The nation-wide epidemiological survey of psychiatric disorders in term of lifetime prevalence is not adequately known in Iran. The prevalence of lifetime psychiatric disorders was estimated among the population of aged 18 and over on gender, age group, educational level, occupational status, marital status, and residential area. The subjects were 25,180 individuals selected through a clustered random sampling method. The psychiatric disorders were diagnosed on the bases of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV criteria. It is the first study in which the structured psychiatric interview administered to a representative sample of the Iranian population age 18 and over by the 250 trained clinical psychologist interviewers. The data was entered through EPI-Info software twice in an attempt to prevent any errors and SPSS-11 statistical software was also used for analyses. The odds ratios and their confidence intervals estimated by using logistic regression. The prevalence of psychiatric disorders was 10.81%. It was more common among females than males (14.34% vs. 7.34%, P < 0.001). The prevalence of anxiety and mood disorders were 8.35% and 4.29% respectively. The prevalence of psychotic disorders was 0.89%; neuro-cognitive disorders, 2.78% and dissociative disorders, 0.77%. Among mood disorders, major depressive disorder (2.98%) and among anxiety disorders, phobic disorder (2.05%) had the higher prevalence. The prevalence of psychiatric disorders among divorced and separated 22.31%; residents of urban areas 11.77%; illiterates 13.80%; householders 15.48%; unemployed 12.33% that were more than other groups. The mental health pattern in Iran is similar to the western countries, but it seems that the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in Iran may be lower than these countries. It is estimated that at least about 7 millions of Iranian population suffer from one or more of the psychiatric disorders. It shows the importance of the role of the psychiatric disorders in providing preventive and management programs in Iran.

Road traffic injuries (RTIs) leading to death need the most essential concern for low, middle and high income societies. Mortality rate due to traffic injuries is considerable in Iran particularly during the last decade along with the industrialization process. The present study considered the trend of traffic injuries leading to death in Iran for a period of seven-years which started from March 2004 to March 2011. The formal merged Iranian database provided by the Ministry of Roads, the Legal Medicine Organization, the Traffic Police (NAJA), and the Ministry of Health covering 146, 269 deaths due to traffic injuries between 2004 and 2011 was analyzed. The time series method was carried out to determine the death trends of RTIs in the whole country. The Poisson regression model was used to estimate the changes in the frequency of events over time adjusting for associated known risk factors. The SARIMA (0, 1, 1)×(0, 1, 1) 12 model was used for fitting to the time series of death rate. The death rate due to RTIs in Iran has statistically declined from 38 in 2004 to 31 per 100,000 populations in 2011. Based on the number of vehicles, the mortality rate has also declined from 38 to 12 cases per 10,000 vehicles from 2004 to 2011 respectively. However, the mortality rate was increased from 51 to 65 cases per 1000 accidents from 2004 to March 2011 respectively. Despite minor variations in mortality trends of RTIs in Iran according to different criteria, an annual average of 21,000 deaths is considerable and needs serious attentions. Modification of traffic laws, enhancement of police controls, improving transport infrastructure, holding education courses for drivers and providing optimal healthcare services are recommended.

Introduction: In Iran there are about 70 deaths per day from road traffic injuries (RTIs). Despite some interventions having been implemented during the past 5 years, the impacts of these interventions on mortality and morbidity rates have not been well evaluated. Objective: To ascertain and describe the epidemiological pattern of RTIs in Iran for the years 2004 to 2007 and to compare the epidemiological trends of RTIs, before and 2 years after four road safety programs were put into place. Methods: A 4-year database from two sources, the traffic police and medico-legal data, was employed. The morbidity and death rates per 10,000 vehicles and per 100,000 populations were calculated as were the odds ratios (ORs) for before and after these national interventional programs. The four interventions concurrently/simultaneously put into place in 2005 were (1) enforcement of laws on the mandatory fastening of seat belts, (2) enforcement of the laws on use of motorcycle helmets, (3) enforcement of general traffic laws, and (4) mass media educational campaigns on national radio and television. Findings: There was a significant decrease in RTI-related death and morbidity rates in Iran, after the intervention programs were conducted (P < 0.001). The death rate decreased from 38.2 per 100,000 in 2004 to 31.8 in 2007 (OR = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.82–0.85). The death rate per 10,000 vehicles also showed a significant decline from 24.2 to 13.4 (OR = 0.56, 95% CI = 0.55–0.57). Similar reductions were seen among nonfatal RTIs. Conclusion: These findings demonstrate the role of traffic police interventions, initiated simultaneously on a national level, in RTI prevention. Though these reductions may not be solely attributable to the interventions implemented, they do highlight the importance of the contribution made by law enforcement and mass education campaigns.

We aimed to use the willingness to pay (WTP) method to calculate the cost of traffic injuries in Iran in 2013. We conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study of 846 randomly selected road users. WTP data was collected for four scenarios for vehicle occupants, pedestrians, vehicle drivers, and motorcyclists. Final analysis was carried out using Weibull and maximum likelihood method. Mean WTP was 2,612,050 Iranian rials (IRR). Statistical value of life was estimated according to 20,408 fatalities 402,314,106,073,648 IRR (US$13,410,470,202 based on purchasing power parity at (February 27^th, 2014). Injury cost was US$25,637,870,872 (based on 318,802 injured people in 2013, multiple daily traffic volume of 311, and multiple daily payment of 31,030 IRR for 250 working days). The total estimated cost of injury and death cases was 39,048,341,074$. Gross national income of Iran was, US$604,300,000,000 in 2013 and the costs of traffic injuries constituted 6·46% of gross national income. WTP was significantly associated with age, gender, monthly income, daily payment, more payment for time reduction, trip mileage, drivers and occupants from road users. The costs of traffic injuries in Iran in 2013 accounted for 6.64% of gross national income, much higher than the global average. Policymaking and resource allocation to reduce traffic-related death and injury rates have the potential to deliver a huge economic benefit.

Background: Parental supervision is an important factor related to childhood injuries. However, little research has been done on; what outdoor activities children believe they are allowed or their parents allow them to do; parents' ideas about the age children can do activities, and the age they would allow their children to do them. This study described children's independent outdoor activities after‐school, comparing age groups (school year 5 and 3), boys with girls, and the less socio‐economically well off with the better off. Methods: A cross‐sectional study using questionnaires completed by 476 children aged seven and nine years and 471 parents in nine primary schools in Newcastle‐upon‐Tyne, England. Results: Children reported they were permitted many outdoor activities such as cycling (78.8%), playing (78.6%) and roller skating in the street (62.7%). Parents of older children, boys, and more socio‐economically deprived children were more likely than their comparison groups to allow children to do outdoor activities independently e.g. 34% of 9‐year‐olds were allowed to cross a road without an adult compared with 8% of 7‐year‐olds. Mostly, parents of boys and socio‐economically deprived children, perceived children can do outdoor activities slightly younger than parents of girls and the socio‐economically better off. Conclusion: Children and parents value and support children's independent outdoor activity. Differences in children's and parents' understanding of what activities are permissible and in their judgements about the appropriate age for children's independent activities, may partly underline variations by sex, age and socio‐economic status in injury patterns.

Population-based data on myocardial infarction rates in the Islamic Republic of Iran have not been reported on a national or provincial scale. In a cross-sectional study, data were collected on 20 750 new cases of myocardial infarction (ICD10 codes I21-22) admitted to hospitals and registered by the Iranian Myocardial Infarction Registry in 2012. The crude and age-adjusted incidence for the 31 provinces and the whole country were directly calculated per 100 000 people using the WHO standard population. Overall, males comprised 72.4% of cases and had a significantly lower mean age at incidence than women [59.6 (SD 13.3) years versus 65.4 (SD 12.6) years]. The male:female incidence ratio was 2.63. The age-standardized myocardial infarction incidence rate was 73.3 per 100 000 in the whole country (95% CI: 72.3%-74.3%) and varied significantly from 24.5 to 152.5 per 100 000 across the 31 provinces. The study provides baseline data for monitoring and managing cardiovascular diseases in the country.