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Background The demand for cosmetic surgery is on the rise worldwide, making it the common form of surgery globally while the use of cosmetic surgery being exponentially high in Iran. The aim of this study was to investigate inequality in the use of cosmetic services and surgery (CSS) among Iranian households concerning demographic and socio-economic characteristics. Methods This study used data of 38960 Iranian household from the income-expenditure survey of the statistical center of Iran (SCI) in 2019. Concentration index (C) was used to measure inequalities in the use of CSS. Microsoft Excel sheet 2019 was used to extract the data, and the analysis was performed using Stata statistical package version 14.2. Results Households with female head, with single head, households with 3 - 4 people, headed with undergraduate education person, households with insurance coverage, with higher socio-economic quintiles, rural households and residents of northwestern Iran were accounted for the highest use of CSS. Also, according to the decomposition analysis, wealth and education level are the two main factors in creating inequality, with wealth, having the highest positive share (88.11%) and education level having the most negative share (-5.26%) in creating measured inequality. Conclusion The use of CSS is more concentrated in well-off households in Iran. As the resources of health system are limited, the government and the policy makers should have defined plans with regards to CSS use especially taking factors like socioeconomic status and education status of target groups in to account.

Background: Equity of access to health care services is one of the main goals of health system. Equity in resource distribution in health section constitutes one of the main dimensions of the equity. The aim of the study is determining how doctors, paramedics and hospital beds are distributed in Iran.Materials and Methods: This analytical study was conducted in Iran. Data on 2006-2013 were collected from Statistics Center of Iran and Iran Ministry of Health and Medical Education. After determining the population of 31 provinces and number of physician, paramedics and hospital beds in them, the equal distribution of these facilities and personnel were analyzed using Lorenz curve and Gini coefficient. Stata 12 and DASP2.2 were used for analyzing Gini index. Results: The total number of physicians, paramedics and hospital beds were 37,000, 217,000 and 138,000, respectively in 2013. Tehran as the capital of Iran had the highest percentage of beds among all provinces. The number of physicians, paramedics and hospital beds per 10,000 population of the country were 5.6, 31.3 and 18.5, respectively for 2013. The calculated Gini coefficients for each of them were 0.47, 0.39 and 0.58, respectively.Conclusion: According to Gini coefficients, physicians, paramedics and hospital beds have an unequal distribution throughout the country. However, these distributions are different in different provinces. We recommend creating a comprehensive and continuous monitoring system for equitable allocation of health care resources.[GMJ.2016;5(3):122-130]

Background: The increased use of diagnostic and therapeutic equipment and services increases the costs of the health system and insurance organizations. Evaluating the status of utilizing these services can provide a clear picture of the demand rate, responding process and methods of providing the relevant services. This study aimed to examine the status of using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) services among the insured people by one of the insurance companies.Methods: This research was a descriptive and cross-sectional study. The studied statistical population included all insured persons covered by a private insurance company that had used the MRI services provided in hospitals and other diagnostic and treatment centers in 2018-2019. The data were analyzed using STATA and GIS statistical software.Results: In one contractual year, 22,738,215 medical expenses records have been filed in the entire country, out of which, 119,761 records (0.5% of all cases) were related to MRI services. The shares of the basic (main) insurer and supplemental insurance related to this service of the total MRI costs were estimated as 52,946,159,376 Rials (1,259,860.6077 USD) and 231,303,021,838 Rials (5,503,884.87252 USD), respectively. In the study, 102,024 people have used MRI at least once a year. The average cost of using MRI services at each time in the country was 2,373,470 Rials (56.47702 USD). The average number of referrals in the whole country was 0.07 times. The highest frequency of referrals was in Lorestan and Qom provinces, while Kerman and Sistan and Baluchestan provinces had the lowest frequency of referrals. The overall rate of utilization of MRI services in the country was estimated to be 6%.Conclusion: In general, the study results suggested a high rate of using MRI services in Iran, which can be due to the 100% coverage of costs by insurance companies and the increased access to health diagnostic and treatment services in the country.