Socio-economic inequality and risk of loneliness by personality traits in girl students.

OBJECTIVE: Personality traits can affect humans' mental health. In the present study, we aimed to assess the relation of loneliness to personality traits and also to inequality in socio-economic status in girl students. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study, investigated the relations of personality traits to loneliness in girl students in Ilam from 2014 to 2015. A multistage cluster random sampling method was used to select the participants. The NEO-FFI and University of California, and Los Angeles questionnaires were used for data collection. Data were analyzed by IBM SPSS and Distributive Analysis Stata Package (DASP). RESULTS: Among 400 recruited participants, 149 (37.2%) were categorized as having loneliness. The concentration index (CI) for loneliness was 0.19 (95 % confidence interval CI] 0.07, 0.27), which indicated that loneliness was observed more in persons with high socioeconomic status. The risk of loneliness was 38% lower in persons with higher scores in neuroticism (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 0.62, 95% CI: 0.48, 0.91). CONCLUSION: We found that socio-economic inequality was observed in relation to loneliness with girls of higher socioeconomic status reporting more loneliness. Therefore, more attention should be directed by policymakers to determining the main contributors to inequality contributors and loneliness in advantaged societies.

Prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection among high-risk groups in Iran: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES: Determination of the true burden of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection among high-risk groups relies heavily on occurrence measures such as prevalence, which are vital for implementation of preventive action plans. Nevertheless, up-to-date data on the prevalence of HCV infection remain scarce in Iran. This study aimed to review the relevant literature systematically and determine the pooled prevalence of HCV infection among high-risk groups in Iran. STUDY DESIGN: Systematic review & meta-analysis. METHODS: In 2016, electronic scientific databases including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and local databases were searched using a detailed search strategy with language restricted to English and Farsi. The reference lists of the studies included in this review were also screened. Data were reviewed and extracted independently by two authors. A random effects model was used to estimate the pooled prevalence. Sources of heterogeneity among the studies were determined using subgroup analysis and meta-regression. RESULTS: In total, 1817 records were identified in the initial search, and 46 records were included in the meta-analysis. The overall prevalence of HCV among high-risk groups was 32.3%. The prevalence was 41.3% in injection drug users (IDUs), 22.9% in prisoners, 16.2% in drug-dependent individuals and 24.6% in drug-dependent prisoners. Subgroup and meta-regression analyses revealed that geographical location and year of publication were the probable sources of heterogeneity. CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis found a high prevalence of HCV among high-risk groups in Iran, particularly among IDUs. There is a need for prevention strategies to reduce the burden of HCV infection among high-risk groups, particularly IDUs.

Global incidence and mortality rates in pancreatic cancer and the association with the Human Development Index: decomposition approach.

OBJECTIVES: Pancreatic cancer has a lower morbidity yet higher case fatality rates (CFRs) compared with other gastrointestinal cancers. The effects of socio-economic components on pancreatic cancer rates have been acknowledged; however, the effects of the Human Development Index (HDI) inequality are not. In this study, we aimed to determine the contribution of important socio-economic components on pancreatic cancer rates using a decomposition approach. STUDY DESIGN: Global ecological study. METHODS: Incidence and mortality rates of pancreatic cancer were obtained for 172 countries from GLOBOCAN and the United Nations Development Program. The World Bank database was also used to obtain the HDI and its gradient for 169 countries. Inequality in pancreatic cancer age-specific incidence and mortality rates was calculated according to the HDI using the concentration index (CI). We decomposed the CI to determine main contributors of the inequality. RESULTS: The CI for incidence and mortality of pancreatic cancer in both genders according to the HDI was 0.26 (95% confidence interval: 0.21-0.30) and 0.25 (95% confidence interval: 0.21-0.30), respectively, which indicated more concentrated inequality in advantaged countries. About 80% of the inequality sources were predicted by socio-economic component in both rates of pancreatic cancer. The main contributors to inequality were the mean years of schooling, life expectancy at birth, expected years of schooling, and urbanization. CONCLUSION: Global inequalities exist in pancreatic cancer incidence and mortality rates according to the HDI; in addition, inequality was more concentrated in countries with higher score of HDI.