Sources of news as a necessity for improving community health literacy about COVID-19.

Background: In the 21st century, the world has become a global village and a disease outbreak in one part of the world can spread rapidly to other countries far away. Methods: The emergence of the new Coronavirus (COVID-19) in China in January 2020 and its growing level of spread and severity between and within other countries as well as different continents has become a global emergency. Moreover, low health literacy results in more problems and continuation of the outbreak. Consequently, COVID-19 pandemic may produce new debates, discussions, and disturbing developments every day. In the meantime, cyberspace plays an important role in this case. Results: Improving people's health literacy can lead to increased potential of patients to make informed decisions, reduce health risks, increase disease prevention, and improve quality of life. Conclusion: The experience during COVID-19 pandemic has shown that health literacy plays an important role in preventing and controlling diseases and pandemic.

Household financial contribution to the health system after Iran's Health Transformation Plan.

INTRODUCTION: Iran's Health Transformation Plan (HTP) was implemented in 2014 to decrease household expenditures. The present study seeks to measure the household financial contribution to healthcare expenditures in Sistan-Baluchistan Province after the implementation of HTP. METHODS: A household survey was conducted in 2017 in Sistan-Baluchistan Province. The province is the most remote and poorest in the country and this poverty has extended to most of its main health indicators as well. About 2400 households were selected as the study samples using multistage sampling. Data were collected using the World Health Survey questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed by WHO in 2003 for assessing health system performance. Two main indicators of equity in health were measured: the percentage of households facing catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) and the Fair Financial Contribution Index (FFCI). The multiple adjusted logistic regression model was used to study the likelihood of facing CHE and to calculate the adjusted odds ratios (OR) using the model coefficients. Data were then analyzed the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. RESULTS: The results showed that 484 (20.2%) of the households faced CHE after implementation of the HTP. The FFCI was approximately 0.7 across the province. Statistically significant relationships were observed between the chances of facing CHE and variables including place of residence (p=0.010), having members aged more than 65 years (p=0.005) and having members with disabilities and in need of care (p=0.001). There were statistically significant relationships between the chance of facing CHE and variables related to the use of health services, including the use of dental (OR=5.212), rehabilitation (OR=2.471), diagnostic and laboratory (OR=3.637), and inpatient (OR=2.511) services. CONCLUSION: Despite the implementation of HTP, a high percentage of the households faced CHE. The authorities should pay more attention to low-income and remote regions of the country; in addition, the HTP should financially cover outpatient healthcare services in an adequate manner.

Risk factors associated with congenital hypothyroidism: a case-control study in southeast Iran.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Congenital hypothyroidism (CH) is known as one of the most common preventable cause of mental retardation. This study aimed to determine factors associated with CH in Iran. METHODS: This case-control study was conducted on 160 children under one year old in Zahedan in southeast Iran in 2016. The neonates who were born from March 1, 2015 to March 19, 2016 and had undergone a screening program for CH were the study population. The neonates with serum TSH > 10mIu/L and T4 < 6.5 or TSH > 30 mIu/L were considered as a case group. Each case was individually matched for sex, age at birth and place of residence with three neonates with normal TSH and T4 titers as a control group. Data was gathered using a standard checklist and analyzed using SPSS 20 and statistical tests, such as Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was also used to identify independent predictors of CH. RESULTS: About 25 of the 40 patients with CH (62.5%) were male who, in the univariate analysis, the following explanatory factors had no significant association with CH: history of parental consanguinity, type of delivery, weight at birth, height at birth, age of mother, sampling time, nationality, and birth season (p>0.05). Although, multivariate analysis showed no significant association between the studied factors and risk of CH (p>0.05), the likelihood of CH was greater among neonates born to consanguineous parents (AOR: 1.78, 95% CI: 0.82-3.89), those who were born to lower height at birth (AOR: 1.82, 95% CI: 0.85-3.91), neonates born to mothers younger than 18 years (AOR: 2.43, 95% CI: 0.57-10.29) and those who were born in the summer (AOR: 1.76, 95% CI: 0.57-5.44). CONCLUSION: None of the studied factors were predictors for CH. Since consanguineous marriages are frequent in the province, and it may be a major contributory factor, future studies should be conducted on the genetic causes.