AliAkbar Haghdoost

Kerman University of Medical Sciences | KMU · Epidemiology

Background Drug injection is a major health-related problem worldwide. Injection cessation and relapse to injection could significantly alter the risk of HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) among people who inject drugs (PWID). This study aimed to estimate the rate of injection cessation and relapse to injection among PWID in Iran. Methods This cohort...

Background: Opium use has been associated with an increased risk of cancers of the lung, oesophagus, and pancreas, and it was recently classified by the International Agency for Cancer Research as carcinogenic to humans. It is not clear whether opium also increases the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC). The aim of our study was to assess the associa...

Background Most people who inject drugs (PWID) in Iran have not undergone recent HIV testing. While PWID face barriers when seeking HIV testing at health facilities, HIV self-testing (HIVST) could be a promising approach to improve HIV testing uptake. We examined the awareness and willingness to use HIVST among PWID in Iran. We also identified part...

Background One of the critical factors affecting chronic diseases is the use of drugs, especially industrial substances, such as methamphetamine. Methamphetamine use is increasingly common among the younger members of society. Methamphetamine is not only physically and mentally destructive, but also has a significant impact on the families of abuse...

Background Many people with high-risk sexual or injection behaviors use harm reduction services with different identities and are therefore counted more than once in client databases. This practice results in inaccurate statistics on the number of clients served and the effective reach of these services. This study aimed to determine the levels of...

In the current study, we aimed to calculate the fraction of cancer attributable to modifiable risk factors in Iran in 2020. Population attributable fractions (PAFs) were calculated for established cancer risk factors using three data sources: the national cancer incidence reports, relative risks extracted from global and national meta-analyses, and...

Although over three years have passed since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, this disease remains a significant public health concern in Iran and around the world. It is essential to acknowledge that the current situation does not signify an end to the epidemic, and measures must be taken across various levels of prevention, treatment, and polic...

Globally, bladder cancer has been identified as one of the most frequent occupational cancers, but our understanding of occupational bladder cancer risk in Iran is less advanced. This study aimed to assess the risk of bladder cancer in relation to occupation in Iran. We used the IROPICAN case-control study data including 717 incident cases and 3477...

Abstract Background Neuromotor rehabilitation and improvement of upper limb functions are necessary to improve the life quality of patients who have experienced injuries or have pathological outcomes. Modern approaches, such as robotic-assisted rehabilitation can help to improve rehabilitation processes and thus improve upper limb functions. Theref...

Background: The dynamic and systemic planning and targeting in the health system require attention to all the system's components and investigation of their causal relationship in order to form a clear view and image of it. Therefore, the present study was designed with the aim of identifying the comprehensive dimensions of the system within a spe...

Importance: The protein-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccines FINLAY-FR-2 (Soberana 02) and FINLAY-FR-1A (Soberana Plus) showed good safety and immunogenicity in phase 1 and 2 trials, but the clinical efficacy of the vaccine remains unknown. Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of a 2-dose regimen of FINLAY-FR-2 (cohort 1) and a 3-dose regimen of...

Background Sexual dysfunction (SD) is a common complaint among multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with a significant impact on the quality of life (QoL) of afflicted couples. The purpose of this study was to determine sexual satisfaction (SS) in the spouses of MS patients and its impact on the QoL. Methods A total of 214 spouses of MS patients were...

Background: Many people with high-risk sexual or injection behaviors use harm reduction services with different identities and therefore counted more than once in client databases. This practice results in inaccurate statistics on the number of clients served and therefore the effective reach of these services. This study aimed to determine the lev...

Background: People who inject drugs (PWID) continue to experience the highest burden of hepatitis C virus (HCV). We aimed to characterize HCV antibody prevalence, determinants of infection, and the cascade of engagement in HCV care among PWID in Iran. Methods: Participants were recruited in 11 cities of Iran using respondent-driven sampling. PWI...

People living with HIV who inject drugs may have lower access to treatment services. We aimed to assess the HIV continuum of care among people who inject drugs (PWID) in Iran. Data were collected from 2,663 PWID who were recruited via respondent-driven sampling from 11 cities of Iran between June 2019 and March 2020. Participants who tested positiv...

Background Bladder cancer is one of the most prevalent and costly cancers in the world. Estimating the economic burden of bladder cancer is essential for allocating resources to different sectors of health systems and determining the appropriate payment mechanisms. The present study aimed at estimating the economic burden of bladder cancer in Iran....

Abstract Background Lack of accurate and timely diagnosis of hepatitis poses obstacles to effective treatment, disease progression prevention, complication reduction, and life-saving interventions of patients. Utilizing machine learning can greatly enhance the achievement of timely and precise disease diagnosis. Therefore, we carried out this syste...

Background: Female sex workers (FSWs) are at higher risk of HIV due to high-risk sexual and drug use related behaviors. This study characterized sexualized substance use among FSWs in Iran. Methods: In 2015, 1,337 FSWs were recruited from centers for vulnerable women and through outreach efforts in 13 major cities in Iran. Data were collected via f...

Background The absence of a referral system and patients’ freedom to choose among service providers in Iran have led to increased patient mobility, which continues to concern health policymakers in the country. This study aimed to determine factors associated with patient mobility rates within the provinces of Iran. Methods This cross-sectional st...

Abstract Background Incarcerated people are at a disproportionate risk of contracting HIV. We estimated the prevalence and correlates of HIV testing among incarcerated people with a history of HIV-related high-risk behaviours in Iran. Methods Data for this analysis were obtained from three consecutive nationwide bio-behavioural surveillance surveys...

Background Health promotion is an essential dimension of sustainable development in any country. It has a high degree of complexity, with numerous components interacting both inside and outside of the system, so having a systemic and forward-looking approach is essential to planning for the future. Methods The research has been designed based on s...

Background: Drying up of lakes is among the most important environmental disasters, which could have a great impact on human health. Since public perception is important in shaping behavior and policy-making, this study was conducted to evaluate the public perception about the health effects of Lake Urmia drying up. Methods: In this cross-sectional...

Background: To improve healthcare services’ quality, countries should measure their health systems’ efficiency and performance by robust methods. Objectives: We aimed to develop a national study to measure the efficiency of the health system in Iran. Methods: The literature review identified several methods for measuring efficiency; the most common...

Background The actual number of deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to be higher than the reported deaths. We aimed to estimate the number of deaths in Iran during the COVID-19 pandemic from December 22, 2019 to March 20, 2022. Methods We compared the number of age- and sex-specific deaths reported by Iran’s Bureau of Vital Statistics...

Background Globally, lung cancer is the most frequent occupational cancer, but the risk associated with the occupations or occupational environment in Iran is not clear. We aimed to assess occupations with the risk of lung cancer. Methods We used the IROPICAN nationwide case–control study data including 658 incident lung cancer cases and 3477 cont...

Abstract Background: Upper limb (UL) disabilities have attracted worldwide attention due to the high economic costs of health care and the negative effects on the quality of life of patients with these disabilities. Telerehabilitation technologies are one of the most important ways to reduce rehabilitation costs and increase the quality of life of...

Climate change is likely to increase the risk of drought which impacts on health are not quite known well due to its creeping nature. This study maps the publications on the consequences of drought on human health, directly or indirectly, from January 2008 to December 2018. We searched Scopus, Web of Science, PsycINFO, google scholar and Pubmed. 37...

Opium use was recently classified as a human carcinogen for lung cancer by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. We conducted a large, multicentre case‐control study evaluating the association between opium use and the risk of lung cancer. We recruited 627 cases and 3477 controls from May 2017 to July 2020. We used unconditional logistic...

Background: Among interventional studies, randomized controlled trials (RCTs) provide the highest level of evidence. However, RCTs can be susceptible to the risk of bias (RoB). Systematic reviews can be performed to appraise RoB in the included articles using evaluative tools. This study aimed to describe the main characteristics and focus on the...

Background and Objectives: Dementia is a chronic disease that imposes a huge financial and social burden on the health system. Knowledge of the prevalence of dementia is essential for healthcare planning and ensuring that there is an adequate service for people with the condition. Considering that the prevalence and geographical variation of dement...

Background: Coronavirus is one of the major pathogens of the human respiratory system and a major threat to the human health. Objectives: This modeling study aimed to project the epidemics trend of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Qom, Iran Methods: This study projected the COVID-19 outbreak in Qom using a modified susceptible-exposed-infecti...

Introduction: Being aware of the relationships between risk and protective factors could be helpful to control and prevent diseases. The disease system analysis will be more complex with increasing risk and protective factors. Therefore, in this article, we use Bayesian Networks (BNs) to investigate the relationship between variables and predict th...

Objectives Drought is a worldwide problem that is increasing in occurrence and severity. It results from climate change and anthropogenic factors and results in social, economic, environmental and health adverse effects. This study explained the health impacts of drought in a province of Iran, a country in the Middle East with widespread drought an...

COVID-19 is spreading all over Iran, and Kerman is one of the most affected cities. We conducted this study to predict COVID-19-related deaths, hospitalization, and infected cases under different scenarios (scenarios A, B, and C) by 31 December 2021 in Kerman. We also aimed to assess the impact of new COVID-19 variants and vaccination on the total...

Background: Incarcerated people are at a disproportionate risk of contracting HIV. We estimated the prevalence and correlates of HIV testing among incarcerated people with a history of HIV-related high-risk behaviours in Iran. Methods: Data for this analysis were obtained from three consecutive nationwide bio-behavioural surveillance surveys of a r...

This study aimed to determine the prevalence and the correlation between early sexual intercourse and its consequences among men who inject drugs (MWID) in Iran. In this cross-sectional survey, 2399 subjects who inject drugs were recruited using facility-based sampling from ten cities in 2014. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data reg...

The present study investigates different scenarios to project the chance of achieving SDG 3.4 in Iran. In this study, the Iranian Death Registry System data was employed to estimate the Unconditional Probability of Dying (UPoD) for the four major categories of NCDs; then, the Bayesian model averaging was used to project the UPoD at the national and...

Background: Bladder cancer (BC) is the 10th most common type of cancer worldwide and the fourth most common type of cancer in Iran. Opium use is considered as one of the risk factors for BC. We aim to assess the association between various parameters of opium use, which in Iran is mainly ingested or smoked in various forms, and the risk of BC. Me...

Injection drug use has been the leading route of HIV transmission in Iran. We assessed HIV prevalence, risk behaviors, and uptake of prevention services among people who inject drugs (PWID) in Iran between 2010 and 2020. We also examined the individual and environmental determinants of HIV among PWID. PWID were recruited in major cities across the...

Background: Bladder cancer is among the 10 most common cancers globally and in Iran. The prevalence rate is a crucial metric for both estimating disease burden and policymakers. On the other hand, bladder cancer is a heterogeneous disease with different stages, high recurrence, and progression rate. In planning treatment procedures, it is important...

Introduction Mapping and population size estimates of people who inject drugs (PWID) provide information needed for monitoring coverage of programs and planning interventions. The objectives of this study were to provide the locations and numbers of PWID in eight cities in Afghanistan and extrapolate estimates for the country as a whole. Methods M...

Background The institutionalization of evidence-informed health policy-making (EIHP) is complex and complicated. It is complex because it has many players and is complicated because its institutionalization will require many changes that will be challenging to make. Like many other issues, strengthening EIHP needs a road map, which should consider...

Background Pancreatic cancer (PC) is ranked as the seventh leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. The current study was conducted to explore the correlation between the use of opium and its derivatives (opium) and PC in Iran. Methods In this case-control study which was conducted in Kerman province, south east part of Iran; 176 patients with PC...

Background Although various studies have been conducted on the effects of seasonal climate changes or emotional variables on the risk of AMI, many of them have limitations to determine the predictable model. The currents study is conducted to assess the effects of meteorological and emotional variables on the incidence and epidemiological occurrenc...

Background:People who inject drugs (PWID) are at higher risk for HIV and may have lower access to care and treatment services when infected. We aimed to assess the HIV continuum of care among PWID in Iran. Methods:We collected data from 2,663 PWIDwho self-reported injection drug use at least once during the past 12 months. They were recruited via r...

Background: The need for informed policymaking highlights the importance of data on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevalence on key populations. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we aimed to provide an overview of HIV prevalence in men who have sex with men (MSM) in Iran. Methods: We searched literature published between January 200...

Background: Prisoners are at higher risk for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) than the general population. This study reported the prevalence and correlated factors of STI-related symptoms among male prisoners in Iran. Methods: Participants were selected from 27 prisons across 16 Iranian provinces in 2013 using a multistage cluster sampling (...

Background: The repetitive and prolonged exertion of grip and pinch strength are current among carpet weaver tasks. The three objectives of this study were (1) to investigate the relationship between symptoms of musculoskeletal disorders and grip and pinch strength of carpet weavers in carpet weaving workshops in Kerman province, (2) to compare the...

Background and purpose: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic neurological disorder. Prevalence estimates of the disease are pivotal for planning and appropriate allocation of health care. The present study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of PD and its geographic variations in Iran. Materials and methods: In this cross-sectional study,...

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Background: Monitoring and detecting adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in hospitals is crucial to improving drug safety and healthcare delivery quality. Nevertheless, there was not enough information on ADR incidence and its figure in Iran. Aim: this study aimed to determine the incidence of ADRs in hospitalized patients and investigate their character...

NSU studies have been applied in different countries. For example, this technique has been used in the United States to estimate the number of women who had been raped in the last year.

Understanding and measuring the burden of HIV faces several remaining challenges around the globe. HIV prevention, care, and treatment efforts, including advocacy for populations at risk of HIV, the design and implementation of national guidelines, monitoring the coverage of HIV programs and evaluating their impact, are not feasible without relativ...

Systematic HIV program evaluation requires looking at all steps of the HIV cascade of care, from diagnosis to treatment outcomes. Our study was carried out to assess the treatment cascade of people living with HIV (PLWH) in Iran in 2019. We used data from the HIV Case Registry System of Iran through December 2019. We estimated the number of PLWH in...

The spiritual dimension of health is the subject of much controversy; since it is not seen as a purely scientific and quantifiable aspect of health. However, it is exactly this quality of spiritual health that makes the thorough examination of the concept worthwhile. Furthermore, a comprehensive assessment of the theoretical concepts associated wit...

Background: During the first months of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, Iran reported high numbers of infections and deaths. In the following months, the burden of this infection decreased significantly, possibly due to the impact of a package of interventions. We modeled the dynamics of COVID-19 infection in Iran to quantify the...

Background Bladder cancer is one of the common cancers. Currently some studies found an association between opium use and incidence of bladder cancer, however, underreporting and detection bias was high in the previous studies and also some of them did not adjust their results for confounding variables and had small sample size, various and unclear...

Background : The most common drug, illegally used in Iran is opium. The treatment of people with substance use disorder is one of the most important strategies in reducing its burden. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of different increasing and decreasing opium treatment coverage on the patterns of abstinence, transition to heroi...

Background There are relatively scant data to determine whether hospital visitors could serve as a proper source of controls in substance abuse case-control studies. The aim of this study was to evaluate using neighborhood versus hospital visitor controls in reporting opium use. Methods We conducted two independent case-control studies of cancer in...

Propose Underreporting of Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) reduces the sensitivity of pharmacovigilance systems. We described ADR reporting and its trend from 1999 to 2017 and estimated the ADR underreporting in the Iranian Pharmacovigilance Center. Methods We expressed the number of ADR reporting per inhabitants and admissions and their possible tre...

Background: The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) recently classified opium use as a Group 1 carcinogen. However, much remains to be studied on the relation between opium and cancer. We designed the Iranian Opium and Cancer (IROPICAN) study to further investigate the association of opium use and cancers of the head and neck, bladd...

Background: The health sector evolution plan was implemented in 2014 in government hospitals across the country as a part of the universal health coverage achievement programs. This study assessed the performance of hospitals before and after the implementation of this plan, using the Pabon Lasso model. Methods: The population of this study consist...

Background: The present study is designed to predict the global adjusted values for mortality rate and case fatality rate of COVID-19 around the world. Methods: This research was conducted at the ecological level using data from 100 countries which were chosen randomly. The adjusted values were predicted using beta regression considering predictive...

Background Some epidemiologic studies have reported a sharp increase in multiple sclerosis (MS) incidence in different provinces in Iran. This report aimed to investigate more closely the increasing trend of MS incidence in the past 10 years in Iran. Methods In this longitudinal study, the data for all MS patients meeting the McDonald criteria wer...

Background: Higher mortality due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is reported among some immunocompromised patients; however, the relation between immunosuppression due to HIV infection and severity of COVID-19 infection remains unclear. We aimed to investigate the severity and mortality of COVID-19 infection in HIV-infected patients. Methods...

Background: Bladder cancer (BC) is the 10th most common type of cancer worldwide and the 4th most common type of cancer in Iran. Opium use is considered as one of the risk factors for BC. We aim to assess the association between various parameters of opium use, which in Iran is mainly ingested or smoked in various formats, and the risk of BC. Meth...