Background: In the recent decades, most studies have paid more attention to community expenditures in health sector and health outcomes. This study provides econometric evidence linking countries’ health expenditures to 3 health outcomes: (1) infant mortality, (2) under 5 mortality and (3) life expectancy within 4 different health care systems. Methods: In this study, we used the econometric method to estimate the effect of health expenditure on health status. Panel data were collected and grouped for 25 countries according to the health care system over 15 years (2000-2015). The random effects model was selected over the fixed effects model based on the Hausman test to assess the effect of different factors on the 3 mentioned health outcomes. Results: A significant relationship was found between health expenditures and health indicators. The effect of private health expenditures on health outcomes in countries with mixed health financing system and traditional sickness fund insurance was higher than public expenditures. Also, after comparing the results between different health care systems, we found that the effect of health expenditure on the health outcome in countries with national health system (NHS) was more than other health care systems. Conclusion: To improve health status, health policymakers should focus on the factors that lie inside the health care system. Therefore, since private and public health expenditures have different effects on health outcomes in each health care system, countries should choose an optimal combination of private and public health expenditures.

Background Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a rare disease that originates from the uncontrolled proliferation and accumulation of bone marrow-derived immature myeloid dendritic cells. Dendritic cells are a type of histiocyte that play an important role in the human immune system and are found in the bone, skin, stomach, eyes, intestines, and lungs. Objective This systematic review aimed to collect and report published case reports of rare bone disease caused by LCH to avoid misdiagnoses or delays in diagnosis. Methods We systematically searched Scopus, PubMed, Embase, and Web of Sciences from August 1, 2000 to December 31, 2019. Studies reporting cases of LCH with rare bone involvement were included. Results We identified 60 articles including 64 cases. Of the identified cases, 31 (48.4%) involved children, and 33 (51.6%) involved adults. Additionally, 46.9% (30 individuals) were from Asian countries. The mean age of the children was 7.6 ± 4.3 years and that of the adults was 36 ± 12 years. The findings indicated that unifocal bone involvements were the most prevalent form of the disease (68.7%), and, overall, the skull and chest wall were the most commonly affected bones in both adults and children. The spine and long bones were the second most commonly affected bones in children, and the spine and jaw were the second most commonly affected bones in adults. Pain and swelling were the most frequent presenting signs among the investigated cases, and loss of consciousness, myelopathy, nerve palsy, visual loss, torticollis and clicking sounds were rare signs. Osteolytic lesions were the most frequent radiologic feature (62.5%), and intracranial hemorrhage, fluid–fluid level, dura and intracranial extension and pathologic fractures were rare radiological features. Total excision, curettage and observation in the unifocal group of patients and systemic chemotherapy in the other groups (i.e., multifocal and multisystem) were the most frequent management approaches. The recovery rates of the unifocal and multifocal groups were 77.3% and 81.8%, respectively, while that of the multisystem group was 55.5%. The rates of recurrence and mortality in the multisystem group were 11% and were higher than those in the other groups. Conclusions LCH is a rare disease that can affect any organ in the human body. However, bone is the most commonly involved organ, and rare bone involvements may be the first or only symptom of the disease due to the rarity of such lesions; a lack of familiarity with them may result in misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis.

ObjectivesEnvironmental pollution is a negative consequence of the development process, and many countries are grappling with this phenomenon. As a developing country, Iran is not exempt from this rule, and Iran pays huge expenditures for the consequences of pollution. The aim of this study was to analyze the long- and short-run impact of air pollution, along with other health indicators, on private and public health expenditures.MethodsThis study was an applied and developmental study. Autoregressive distributed lag estimating models were used for the period of 1972 to 2014. In order to determine the co-integration between health expenditures and the infant mortality rate, fertility rate, per capita income, and pollution, we used the Wald test in Microfit version 4.1. We then used Eviews version 8 to evaluate the stationarity of the variables and to estimate the long- and short-run relationships.ResultsLong-run air pollution had a positive and significant effect on health expenditures, so that a 1.00% increase in the index of carbon dioxide led to an increase of 3.32% and 1.16% in public and private health expenditures, respectively. Air pollution also had a greater impact on health expenditures in the long term than in the short term.ConclusionsThe findings of this study indicate that among the factors affecting health expenditures, environmental quality and contaminants played the most important role. Therefore, in order to reduce the financial burden of health expenditures in Iran, it is essential to reduce air pollution by enacting and implementing laws that protect the environment.

Background:The rapid growth of health expenditures is a great concern for governments at present. Objectives: The present study aimed to determine the main factors affecting health care expenditures in countries with different types of the healthcare system. Methods: We studied 25 countries with different types of healthcare systems, including national health insurance, traditional sickness insurance, national health services, and mixed systems. Health expenditure per capita was estimated as a function of health care price, out-of-pocket health expenditure, income, and other exogenous factors. A random-effects model was selected instead of a fixed-effects model based on the Hausman test to assess the effect of different factors on health expenditures. Results: Income and health care price had the greatest impacts on health expenditures in countries with national health insurance and countries with mixed health care systems, respectively. Among the variables, mortality and life expectancy had the greatest impacts on health expenditure in all types of the healthcare system. The out-of-pocket health expenditure had the most and least impacts on health expenditures in countries with mixed health care systems and countries with national health insurance systems, respectively. Conclusions:The study showed that health condition and out-of-pocket health expenditure are the most important determinants of health expenditures in all health care systems, especially the mixed health care system.

Background During the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, healthcare workers (HCWs) stand in frontline of fight against this disease. Objective This study aims to assess the challenges of HCWs protection during of COVID-19 pandemic in Tehran, Iran. Methods Seven hundred HCWs were surveyed between April and May 2020. The study was performed in surgical care wards. Questionnaires were used to assess personal protection equipment (PPE) usage status and reasons for not using PPE, which were sent to HCWs via online platforms, social networks, and emails to different associations. Questionnaires were sent to a total of 1000 HCWs, of whom 700 replied. Results The face mask and face shield had the highest and lowest use among healthcare workers, respectively. Equipment shortage, time constraint, low supervision, and lack of information were the reasons for not using PPE among personnel, as well. Conclusions To reduce the burden of COVID-19 and accelerate the process of patient's care, it is, therefore, important to protect and maintain well- being of the HCWs. Providing organized national and international arrangements to protect HCWs is critical.

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Abstract Background: This study aims to investigate the impacts of fuel price policies on the concentration of air pollutants emitted from the transport sector.Methods: Autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) estimation models were used to investigate the impacts of gasoline and diesel prices along with the weather and economic variables on the following traffic-related pollutants: Carbon monoxide (CO), Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and Particular matter 10 micrometers or less (PM10).Results: In the short term, one percent increase in gasoline prices leads to 0.02 and 0.012 percent decrease in the concentration of CO and PM10, respectively. In addition, in the short term, one percent increase in diesel prices leads to 0.008, 0.02, and 0.015 percent decrease in the concentration of CO, PM10, and NO2, respectively. Results demonstrate that one percent increase in gasoline prices leads to 0.011 and 0.02 percent increase in NO2 concentration in the short term and long term, respectively. Fuel prices had a greater impact on air pollutant concentration in the long term than in the short term. In the long term, one percent increase in diesel prices leads to 0.011, 0.024, and 0.029 percent decrease in the concentration of CO, NO2, and PM10, respectively.Conclusion: Although fuel price increases lead to a significant reduction in air pollution concentration, other factors related to weather conditions (wind speed, temperature, and rainfall) as well as economic activities have a greater impact on air pollution. Therefore, other policies such as improving fuel quality and technology along with other economic policies can be more effective.

Introduction Food security as a component of the fundamental foundation in the elderly's health was a priority in the 20‐year vision development plan of the country. The main goal of the present study was to determine the elderly food security status and its influential factors in the city of Tehran, Iran. Methods This cross‐sectional study was conducted on 1000 people age over 60 from Tehran city capital of Iran in 2018. A validated short questionnaire with six and nine questions used to measure the food security and socioeconomic status of the elderly, respectively. The data were analyzed using the chi‐square test and logistic regression model. Results The findings revealed that 39.1% of the investigated elderly were facing food insecurity, 59% had chronic diseases, and 13% of them had no insurance coverage. Elderly with monthly income ≤ 10 million Iranian rial (odds ratio [OR] = 3.19, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.61‐4.48), who had chronic diseases (OR = 3.54, 95% CI = 1.94‐6.62), and had a diploma degree or less (OR = 2.02, 95% CI = 1.4‐3.72) were more likely to be food insecure. Conclusion Expanding social security insurance for the elderly besides financial support, reforming inappropriate food habits, and increasing elderly’ nutritional awareness can be effective in promoting food security for the aging population of this country.