Objectives and background People with diabetes (PWD) are one of the high-risk groups for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection, increasing the disease mortality. This study was aimed to compare the epidemiological characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 in diabetic versus non-diabetic individuals. Methods In this retrospective observational study, the epidemiological characteristics of the two groups of diabetic ( n =1365) and non-diabetic ( n =15,026) subjects with definite diagnosis of COVID-19 in the southwestern region of Iran were compared. All clinical signs and comorbidities of the patients were evaluated. Chi-square test was used to examine the differences in qualitative variables between diabetic and non-diabetic groups. Results Of 16,391 enrolled subjects, 8.3% had diabetes, and 28.3% of COVID-19-related deaths occurred in diabetics. Also, the mortality rate among diabetics was reported as 14.3%. The average age of diabetic patients and non-diabetic patients was 59 and 37 years, respectively. The odds of fever, cough, shortness of breath, headache, and underlying diseases, such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, chronic lung disease, immune deficiency, and hyperlipidemia, were significantly higher in diabetic patients than in non-diabetics. Conclusion Diabetes is associated with increased mortality rate in patients with COVID-19 and is considered as a major risk factor for COVID-19 infection, posing a major public health challenge for health policymakers in managing and controlling the disease. Therefore, development of prevention and treatment strategies aimed at reducing COVID-19 morbidity and mortality in diabetes patients is of significant importance.

Background: COVID-19 spread rapidly throughout the world and affected many people. The purpose of this study was to investigate the epidemiological characteristics of patients with COVID-19 in southwest of Iran from February 19 to June 20, 2020. Methods: In this retrospective study, the epidemiological characteristics of 7313 patients with COVID-19 in southwest of Iran were analyzed and reported from February 19, 2020, to the end of Jun,2020. Data were extracted from electronic records in hospitals. Sex ratio and mortality rate of the disease were calculated. A multiple logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the factors affecting mortality. Results: From all patients studied, 3920 (53.5%) were men and 2066 (28.24%) were in the age 30 to 40 years age group. The case fatality rate of the disease based on the total number of patients (hospitalized and nonhospitalized) was 4.84%. The highest mortality rate was seen in patients with various cancers and in those aged over 80 years. The most common symptoms in patients were fever and cough, diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases. Logistic regression results also showed that the chances of death in the 70-60 and 80-70 years age group were 5.94 (OR, 5.94; 95% CI, 2.14-16.43) and 8.63 (OR, 8.63, 95% CI, 3.09-24.14) compared to 10-20 years age group. Conclusion: These results indicate the need to increase primary care, provide the necessary equipment to treat patients, and more importantly, early identification of patients and treatment for them.

Background: Suicide is a major public health concern with diversity in epidemiological aspects and applied methods. In this study, we estimate years of life lost (YLLs) related to completed suicidal in the Fars province, southern Iran. Methods: Our study included data of all mortality events during 2011-2018 from Fars Suicide Surveillance System (FSSS). The validity of qualitative and quantitative variables was assessed through contrasting data between different sources and phone call justification. Case-fatality rates, age-specific and gender-specific mortality rates, ASR (age standardized rate), and YLLs through WHO’s 2015 "YLL template" were calculated. Results: During the study period, 2384 mortalities with a mean age of 32.73±15.65 had been registered. Most of them were males (male: 70.05% vs. female: 29.95%; male-female ratio: 2.33), hanging was the most frequent method (29.94%), and an increasing pattern in successful suicidal attempts was observed. The total YLLs were calculated to be 58669 years (14.71 per 1000 persons). Regardless of year or gender, suicide had the largest YLLs amongst those aged 15-29 years. Conclusion: Regarding the increasing trend in YLLs and observing the highest rate of successful suicidal attempts amongst active and productive members of community, a comprehensive inter organizational reaction is demanded.

Background: Burns constitute one of the most important etiologies of infection and mortality worldwide, with the most significant number of cases in low- and middle-income countries. This is a cross-sectional study on deaths due to burns in southern Iran. Methods: In this study, data on all deaths due to burns in southern Iran between 2004 and 2019 was extracted from the population-based Electronic Death Registry System (EDRS). The Joinpoint Regression method was used to examine the trend of crude mortality rate, standardized mortality rate, and years of life lost (YLL) rate. In order to measure YLL, the number of deaths and life expectancy for different age and gender groups were used, for which the standard life table was considered. Results: During this study, 2175 deaths due to burns occurred, 50.6% (1106 cases) of which were in men and 38.7% (841 cases) were in the 15-29 age group. The crude and the standardized mortality rate had a decreasing trend during the study years. The total number of YLL was 25260 (0.8 per 1000) in men, 25,785 (0.8 per 1000) in women, and 51,045 (0.8 per 1000) in both genders during the 16 years of the study. Conclusion: Considering the high mortality rate in the 15-29 age group, which consists of the active and productive labor force, necessary actions are needed in order to improve safety equipment and to make the workplace safe.

Introduction. Hypertension is known worldwide as a preventable significant risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and their mortality. This study was designed to determine the mortality rate and years of life lost (YLL) due to hypertension in Fars Province. Method. In this cross-sectional study, we extracted all death reports due to hypertension based on age, gender, and the year of death based on ICD-10 from the EDRS system (Electronic Death Registration System). The YLL analysis due to premature death related to hypertension was executed by the 2015 YLL template from WHO in EXCEL 2016 software. To examine the trend of crude and standardized mortality rates and YLL rates for different years, joinpoint regression was used based on the log-linear model. Results. In the 16 years that the study was done (2004–2019), 13443 death cases occurred in the Fars Province, 51.0% of which (6859 cases) were in females and 48.5% (6515 cases) of which were in the 80+ age group. Total YLL due to hypertension in these 16 years of study was 61,344 (1.9 per 1000) in males, 64,903 (2.1 per 1000) in females, and 126,247 (2.0 in 1000) in both genders. According to the joinpoint regression analysis, the 16-year trend of YLL rate due to premature mortality was increasing: the average annual percent change (AAPC) was 4.9% (95% CI −2.6 to 12.85, p   v a l u e = 0.205 ) for males and 8.4% (95% CI 5.2 to 11.7, p value <0.001) for females. Conclusion. Considering the increasing trend in crude and standardized mortality rates and YLL due to hypertension, it is important for policymakers and decision makers of Health Policy Centers to promote and inform people about the importance of hypertension control and to familiarize them with proper, preventive interventions such as the importance of a healthy diet, routine physical activity, and routine learning programs for different groups in the society especially for people at a higher risk of hypertension.