elham bastani

Diabetic Neuropathy (DN) is one of the prevalent complications of Type 1 Diabetes (T1D), which reduces the patient's ability to maintain his/her balance by reducing proprioception.

In this meta-analysis, conducted by the use of PARISMA and SMART checklists, articles published on the prevalence of DN in T1D patients in Iran were included in the study. The search was carried out by two specialists in internal medicine who were well versed in the subject of search and meta-analysis articles; and the validity of the search was confirmed by a third person who had a specialist degree in pulmonary (internal medicine). After entering references into Endnote 8 software and removing duplicate articles, data extraction was performed and analysis was done using CMA3 software.

The prevalence of DN in 10 reviewed articles was 33.3% (confidence interval (CI) =23.5-44.7), and in 3 articles, mild and moderate DN status was reported, and the prevalence of mild DN was 32.6% (confidence interval (CI) = 19.1-49.7) and the average DN was equal to 6.8% (confidence interval (CI) = 2.6-16.5). Also, the prevalence of DN in people over 15 years old was reported as 30.9% (confidence interval (CI) = 15.9-51.5) and in people under 15 years old was 43.1% (confidence interval (CI) = 28.5-59.1).

It is suggested that further meta-analysis studies be conducted on the other complications of diabetes in these patients.

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are classified as upper or lower and can be asymptomatic or manifest fever, abdominal pain, sepsis, hematuria, and typical renal colic. Therefore, this study was to determine the prevalence of UTIs in patients with febrile seizure (FS).

The studies published between 2010 and 2022 and indexed in Web of Science (ISI), Scopus, PubMed, EBSCO, SID, and Magiran databases were searched for the purpose of this meta-analysis and systematic review. The study checklist included the author's name, year of publication, location and prevalence of UTI. Prevalence of UTI was analyzed using the RANDOM model after entering the CMA3 software.

Six articles, with the total sample size of 1480 people (778 boys and 702 girls), were selected for the final analysis. They were published between 2011 and 2018; the lowest prevalence rate (11.1%) was reported in a study by Akbar et al., in Golestan city, and the highest prevalence (15.2%) was related to a study by Mahyar et al., in the city of Qazvin. In general, the prevalence of UTI was found to be 3.7 (95% CI: 1.3-10.4), and in boys, 15 (95% CI: 12.2-18.2) in girls with FS; and the overall rate was equal to 9.8 (95% CI: 7.6-12.6).

Considering the overall prevalence of UTIs (9.8%) and its high rate in girls (15%), preventive interventions are suggested.

Context:

 Hemiplegic shoulder pain (HSP) is one of the complications of a stroke.

This study aimed to determine shoulder pain prevalence in cerebrovascular accident (CVA) patients.

This meta-analysis study searched English and Persian descriptive or descriptive-analytical full-text studies on CVA patients. The search was carried out in all databases by two researchers using keywords such as stroke, pain, CVA, hemiplegic, and shoulder pain. Data analysis was done with the software CMA3.

In the initial search, 109 articles were found, and finally, the data from four articles were analyzed. The prevalence of HSP was 23% (confidence interval (CI) = 10.3% - 43.5%).

Considering the HSP prevalence (28.1%) among CVA patients, it is necessary to carry out rehabilitation interventions to prevent such pain in these patients. It is also suggested that rehabilitation interventions be included in the patient education of the healthcare system.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is one of the skin diseases, which is characterized as a chronic inflammation of the skin with itchy red rashes. This systematic review study was performed with the aim of determining the prevalence of AD in children and adolescents in Iran.

The search keywords included Atopic dermatitis, Child, Children, pediatrics, adolescent, Preschool children, School-age children, eczema, and Iran, in the domestic databases of Iran and international databases. After the initial search of the articles and studying their titles and abstracts, those that did not match the purpose of the research were removed from the study, and then the methodology and results of the papers were studied. Then the data was analyzed using CMA version 3 software.

The results of 30 articles were analyzed. Based on the results, the prevalence of AD in girls was 8.5% (confidence interval (CI) = 5.3-13.4), in boys it was 8.1% (confidence interval (CI) = 5.5-11.7), and the overall prevalence was 7.4% (confidence interval (CI) = 5.3-10.3).

AD is found to have a considerable prevalence among children, though the prevalence found in this study is, generally, lower than those suggested in other studies. Overall, more efforts are necessary to reduce its prevalence.

Context:

 Lung cancer (LC) is one of the common diseases in the pulmonary system, which is defined as the uncontrolled growth of cells in the lung tissue.

The present investigation was conducted with the aim of the prevalence of LC in Iran by meta-analysis method.

In this meta-analysis study, the articles that were conducted to determine age-standardized incidence rates (ASRs) in the field of LC were included in the study. The inclusion criteria included determining the number of ASRs in Iranian LC patients, reporting the sample size in men and women groups, and publishing articles between 2000 and January 2023. Data were analyzed, using CMA software.

In this meta-analysis study, 889 articles were found in the initial search, and after the final search, 23 articles were included in the meta-analysis stage. Out of the 22 final articles, the prevalence of LC was 3.7% (95% CI, 2.6 - 5.3) in women and 7.1% (95% CI, 5.7 - 9) in males.

Considering that the incidence rate of LC in this study was high, it is essential to carry out necessary preventive interventions in this field.

Hemodialysis (HD) patients are at increased risk for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and clinical symptoms of SARS- CoV-2 infection in HD patients.

This is a single-center study conducted at HD center, in Ilam, Iran. The study was included 87 HD patients to be tested. SARS-CoV-2 infection was diagnosed with confirmed test by rRT-PCR (real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) assay.

Around 35.63% of HD patients were diagnosed as COVID-19 infection; most of them were male (74.4%). Dyspnea (58.1%) and cough (45.2%) were the most common symptoms among HD cases with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Diabetes (16.1%) and hypertension (19.4%) were the most coexisting medical illnesses. About 12.9% of patients needed ICU care. Additionally, 16.1% of our patients died, which all of them were male.

This study showed a high prevalence of COVID-19 among our HD group, accompanied by mild symptoms. The HD population is probably among the most sensitive and high-risk groups for COVID-19 because of advanced age, comorbidities disease, low-immune function and frequent required visits, and patient overload in HD centers. Preventive measures should be taken in order to minimize the virus transmission in dialysis centers.

The incidence of limb fractures in children depends on environmental factors and socioeconomic backgrounds.

This study aimed to evaluate the epidemiology of limb fractures in 1 to 15-year-old children in Ilam City, Iran.

This retrospective study enrolled all children aged 15 and below admitted to the Emam Khomeini Hospital of the Ilam University of Medical Sciences between July 2012 and March 2018. Data including age, sex, injury mechanism, and injured organs were recorded in SPSS software and analyzed using a chi-square test.

Out of 4877 children, 74.3% were boys, and 25.7% were girls, with the men to women ratio of 2.87 and the mean age of 9.10 ± 4.3 years. Elbow and forearm with 39.35% and leg with 21.61% were the most common sites of fractures. Home, street, and sports fields were the commonplaces of injury with 50.7%, 28.3%, and 7.2%, respectively. The age range of 8 - 15 years, with 3693 cases (75.72%) was the most vulnerable age group. Fractures occurred mostly in spring and summer and less frequently in the other seasons.

Specific attention should be paid to the home environment and its safety for controlling injuries in preschool children. This includes increasing parents’ knowledge of preventive measures. Moreover, improving the physical condition of pavements and crosswalks in the streets is necessary for the prevention of injuries.

In the study we sought to determine the patterns of regional antibiotic resistances among uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) isolates. Our finding could be useful for better recognition of regional antibiotic resistances and scheduling a program to control this condition.

In the study, 270 nonduplicate UPEC isolates were examined from urine samples of outpatients with urinary tract infections (UTIs). All isolates were identified by gram staining and standard conventional biochemical tests. Antimicrobial susceptibility test was performed by disk diffusion (Kirby–Bauer) method. The commercial antibiotics disks (PADTAN TEB Co., Iran) were applied in the study, included amikacin (30 μg), gentamycin (10 μg), ciprofloxacin (5 μg), and nalidixic acid (30 μg).

Most of the patients were female (221, 81.9%). The highest resistance was observed for nalidixic acid (56%), followed by ciprofloxacin 39.64%. In contrast, the lowest resistance was seen for amikacin (3.90%) and gentamicin (10.04%). Moreover, 19.62% of the isolates were multidrug-resistant (MDR).

Amikacin and gentamicin could be chosen as first line antibiotics in treatment of UTIs. Continuous monitoring studies recommended for acquire a suitable regional antibiotic resistance pattern.

Thyroid cancer is the most common malignancy of the endocrine. The factors involved in differentiation of thyroid nodules are highly important. This study was done to determine the relationship between serum TSH and cytology finding of thyroid nodules. In this cross-sectional study, 275 patients enrolled. Complete physical examination was done and the serum TSH was measured by IRMA method. The serum T4 and T3 were also measured if the TSH was outside the normal range. In all patients thyroid ultrasound was performed. Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA) biopsy was done on all thyroid nodules and cytology results were interpreted by a pathologist. Data was then analyzed applying Stata software. The mean age of the patients was 42.5±12.5 years and there were 85.8% female. The mean of BMI was 23.7±2.2 kg/m2. Calcification was found in 36% of thyroid nodules and microcalcification was observed in 92%. The mean TSH level in patients with malignancy was higher than that of those with benign thyroid nodules. Each unit increase in levels of TSH increased the risk of thyroid malignancy by 23% (OR=1.23; CI: 1.01-1.5). This risk has also increased by 38% with each unit increase in BMI (OR= 1.38; CI: 1.15- 1.66). This study suggests that serum TSH level could be used as a predictor of the probability of malignancy in thyroid nodules.