The epidemiology of gastroesophageal reflux disease: a survey on the prevalence and the associated factors in a random sample of the general population in the Northern part of Iran.

Many people with gastro-esophageal reflux symptoms do not consult a physician; therefore studies on gastro-esophageal reflux in general practice or in hospitals may not accurately describe the burden of gastro-esophageal reflux symptoms in the general population. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of gastro-esophageal reflux disease and its association with some life-style parameters in Rasht-Iran. A telephone survey was performed. Phone numbers was randomly collected from the telecommunication service center of Rasht. 1473 people (Mean age: 38.31 ± 13.09) were included in the study. People who didn't answer the phone after three times or didn't have consent to enter the study were excluded. Data were collected by an examiner using a GerdQ questionnaire. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire was tested by translation and retranslation and a pilot study was performed to assess its appropriateness. The prevalence of gastro-esophageal reflux was achieved 2.4% daily, 9.1% weekly and 11.3% monthly. Among the patients with gastro-esophageal reflux, 69.5% were female. There was a significant positive association between gastro-esophageal reflux prevalence and body mass index, smoking habits, eating salted or smoked foods, lying down immediately after the meal, taking certain drugs as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs/Amino salicylic acid and the age group of 30-45 year old. Overall, the prevalence of the weekly gastro-esophageal reflux in the present survey was 9.1% which was less than other similar studies in Iran and some other countries.

Serum gastrin and the pepsinogen I/II ratio as markers for diagnosis of premalignant gastric lesions.

BACKGROUND: Iran is a country with very high incidences of stomach cancer, especially in Northern parts. Here we assessed prognostic value of serum screening biomarkers among people >50 years old for early detection of precancerous lesions in a hot spot for gastric carcinoma in Guilan Province, North Iran. METHODS: A cross- sectional population-based survey was conducted on 1,390 residents of Lashtenasha city with the mean age (SD) of 61.8 (9.02) years old (50.8% females) to assess the association of gastrin and the pepsinogen (PG) I/II ratio with premalignant gastric lesions. Blood samples were taken for CBC, blood group, and serologic exams (PGI, PGII, and gastrin 17) from each subject. Expert gastroenterologists performed upper GI endoscopy and ROC curves were generated to determine appropriate cutoff points. RESULTS: Mean values of PGI, PGII, PGI/PGII and gastrin were significantly different between patients with and without atrophy or metaplasia (P<0.05). To diagnose atrophy and intestinal metaplasia, a significantly higher AUC was observed for the PGI/PGII ratio (70 and 72%, respectively) compared to the PGI (56, 55%), PGII (63, 64%) and gastrin (59, 61%) (all p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Biomarker tests such as the PGI/II ratio can be used in the screening and diagnosis of subjects at high gastric cancer risk in our region.

Knowledge and attitude of medical science students toward hepatitis B and C infections.

The present survey aimed to determine the knowledge level and attitude of medical students in Guilan University toward Hepatitis B and C viruses' infections. In a cross-sectional survey, the knowledge and attitude of 424 medical science undergraduate students of nursing, midwifery, operating room technician, laboratory, anesthesiology and radiology in Guilan University of Medical Sciences toward Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections were investigated using a standardized questionnaire. The mean (SD) knowledge level of the medical students toward HBV and HCV were 17 ± 5 from 28 and 10.58 ± 6.7 from 29 questions respectively. Females, nursing students, forth year students, those who worked in hospital and those who had needle stick injuries (NSI) history showed significantly higher knowledge scores toward HBV (P< 0.05). Married students, anesthesiology students, those who were in their fourth year of study, and those who worked in hospital had significantly higher mean knowledge scores toward HCV (P< 0.05). Also students' attitude toward HBV and HCV was positively correlated with their mean knowledge level (r=0.14, p=0.004), (r=0.18, p=0.0001). Education on the nature, symptoms, transmission, prevention and treatment of HBV and HCV infections may increase the willingness of health care workers to care for infected persons.