Decomposing socioeconomic inequality in poor mental health among Iranian adult population: results from the PERSIAN cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Socioeconomic inequality in mental health in Iran is poorly understood. This study aimed to assess socioeconomic inequality in poor mental health among Iranian adults. METHODS: The study used the baseline data of PERSIAN cohort study including 131,813 participants from 17 geographically distinct areas of Iran. The Erreygers Concentration index (E) was used to quantify the socioeconomic inequalities in poor mental health. Moreover, we decomposed the E to identify factors contributing to the observed socioeconomic inequality in poor mental health in Iran. RESULTS: The estimated E for poor mental health was - 0.012 (95% CI: - 0.0144, - 0.0089), indicating slightly higher concentration of mental health problem among socioeconomically disadvantaged adults in Iran. Socioeconomic inequality in poor mental health was mainly explained by gender (19.93%) and age (12.70%). Region, SES itself, and physical activity were other important factors that contributed to the concentration of poor mental health among adults with low socioeconomic status. CONCLUSION: There exists nearly equitable distribution in poor mental health among Iranian adults, but with important variations by gender, SES, and geography. These results suggested that interventional programs in Iran should focus on should focus more on socioeconomically disadvantaged people as a whole, with particular attention to the needs of women and those living in more socially disadvantaged regions.

Issues with reducing the rotavirus-associated mortality by vaccination in developing countries.

More than 65% of the global rotavirus deaths were estimated to occur in 11 countries in Asia and Africa, claiming 345,000 children less than 5 years of age in 2004. While efficacious rotavirus vaccines are at hand, inequity in health delivery system within and between these countries was found to be the major hurdle against achieving the goal of rotavirus vaccine. When the coverage of currently used vaccines was applied to a rotavirus vaccine, a maximum of 202,550 deaths would be averted. Even if the coverage reached 80%, there would remain 96,841 children dying because of rotavirus diarrhea in these 11 countries. Studies are therefore encouraged to develop comprehensive strategies to resolve inequity in health delivery system enabling the increase in the immunization coverage.