Hospital Practices and Research

Abstract Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the socioeconomic situation worldwide, but another issue is the impact of socioeconomic status on the rate of coronavirus infections.
Objectives: This study aims to examine the socioeconomic status of individuals infected with COVID-19.
Methods: This case-control study was conducted on 768 hospitalized patients at 7 hospitals in Tehran, Iran from 2020 to 2021. The study included two groups: a case group of 384 hospitalized COVID-19 patients and a control group of 384 individuals hospitalized. A socioeconomic status questionnaire was used for data collection. The data were analyzed using SPSS v.26 software, descriptive statistical tests, and logistic regression. A significance level of less than 0.05 was considered.
Results: The findings indicated a significant relationship between age (OR = 1.017), marital status (OR = 0.316), and education level (OR = 0.348) with the rate of infection. Individuals over 60 years old, married, and those with higher education had a greater chance of infection. The regression results for two components of economic class and housing status, categorized by housing prices and purchasing ability, were not significant (P >0.05). However, there was a significant relationship between income level (P <0.05, OR = 0.497) and the rate of infections; individuals with lower income had a lower chance of infection.
Conclusion: The researchers concluded that the Hygiene Hypothesis may influence the rate of COVID-19 infection among individuals; however, further research in this area is needed.

Abstract Background: Owing to the crucial role of nutrition with breast milk for both the mother and infant, the implementation of programs that support breastfeeding seems essential.
Objective: This study aims to determine the effect of post-delivery telephone counseling on the rate of exclusive breastfeeding among infants.
Methods: This study, as a randomized clinical trial, investigated 170 women who delivered their children in the Sabzevar Shahidan Mobini hospital, Iran in 2017. After acquiring the written informed consent, the researchers randomly assigned the subjects into two groups, including the telephone counseling recipient group (intervention) and the telephone counseling non-recipient group (control). The data collection instruments were questionnaires and checklists. The collected data were analyzed by the SPSS 18 software.
Results: The findings of the study showed that 73.8% of the counseling non-recipient group had exclusive breastfeeding, and 26.2% did not have exclusive breastfeeding. In the telephone counseling recipient group, 90.4% exclusively breastfed their infants, while 9.6% did not. Thus, there was a statistically significant difference between the two understudy groups (P<0.05).
Conclusion: This research revealed that although mothers were trained how to breastfeed when they were pregnant or were discharged from hospitals, and exclusive breastfeeding was emphasized, implementing the counseling program, even telephonic, and responding mothers’ questions regarding breastfeeding and prevalent problems in this period could be helpful in the first two months after delivery.