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Introduction: Life expectancy is one of the summary measures of population health, whose values and trend of changes over time show the main outcome of health system performance. Estimation of life expectancy is performed with direct or model-based methods. In this study direct estimation of life expectancy for Iran’s population in year 2003 is performed. Materials and Methods: In an ecologic study, for calculation of abridged period life table for 23 out of 28 provinces of Iran in year 2003, numbers of registered deaths for age and sex specific groups in these 23 provinces by death registration system of Ministry of Health (MOH) were used. Undernumeration of over-four year's deaths was estimated and corrected with Brass Growth-Balance method. For mortality rates of under-one and 1-4 years, similar rates from Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) 2000 with live births denominators were substituted. For total number of population of 23 provinces, information from MOH was used. Distribution of population by age and sex was taken similar to that from DHS 2003 results, and also taken as result of graduation of whole country population from 1375 census. Population of these 23 provinces was equal to 73% of total population of country in year 2003. Life expectancy was estimated by age and sex with the obtained population and death numbers. It was assumed that distributions of population and death in 23 provinces were similar to those for the whole 28 provinces of Iran in year 2003 and hence, the estimated life expectancy for 23 provinces is equal to that for all 28 provinces in 2003. Sensitivity of the results to assumptions was analyzed. Confidence intervals were calculated with Monte Carlo method. Results: Life expectancy at birth was estimated as 71.56 years for total population (95% CI: 71.52 – 71.62), 70.09 years for males (70.02 – 70.16), and 73.17 (73.10 – 73.24) for females of Iran in year 2003. Sensitivity of results to assumptions was less than 0.5%. Conclusion: Values of life expectancy estimates for year 2003 with direct method are higher than those based on statistical modeling approaches performed by Statistical Center of Iran and by different United Nations agencies, due to difference in estimation methods for age and sex specific mortality rates.

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Background: Genu varum is a deformity marked by outward bowing of the leg which is accompanied with pain only in severe cases. Failure in timely diagnosis results in the loss of quality of life in future and high health care costs. The purpose of this study was to evaluate genu varum prevalence in male students aged 7-16 years and identify the cases in need of treatment. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, femoral intercondylar distance (ICD) of 3692 male students aged 7-16 years who were chosen randomly in Arak city was measured. ICD>0.5 cm was considered as genu varum and to determine whether cases need treatment, the MT-MF angle and WBL% were used. Results: The results indicated that the prevalence of genu varum was 2.53% in primary school, 6.98% in junior high school, and 16.33% in senior high school students. The findings showed a significant relationship between the prevalence of genu varum and age, BMI, and the history of lower limb trauma with or without fracture. Overall, 33% of the students required treatment. Conclusion: Considering the importance of having healthy knees, clinical examination and regular screening programs for identifying cases with mild genu varum is recommended. The importance of implementation of regular screening programs is confirmed by the increasing prevalence of diseases associated with age and the high percentage of patients requiring treatment.