Mohammad Reza Baneshi

Background and aims: Accurate estimation of populations at heightened risk for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection is essential for effective healthcare intervention planning and resource allocation. This study employed the network scale-up method to estimate the prevalence of People Who Inject Drugs (PWIDs) aged 18-45 in Shiraz, Iran. Methods: A purposive sampling approach was used to recruit 768 individuals aged 18-45, who were interviewed using a self-administered questionnaire. The average social network size was estimated using 16 reference groups with known population frequencies. Post-correction factors were applied to adjust for transmission and relative network-size errors. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 25. Results: The mean reported social network size was 203 individuals. The crude estimate of PWIDs in the target age group was 1,812, while the adjusted estimate was 4,857 (95% UI: 4,231-5,483). The prevalence of PWIDs was estimated at 561 (95% UI: 488-633) per 100,000 individuals, with the highest prevalence observed among those aged 35-39 years. Conclusion: The estimated number of PWIDs significantly exceeds the current number of individuals receiving support from harm-reduction services. To effectively combat the spread of HIV, enhancing access to prevention and treatment services for this population is crucial.

Purpose: We examined the temporal association between the number of chronic conditions and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among women of reproductive age and assessed how individual conditions affected specific HRQOL dimensions. Methods: Data from 9323 women born between 1973 and 1978 who participated in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health and had no chronic health condition at the baseline survey were analysed. Linear mixed-effects models examined the temporal association between the number of conditions and SF-36 HRQOL and also compared HRQOL between women with and without six conditions: musculoskeletal disorders, diabetes, asthma, endometriosis, uterine fibroids, and cancer. Results: Women who remained free of conditions during ages 18 to 49 maintained stable physical component scores (PCS) and improved mental component scores (MCS). Accumulating conditions was associated with declining scores, more in PCS than MCS. The largest and smallest decline per an additional condition was observed in role physical (6.5 points; 95% CI 6.0, 7.0) and mental health (1.2 points; 0.9, 1.5). Within-group analysis found that all conditions were associated with PCS decline. Effects on MCS varied by condition and outcome. Between-group comparisons revealed that women with musculoskeletal disorders, diabetes, or asthma had lower PCS and MCS scores than women without those conditions. Endometriosis, uterine fibroids, and cancer showed smaller and more dimension-specific reductions. Conclusion: Women who did not develop chronic conditions maintained their PCS scores and had improvements in MCS scores. This underscores the value of preventing chronic conditions in early and mid-adulthood for maintaining physical and mental well-being.

Drug and alcohol use poses critical public health challenges. This study estimated the prevalence of drug and alcohol use in Iran for 2019 and assessed its

Background: In the early 2010s, Iran lacked reliable estimates of key populations at increased risk of HIV, including people who inject drugs, female sex workers, and men who have sex with men. This information gap limited evidence-based planning, resource allocation, and monitoring of HIV prevention programs. Methods: This ...

Network Scale-Up (NSU) is a promising tool in the size estimation of stigmatized behaviors. In NSU, participants from the general population describe the frequency of stigmatized behaviors in their network. To avoid underestimation, due to the invisibility of sensitive behaviors, NSU results should be adjusted by the Visibility Factor (VF). This manuscript aims to compare three VF calculation methods in sex work settings: Game of Contact (GC), Social Respect (SR), and Expert Opinion (EO). In the GC method, we selected 20 names and asked 60 FSWs (Female Sex workers) (known as egos) the total number of their acquaintances (known as alters) with any of the 20 names, and of those, how many were aware that the ego was an FSW. In the SR method, we asked 600 participants from the general population about the number of FSWs they knew, and to rank their respect for FSWs on a scale of 1 to 5. Finally, we asked 14 experts in the field of HIV and health policy about the visibility rate of sex work in Iran. Based on EO, VF was as low as 38%. VF in GC was 67% (95% CI: 54%, 80%) for both male and female alters. SR suggested a VF of 77% (58%, 101%), which was higher in male than female respondents (83% vs. 62%). Different methods provide different VF estimates. For a fair comparison of studies, a concrete and standard method for VF calculation should be applied.

Summary Diabetes increases fracture risk, but whether this risk varies by age at diagnosis is unclear. In a large cohort of Australian women, younger age at diabetes diagnosis was linked to substantially higher fracture risk. Age at diagnosis may enhance fracture risk assessment and guide targeted prevention. Purpose The purpose is to examine whether age at diabetes diagnosis modifies the association between diabetes and fracture risk in women. Methods We used data from 12,170 participants in the 1946–1951 cohort of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health, linked with administrative health records. Women were followed from age 27 to 76 years. Diabetes status, age at diagnosis, and fracture events were identified from survey and administrative data. Poisson regression was used to compare fracture rates between women with and without diabetes, stratified by age at diagnosis, and adjusted for age and time-varying BMI. Results A total of 2251 women (18.5%) had diabetes and 3761 (30.9%) sustained at least one fracture. Compared to women without diabetes, those with diabetes had a higher fracture risk (RR 1.13; 95% CI 1.02–1.24). The excess risk varied by age at diagnosis: RR 1.61 (95% CI 1.23–2.12) for diagnosis at age 35, declining to RR 1.02 (95% CI 0.90–1.16) for diagnosis at age 60. Conclusions Diabetes is associated with increased fracture risk, but this risk varies by age at diagnosis. Women diagnosed at younger ages face substantially higher risk, while those diagnosed later show little excess risk. Age at diagnosis may improve fracture risk assessment and inform prevention.

Objective: We examined the association between BMI change and risk of multimorbidity among women of reproductive age and estimated annual weight gain before and after diagnosis of chronic conditions. Methods: Data were from 8895 women in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health who had no chronic conditions at baseline. BMI from Survey 1 (ages 18–23) and Survey 3 (ages 25–30) defined BMI change categories. Linear mixed models estimated annual weight gain from Survey 1 to Survey 9 (ages 43–49). Results: Compared to stable normal BMI, stable obesity and increasing BMI were associated with a higher risk of incident multimorbidity (OR = 1.79 [95% CI: 1.11, 2.90] and 1.34 [1.10, 1.63]). Women who remained free of chronic conditions gained 0.50 kg (0.48, 0.52) annually. Women with one condition gained 0.54 kg (0.52, 0.56): 0.55 (0.53, 0.57) before and 0.54 (0.51, 0.57) after diagnosis. Those with multimorbidity gained 0.65 kg (0.63, 0.67): 0.75 kg (0.70, 0.80) before the first, 0.60 kg (0.56, 0.64) between the first and second, and 0.57 kg (0.53, 0.61) after the second condition. Conclusions: Although weight gain declined after diagnosis, it remained higher than among women without conditions, underscoring the need for improved post‐diagnosis weight management.