Background: The current study aimed to identify effective factors on the death among COVID-19 patients. Methods: All articles published in the period Jan 1, 2020, to Mar 23, 2020, written in English and reporting factors associated with COVID-19 mortality were reviewed. The random-effects model with 95% CI was used to calculate the pooled Odds Ratio (OR) and Hazard Ratio (HR). Data were analyzed using Stata ver.11.0. Results: The older age OR: 1.21(1.10-1.33) and male gender OR: 1.41(1.04-1.89) were most prone to death due to COVID-19. The Comorbidity with some chronic diseases such as Diabetes type2 OR: 2.42(1.06-5.52), Hypertension OR: 2.54(1.21-5.32), Kidney disorder OR: 2.61(1.22-5.60), Respiratory disorder 3.09 (1.39-6.88) and Heart diseases OR: 4.37 (1.13-16.90) can increase the risk of COVID19 mortality. Conclusion: Infection with COVID-19 is associated with substantial mortality mainly in older patients with comorbidities. We found the significant effect of age, gender and comorbidities such as Diabetes Mellitus, Hypertension, Kidney disorders and Heart diseases on the risk of death in patients with COVID-19. The factors associated with mortality found in this research can help to recognize patients with COVID-19 who are at higher risk of a poor prognosis. Monitoring these factors can serve to give early warning for the appropriate interventions.

One of the reasons for high mortality of breast cancer (BC) is long delay in seeking medical care and end stage at presentation. This study was designed to measure the association between a wide range of socio-demographic and clinical factors with diagnostic delay in BC and stage at presentation among Iranian patients. From June 2017 to December 2019, 725 patients with newly diagnosed BC in Shiraz and Kermanshah were selected and information on BC diagnosis delay was obtained from the patient’s medical record. Data on socio-economic status was obtained via a structured interview. Our findings suggest that 45.8% of the patients were diagnosed at a late stage (stage 3 or higher). A total of 244 (34%) patients had more than 3 months delay in diagnosis. We found a significant association between stage at diagnosis and place of residence (adjusted odds ratio (aOR rural vs. urban = 1.69, 95% CI 1.49–1.97), marital status (aOR 1.61, 95% CI 1.42–1.88), family history of BC (aOR 1.46, 95% CI 1.01–2.13), and history of benign breast disease (BBD) (aOR 1.94, 95% CI 1.39–2.72) or unaware of breast self-examination (BSE) (aOR 1.42, 95% CI 1.42–1.85), delay time (aOR 3.25, 95% CI 1.04–5.21), and left breast tumor (aOR right vs. left 2.64, 95% CI 1.88–3.71) and smoking (aOR no vs. yes 1.59, 95% CI 1.36–1.97). Also, delay in diagnosis was associated with age, family income, health insurance, place of residence, marital status, menopausal status, history of BBD, awareness of breast self-examination, type of first symptoms, tumor histology type, BMI and comorbidity (p < 0.05 for all). Factors including history of BBD, awareness of BSE, and suffering from chronic diseases were factors associated with both delay in diagnosis and end stage of disease. These mainly modifiable factors are associated with the progression of the disease.

No abstract

Background: Junk food intake is associated with high salt and high caloric intake and is one of the causes of overweight/obesity. Objectives: To assess the prevalence of junk food consumption in snack times and its association with obesity and overweight in high school girl students in a deprived area of Qom. Method: A cross-sectional study was done in 638 high school girls who were selected using the multistage random sampling method. Overweight/obesity was measured using body mass index (BMI) and a questionnaire was used to ascertain the daily, weekly, monthly, three monthly and occasional junk food consumption. Chi square test and t-test were used to analyse the collected data. Results: Mean age of participants was 15.77±0.73 years (range 15-18 years). The prevalence of underweight and overweight in study subjects was 23.2% and 11.4% respectively. BMI was not significantly related to some junk foods (p>0.05). Nevertheless, chocolate/soft drinks were associated _________________________________________