Background: The social stigma associated with a disease represents an important issue for health policymakers at the local, national, and international levels. This study aimed to survay and analyze the experience of stigma among patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Iran. Methods and Materials: This qualitative study was conducted from September to December 2020 in the Fars, Khorasan, and Yazd provinces of Iran. Sampling was done via the snowball method; based on data saturation criteria, 24 adults over 18 years of age who had experienced affliction with COVID-19 were recruited. Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with each patient. Data were analyzed following the conventional content analysis method described by Erlingsson and Brysiewicz. Results: The results showed that during their affliction with COVID-19, the participants experienced difficult, anxious times, with rejection and alienation from their first-degree relatives taking them by surprise. The three main themes extracted from this study were (i) fear and rejection, (ii) discrimination, and (iii) loneliness. These experiences have changed the attitudes of the participants toward life and themselves. Conclusion: Based on our results, it can be said that paying attention to social stigma among patients during pandemics is an important social necessity and health policy. It is recommended to have psychological counseling sessions for those afflicted and to provide education and training to the public regarding the proper treatment of patients with COVID-19. Quantitative studies in this field are highly recommended.

Introduction: Many patients with chronic diseases often use the traditional medicine approach in addition to conventional medicine. The aim of this study was to evaluate the epidemiological factors of patients with dermatologcal conditions referring to traditional Persian Medicine (TPM) clinic. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we reviewed all the patients’ medical documents with dermatological conditions referred to the TPM clinic at Shiraz, Southern Iran in 2018. Then, the epidemiological factors of the patients were recorded to a researcher-made data collection form. SPSS software version 22 was conducted to data analysis. Results: Overall, 631 patients consist of 151 (23.9%) male individuals and 580 (76.1%) female individuals were enrolled to the study. Most of the patients were aged between 31 and 40 years, and 347 (55%) patients were married, and most of them were housewives. The frequency of patients in spring was higher than other seasons. Furthermore, the most of the patients were university educated. Acne, eczema and hair loss were the three most complaints of the patients referring to the traditional medicine clinic. 301(47.7%) patients reported gastrointestinal problems as another complaint concomitant with their skin problems. Conclusion: It seems that women with skin problems, including acne, eczema, and hair loss, were more likely to refer to the TPM clinic. Therefore, development of TPM clinics in dermatology field as a scientific and academic approach can be effective in the treatment of patients with dermatological condition accompanied by traditional medicine.