of the major causes of preventable mental retardation in infants. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of CH in Shadegan, Khuzestan Province, Iran from 2012 to 2014 and to identify the risk factors associated with CH. METHODS: A total of 203 cases were confirmed from 2012 to 2014 in Shadegan, with 66, 86, and 51 patients reported in 2012, 2013, and 2014, respectively. A total of 3,900, 3,991, and 4,050 live births occurred in 2012, 2013, and 2014, respectively. The controls (n=657) were selected using a random number table, and a case-control study was carried out to determine the risk factors for neonatal CH, including demographic, environmental, and medical factors. RESULTS: The incidence of CH was 17.0 per 1,000 live births in 2012, 21.5 per 1,000 live births in 2013, and 12.6 per 1,000 live births in 2014. This study showed that the likelihood of CH in children born to parents with a history of consanguineous marriage was 2.41 times greater than in children born to parents with no such history (odds ratio, 2.41; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.65 to 3.53). This study also found that CH was 3.4 times more likely (95% CI, 2.29 to 5.20) in infants born in urban settings than in infants born in rural areas. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of CH in Shadegan from 2012 to 2014 was approximately 17 times greater than the expected incidence in Iran. CH was associated with a history of consanguineous marriage and urbanization.

Impact of addiction to internet on a number of psychiatric symptoms in students of Isfahan Universities, Iran, 2010

This study aimed to investigate the impact of internet addiction on some psychiatric symptoms among university students. This cross-sectional study was conducted among 250 students selected via quota sampling from universities in Isfahan, Iran. Participants completed demographic questionnaire, Young Diagnostic Questionnaire, Internet Addiction Test and Symptom Checklist 90 Revision [SCL 90 R]. Finally, the means of psychiatric symptoms of internet addicted and non addicted subjects were compared. Also, t test and multivariate analysis of covariance were used through SPSS16 software for data analysis. The mean +/- standard deviation [SD] of psychiatric symptoms such as somatization, obsessive-compulsive disorder, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, aggression [hostility], phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation and psychoticism in the addicted group were 11.27 +/- 6.66, 14.05 +/- 7.91, 10.5 +/- 6.20, 15.61 +/- 8.88, 10.77 +/- 5.52, 6.77 +/- 4.88, 6.05 +/- 4.47, 7.61 +/- 4.28, and 9.66 +/- 6.87, respectively, and in the non addicted group were 6.99 +/- 6.42, 7.49 +/- 5.23, 5.46 +/- 4.95, 9.27 +/- 7.92, 6.35 +/- 6.69, 3.57 +/- 3.35, 2.41 +/- 2.79, 5.47 +/- 4.1, and 5.29 +/- 4.95, respectively. There were significant differences between the means of psychiatric symptoms in all SCL 90 R subscales and Global Severity Index, Positive Symptom Distress Index, Positive Symptom Total in the addicted and non addicted individuals [P<0.05]. Also, internet addiction [with controlling sex variable] seemed to affect psychiatric symptoms. Psychiatrists and psychologists involved in the field of mental health need to be well informed about mental problems due to internet addiction, such as anxiety, depression, aggression, and job and educational dissatisfaction