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Background: Chemical weapons are among the most non-humanistic types of man-made weapons. These gases can cause problems like breathing disorders and other serious illnesses, such that nearly 80 percent of wounded people in Iran have signs of coughing, exuding, and asthma. The aim of this study is to use the results of spirometry tests that are cheap in calculating the probability of illnesses in those exposed. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional-analytic study, data related to 1865 individuals wounded by chemical weapons in Sardasht who had been exposed to sulfur mustard were extracted from the existing medical files in Bonyad Janbazan Office. Data analysis was done through the logistic regression method while for evaluating the validity of this model, COX- SNEL was utilized. The spirometry device used in this study was Chest HI801 which was made in Japan. Results: Women formed %23.6 of the population and the rest %76.4 were men. Also, %48.7of the participants were under 40 and %51.3 were 40 and above. Mean age of men was 45.2(11.27) while this was 48.53(14.43) for women. Totally, %48.6 of participants were ill while %51.4 were reported to be healthy. Mean of FEV1 was measured to be 81.78 (21.81) and regression model parameters were as follows: constant =0.465, sex= -0.478, age= 0/29, and FEV1= -0/128. Conclusion: Through the obtained model, the probability of disease incidence in those exposed to sulfur mustard can be computed in a more economic way which can compete with the more expensive, invasive methods.

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Abstract

Background: Heart attacks are the cause of 40% of deaths in Iran and due to its upswing in Iran and the world, the determination of its short-term survival rate in order to assess treatment methods is of great importance. The purpose of this study is to estimate patients’ short-term survival rate after heart attacks by Meta-analysis method.

Materials and Methods: This study is a systematic review. The analysis was based on data extracted from English and Persian data bases. To analyze the information obtained, including the average age of patients, and one-month and one-year short-term survival rates, the STATA 11.2 and the random effect model were used.

Results: The results of the study on 18 studies entering the Meta-analysis including 62486 patients, demonstrated that one-month and one-year short-term survival rate in Iran are respectively 87.7 and 85.2 percent and no significant difference was observed between the two genders. The average age of patients was reported 62.43 years and no significant difference was observed between the two genders in the occurance of health attack.

Conclusion: The results of this Meta-analysis showed that although the survival rate of an Iranian patient after a myocardial Infarction is the same as patients in developed countries, the average age of the patients in Iran is lower, which indicates that the load of disease in Iran is greater than in other countries regarding the years lost to the disease.

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Introduction: The age structure of the population has changed due to a decrease in mortality rates. With the increase in the number of elderly individuals, addressing their physical, mental, and social needs has become essential. It is necessary to have a reliable and valid tool for assessing the health status of this group for developing future policies and planning health interventions. This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of Lali’s Healthy Lifestyle Questionnaire using Item Response Theory (IRT) among the elderly in Karaj City.
Methods: Data collection was done through the distribution of questionnaires and interviews with patients in the health centers of Karaj city. In addition to demographic information, Lali's Healthy Lifestyle Questionnaire (2012) was used to collect data.
Results: The mean (standard deviation) age of the participants in the study was 66.82 (6.59) years. Based on the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC), the Nominal Response Model (NRM) demonstrated a better fit to the data among the common IRT models for Likert-scale questionnaires. Based on this model, out of the 54 items used, 6 items did not meet the acceptable criteria for the discrimination parameter and were excluded from the questionnaire. Based on the total information function, the questionnaire can appropriately differentiate individuals within the ability range of -1.5 to 2.5.
Conclusions: Using Item Response Theory in questionnaire psychometrics helps to reduce the number of unrelated items and increase the accuracy of the measurement tools.