Socioeconomic and environmental factors associated with waterpipe tobacco smoking among Iranian adults: a PERSIAN cohort-based cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Waterpipe tobacco smoking (WTS) is associated with several deleterious health outcomes. We sought to estimate the prevalence of WTS and explore socioeconomic inequalities associated with this culturally-rooted tobacco smoking practice among Iranian adults. METHODS: A cross-sectional analysis was conducted among 20,460 adults (ages 18 and older) enrolled in the PERSIAN cohort study during 2020. Data were collected on socioeconomic status (SES), lifestyle, alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking, and several risk factors related to non-communicable diseases. The concentration curve and relative concentration index (RCI) were administered to assess and quantify the SES-based inequality in WTS. RESULTS: Overall age-adjusted prevalence of past-month WTS was 5.1% (95%CI:4.6-5.8), with about 1% for women and 10.6 for men. Age-adjusted prevalence of WTS was higher among younger adults, men, cigarette smokers, obese adults, and those with higher SES. The RCI estimation showed that WTS is more popular among adults with high income and education. WTS was higher among younger adults, cigarette smokers, obese adults, and those with higher SES. CONCLUSION: There is a clear socioeconomic inequality in WTS, with a higher prevalence among adults with higher income and education. The findings suggest the need for targeted interventions to address this inequality and reduce the prevalence of WTS among high-income communities.

Pentacam Indices in Photorefractive Keratectomy Surgery.

Refractive eye surgeries are one of the most non-emergent ophthalmic surgeries due to the effect on the reduction of refractive errors, increasing visual acuity, enhancing the quality of vision, and indirectly increasing the quality of life of patients. The aim of this study was to determine Pentacam indices in the patients who underwent photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) during 2014-2018, as well as to show their correlation with the type of refractive error. This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on 2215 eyes of 1125 patients undergoing PRK surgery. The patients' checklist, including demographic information, refractive index, keratometry, pachymetry, corneal surface zone indices, and progressive corneal thickness indices, was provided. All data were analyzed using the IBM SPSS software, version 25. The findings showed that there was a significant association between posterior corneal astigmatism (PCA) and anterior corneal astigmatism (ACA) (p=0.00). The mean Kmax front was recorded as 44.844 ± 1.58 D, which was significantly correlated with the type of refractive errors (p=0.00). According to the findings, there was a significant relationship between anterior chamber indices and refractive error types and their severity (p=0.00). There was also a significant correlation between the surface zone and keratoconus indices (i.e., index of surface variance - ISV, index of vertical asymmetry - IVA, index of height asymmetry - IHA, and minimum radius of curvature - Rmin) with refractive errors (p=0.00). The findings showed that some of the Pentacam indices could be related to the types of refractive errors in patients undergoing PRK surgery. Therefore, their evaluation is of great importance in this regard.