BackgroundAlthough the use of contraceptive hormones is a risk factor for development of breast cancer, level of risk is unknown; thus the current research was conducted to investigate the effect of factors related to fertility and hormone use on risk of breast cancer in women aged under 50 years old in the west of Iran.MethodsIn this case-control study, all incidence cases of breast cancer aged between 25–49 years old (n=212) were selected. Twice as many as the case group, the individuals referred to other outpatient sections of the same hospital at the time of study and up to 2 years after the follow-up not diagnosed with breast or other cancers were selected as a control group. The data were collected using healthy fertility program and middle-aged periodical care forms developed by Iran’s Ministry of Health (MOH).ResultsAfter controlling for confounding variables, history of hormonal use for contraception (OR=2.02, 95% CI=1.2–3.3) and hormone therapies (OR=1.9, 95% CI=1.2–3.04) were identified as factors increasing the risk of breast cancer. Dose-response relationships between breast cancer and the use of hormones for contraception and hormone therapy indicated that these factors increased the risk of breast cancer. The risk was found to be higher in women who had been under hormone therapy for more than 120 months. With an increase in the age of the first menstruation, risk of breast cancer increased linearly, but with an increase in the age of the first pregnancy, risk of breast cancer increased exponentially. After 20 years of age, the risk increased with a steeper slope.ConclusionConsidering the effect of hormone therapy and fertility factors on breast cancer and changeability of listed risk factors, the researchers suggest planning for sensitizing, increasing the awareness, and educating women and professionals regarding the influence of fertility and hormonal factors including pregnancy at lower ages, minimizing the use of hormones for contraception, and hormone therapy.

Background: Injection drug use (IDU) is one of the most dangerous and addictive methods of drug abuse. The current statistics showed that the rate of IDU is increasing, and is higher compared to other methods of drugs abuse. In addition, it is one of the main routes of transmitting infectious diseases, such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis in Iran. Objectives: In light of this, the present study aimed at examining the main factors, affecting the tendency for IDU. Patients and Methods: This study was a descriptive study of 823 individuals, having an active file at centers and referred to Kermanshah-based maintenance methadone therapy (MMT) centers, in 2015. Sample collection was performed through multi-stage sampling of all MMT centers. Information gathering was performed with the help of a Psychologist of the ward, in charge of interviewing the referees. The data were analyzed, using multi-variable logistic regression. Results: All the clients were males with an average age of 38.48 ± 11.21 years. Average age of drug abuse initiation was 23.03 ± 7.9 years. After controlling for confounding variables, the individuals, who were a drug addicts for more than 10 years had 3.01 (1.6 to 5.6) times greater tendencies for intravenous drug addiction, compared to those, who were a drug addict for less than five years. In addition, individuals aged more than 35 years had 0.06 (0.01-0.22) times less tendencies to IDU drugs, compared to those, who were younger than 19 years old. Although the type of drug that the patient used for the first time, was not affecting the tendency, the risk of intravenous drug addiction in those, who used oral drugs was 1.74 (1.1 to 2.56) times more than those, who developed a drug addiction through nasal drugs. Conclusions: By taking into consideration that drug abuse initiation and the duration of drug use were the main causes of the tendency for IDU, prevention by decreasing the age of the development of drug addiction and decreasing the duration of drug use, could be an effective measure to decrease the rate of IDU in the society.

Objectives: The aim of this study is to determine the epidemiology of substance use in terms of age of initiation, duration of use and age of patients when they seek the treatment. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on drug-dependent individuals (4176 subjects), who had referred to methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) centers of Kermanshah province, western Iran, during year 2015. The information was gathered by psychologists working in substance use wards, who interviewed clients seeking treatment. Results: Mean age of substance use initiation was 24.1 ± 8.2 year. On average, males and females became dependent on illegal drugs only after 3.6 and 2.5 year since substance use initiation, respectively. The chance of treatment failure for persons over 55 years was 2.5 (95%CI: 1.6-3.8) times higher than that for patients aged less than 24 years old. Generally, chance of treatment failure increased by 1.2 (1.1 to 1.3) for every one-year increase since substance use initiation. Conclusions: Given that the age of substance use initiation is very low in Kermanshah and it has a declining trend in Iran, and has a declining trend, increase/decrease in prevalence/age of using illegal drugs is expected unless efforts are made to change status and implement preventive programs.