• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.367-370
• /
• 2012

Background: Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women worldwide In Iran, it ranks first among cancers diagnosed in women and is the fifth most common cause of death. The aim of this study was to present the mortality trends from breast cancer for Iranian women during a period of almost a decade, in order to provide update information regarding the likely future. Methods: We analyzed National death Statistic reported by the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education from 1995 to 2004 to generate annual mortality rates/100,000, overall, by age group (<15, 15-49 and ${\geq}50$ years of age) and age standardized rate (ASR). Results: The age standardized mortality rate of breast cancer increased dramatically during these years from 1.40 to 3.52 per 100,000 and its mortality was increasing 151.4% for Iranian women, although it seemed that the rate leveled off from 2002 to 2004. Moreover the increasing rate was higher for those aged between 15-49 compared to age >50 years old. Conclusion: There is an increasing trend for breast cancer mortality in Iran. Thus, health education programs to rectify the lack of women awareness about breast cancer signs and effective screening are urgently needed.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.91-96
• /
• 2012

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of HPV and cervical neoplasia among HIV-infected women in southwestern China. Methods: Cervical cytology, HPV detection by Hybrid Capture-$2^{TM}$ assay, and diagnostic colposcopy were followed by cervical biopsy if indicated. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze associations between HPV co-infection and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), and HIV-related clinical and laboratory parameters. Results: Colposcopic-histopathologically proven CIN2+ lesions were present in 7/83 (8.4%) HIV-infected women. Nearly half (41/83, 43%) were co-infected with carcinogenic HPV genotypes. HPV co-infection was higher in women with colposcopic-histopathologically proven CIN2+ lesions than women with $cells/{\mu}L$ had higher CIN2+ prevalence after adjusting for current ART status and age (adjusted OR: 6.3, 95% CI: 1.1, 36.5). Conclusions: HIV/AIDS care and treatment programs should integrate effective cervical cancer prevention services to mitigate the risk of invasive cervical cancer among HIV-infected women in China.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.13 no.11
• /
• pp.5823-5828
• /
• 2012

Background: Breast cancer (BC) is one of the most common cancer affecting women worldwide. Although a great deal of progress has been made in the health sciences, early diagnosis, and increasing community awareness, breast cancer remains a life-threatening illness. In order to reduce this threat, breast cancer screening needs to be implemented in all communities where possible. Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine health beliefs, attitudes and behaviors about breast cancer and breast self-examination of Turkish women. Methods: Data were collected from a sample of 656 women, using an adapted Turkish version of Champion's Health Belief Model Scale (CHBMS), between January and May 2011, in Ordu province of Turkey. Results: The results showed that 67.7% of women had knowledge about and 55.8% performed BSE, however 60.6% of those who indicated they practiced BSE reported they did so at irregular intervals. CHBMS subscales scores of women according to women's age, education level, occupation, family income and education level of the women's mothers, family history of breast cancer, friend and an acquaintance with breast cancer, knowledge about breast cancer, BSE and mammography were significantly different. Conclusion: Knowledge of women about the risks and benefits of early detection of breast cancer positively affect their health beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. Health care professionals can develop effective breast health programs and can help women to gain good health behavior and to maintain health.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.13 no.9
• /
• pp.4387-4391
• /
• 2012

Background: Lung carcinoma is the leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide. Although the 5-year survival rate nearly tripled from 5-15% over the last 25 years, the estimated number of deaths still exceeds 1.3 million annually. The overall 5-year survival of lung cancer is only 10% in Europe and 15% in the United States. The aim of the current study was to determine the long-term survival and the effect of certain prognostic factors on survival of patients with lung cancer in Yazd city, Iran. Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, we retrospectively reviewed hospital records and follow-up data of 148 patients with histological proven lung cancer using the cancer data registered between 1998 and 2005 in the pathology department of Shahid Sadoughi educational hospital, Yazd, Iran. Data were extracted from patient documents that included sex, age, clinical manifestations, histopathological report of the tumor and type of treatment given. Results: Overall survival time in all patients was 8.5 months after diagnosis and there was no significant difference in survival according to sex (p=0.958). Histological analysis revealed that squamous cell carcinoma was the most common histologic type (35%). Kaplan-Meier statistical methods estimated the average survival time for SCC to be better (22.6 months) in comparison with the other types of histology (all of them below 10 months). There was a trend towards significance between type of histology and duration of survival (p=0.08). Conclusion: It is reasonable to expect that early lung cancer detection, and appropriated treatment, may improve surgical morbidity and mortality. Low survival of lung cancer in our center patients show our shortages in screening programs for early diagnosis. Designing studies with larger sample size that take some other variables like staging of patients is now necessary.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.15 no.19
• /
• pp.8483-8488
• /
• 2014

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer and the second most common cause of cancer-induced mortalities in Iranian women, following gastric carcinoma. The survival of these patients depends on several factors, which are very important to identify in order to understand the natural history of the disease. Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study, 313 consecutive women with pathologically-proven diagnosis of breast cancer who had been treated during a seven-year period (January 2006 until March 2014) at Towhid hospital, Sanandaj city, Kurdistan province of Iran, were recruited. The Kaplan-Meier method was used for data analysis, and finally those factors that showed significant association on univariate analysis were entered in a Cox regression model. Results: the mean age of patients was $46.10{\pm}10.81$ years. Based on Kaplan-Meier method median of survival time was 81 months and 5 year survival rate was $75%{\pm}0.43$. Tumor metastasis (HR=9.06, p=0.0001), relapse (HR=3.20, p=0.001), clinical stage of cancer (HR=2.30, p=0.03) and place of metastasis (p=0.0001) had significant associations with the survival rate variation. Patients with tumor metastasis had the lowest five-year survival rate (37%)and among them patients who had brain metastasis were in the worst condition (5 year survival rate= $11%{\pm}0.10$). Conclusions: Our findings support the observation that those women with higher stages of breast malignancies (especially with metastatic cancer) have less chance of surviving the disease. Furthermore, screening programs and early detection of breast cancer may help to increase the survival of those women who are at risk of breast cancer.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
• /
• v.25 no.3
• /
• pp.236-245
• /
• 2020

Objectives: Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of death in the elderly in Korea. Increased arterial stiffness is linked to risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between arterial stiffness and physical activity in the elderly. Methods: A total of 209 older adults (110 men and 99 women) participated in this study. Arterial stiffness of subjects such as brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) and ankle brachial pressure index (ABI) was measured using a non-invasive vascular screening device (VP-1000 Plus, Omron, Kyoto, Japan). The interviewed Korean version of the international physical activity questionnaire short form (IPAQ-SF) was used to evaluate subject's physical activity level and classify subjects as active or inactive group based on the time spent doing moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Results: The mean age of total subjects was 75.3 ± 5.6 years. There was no significant difference in sex distribution between the active group (39.7%) and inactive group (60.3%). The baPWV (1,758.1 ± 375.2 cm/sec) of the active group was significantly lower than that (1,969.7 ± 372.3 cm/sec) of the inactive group (P < 0.05). There was a significant inverse association between time spent in MVPA and baPWV (r = -0.245, P < 0.01). Conclusions: This study suggests that physical activity programs for older adults are needed to prevent arteriosclerosis.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• v.33 no.1
• /
• pp.66-74
• /
• 2017

This study was conducted to examine infectivity (penetration and gall and egg-mass formations) of the root-knot nematodes, Meloidogyne incognita and M. hapla, on carrots grown in soil conditions of 5 different soil textures consisting of bed-soil (b) and sand (s) mixtures (b-s mixtures) at the ratios of 10:0, 7:3, 5:5, 3:7, and 0:10. For M. incognita, the nematode penetration rates in b-s of 0:10 (100% sand) were significantly higher than in the other b-s mixtures, more greatly at 2 and 5 days after inoculation than at 10 DAI, while no significant differences in the penetration rates were mostly shown for M. hapla at the above DAI. However, for both nematodes, gall and egg-mass formations were remarkably increased in the b-s mixture of 0:10, compared to the other b-s mixtures, which is coincided with the general aspects of severe nematode infestations in sandy soils. This suggests the increased gall and egg-mass formations of M. incognita should be derived from the increased penetration rates in the sandy soil conditions, which provide a sufficient aeration due to coarse soil nature for the nematodes, leading to their mobility increased for the enhanced root penetration. For M. hapla, it is suggested that the sandy soil conditions affect positively on the healthy plant growth with little accumulation of the inhibitory materials and sufficient aeration, enhancing the nematode growth and feeding activities. All of these aspects provide information reliable for the development screening techniques efficient for the evaluation of the nematode resistance in the breeding programs.

• Journal of Gifted/Talented Education
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.99-117
• /
• 2001

This study looked at the validity of assessments of academic giftedness in young children, details of assessment procedures and tasks related to them. It has shown that academic giftedness in young children can be reliably observed and reported by parents and teachers through similar characteristics to older gifted children. But for young preschool children since the potentiality rather than the current performance level is more important to detect and children's abilities are not fully differentiated, more systematic and comprehensive assessments are needed. Parents'and/or teachers' referrals, behavior checklists for the gifted, tests for creativity, short or group forms of standardized tests and finally individualized tests can be used as a comprehensive battery but these methods can be used stepwise for the sake of efficiency and economy. Especially the variability of performance in young children during the rapid developmental phase as well as their vulnerability by situational factors ask for the repeated assessments as regular bases. In this study different measures for gifted young children, specialists' qualification, and procedural guidance were reviewed and the necessity for various screening tools for different programs for the gifted was discussed. Finally it was emphasized that early assessment and following educational arrangement are needed for gifted young children for their optimal development.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.19-32
• /
• 2009

The purpose of this study was to examine household food insecurity and the associations of food insecurity with socioeconomic characteristics, food behaviors, health status and nutrient intake among elderly people in a rural area. This study included 191 elderly people (mean age = $72.0{\pm}7.4$) in Jeollabuk-do, Jangsu-gun. House food insecurity was measured using an adapted version of the USDA short form household food insecurity scale, and nutrient intake measured by a 24-hour dietary recall. Only 15.2% of the subjects were in food-insecure households, 84.8% of the elderly households were food-secure. The food-insecure households were significantly lower in the number of family, frequency of shopping, and perceived health status than the food-secure households. In addition, they had serious tooth problems and NSI (Nutrition Screening Index) scores. Food-insecure households were significantly lower in most areas of nutrient intake (energy, protein, fat, Ca, P, Fe, K, Na, Zn, Vit. $B_2$, niacin, Vit. E), and also lower in nutrient intake compared to dietary reference intake (energy, protein, P, Fe, K, Na, Vit. $B_1$, Vit. $B_2$, niacin, Vit. E). These results suggest that the household food insecurity measures used in this study were an important indicator of nutritional well-being among elderly persons in the rural area. Food insecurity should be considered an important issue to public health and food service programs should be expanded for food-insecure households in rural areas.

• Asian Oncology Nursing
• /
• v.12 no.2
• /
• pp.175-185
• /
• 2012

Purpose: This micro-ethnographic study aimed to understand coping experiences of Korean-American (K-A) women after diagnosis with breast cancer due to a hereditary gene mutation. Methods: Participatory observation and in-depth interviews were performed at one breast cancer screening center in Southern California, in 2005 with eleven first generation K-A immigrant women. All transcribed interviews and field notes were analyzed using ethnographic methodology. Results: K-A women's experience varied based on acculturation risk factors including: limited English speaking ability; disrupted family relationships, individualistic family values, or intergenerational communication barriers; lack of Korean speaking nurses; and Korean physicians' who lacked knowledge about hereditary breast cancer risk. These risk factors led to isolation, loneliness, lack of emotional and social support. In comparison to Korean homeland women in a similar medical situation, these K-A immigrants felt disconnected from the healthcare system, family support and social resources which increased their struggling and impeded coping during their survivorship journey. These women were not able to access self-support groups, nor the valuable resources of nurse navigator programs. Conclusion: Professional oncology associations for nurses and physicians have a moral obligation to support and promote knowledge of hereditary cancer risk and self-help groups for non-native speaking immigrants.