Assessment of Hemoglobin A1c Management and Prescription Cost Due to Polypharmacy Among Patients With Diabetes in Iran Based on the STEPS Iran 2016 Survey and a Prescription Database: A Multi-level, Cross-sectional National Study.

Background: Diabetes frequently results in the need for multiple medication therapies, known as 'Polypharmacy'. This situation can incur significant costs and increase the likelihood of medication errors. This study evaluated the prescriptions of patients with diabetes regarding polypharmacy to assess its effect on the control of hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels and prescription costs.

National and Provincial Prevalence of Cigarette Smoking in Iran; A Systematic Analysis of 12 Years of STEPS Experience.

Background: Smoking is a modifiable risk factor for six of the eight leading causes of death. Despite the great burden, there is lack of data regarding the trend of cigarette smoking in Iran. We described the national and provincial prevalence of cigarette smoking and its 12-year time trend utilizing six rounds of Iranian stepwise approach for surveillance of non-communicable disease (STEPS) surveys.

Omicron-specific and bivalent omicron-containing vaccine candidates elicit potent virus neutralisation in the animal model.

Omicron variant (B.1.1.

Predicting Iran's achievement to Sustainable Development Goal 3.2: A systematic analysis of neonatal mortality with scenario-based projections to 2030.

Background: Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 (SDG 3.2) is to reduce Under-5 and neonatal mortality rates (U5MR and NMR), two major health systems' performance indicators, globally by 2030.

The levels of BMI and patterns of obesity and overweight during the COVID-19 pandemic: Experience from the Iran STEPs 2021 survey.

Background: Obesity and its increasing burden have become an urgent health problem all over the world. Benefiting from a national representative sample, the present study aimed to estimate the distribution of body mass index (BMI) levels and its association with metabolic and lifestyle risk factors in an Iranian adult population by sex, age, and geographical distribution.

Methods: This study involves a national survey of noncommunicable disease risk factor surveillance (STEPs) in Iran.

Burden of thyroid cancer in North Africa and Middle East 1990-2019.

Background: Thyroid cancer is the leading cause of mortality and morbidity among cancers of the endocrine system. We aimed to describe the trends of thyroid cancer burden in North Africa and Middle East for 1990-2019.

Methods: Data on burden of thyroid cancer in North Africa and Middle East from 1990 to 2019 were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2019.

The burden of prostate cancer in North Africa and Middle East, 1990-2019: Findings from the global burden of disease study.

Background: Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most prevalent cancer among men worldwide. This study presents estimates of PCa prevalence, incidence, death, years-of-life-lost (YLLs), years-lived-with-disability (YLDs), disability-adjusted-life-years (DALYs), and the burden attributable to smoking during 1990-2019 in North Africa and Middle East using data of Global Burden of Diseases (GBD) Study 2019.

Methods: This study is a part of GBD 2019.

National, sub-national, and risk-attributed burden of thyroid cancer in Iran from 1990 to 2019.

An updated exploration of the burden of thyroid cancer across a country is always required for making correct decisions. The objective of this study is to present the thyroid cancer burden and attributed burden to the high Body Mass Index (BMI) in Iran at national and sub-national levels from 1990 to 2019. The data was obtained from the GBD 2019 study estimates.

Twenty-Six-Year Trend of Mortality Rate Due to Ischemic Heart Diseases (IHDs) in Iran: 1990-2015.

Background: Ischemic Heart Diseases (IHDs) are the main causes of deaths all over the world. Since there is no comprehensive study on IHDs mortality rate in Iran, the present study aimed to estimate age-standardized IHDs mortality rate by sex, age, geography, and time trends at both national and sub-national levels in Iran.

Methods: We used the Death Registration System (DRS) data from 1990 to 2015 collected by the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education across the country, Tehran, and Isfahan main cemetery, not included in the DRS.

Level and trend of total plasma cholesterol in national and subnational of Iran: a systematic review and age-spatio-temporal analysis from 1990 to 2016.

Purpose: We aimed to estimate the level and trend of plasma cholesterol and raised total cholesterol (TC > 200 mg/dl) prevalence at national and subnational level of Iran.

Methods: Nine national surveys and 27 studies, encompassing 3,505 unique points on over 500,000 adults, aged > 25 years with a report of laboratory measurement of TC were found. Age-spatio-temporal model and Gaussian Process Regression were used to estimate mean TC for each sex, 5-year age groups, and 31 provinces from 1990 to 2016.

A pilot study using financial transactions' spatial information to define high-risk neighborhoods and distribution pattern of COVID-19.

Background: Development of surveillance systems based on big data sources with spatial information is necessitated more than ever during this pandemic. Here, we present our pilot results of a new technique for the incorporation of spatial information of transactions and a vital registry of COVID-19 to evaluate the disease spread.

Methods: We merged two databases of laboratory-confirmed national COVID-19 registry of Iran and financial transactions of point-of-sale devices from February to March 2020 as our training data sources.

Red flags of poor prognosis in pediatric cases of COVID-19: the first 6610 hospitalized children in Iran.

Introduction: COVID-19 clinical course, effective therapeutic regimen, and poor prognosis risk factors in pediatric cases are still under investigation and no approved vaccinehas been introduced for them.

Methods: This cross-sectional study evaluated different aspect of COVID-19 infection in hospitalized COVID-19 positive children (≺18 years oldwith laboratory confirmed COVID-19 infection, using the national COVID-19 registry for all admitted COVID-19 positive cases from February 19 until November 13,2020, in Iran.

Results: We evaluated 6610 hospitalized children.

Safety and potency of BIV1-CovIran inactivated vaccine candidate for SARS-CoV-2: A preclinical study.

The development of effective and safe COVID-19 vaccines is a major move forward in our global effort to control the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The aims of this study were (1) to develop an inactivated whole-virus SARS-CoV-2 candidate vaccine named BIV1-CovIran and (2) to determine the safety and potency of BIV1-CovIran inactivated vaccine candidate against SARS-CoV-2. Infectious virus was isolated from nasopharyngeal swab specimen and propagated in Vero cells with clear cytopathic effects in a biosafety level-3 facility using the World Health Organization's laboratory biosafety guidance related to COVID-19.

A Report on Statistics of an Online Self-screening Platform for COVID-19 and Its Effectiveness in Iran.

Background: The most recent emerging infectious disease, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), is pandemic now. Iran is a country with community transmission of the disease. Telehealth tools have been proved to be useful in controlling public health disasters.

Proactive agenda setting in creation and approval of national action plan for prevention and control of non-communicable diseases in Iran: The use of multiple streams model.

Objectives: Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) are the largest and fastest growing threat to human health. Iran's Ministry of Health and Medical Education (MoHME) established the Iranian Non-Communicable Diseases Committee (INCDC) in 2015 to tackle the high burden of NCDs. In line with the WHO's Global Action Plan, the INCDC developed "The National Action Plan for Prevention and Control of NCDs" and the related risk factors in Iran, 2015-2025", which was then revised to cover until 2030.

Insulin pen use and diabetes treatment goals: A study from Iran STEPS 2016 survey.

Background: Frequency of insulin pen use, despite its higher costs, is increasing to substitute the traditional use of insulin vials. This study aims to report insulin pen use frequency and its associated factors among participants of the STEPS survey 2016 in Iran, which was conducted based on the World Health Organization (WHO) STEPS methodology.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 19,503 (mean age of 46.

Liver cirrhosis mortality at national and provincial levels in Iran between 1990 and 2015: A meta regression analysis.

Background: Liver cirrhosis mortality number has increased over the last decades. We aimed to estimate the liver cirrhosis mortality rate and its trends for the first time by sex, age, geographical distribution, and cause in Iran.

Method: Iranian Death Registration System, along with demographic (Complete and Summary Birth History, Maternal Age Cohort and Period methods) and statistical methods (Spatio-temporal and Gaussian process regression models) were used to address the incompleteness and misclassification and uncertainty of death registration system to estimate annual cirrhosis mortality rate.

An Approach Towards Reducing Road Traffic Injuries and Improving Public Health Through Big Data Telematics: A Randomised Controlled Trial Protocol.

Objective: Deaths due to road traffic accidents (RTAs) are a major public health concern around the world. Developing countries are over-represented in these statistics. Punitive measures are traditionally employed to lower RTA related behavioural risk factors.

Scientometric Study on Non-communicable Diseases in Iran: A Review Article.

Background: Non-Communicable disease (NCDs) is a killer of people that needs to urgent actions across the world. Scientific evidence is the critical arm for effective interventions. Therefore, we aimed to quantify the trend of four main NCDs' scientific publication in a 17-yr period, and reflect international collaboration.

Umbelliprenin shows antitumor, antiangiogenesis, antimetastatic, anti-inflammatory, and immunostimulatory activities in 4T1 tumor-bearing Balb/c mice.

Umbelliprenin (UMB) has shown various pharmacological properties in vitro. We investigated the antineoplastic and immunostimulatory effects of UMB in 4T1 mammary-tumor-bearing mice. Two-hundred microliter of UMB (12.

Impact of rural family physician program on child mortality rates in Iran: a time-series study.

Background: The rural family physician program and social protection scheme were started in Iran about 10 years ago, and no comprehensive study has been carried out to investigate the effects of this program on mortality-related health indicators yet. The present study aims to examine the impacts of implementation of the family physician program and rural insurance program, which was launched in June 2005, on neonatal (NMR), infant (IMR), and under-5-year (U5MR) mortality rates in rural areas of Iran between 1995 and 2011, using a time-series analysis.

Methods: Three segmented regression models were built to evaluate the effects of the program on NMR, IMR, and U5MR, and several independent variables were entered into the models, including annual incremental effect of the program (variable of interest), time effect, behvarz density, effect of the family physician and rural insurance programs, as well as socioeconomic variables including years of schooling, wealth index, sex ratio, and logarithmic scales of rural population size in each area.