Search results

Equal distribution of health human resources is a major issue to achieve human rights in healthcare. Rural family physicians (RFPs) as a part of health human resources play an important role in delivering health services, so the purpose of this paper is to calculate amount of inequity in distribution of RFPs in Iran.

In this study, the authors tried to find inequity in the distribution of RFPs in the provinces of Iran. For this purpose, inequity indices containing concentration curves and indices were calculated by ranking health-adjusted life expectancy (HALE). Furthermore, a regression model was estimated to find the pattern and influencing factors of inequity in the distribution of RFPs.

The number of male RFPs was significantly higher in Sistan va Baloochestan, and in the same line, the number of female RFPs was higher in Zanjan province. Concentration index of total RFPs was 0.0568 (not significant) (males= 0.041, females= 0.0718). The results of regression model showed that HALE and per capita GDP did not have any significant relationship with RFPs distribution (HALE p=0.753, GDP p=0.792).

The RFP plan was successful in enhancing equal access to physician and health care services relatively. However, gender imbalance in distribution of RFPs was high especially in less-developed regions.

In May 2014, a new reform in the health sector of Iran was implemented called “health evolution plan.” In the first phase of this reform, the government reduced out-of-pocket payments for service delivery by paying subsidies to the services and after that a revision was done to the medical services values book to improve equity and increase motivation of health professions. One of the affected services in this reform was coronary artery bypass surgery. The purpose of this paper is to show the effects of HEP on costs of coronary artery bypass surgery.

A before-after study was done for this purpose and 167 patients’ total costs and out-of-pocket payments were calculated for the years 2013 (before) and 2014 (after) the reform in three private hospitals of Rasht city, Iran. Econometrics models were estimated after adjustment of confounding variables.

The results of this study showed that surgery costs increased significantly from $1,643.3 to 2,119.5. Nursing and other costs increased significantly from $290.3 to 414.2 and anesthetize costs increased from $619.2 to 947.01. The results of regression model showed that total costs increased $3,008.6 after adjustment of confounders (p-value=0.037). However, no significant changes were found for out-of-pocket payments and out-of-pocket percentage.

The study findings revealed that HTP was not successful enough in financial protection in the private sector.

Mental health is one of the most important factors for evaluating the health of different age groups in the community. The most common forms of mental health disorders are depression and anxiety. Health status of students as an important age group has positive consequences in the community. To provide special recommendations for preventing mental disorders, the purpose of this paper is to determine the correlations among the individualism and family orientation and mental health.

A meta-analysis was conducted to find scores of mental health. International databases of Scopus and PubMed as well as Iranian databases of IranMedex and SID were systematically searched in September 2014 for studies conducted on Iranian students. Of 379 reviewed studies, 58 were selected for meta-analysis. A meta-regression model was estimated to show the effects of individualism and family orientation on mental health.

Eight studies were conducted in Tehran. Eight studies were published in English. In nine studies, school students, and in one study both school and university students were surveyed. General Health Questionnaire-28 score varied from 13.77 in Arak to 47.78 in Tehran. The results of this study showed that the pooled mental health score for Iranian students was 23.725, indicating that Iranian students had poor mental health. In meta-regression, the coefficient of family orientation was −0.2893 and it was significant. Other variables did not have any significant relationship with mental health scores.

Improvement of living conditions and enabling the youth to positively communicate with different social groups are recommended.