Objectives: The mean age at natural menopause among women of Shiraz in relation to socio-demographic factors was calculated. The data were obtained from a Population-based, cross-sectional study carried out in the year 2000. Methods: Interviews were carried out and observations made with women in Shiraz, who had undergone a natural menopause. Chosen at random basis from a sample using postal zones housing framework. Results: The most important results include mean ±SD age at menopause in the population of 48.3 ±5.3 years (95% CI: 47.97-48.62) with a median of 49 years. Groups of women with an average early menopause were those with never married (44.7 years, P<0.006), low income level (47.4 years P<0.002), low social class (45.8 years, P<0.000), tobacco use (47.9 years, P<0.014) non consanguine husband (48.1 Year, P<0.027). Conclusion: This phenomenon must be documented in Iran because of it's strong links with morbidity and mortality of the growing number of women who are reaching advanced ages and whose survival is calculated at a quarter century after menopause.    

Background: Elderly people are in need of several drugs due to physiological changes and multiple chronic diseases. Studies have shown that anticholinergic drugs can cause cognitive impairment, reduced physical activity, and increased mortality in elderly population. Paying attention to the anticholinergic medication use in older adults can prevent the occurrence of adverse events and increase the quality of health care. This study was conducted to quantify exposure to anticholinergic medicines in older people in Amirkola. Methods: This study is a part of the comprehensive cohort project that was being conducted from 2011 on the case patients of 60 years and above that referred to the Amirkola Health Center. A total of 1532 individuals were included, of whom 54. 9% were men. The drug information was obtained by observing the patient’, s prescription and self-report questionnaires and collected data were analyzed by SPSS software. Exposure to anticholinergic medications was measured using the drug burden index-anticholinergic (DBI-Ach) and the anticholinergic drug scale (ADS). Results: Among the 1532 elderly people with an average age of 69. 21 years, 29% had DBI>0 and 36. 3% had ADS>0. Also, there was a significant correlation between DBI and ADS (R=0. 758). In addition, there is a significant relationship between sex variable with DBI and ADS (P=0. 0001). So, women in comparison with men had higher values of DBI and ADS. Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate that anticholinergic exposure is relatively high especially in older women, which posed special precautions to avoid inappropriate prescribing in the elderly.

Objective (s): Functional dependence in physical activities is one of the most important health problems among elderly people. This study aimed to examine functional independence level of physical activities among elderly people living in Bandar Abbas, Iran.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 421 old adults aged over 60 living in Bandar Abbass, Iran. Using multi-stage sampling method, the participants were randomly selected and completed two valid questionnaires of the Activities of Daily Living (ADL) and the Instrumental Activities Daily Living (IADL). Data were analyzed using SPSS17 software.Results: The mean age of participants was 66.7±6.9) and %49.9 was male and % 50.1 was female. According to the results, 1.9 % of elderly (n=8) and 22.1% (n=92) were dependent while doing their daily and instrumental activities respectively.There were significant differences between different groups of participants in terms of doing daily activity due to their age, marital statu, education level and socio-economic factors (P<0.05).Conclusion: The results showed that majority of participants could do their daily activities without help. However, high percentage of elderly need help to do the instrumental activities.

Obesity is associated with both higher bone mineral density (BMD) and plasma leptin concentration. Inconsistent data are available about the relationship of leptin concentration and BMD, and the aim of this study was to explore the relationship of plasma leptin concentration with BMD as well as bone-related markers in healthy postmenopausal Iranian women.Materials and Methods: Two-hundred and ninety-six postmenopausal women from a population- based study on prevalence of osteoporosis in Shiraz participated in this study. The BMD was determined at the lumbar spine (L1-L4) and neck of femur by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Blood samples were taken in the fasting state for plasma leptin, serum parathyroid hormone, creatinin, calcium, albumin, phosphorus and alkaline phosphatase evaluations.Results: The mean age of the participants was 60.75±7.46 years and the mean body mass index (BMI) was 27.51±5.3 kg/m2. Mean leptin concentration was 18.12±9.08 ng/ml. One-hundred and forty-two (48%) individuals were osteoporotic, with mean plasma leptin concentration being significantly lower in these individuals (P<0.0001). BMDs at both the lumbar spine (r=0.25; P<0.0001) and the neck of femur (r=0.29; P<0.0001) had significant positive correlation with plasma leptin. The association between BMD and plasma leptin concentration was no longer significant when adjusted for BMI. There was no correlation between plasma leptin concentration and bone-related markers.Conclusion: This cross-sectional study suggests that the relationship of plasma leptin concentration with BMD is mediated through obesity and plasma leptin is dependently associated with BMD.