The outbreak of 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has become a public health emergency of international concern. The number of COVID-infected individuals and related deaths continues to rise rapidly. Encouraging people to adopt and sustain preventive behaviors is a central focus of public health policies that seek to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Public health policy needs improved methods to encourage people to adhere to COVID-19-preventive behaviors. In this paper, we introduce a number of insights from behavioral economics that help explain why people may behave irrationally during the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, present bias, status quo bias, framing effect, optimism bias, affect heuristic, and herding behavior are discussed. We hope this paper will shed light on how insights from behavioral economics can enrich public health policies and interventions in the fight against COVID-19.

PurposeIn Iran, the most common cause of injuries and the second leading cause of deaths are traffic accidents, and those problems impose a substantial financial burden on the society. This study aims to determine traffic accident mortality trends and their epidemiologic characteristics in the Kermanshah province, west of Iran.MethodsIn a cross sectional study, road traffic fatality data from 2004 to 2013 were analyzed to determine the epidemiological pattern of traffic accident mortality. Trend assessment was performed to ascertain the decreasing or increasing status. Chi-square and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests, as well as Poisson regression were used to determine the significance of the data in time. Data were analyzed using Excel and statistical package of SPSS version 19.ResultsOut of 5110 people that died in traffic accidents, 4024 (78.7%) were males. The state of accidents indicated that 404 (43.8%) female pedestrians died as a result of car crashes, and 1330 (41.4%) males died because of car collisions. 1554 (31.9%) deaths happened to pedestrians and 1556 (32.1%) to vehicle drivers, and the rest belonged to vehicle passengers. Head trauma was the cause of death for as much as 3400 (69.9%) cases. Fatal crashes in which pedestrians were involved mostly occurred between the hours 13:00 to 15:00, while the time for vehicle drivers was between 16:00 to 18:00. 2882 people (59.1%) died before reaching to health care facilities. Traffic crash mortality trend for pedestrians follows a linear pattern with a gentle downward slope, but the trend shows various swings when it comes to vehicle drivers.ConclusionThe number of traffic crash deaths from 2004 to 2013 indicates a decreasing trend in two groups of road users: vehicle drivers and car occupants. This can be due to some interventions such as modification of traffic rules and enhancement of police control which has been implemented in recent years. Moreover, more attention should be paid to promote the optimal health care services to save the lives of the injured from traffic accidents.

The results of previous Iranian studies on the protective effect of health insurance on catastrophic health expenditures (CHE) are inconsistent. Therefore, the aim of this meta‐analysis was to summarize all existent evidence. We searched international and Iranian scientific databases for relevant literature. Using a Mantel–Haenszel random‐effects model, the pooled odds ratios (OR) were calculated. Subgroup meta‐analyses were performed considering the type of insurance and study population. The pooled OR for the protective effect of health insurance risk on facing CHE was 0.93 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.68–1.28). The protective effect of the two types of insurance was statistically insignificant. Health insurance does not effectively provide financial protection against CHE in Iran. Expanding the prepayment mechanism and integrating health insurance funds can be good strategies in protecting people from CHE. More attention should be paid to the design of health insurance benefit package to cover chronic diseases.

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Background: Protecting people from catastrophic health payments is widely recognized as an integral component of health systems and universal health coverage. Objectives: This study aimed to measure the financial protection against catastrophic health expenditure among hospitalized patients in Kermanshah, western Iran, after the implementation of the health sector evolution plan of Iran. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. A total of 544 patients were selected using the proportional allocation to population size technique. A translated version of the world health survey questionnaire was used to collect data. Catastrophic health expenditure was calculated using WHO recommended methodology. Data were analyzed using STATA v.13. The statistical test performed included descriptive statistics and logistic regression. Results: About 4.8% of households with hospitalized patients were faced with catastrophic health expenditures. The total mean outof-pocket (OOP) medical expenditures of being hospitalized was 819,220 Rials per patient. Mean OOP in patients with catastrophic payment was 2,220,500 Rial. Major determinants of catastrophic payment were associated with surgical cost (OR: 8.09 P Value = 0.000), chronic disease (OR: 2.78 P Value = 0.025), household size (> 6) (OR: 6.70 P Value < 0.036), and economic status of households (Quintile 5; OR: 0.005 P Value = 0.000). Conclusions:The Health Sector Evolution Plan should target and extend aids especially for chronically ill patients, those who need surgery, and those at poorest quintile due to the fact that they are more vulnerable to catastrophic health expenditure. These groups should be the priorities in the health sector evolution plan revision to achieve a more desired outcome.