BACKGROUND: Natural and man-made disasters, especially those occurring in large scales not only result in human mortality, but also cause physical, psychological, and social disabilities. Providing effective rehabilitation services in time can decrease the frequency of such disabilities. The aim of the current study was to perform a systematic review related to rehabilitation of vulnerable groups in emergencies and disasters. METHODS: The systematic review was conducted according to the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The key words "recovery", "rehabilitation", "reconstruction", "transformation", "transition", "emergency", "disaster", "crisis", "hazard", "catastrophe", "tragedy", "mass casualty incident", "women", "female", "children", "pediatric", "disable", "handicap", "elder", "old" and "vulnerable" were used in combination with Boolean operators OR and AND. ISI Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, Ovid, ProQuest, Wiley, Google Scholar were searched. RESULTS: In this study a total of 11928 articles were considered and 25 articles were selected for final review of rehabilitation of vulnerable groups based on the objective of this study. Twenty-five studies including six qualitative, sixteen cross-sectional and three randomized controlled trials were reviewed for rehabilitation of vulnerable groups in emergencies and disasters. Out of the selected papers, 23 were studied based on rehabilitation after natural disasters and the remaining were man-made disasters. Most types of rehabilitation were physical, social, psychological and economic. CONCLUSION: The review of the papers showed different programs of physical, physiological, economic and social rehabilitations for vulnerable groups after emergencies and disasters. It may help health field managers better implement standard rehabilitation activities for vulnerable groups.

OBJECTIVES: Congenital hypothyroidism (CH) is one of the major causes of preventable mental retardation in infants. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of CH in Shadegan, Khuzestan Province, Iran from 2012 to 2014 and to identify the risk factors associated with CH. METHODS: A total of 203 cases were confirmed from 2012 to 2014 in Shadegan, with 66, 86, and 51 patients reported in 2012, 2013, and 2014, respectively. A total of 3,900, 3,991, and 4,050 live births occurred in 2012, 2013, and 2014, respectively. The controls (n=657) were selected using a random number table, and a case-control study was carried out to determine the risk factors for neonatal CH, including demographic, environmental, and medical factors. RESULTS: The incidence of CH was 17.0 per 1,000 live births in 2012, 21.5 per 1,000 live births in 2013, and 12.6 per 1,000 live births in 2014. This study showed that the likelihood of CH in children born to parents with a history of consanguineous marriage was 2.41 times greater than in children born to parents with no such history (odds ratio, 2.41; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.65 to 3.53). This study also found that CH was 3.4 times more likely (95% CI, 2.29 to 5.20) in infants born in urban settings than in infants born in rural areas. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of CH in Shadegan from 2012 to 2014 was approximately 17 times greater than the expected incidence in Iran. CH was associated with a history of consanguineous marriage and urbanization.
Case-Control Studies* ; Child ; Congenital Hypothyroidism* ; Humans ; Hypothyroidism ; Incidence* ; Infant ; Intellectual Disability ; Iran* ; Live Birth ; Marriage ; Parents ; Risk Factors ; Urbanization

BACKGROUND: According to the fact that women account for the highest rate of victims of mental health loss during disasters, prioritization of their requirements is of remarkable significance. Therefore, the present study was carried out with the aim to prioritize factors related to women's mental health during an earthquake. METHODS: This study was conducted using the Delphi method in 2017. Participants consisted of experts including psychologists, counselors and psychiatrists, social medicine specialists, and psychiatric-mental health nurses with experience in service and disaster awareness, especially earthquake. They were selected using purposive and snowball sampling methods. The Delphi method was used in 2 rounds with 21 components and the final attendance of 19 participants and the collective agreement of 75%. RESULTS: Of the 21 factors related to women's mental health during the earthquake, the following components were, respectively, preferred by the participants: psychological well-being training, group relationships and support of women in emergency situations, fair treatment in the provision of rights and services to women, crisis awareness and management of behavior and difficult conditions, and social security during disasters with the total mean standard deviation (SD) of 13.4 (2.4), 13.0 (2.4), 12.7 (2.5), 12.5 (2.4), and 12.3 (2.2), respectively. CONCLUSION Training in the field of psychology and disasters, and social and cultural factors were prioritized among factors related to women's mental health during an earthquake. Therefore, the results of this study can be applied by the planners and executives of mental health, women and disasters, and the women's community itself.