Assessment inequality in access to public cardiovascular health services in Iran.

Background: Timely access to cardiovascular health services is necessary to prevent heart damages. The present study examined inequality in geographical distribution of cardiovascular health services in Iran. Methods: Present study is a cross-sectional study conducted using demographic data from all Iranian provinces (31 provinces) from 2012 census by the Statistics Center of Iran (SCI). The Gini coefficients of CCU beds and cardiologists were used to assess equality in access to cardiovascular health services in Iran. MS Excel software was used to calculate Gini coefficients. Results: The proportions of CCU bed and cardiologist per 100,000 population were 4.88 and 1.27, respectively; also the Gini coefficients were 0.129 and 0.045, respectively. Conclusion: Descriptive statistics showed a skewness in distribution of pubic cardiovascular health services in Iran, though Gini coefficient revealed no significant inequality. However, equal distribution of CCU beds and cardiovascular specialists does not mean they are sufficiently available in Iran.

The Social Determinants of Health in Military Forces of Iran: A Qualitative Study.

Providing effective health interventions and achieving equity in health need to apply the community-based approaches such as social determinants of health. In the military organizations, these determinants have received less attention from the military health researchers and policymakers. Therefore, this study aimed to identify and explain the social determinants affecting the health of military forces in Iran. This was a qualitative study which was conducted in 2014. The required data were collected through semistructured interviews and analyzed through Conventional Content Analysis. The studied sample consisted of 22 military health experts, policymakers, and senior managers selected using purposeful sampling method with maximum variation sampling. MAXQDA.2007 was used to analyze the collected data. After analyzing the collected data, two main contents, that is, "general social determinants of health" and "military social determinants of health," with 22 themes and 90 subthemes were identified as the social determinants of military forces' health. Main themes were religious rule, spirituality promotion policies, international military factors, military command, and so forth. Given the role and importance of social factors determining the military forces' health, it can be recommended that the military organizations should pay more attention to these determinants in making policies and creating social, economic, and cultural structures for their forces.

The Social Determinants of Health (SDH) in Iran: A Systematic Review Article.

BACKGROUND: Many studies have been conducted in Iran in order to investigate the status of social determinants of health (SDH) and their associations with health indicators. This study aimed to review the Iranian studies conducted on SDH. METHODS: A systematic review of all Iranian Persian and English languages articles published between 2005 and 2014 on the SDH was conducted using the search of SID, Iran Medex, Iran Doc, Medline, Embase, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases. The eligibility criteria were studies describing SDH status, designed based on the WHO conceptual framework of SDH, published in Persian or English languages, and full text articles. The structured narrative approach was used to synthesize the data. RESULTS: The entire review process led to the selection of 21 papers. Most of studies had been conducted on the intermediary (38%) and structural (33%) components and determinants in Iran, 4 studies (19%) on the study of all components affecting the health and health inequality and, finally, the minimum number of studies (10%) on the context components and determinants. The focus of 43% of selected studies was on the WHO conceptual framework of SDH and had evaluated this model as an appropriate conceptual framework. CONCLUSION: In order to fill the gap in the scientific evidence of SDH and make appropriate policies and plans in Iran, it is needed to conduct studies on all SDH according to the WHO conceptual framework.