It seems that younger individuals and women are more desired to use new synthetic drugs such as crystal methamphetamine. Extending the preventive programs especially in youth as like as scaling up harm reduction services would be the main priorities in prevention and control of substance use in Iran. Because of poor service coverage and high stigma in women, more targeted programs in this affected population are needed.

Background: In Islamic countries alcohol consumption is considered as against religious values. Therefore, estimation of frequency of alcohol consumptions using direct methods is prone to different biases. In this study, we indirectly estimated the frequency of alcohol use in Iran, in network of a representative sample using network scale up (NSU) method. Methods: In a national survey, about 400 participants aged above 18 at each province, around 12 000 in total, were recruited. In a gender-match face to face interview, respondents were asked about the number of those who used alcohol (even one episode) in previous year in their active social network, classified by age and gender. The results were corrected for the level of visibility of alcohol consumption. Results: The relative frequency of alcohol use at least once in previous year, among general population aged above 15, was estimated at 2.31% (95% CI: 2.12%, 2.53%). The relative frequency among males was about 8 times higher than females (4.13% versus 0.56%). The relative frequency among those aged 18 to 30 was 3 times higher than those aged above 30 (3.97% versus 1.36%). The relative frequency among male aged 18 to 30 was about 7%. Conclusion: It seems that the NSU is a feasible method to monitor the relative frequency of alcohol use in Iran, and possibly in countries with similar culture. Alcohol use was lower than non-Muslim countries, however, its relative frequency, in particular in young males, was noticeable.

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Background:Abortions are of major public health concern in developing countries. In settings in which abortion is highly prohibited, the direct interview is not a reliable method to estimate the abortion rate. The indirect estimation methods to measure the rate of abortion might overcome this dilemma; They are practical methods to estimate the size of the hidden group who do not agree to participate in a direct interview.Objectives:The aim of this study was to explore the practicality of an indirect method for estimating the abortion rate , Known as Network Scale-up, and to provide an estimate about the episode of abortion with and without medical indications (AWMI+ and AWMI-) in Iran.Materials and Methods:This cross-sectional study was conducted in 31 provinces of Iran in 2012. A random sample between 200 and 1000 was selected in each province by the multistage sampling method that 75% of the data were collected from the capital and 25% from one main city. We selected samples from urban people more than 18 years old (12960) and we asked them about the number of abortion in women they knew who had experienced the medical and non-medical abortions in the past year. A range for the transparency factor was estimated based on the expert opinion.Results:The range of the transparency factors for AWMI+ and AWOMI- were 0.43-0.75 and 0.2-0.34, respectively. Regarding the AWMI+, our minimum and maximum estimations (per 1000 pregnancies) were 70.54 and 116.9, respectively. The corresponding figures for AWMI- were 93.18, and 148.7.Conclusions:The frequency rates for AWMI+ and AWMI- were relatively high. Therefore, the system has to address to this hidden problem using the appropriate preventive policies.

In nontrauma adult patients, triage time SI, MSI, and Age SI are superior to blood pressure for mortality prediction in ESI level 2. They can be used alone or in combination with similar results, but their low sensitivity and specificity make them usable only as an adjunct for this purpose.