Ensuring financial protection of the community against health care expenditures is one of the fundamental goals of the health system. Catastrophic health expenditures (CHE) occurs when out-of-pocket health expenditures due to health care expenses considerably affect family life. The main purpose of this study was to analyze CHE trend over time and to determine its determinants. The last round of a three part study over time was conducted in June to September 2015 on 600 households in a non-affluent area of Tehran. The World Health Survey questionnaire was used to collect information. Health expenditure was considered to be catastrophic when OOP health expenditures exceed 40% of household’s capacity to paysubsistence expenditures. After calculating the amount of households’ exposure to CHE, determinants resulting in CHE using logistic regression and the amount of economic inequality in the exposure of households to CHE using the concentration index were calculated. Then, performing a decomposition analysis, the contribution of each of the studied variables to the observed economic inequality was determined. All the findings were compared with the results of studies carried out in the years 2003 and 2008. In the year 2015, 29.9% of households incurred CHE. This amount was 12.6 and 11.8% in the 2003 and 2008 studies, respectively. The concentration index was - 0.017(confidence interval; − 0.086 to 0.051), which, unlike the CI calculated in the years 2003 and 2008, was not significant. The most important determinant affecting the exposure to CHE was inpatient service utilization (OR = 1.64). Comparing to the whole national wide findings in sum, in 2015, the amount of the exposure of the studied households to CHE was significant, and it in comparison with the results of the previous studies was increased. However, there was no significant economic inequality and the observed levels of inequalityin comparison with the results of the previous studies conducted in 2003 and 2008 were decreased.

Accidental needle-stick injuries (NSIs) are a hazard for health-care workers and general public health. Nursing workers are at high risk for occupational exposure to blood-borne pathogens (such as HBV, HCV and HIV) via sharp injuries of needle stick. This descriptive analytical cross-sectional study was done on 158 nursing workers of Khanevadeh Hospital in Tehran to assess needle stick injuries prevalence and related factors via a questionnaire in 2008. Data were processed through SPSS 16.0software using Pearson’s correlation coefficient, chi-square, independent t, and Fisher exact tests. About 40.5% of all participants were men and 59.5% were women. Mean age was 33.26 (8.03) years; 56.96% of participants had history of at least one needle stick injury and 22.15% of them had needle stick injury during last year. Injections were the most common action resulted to exposure (24.44%) and recapping of needles was at the second order (21.11%). Operation room had the highest prevalence (18.9%) of needle stick injuries among all wards of hospital. Emergency ward and ICU were next orders (15.6%). Exposed people believed that the most important and basic reason for needle stick injuries was patients crowdedness and hospital chaos (37.8%). There was no relation between ages, gender, years of professional life, education level and needle stick injuries but men used latex gloves less than women and did recapping needles more than them. The needle-stick injuries in nursing workers of Khanevadeh hospital (Tehran) were significantly less than other similar studies in Iran.

Background: Increased attention among healthcare workers, particularly nurses, is crucial for preventing medical errors and patient harm. This study uses an objective approach that overcomes the limitations of the subjective self-report measures employed in prior research on nurses’ attention. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from January to March 2023 among 108 nurses at Besat Hospital in Tehran, Iran. The data collected included demographic information, the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) for mental workload assessment, and the CogLab signal detection test for attention sensitivity measurement. Results: The participants exhibited a median mental workload of 68.5 (IQR = 14.9) and a median attention sensitivity of 52.5 (IQR = 39.2). Daily sleep duration was positively correlated with attention sensitivity (r = 0.644, p < 0.001), whereas mental workload was negatively correlated with attention sensitivity (r = -0.655, p < 0.001). Men demonstrated greater attention sensitivity (p = 0.040), and women reported greater mental workload (p = 0.043). Conclusion: Reducing daily sleep duration and increasing mental workload can diminish nurses’ attention sensitivity. Prioritizing adequate sleep and implementing strategies to reduce mental workload are crucial for enhancing nurse performance and patient safety.

Mehrdad Ghorbanlou, Fatemeh Moradi, Mohammad Hassan Kazemi-Galougahi, Maasoume Abdollahi. Anat Cell Biol 2024;57:45-60. https://doi.org/10.5115/acb.23.219