elham monaghesh

Breast cancer screening programs are one of the most important methods for the early detection of breast cancer in women. Several studies have been conducted to identify factors affecting breast cancer screening behaviors among Iranian women. This study is conducted to systematically review the factors influencing women’s participation in breast cancer screening programs in Iran.

Papers were collected by using the keywords breast, mammary, screening, early detection, diagnosis*, examination, testing, and Iran from various English-language databases, including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and databases in Persian language including SID and Magiran. The search was limited to the title and abstract of papers published between January 1, 2000, and May 1, 2021. A narrative synthesis was performed to summarize findings of the obtained papers.

In this study, 1345 papers were initially found and, after screening the title, abstract, and full-text, 39 papers were selected. Most of them were cross-sectional (n= 28). Results indicated that socioeconomic factors, individual characteristics, recommendation of health workers, knowledge, Islamic beliefs, support by family, and activities of the Iranian government are frequently mentioned as contributing factors and can be applied to increase participation of Iranian women in breast cancer screening.

  The results demonstrate that lack of knowledge and a positive attitude towards breast cancer screening is a major problem regarding Iranian women's non-participation in the screening programs. Therefore, the need for regular implementation of the national screening program in the country, providing appropriate educational methods to increase women's awareness, removing barriers and improving women's access to health care providers should be the priorities of the Iranian health system to prevent breast cancer.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder in which individuals have difficulty in emotional processes related to social cognition and other behavioral patterns. The use of technology is increasing in therapeutic and educational interventions for people with ASD - who face ongoing challenges. Therefore, to select the interventions more appropriately and ensure their effectiveness, such interventions need to be evaluated. Thus, this study is an attempt to develop a framework for evaluating IT-based interventions among people with ASD.

The present study is a descriptive-applied study examining the information technology-based intervention studies in the field of ASD. The search and review of studies continued without any restrictions until an appropriate and complete framework of interventions was obtained. The required data were extracted and collected in a table focusing on the evaluation of ASD interventions. The data were then analyzed to determine an appropriate framework for the objectives of the study. Finally, the evaluation framework was prepared using the one-step Delphi method and sent to 15 experts in the field of autism and health information technology to obtain their views on changing, modifying, approving the framework.

In the framework developed in this study, two aspects of the interventions, including the type of information technology interventions and their outcome are generally presented. Moreover, the technologies used were presented from three main aspects: evaluation methods, technical evaluation cases, and clinical evaluation cases.

The results revealed that technology-based interventions can be of tremendous help in the treatment, education and increasing social interactions of people with ASD and thus bring about significant effects. Therefore, according to experts, the prepared assessment framework of interventions based on information technology leads to identifying the strengths and weaknesses of interventions, improving technologies as well as choosing appropriate interventions and ultimately increasing the quality of life of people with autism spectrum disorder.

COVID-19 has become a pandemic in the world; with the unprecedented growth of technology, smartphones play a role in different stages including managing COVID-19 outbreak. This study aimed to investigate Iranian mobile applications related to Covid-19 disease.

This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on all Iranian mobile applications related to COVID-19 in 2020. A search was conducted on Iranian digital app markets on phones with Android and iOS operating systems using the following keywords: ‘COVID-19’, ‘coronavirus’, and ‘corona’ with their Persian translations. For each app, the extracted information included name, category, cost, size, latest version, requirement for Internet connectivity, subscriber count app download, user satisfaction rate, developers, and purpose of development.

The search results indicated a total of 103 apps (76 Android and 27 iOS apps). The most frequent categories were medical apps, games, and educational apps.  About 80.6% of apps were free, 15.5% of apps had in-app purchases, and 3.9% of apps required payment for installation. Most applications were developed by personal developers and 84 applications were online and 19 applications were offline. Other goals of COVID-related application developers in Iran included entertainment, providing daily statistics, raising user awareness, control and tracking, self-care, and prevention.

A wide range of mobile applications related to COVID disease are available with many capabilities. Given the findings and the positive role of this program in epidemic control, the effectiveness of screening and self-assessment programs requires the interaction of private developers and the public sector for integration

Applicability is the extent to which a particular product can be used by specific users to achieve specific goals in a specific field with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction. Due to the fact that the lab information system plays an important role in improving laboratory processes and some vital information of the patient is recorded in this system, the existence of an error in this system endangers the patient. The purpose of this study was to measure the applicability of the laboratory information system in hospitals affiliated to Tabriz University of Medical Sciences using two methods of System Usability Scale and Questionnaire for User Interface Satisfaction. This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in Tabriz University of Medical Sciences in 1396. A QUIS and SUS standard questionnaire was used to collect information. After translation, its validity was confirmed by a number of professors. The research population consisted of users working in six educational centers of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences who had experience working with the laboratory information system. Because of the limited number of users, the census method has been used and the sample size is 69. The data obtained in the SPSS is imported and presented in the form of tables and charts. In total, 40.07% of the users were satisfied with the system, with the highest degree of satisfaction with the system's convenient learning with 54%, followed by the system's usefulness with 50.07% satisfaction. According to the findings of the present study, it became clear that the information system of the laboratory was simple to use from the viewpoint of users, and the operation of these systems was not complicated and easy to learn, but the system lacked the flexibility that should be taken into consideration when designing this system.