Mina Danaei; Mohammad Hossein Taghrir; Mehrdad Askarian; Mohsen Momeni
Abstract
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic reminded scientists of the importance of designing and implementing efficient research. In this study, the frequency and quality of Iranian researchers’ manuscripts about COVID-19 were evaluated.Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted on June 30, 2020, to ...
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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic reminded scientists of the importance of designing and implementing efficient research. In this study, the frequency and quality of Iranian researchers’ manuscripts about COVID-19 were evaluated.Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted on June 30, 2020, to assess the quality of published articles. PubMed, Embase, and Scopus databases were searched. The inclusion criteria were all articles in the field of COVID-19 published by an Iranian author in English. The authors reviewed the original research articles and systematic reviews using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) Checklists. Descriptive statistics and frequency distributions were reported.Results: After removing duplicates, 347 out of 871 related retrieved articles were remained. Among 35 original articles, thirty-one (88.6%) of them were Cross-sectional articles. There were only one Randomized clinical trial article, one Casecontrol, and two diagnostic articles. Among original researches, deficiency in reporting the sampling method, data analysis, the accuracy of the measurements, sample size calculation method, and choosing comparison groups and blinding (in RCTs) were the most common problems. Nearly 40% of original articles and 81.3% of systematic reviews andmeta-analyses were classified as good-quality articles.Conclusion: Most original articles did not have good quality, while the decisions about treatment and prevention of COVID-19 and policy-making about social restriction depend on the quality of the articles. Journals should be more careful in reviewing articles critically.
Mehrdad Askarian; Zahra Dehghani; Mina Danaei; Veda Vakili
Volume 1, Issue 2 , October 2013, , Pages 77-82
Abstract
Background: Physicians are one of the most important groups directly associated with public health and their health related lifestyle has a significant impact on their patient’s behaviors. Several studies showed that the majority of medical students did not have appropriate and healthy behaviors. The ...
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Background: Physicians are one of the most important groups directly associated with public health and their health related lifestyle has a significant impact on their patient’s behaviors. Several studies showed that the majority of medical students did not have appropriate and healthy behaviors. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of risky lifestyle knowledge and behaviors among Shiraz medical students.Methods: This cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2011. Using a stratified random sampling method, 400 medical students were selected to fill in the questionnaires. The questionnaire contained 33 questions including demographic data, healthy lifestyle knowledge and behavior (including physical activity, fruit and vegetable consumption, water drinking, etc), perception of stress and student’s health information resource. The association between demographic factors and participants’ knowledge, practice and stress score was determined. The correlation between the participants’ knowledge and behavior scores was calculated.Results: The mean knowledge and attitude scores were 2.8 and 3.6, respectively. In 40% of knowledge and 80% of practice questions, the percentage of the correct answer was below 50%. There was a significant correlation between the participants’ knowledge and behavior scores (P<0.05).Conclusion: This study raises the voice of concern with medical students’ knowledge and behavior on healthy lifestyle measures. There is a need for re-thinking, planning and reviewing these concepts of pure reason which is essential in their future professional career. Health considerations, health surveillance and care systems which are based on evidence, reasonability and rationality still have to be paramount.
Mehrdad Askarian; Mohsen Hosseingholizadeh mahani; Mina Danaei; Mohsen Momeni
Volume 1, Issue 1 , July 2013, , Pages 1-5
Abstract
Background: Nowadays, self-medication of therapeutic agents is of global concern particularly in developing and underdeveloped countries. Some studies conducted in Iran showed that the frequency of self-medication was significant. Objective: This research was conducted to estimate the prevalence of arbitrary ...
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Background: Nowadays, self-medication of therapeutic agents is of global concern particularly in developing and underdeveloped countries. Some studies conducted in Iran showed that the frequency of self-medication was significant. Objective: This research was conducted to estimate the prevalence of arbitrary use of antibiotics in Shiraz community with special interest in its determinant factors. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Shiraz, in 2009. Approximately 710 out of all patients referred to all health care centers in Shiraz were selected to fill out a questionnaire containing 23 questions divided into two parts. The frequency of self-medication according to demographic factors was described and the association between independent variables and selfmedication was analyzed. Results: The frequency of self-medication in this study was 44.5% and the request to prescribe antibiotics by the patients was 53.5%. Amoxicillin was the most widely used drug by the participants. There was a significant association between age and gender with self-medication. The frequent cause for self-medication was common cold. Approximately, 74.4% of the participants reported their previous experience as the main reason for self-medication. Conclusion: The results of this survey demonstrated the high frequency of self-medication in Shiraz. Socio-cultural determinants are the etiologic factors for self-medication. Policy makers are recommended to provide community-wide educational programs to make people aware about the adverse effects of self-medication. There was a significant association between age, gender and education with self-medication and governments could pay more attention to these factors for designing the interventional programs.