Prevalence of Anemia in Patients with Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

OBJECTIVE@#Anemia is a common public health concern in patients with type 2 diabetes worldwide. This study aimed to identify the prevalence of anemia among patients with diabetes.@*METHODS@#Electronic databases, including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Sciences, and Google Scholar, were searched systematically for studies published between 2010 and 2021. After removing duplicates and inappropriate reports, the remaining manuscripts were reviewed and appraised using theNewcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) tool. A random-effects model was used to calculate the pooled estimates of the extracted data using Stata version 17. Heterogeneity of the studies was assessed using the Q statistic.@*RESULTS@#A total of 51 articles containing information on 26,485 patients with diabetes were included in this study. The articles were mainly from Asia (58.82%) and Africa (35.29%). The overall prevalence of anemia was 35.45% (95% CI: 30.30-40.76), with no evidence of heterogeneity by sex. Among the two continents with the highest number of studies, the prevalence of anemia in patients with diabetes was significantly higher in Asia [40.02; 95% CI: 32.72-47.54] compared to Africa [28.46; 95% CI: 21.90-35.50] ( P for heterogeneity = 0.029). Moreover, there has been an increasing trend in the prevalence of anemia in patients with diabetes over time, from [15.28; 95% CI: 9.83-22.21] in 2012 to [40.70; 95% CI: 10.21-75.93] in 2022.@*CONCLUSION@#Globally, approximately 4 in 10 patients with diabetes suffer from anemia. Therefore, routine anemia screening and control programs every 3 months might be useful in improving the quality of life of these patients.

Prevalence of refractive errors among primary school children in a tropical area, Southeastern Iran

Objective: To determine the prevalence of refractive errors among primary school children in Zahedan District, Southeastern Iran, as a tropical area. Methods: In this cross sectional study, a total of 400 students were selected randomly using multi-stage sampling technique. Myopia was defined as spherical equivalent (SE) of -0.5 diopter (D) or more, hyperopia was defined as SE of +2.00 D or more and a cylinder refraction greater than 0.75 D was considered astigmatism. Anisometropia was defined as a difference of 1 D or more between two eyes. Cycloplegic refractive status was measured using auto-refractometer (Topcon 8800). Data were analyzed using SPSS, version 22 software program. Results: Mean ± SD of SE was (1.71 ± 1.16) D. A total of 20 students [6.3%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 3.96%-9.64%] were myopic (≤ -0.5 D), 186 students (58.1%, 95% CI: 52.50%-63.56%) were hyperopic (≥ +2.00 D) and 114 students (35.6%, 95% CI: 30.43%-41.18%) were emmetropic. The prevalence of astigmatism (≥ 0.75 D) among students was 3.4% (95% CI: 1.82%-6.25%). Anisometropia of 1 D or more was found in 21.3% (95% CI: 16.98%-26.23%) of the studied population. The prevalence of refractive errors was higher among girls than boys (73.1% vs. 55.6%, P = 0.001), but it was not significantly different among different age groups (P = 0.790). Conclusions: Refractive errors affect a sizable portion of students in Zahedan. Although myopia is not very prevalent, the high rate of hyperopia in the studied population emphasizes its need for attention.

Improving Breast Cancer Preventive Behavior among Female Medical Staff: The Use of Educational Intervention based on Health Belief Model

Background: Breast cancer is one of the most common types of cancer prevalent among women worldwide. Preventive behaviors such as early diagnosis through screening tests play an important role in prevention and control of the disease. This study aimed to determine the effects of educational intervention using a health belief model on breast cancer preventive behaviors. Method: This interventional study was conducted on 130 female employees of Zahedan University of Medical Sciences who were randomly divided into intervention and control groups. A questionnaire, made and validated by the researcher, was completed before and one month after training by the study subjects. Data were analysed using regression analysis, independent sample T-test, chi-square and Pearson’s correlation coefficient using the SPSS software 18. Result: There were significant changes in the training group, following educational intervention in the awareness construct and in some constructs of the model including perceived susceptibility, perceived benefits, and perceived barriers, as well as in practice compared to the control group (P < 0.05). Nevertheless, perceived barriers remained as the only predictor in the model, such that for every unit increase in this variable, the behavior score increased by 18%. Conclusion: The use of  educational intervention based on Health Belief Model had positive effect on knowledge of breast cancer preventive behaviors among participants.