Background One of the leading health indicators during the COVID-19 crisis is health literacy and health-promoting behaviors. The present study aimed to investigate health literacy and health-promoting behaviors among women hospitalized during the COVID-19 pandemic in the southern part of Iran in 2020. Methods This descriptive-analytical study encompassed 465 women hospitalized and treated in none teaching hospitals affiliated with the Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. Data collection tools were the Health Literacy for Iranian Adults (HELIA) and Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile II (HPLP-II). The collected data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical methods. Results The mean scores of the participants’ "health literacy" and "health-promoting behaviors" were 64.41 ± 11.31 and 112.23 ± 16.09, respectively, indicating the poor level of health literacy and the average level of health-promoting behaviors. Moreover, there was a significant direct correlation between health literacy and health-promoting behaviors (P < 0.001, r = 0.471). Furthermore, all health literacy dimensions of comprehension (P < 0.001), accessibility (P < 0.001), reading skills (P < 0.001), evaluation (P = 0.002), and decision making and behavior (P = 0.003) were detected as the predictors of health-promoting behaviors. Further, statistically significant relationships were noticed between the mean score of health literacy with age (r =  − 0.327, P = 0.007), level of education (F = 3.119, P = 0.002), and place of residence (t = 2.416, P = 0.004) and between health-promoting behaviors with level of education (F = 3.341, P = 0.001) and marital status (F = 2.868, P = 0.02). Conclusion According to the findings, health policymakers should adopt national measures for educational planning to promote health literacy and support health-promoting behaviors to encourage women to adopt a healthy lifestyle.

patients in critical conditions are hospitalized and treated with various protocols including antiviral drugs, which have been updated repeatedly. This study was aimed to analyze the demographics, costs, and outcomes of drug regimens in COVID-19 patients hospitalized in ''Ali Asghar'' hospital, affiliated with Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, from March 2019 to December 2020 as a retrospective study, approved by the ethics committee of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (IR.SUMS.REC.1399.1003) on Dec. 28, 2020. Using hospital information system (HIS) data, 2174 patients receiving favipiravir, remdesivir, interferon-b, and Kaletra Ò were analyzed. Descriptive, univariate, and regression analyses were used. The costs and consequences of different drug regimens were significantly different (P value \ 0.05); the highest and lowest costs belonged to remdesivir and Kaletra Ò , respectively. The highest and lowest mean length of stay and mortality were related to remdesivir and favipiravir, respectively. Mortality did not differ significantly with various regimens. Length of stay was significantly shorter with favipiravir and Kaletra Ò than interferon-b. Remdesivir had significantly the highest cost. Age presented a significantly positive relationship with mortality and length of stay. Besides, ICU admission significantly increased mortality, length of stay, and costs. Underlying diseases and low blood oxygen saturation contributed to mortality. COVID-19 correlation with age and underlying diseases is accordant with the published data. Given the highest costs and broad usage of remdesivir, besides controversies regarding its outcomes and side effects, a stricter evaluation of remdesivir benefits seems essential. Totally, COVID-19 therapeutic protocols should be selected carefully to optimize costs and outcomes.

Background:The World Health Organization (WHO) has placed special emphasis on protecting households from health care expenditures. Many households face catastrophic health expenditures (CHEs) from a combination of economic poverty and financing the treatment of medical conditions. The present study aimed to measure the percentage of households facing catastrophic CHEs and the factors associated with the occurrence of CHEs in Shiraz, Iran in 2018.Methods:The present cross-sectional study was performed on 740 randomly selected households from different districts of Shiraz, Iran in 2018 using a multi-stage sampling method. Data were collected using the Persian version of the "WHO Global Health Survey” questionnaire. CHEs were defined as health expenditures exceeding 40% of households’ capacity to pay. The associations between the households’ characteristics and facing CHEs were determined using the Chi-Square test as well as multiple logistic regression modelling in SPSS 23.0 at the significance level of 5%. Results:The results showed that 16.48% of studied households had faced CHEs. The higher odds of facing CHEs were observed in the households living in rented houses (OR=3.14, P-value<0.001), households with disabled members (OR=27.98, P-value<0.001), households with children under 5 years old (OR=2.718, P-value=0.02), and those without supplementary health insurance coverage (OR=1.87, P-value=0.01).Conclusion:CHEs may be reduced by increasing the use of supplementary health insurance coverage by individuals and households, increasing the support of the Social Security and the State Welfare Organizations for households with disabled members, developing programs such as the Integrated Child Care Programs, and setting home rental policies and housing policies for tenants.

The authors have withdrawn this preprint due to author disagreement.

Background Urban family physician program (UFPP) is initiated as pilot by policy makers as a main reform in future of primary health care in Iran. Despite an ongoing pilot implementation of this program from 2012, it remains a main question about providing sufficient number of general practitioners (GPs). This study aimed to investigate the factors which affect GPs' decision to join in the UFPP.Methods In this national cross-sectional study, data were gathered by a self-report questionnaire from 601 GPs. The multivariate logistic regression was applied to explore the demographic, practice and views determinants of the tendency of GPs to join in the UFPP.Results More than half of GPs (58.6%) participated in the study had a positive tendency to join in the UFPP. Older GPs (adjusted OR=3.72; 95%CI: 1.05-13.09), working in public sector (adjusted OR=2.26; 95%CI: 1.43-3.58), lower income level (adjusted OR=6.69; 95%CI:2.95-15.16), higher economic expectations (adjusted OR=2.08; 95%CI: 1.19-3.63), and higher satisfaction from medicine profession (adjusted OR=2.00; 95%CI: 1.14-3.51) were the main factors which increased the GPs tendency to join UFPP.Conclusions decision for joining in the program is mainly affected by GPs' economic status. This clarifies that if the program can make them closer to their target income, they would be more likely to decide for joining in the program.