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Background: To assess the psychological consequences of changes during the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in the Iranian population. Methods: We performed an anonymous online survey in the first 3 weeks of March 2020. Individuals older than 14 who could read Persian, and lived in Iran, were eligible for the study. The participants had to rate their stress levels and depressive symptoms (using a nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire PHQ-9) during the last 2 weeks and before the pandemic retrospectively. The changes in the psychological measurements and their association with the sociodemographic factors and burdens due to confinement were assessed. Results: Overall, among the 3,210 subjects who participated in our study, both the stress levels and average depression scores increased. However, about 23% of the subjects reported a decrease in their stress levels. The burden of childcare, restrictions in private life, and thoughts about the future were positively correlated with the changes in the stress levels and depression scores (|r| > 0.15). However, feeling relieved in the pandemic condition, and enjoying more family time were associated with less change in the stress and depression scores. Being religious (odds ratio [OR] [CI]: 1.5 [1.3-1-8]) and older age (OR [CI]: 2.9 [1.8-4.6] for >55 years old) were identified as the resilience factors, whereas being a student (OR [CI]: 2.1 [1.6;2.7]), seeking a job (OR [CI]: 2.6 [1.8;3.9]), and history of a psychiatric disorder (OR [CI]: 3.2 [2.6;4]) were identified as the risk factors for depression. Conclusions: The stress levels and depressive symptoms have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic and this increase is related to different social and personal burdens due to the confinement conditions.
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OBJECTIVES: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common gastrointestinal disorder. Due to its high prevalence and absence of curative therapy, IBS has the potential to create tremendous burden on the health care system. Herein, we systematically reviewed the published literature to investigate the epidemiology of IBS in Iran. METHODS: Studies that were reviewed in this article were primarily identified through four online bibliographic databases including PubMed, Google Scholar, Iran Medex, and Scientific Information Database. Manual search of reference lists was carried out to identify any additional studies such as relevant abstracts and also recent review articles which may have been missed. Potentially related studies were retrieved and the selection criteria were applied. Eligible articles were reviewed. RESULTS: From 4176 studies identified, 18 eligible studies were included. It was reported that in Iran, the prevalence of IBS was in the range of 1.1% to 25% and was more common in women. In addition, the difference in frequency of different age groups was minimal. There was a minimal difference in IBS prevalence within different age groups. CONCLUSIONS: In Iran, the incidence of IBS was in the wide range. Since there are not enough population-based studies, researchers should focus on developing well-designed population-based studies to determine the epidemiology of IBS in Iran. Moreover, cohort studies should be conducted in order to investigate the natural history of IBS. Investigating the etiology of IBS and attempt to organize health promotion programs are highly suggested.
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BACKGROUND: Dyspepsia is an upper gastrointestinal tract syndrome presenting epigastric pain and discomfort, fullness sensation, early satiety, nausea, vomiting, and belching. The prevalence of dyspepsia has been reported to be high all over the world. In this study, we reviewed studies reporting the prevalence of dyspepsia in Iran and discussed the probable risk factors of dyspepsia to shed light on future research on this topic. METHODS: The four electronic databases of PubMed, Google Scholar, IranMedex, and Scientific Information Database were searched. The keywords for the electronic search were "dyspepsia" and "Iran". A manual search of the reference lists of the selected articles was also carried out. Two reviewers reviewed and identified articles independently and selected relevant studies based on our inclusion and exclusion criteria. RESULTS: Nine articles reporting the prevalence of dyspepsia in Iran were included. The reported prevalence ranged from 2.2% to 29.9%. The majority of studies have reported the prevalence of dyspepsia to be higher in women. CONCLUSION: Dyspepsia seems to be highly prevalent in Iran. Considering the wide range of data reported in different studies, conducting further population-based studies is necessary to investigate the epidemiology and risk factors of dyspepsia among Iranians.
