Background and Objectives: Food insecurity and hunger not only affect physical health, but also have social and psychological consequences. Therefore, monitoring food security and fighting against food insecurity and hunger is necessary in a society. This study was carried out to investigate the determinants of food insecurity in northwest of Tabriz (Asadabadi region).

 Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted on 300 subjects in 2004-2005. The prevalence of food insecurity was assessed using a short questionnaire. Information regarding the socio-economic and cultural status of the subjects was collected through a questionnaire. In order to assess the status of food security on the basis of income, occupation, education level and family size, distribution of secure and insecure groups was individually determined, and then Chi-Square test was used to test the significance of the relationship between these groups. Nutritional status was assessed using food frequency questionnaire. Food groups that had significant correlation with income (relationship between groups and subgroups of foods with income was determined using Pearson correlation coefficient) were selected as a criterion for comparing secure and insecure groups. Mean frequency of criteria foods consumption in two groups was compared using independent-sample t-test.

 Results: The prevalence of food insecurity was 36.3%. Food insecurity increased with family size and declined with income, education and job status of the head of the family (p<0.01). The results of food frequency showed that the mean frequency of bread and potato consumption in food insecure group was meaning fully higher compared to food secure group. Mean frequency consumption of rice, vegetable, fruit, red meat and dairy products in food insecure group was significantly lower compared to food secure group (p<0.001).

 Conclusion: The results of this study confirmed the impact of socio-economic and cultural status of the families on food security. It also indicated that nutritional problems are prevalent in society. Therefore, it is necessary to give practical solutions to fight against food insecurity as a major problem in society.

  Background & Objective: Cerebrovascular disease mortality rates have declined in some countries during recent decades. Changes in mortality rates over time could be attributed to changes in disease incidence or case fatality rate. Very few studies have provided information regarding survival after stroke. We aimed to determine the case-fatality rate (28 days) among patients with first-ever stroke from a population-based study in Ardabil province, Northwest of Iran.

  Methods: This study was conducted between May 2005 and February 2006, all individuals with an acute stroke who were residents in Ardabil province and hospitalized at Alavi Hospital, were registered prospectively and assessed according to standardized diagnostic criteria. The data were analyzed through SPSS, Chi square and variance analysis.

  Results: A total of 352 patients with first-ever stroke were registered, and 346 (96%) were followed up. 288 (81.8%) ischemic stroke, 16.2% (57) ICH and 2% SAH. By 28 days, 70 patients (20.3%) had died. Hypertension, diabetes and cardiac disease history were reported in 61.6%, 16.8% and 26.1% respectively and 19.8% of patients were smokers. Mean age of survivors was different from patients who died at 28 days after index event (64.2±12.9 VS 69.1±10.9, p=0.03). The proportion surviving 28 days varied from 16.2% among patients with ischemic stroke to 43% among ICH and SAH. For ischemic stroke, Survival rates were similar for men and women, whereas men with ICH had lower survival than women.

  Conclusion: Case fatality rate after first-ever stroke is substantial. Rates of mortality differ according to patients diagnosis, age, sex, and heart disease. These data highlight the importance of long-term secondary prevention.

  Background & Objective: Limited information is available on adolescent’s substance abuse in Iran. The aim of this study is to estimate prevalence of substance abuse among the sample of sophomore male students in Tabriz city, and to evaluate the associated factors.

  Methods: Of all sophomore male students in Tabriz, 1785(13.7%) were randomly sampled, and a self-administered questionnaire with 48 questions was distributed to students in February and March 2005. The questions aimed to obtain information on substance abuse, smoking, self-confidence, tendency toward smoking and risk-taking behaviors as well as demographic information. The influence of different factors on substance abuse was evaluated with a logistic regression model.

  Results: The mean age of the subjects was 16.3±0.87 (min. 15, max. 19) years. Among 1785 students 226(12.7%) had the experience of taking alcohol and 36(2.0%) had used substances. The results indicate that, older age (OR= 1.55), having general risk taking behavior (OR= 1.70), higher smoking stage (OR= 3.70), having masochism (OR= 1.22), high socioeconomic class (OR= 1.62), and use of illicit substances (OR= 5.72) were factors associated with prevalence of the use of alcohol. Also higher smoking stage (OR= 3.26), high socioeconomic class (OR= 1.52), and the use of alcohol (OR= 7.81) were factors associated with prevalence of the use of substances.

  Conclusion: This study showed the low prevalence of substance abuse, and determined some of its risk factors among students. This study may be supportive of interventions that target multiple behaviors. The findings of this study is important for public health officials however, more studies are necessary to generalize the findings.