Measurement and Decomposition of Socioeconomic Inequality in Metabolic Syndrome: A Cross-sectional Analysis of the RaNCD Cohort Study in the West of Iran

Moslem Soofi,Farid Najafi,Shahin Soltani,Behzad Karamimatin 대한예방의학회 2023 예방의학회지 Vol.56 No.1

Objectives: Socioeconomic inequality in metabolic syndrome (MetS) remains poorly understood in Iran. The present study examined the extent of the socioeconomic inequalities in MetS and quantified the contribution of its determinants to explain the observed inequality, with a focus on middle-aged adults in Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study used data from the Ravansar Non-Communicable Disease cohort study. A sample of 9975 middle-aged adults aged 35-65 years was analyzed. MetS was assessed based on the International Diabetes Federation definition. Principal component analysis was used to construct socioeconomic status (SES). The Wagstaff normalized concentration index (CIn) was employed to measure the magnitude of socioeconomic inequalities in MetS. Decomposition analysis was performed to identify and calculate the contribution of the MetS inequality determinants. Results: The proportion of MetS in the sample was 41.1%. The CIn of having MetS was 0.043 (95% confidence interval, 0.020 to 0.066), indicating that MetS was more concentrated among individuals with high SES. The main contributors to the observed inequality in MetS were SES (72.0%), residence (rural or urban, 46.9%), and physical activity (31.5%). Conclusions: Our findings indicated a pro-poor inequality in MetS among Iranian middle-aged adults. These results highlight the importance of persuading middle-aged adults to be physically active, particularly those in an urban setting. In addition to targeting physically inactive individuals and those with low levels of education, policy interventions aimed at mitigating socioeconomic inequality in MetS should increase the focus on high-SES individuals and the urban population.

Encryption Techniques for Cloud Data Confidentiality

Aized Amin Soofi,M.Irfan Khan,Fazal-e-Amin 보안공학연구지원센터(IJGDC) 2014 International Journal of Grid and Distributed Comp Vol.7 No.4

Accuracy and precision of consumer-grade GPS positioning in an urban green space environment

Ehsan Abdi,Hamid Soofi Mariv,Azade Deljouei,Hormoz Sohrabi 한국산림과학회 2014 Forest Science And Technology Vol.10 No.3

The use of global positioning systems (GPS) has increased in recent years, including for urban forestry management, as aresult of its wide range of applications, ease of use and direct use of GPS data in geographic information systems. Thisstudy was conducted in an urban green space to assess the accuracy and precision of two consumer-grade GPS receiverswith regard to ground control point (GCP) coordinates. Eleven fixed GCPs with known positions were selected and theirdata collected on four days (two seasons) and three different daytime periods (08:00, 11:00 and 14:00) each day. For eachtreatment (season and daytime) five replications were recorded. The results showed that the best mean position accuracieswere provided by the Colorado receiver in leaf-off period (4–5 m), and its corresponding position accuracies for summerranged from 9 to 12 m. The results of the Rino receiver mean position error in summer (19–36 m) and winter (10–26 m)were higher than reported in literature. Point averaging had a positive effect on accuracy in both receivers for winter. Insummer, three-point averaging was more efficient than five-point averaging. During the day, the Colorado receiver had thebest positional accuracy at 08:00 in winter, but in summer there was a large variation in the results. For the Rino receiverthere was no general trend; however, results taken at 11:00 and 14:00 were better than those at 08:00. Regarding precision,point averaging had a positive effect on the Colorado while the Rino precision indicated the contrary. The Coloradoreceiver had better precision than the Rino in both seasons, and was the best in summer. The Rino receiver had better precisionin summer compared to winter, and in both recievers daytime had no significant effect on precision. The measuredaccuracies of Colorado are acceptable for many environment and urban forestry measurement applications and satisfy mappingrequirements, but the Rino receiver showed poorer results.

Estimating the Economic Burden of Lung Cancer in Iran

Rezaei, Satar,Sari, Ali Akbari,Woldemichael, Abraha,Soofi, Moslem,Kazemi, Ali,Matin, Behzad Karami Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2016 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.17 No.10

Objectives: Lung cancer is a major public health problem and one of the most costly illnesses. The study aimed to estimate the economic burden of lung cancer in Iran in 2014. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to estimate the direct and indirect costs for patients with lung cancer using a prevalence-based approach. A human capital approach was employed to estimate the indirect costs. Data were obtained from several sources such as through patient interview using structured questionnaire, medical records, the GLOBOCAN databases, the Iranian Statistical Center, the Iranian Ministry of Cooperation, Labor and Social Welfare, and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). Results: The economic burden of lung cancer in Iran in the year 2014 was 3,225,998,555,090 IR. The main components of the cost were associated with mortality (81.9 %) and hospitalization (7.6 %). The costs of direct medical care, non-medical aspects, patient time, and mortality accounted for 10.8%, 2.7%, 4.5%, and 81.5% of the total cost, respectively. Conclusion: Findings from this study indicated that the economic burden of lung cancer is substantial both to Iran's health system and to society as a whole. Early diagnosis, strengthening cancer prevention, implementing new cancer therapy and medical technology, and effective smoking-cessation interventions could offset some of the costs associated with lung cancer in Iran.

Immune Responses to Vi Capsular Polysaccharide Typhoid Vaccine in Children 2 to 16 Years Old in Karachi, Pakistan, and Kolkata, India

Ochiai, R. Leon,Khan, M. Imran,Soofi, Sajid B.,Sur, Dipika,Kanungo, Suman,You, Young Ae,Habib, M. Atif,Sahito, Shah Muhammad,Manna, Byomkesh,Dutta, Shanta,Acosta, Camilo J.,Ali, Mohammad,Bhattacharya, American Society for Microbiology 2014 CLINICAL AND VACCINE IMMUNOLOGY Vol.21 No.5

<P>The geometric mean concentration (GMC) and the proportion maintaining a protective level (150 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) units [ELU]/ml) 2 years following a single dose of 25 μg of injectable Vi capsular polysaccharide typhoid vaccine was measured against that of the control hepatitis A vaccine in children 2 to 16 years old in cluster randomized trials in Karachi and Kolkata. The GMC for the Vi group (1,428 ELU/ml) was statistically significantly different from the GMC of the control hepatitis A vaccine group (86 ELU/ml) after 6 weeks. A total of 117 children (95.1%) in the Vi group and 9 (7.5%) in the hepatitis A group showed a 4-fold rise in Vi IgG antibody concentrations at 6 weeks (<I>P</I> < 0.01). Protective antibody levels remained significantly different between the two groups at 2 years (38% in the Vi vaccine groups and 6% in the hepatitis A group [<I>P</I> < 0.01]). A very small proportion of younger children (2 to 5 years old) maintained protective Vi IgG antibody levels at 2 years, a result that was not statistically significantly different compared to that for the hepatitis A group (38.1% versus 10.5%). The GMCs of the Vi IgG antibody after 2 years were 133 ELU/ml for children 2 to <5 years old and 349 ELU/ml for children 5 to 16 years old. In conclusion, Vi capsular polysaccharide typhoid vaccine is immunogenic in children in settings of South Asia where typhoid is highly endemic. The antibody levels in children who received this vaccine remained higher than those in children who received the control vaccine but were significantly reduced at 2 years of follow-up.</P>

Estimating the Economic Burden of Premature Mortality Caused by Cancer in Iran: 2006-2010

Karami-Matin, Behzad,Najafi, Farid,Rezaei, Satar,Khosravi, Ardashir,Soofi, Moslem Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2016 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.17 No.4

Background: Cancer is currently one of the main public health problems all over the world and its economic burden is substantial both for health systems and for society as a whole. To inform priorities for cancer control, we here estimated years of potential life lost (YPLL) and productivity losses due to cancer-related premature mortality in Iran from 2006 to 2010. Materials and Methods: The number of cancer deaths by sex and age groups for top ten leading cancers in Iran were obtained from the Ministry of Health and Medical Education. To estimate the YPLL and the cost of productivity loss due to cancer-related premature mortality, the life expectancy method and the human capital approach were used, respectively. Results: There were 138,228 cancer-related deaths in Iran (without Tehran province) of which 76 % (106,954) were attributable to the top 10 ranked cancers. Some 63 % of total cancer-related deaths were of males. The top 10 ranked cancers resulted in 106,766,942 YPLL in total, 64,171,529 (60 %) in males and 42,595,412 (40%) in females. The estimated YPPLL due to top 10 ranked cancers was 58,581,737 during the period studied of which 32,214,524 (54%) was accounted for in males. The total cost of lost productivity caused by premature deaths because of top 10 cancers was 1.68 billion dollars (US$) from 2006 to 2010, ranging from 251 million dollars in 2006 to 283 million dollars in 2010. Conclusions: This study showed that the economic burden of premature mortality attributable to cancer is significant for Iranian society. The findings provide useful information about the economic impact of cancer for health system policy/decision makers and should facilitate planning of preventive intervention and effective resource allocation.

Measuring and Decomposing Socioeconomic Inequalities in Adult Obesity in Western Iran

Najafi, Farid,Pasdar, Yahya,Hamzeh, Behrooz,Rezaei, Satar,Nazar, Mehdi Moradi,Soofi, Moslem The Korean Society for Preventive Medicine 2018 예방의학회지 Vol.51 No.6

Objectives: Obesity is a considerable and growing public health concern worldwide. The present study aimed to quantify socioeconomic inequalities in adult obesity in western Iran. Methods: A total of 10 086 participants, aged 35-65 years, from the Ravansar Non-communicable Disease Cohort Study (2014-2016) were included in the study to examine socioeconomic inequalities in obesity. We defined obesity as a body mass index ${\geq}30kg/m^2$. The concentration index and concentration curve were used to illustrate and measure wealth-related inequality in obesity. Additionally, we decomposed the concentration index to identify factors that explained wealth-related inequality in obesity. Results: Overall, the prevalence of obesity in the total sample was 26.7%. The concentration index of obesity was 0.04; indicating that obesity was more concentrated among the rich (p<0.001). Decomposition analysis indicated that wealth, place of residence, and marital status were the main contributors to the observed inequality in obesity. Conclusions: Socioeconomic-related inequalities in obesity among adults warrant more attention. Policies should be designed to reduce both the prevalence of obesity and inequalities in obesity by focusing on those with higher socioeconomic status, urban residents, and married individuals.

Measuring and Decomposing Socioeconomic Inequalities in Adult Obesity in Western Iran

Farid Najafi,Yahya Pasdar,Behrooz Hamzeh,Satar Rezaei,Mehdi Moradinazar,Moslem Soofi 대한예방의학회 2018 예방의학회지 Vol.51 No.6

Objectives: Obesity is a considerable and growing public health concern worldwide. The present study aimed to quantify socioeconomic inequalities in adult obesity in western Iran. Methods: A total of 10 086 participants, aged 35-65 years, from the Ravansar Non-communicable Disease Cohort Study (2014-2016) were included in the study to examine socioeconomic inequalities in obesity. We defined obesity as a body mass index ≥30 kg/m2. The concentration index and concentration curve were used to illustrate and measure wealth-related inequality in obesity. Additionally, we decomposed the concentration index to identify factors that explained wealth-related inequality in obesity. Results: Overall, the prevalence of obesity in the total sample was 26.7%. The concentration index of obesity was 0.04; indicating that obesity was more concentrated among the rich (p<0.001). Decomposition analysis indicated that wealth, place of residence, and marital status were the main contributors to the observed inequality in obesity. Conclusions: Socioeconomic-related inequalities in obesity among adults warrant more attention. Policies should be designed to reduce both the prevalence of obesity and inequalities in obesity by focusing on those with higher socioeconomic status, urban residents, and married individuals.