Pars Cohort Study of Non-Communicable Diseases in Iran: Protocol and Preliminary Results Publisher Pubmed



Gandomkar A¹ ; Poustchi H² ; Moini M³ ; Moghadami M¹ ; Imanieh H¹ ; Fattahi MR³ ; Ayatollahi SMT⁴ ; Sagheb MM⁵ ; Anushiravani A⁶ ; Mortazavi R⁶ ; Sepanlou SG⁷ ; Malekzadeh R^{1, 8}
Source: International Journal of Public Health Published:2017

Abstract

Objectives: The pars cohort study (PCS) is a 10-year cohort study aiming to investigate the burden and the major risk factors of non-communicable diseases, and to establish a setting to launch interventions for prevention of these diseases and controlling their risk factors. Methods: All inhabitants of Valashahr district in South of Iran, aged 40–75 years, were invited to undergo interviews and physical examination, and to provide biological samples. A total of 9264 invitees accepted to participate in the study (95 % participation rate) and were recruited from 2012 to 2014. Active follow-up was also carried out after 12 months. Results: About 46 % of participants were male and 54 % were female. About 14.0 % of the participants were current smokers and 8.4 % were ever opium users. The prevalence of overweight and obesity were 37.3 and 18.2 %, respectively. The prevalence of hypertension was 26.9 %. A total of 49 participants died during a median follow-up of one year. Conclusions: PCS with its large scale and wealth of socio-economic and medical data can be a unique platform for studying the etiology of non-communicable diseases and effective interventions in Iran. © 2016, Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+).