Household financial burden associated with out-of-pocket payments for healthcare in Iran: insights from a cross-sectional survey.

Background: One of the key functions and ultimate goals of health systems is to provide financial protection for individuals when using health services. This study sought to evaluate the level of financial protection and its inequality among individuals covered by the Social Security Organization (SSO) health insurance between September and December 2023 in Iran.

Methods: We collected data on 1691 households in five provinces using multistage sampling to examine the prevalence of catastrophic healthcare expenditure (CHE) at four different thresholds (10%, 20%, 30%, and 40%) of the household's capacity to pay (CTP).

The COVID-19 pandemic and healthcare utilization in Iran: evidence from an interrupted time series analysis.

Background: This study aimed to examine the effect of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak on the hospitalization rate, emergency department (ED) visits, and outpatient clinic visits in western Iran.

Methods: We collected data on the monthly hospitalization rate, rate of patients referred to the ED, and rate of patients referred to outpatient clinics for a period of 40 months (23 months before and 17 months after the COVID-19 outbreak in Iran) from all 7 public hospitals in the city of Kermanshah. An interrupted time series analysis was conducted to examine the impact of COVID-19 on the outcome variables in this study.

The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on hospital admissions for nine diseases in Iran: insight from an interrupted time series analysis.

Background: Associations between the COVID-19 pandemic and hospitalizations have not been studied Iran. This study aimed to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on hospital admissions for nine categories of disease in seven public hospitals in Kermsnahah city, the capital of Kermsnahah province, in the west of Iran.

Methods: Data on monthly hospitalization rates (number of hospitalizations per 100,000 population) were collected for nine categories of disease for a period of 40 months (23 months before and 17 months after the COVID-19 outbreak in Iran) from the health information systems of all seven public hospitals in Kermanshah city.