research design

The impact of non-participation in surveys depends on how many people don't respond and the extent to which those who don't differ from those who do on key questions. In health research, non-participation can skew results, affecting our understanding of disease and healthcare needs. Understanding why people don't respond to surveys is crucial for accurately gauging health issues. Despite the popularity of surveys in health research, the problem of non-response bias persists due to low response rates. This paper explores various methods, their strengths, and weaknesses, to address non-response issues in health surveys.

Abstract Using an effective method to enhance nurses’ knowledge of ECG interpretation is one of the most essential requirements for nursing managers. Self-directed learning approaches can help to introduce lifelong learning in learners, especially in clinical settings. This study purposed to detect the effect of the implementation of the clinical teammate nurse program on the critical care nurses’ knowledge of ECG interpretation on cardiac arrhythmia.  A pilot study was performed by a quasi-experimental design with a nonequivalent control group. The participants were 32 critical care nurses divided into two groups: the clinical teammate nurse program and control groups. The data were collected by a knowledge assessment questionnaire that measured nurses’ knowledge of ECG interpretation of cardiac arrhythmia. The nurses’ knowledge was measured three times: initial study, one month, and six months later. The mean and standard deviation of age of participants was 32.38±7.03 years. There was a significant difference between three scores of repeated measurement of nurses’ knowledge (p<0.001), as the nurses’ knowledge one month after the study was significantly higher than in the initial test six months later. Also, pairwise comparisons showed that nurses in the clinical teammate program had higher knowledge scores than the control group (p<0.001).  The clinical teammate nurse program can be used as an easy and economical way to improve nurses’ knowledge in interpreting ECG. This method can also be an excellent alternative to formal and traditional methods such as lecturing programs in continuing education programs.

Case-control studies are efficient designs for investigating gene-disease associations. A discovery of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) is that many genetic variants are associated with multiple health outcomes and diseases, a phenomenon known as pleiotropy. We aimed to discuss about pleiotropic bias in genetic association studies.  

The opinions of the researchers on the basis of the literature were presented as a critical review.  

Pleiotropic effect can bias the results of gene-disease association studies if they use individuals with pre-existing diseases as the control group, while the disease in cases and controls have shared genetic markers. The idea supports the conclusion that when the exposure of interest in a case-control study is a genetic marker, the use of controls from diseased cases that share similar genetic markers may increase the risk of pleiotropic effect. However, not manifesting the disease symptoms among controls at the time of recruitment does not guarantee that the individual will not develop the disease of interest in the future. Age-matched disease-free controls may be a better solution in similar situations. Different analytical techniques are also available that can be used to identify pleiotropic effects. Known pleiotropic effects can be searched from various online databases.  

Pleiotropic effects may result in bias in genetic association studies. Suggestions consist of selecting healthy yet age-matched controls and considering diseases with independent genetic architecture. Checking the related databases is recommended before designing a study.

With the advancement of science, the role of employees and human relations (human capital) in the development of the organization and society has become more apparent, drawing more attention to the discussion of social capital and intellectual capital, as well as their constructive role in the development and top organizational performance. As a result, the current study was designed at Mashhad University of Medical Sciences to create a quantitative model of intellectual capital promotion using a social capital approach. This is a quantitative study in the form of a survey. The statistical population of the study included 15415 employees and faculty members of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. The statistical sample was obtained from 416 subjects using a two-stage stratified sampling method (with proportional allocation). The study tool included a 91-item questionnaire made by the researcher. The data from this study were analyzed using SPSS software using Amos structural equations. The research findings in the quantitative model of intellectual capital promotion with social capital approach consisted of 7 dimensions and 17 components, of which 3 dimensions and 7 components related to social capital included structural, relational, and cognitive capital; also, 4 dimensions of intellectual capital included human capital, structural capital, client’s reverence, and innovative capital, which had 10 components. Given that the coefficients of all the dimensions and components of the model (t>1.96) were significant and because in the structural model, almost all the fit indices were within the desired range, the appropriateness of the model was confirmed. The analysis of the data revealed that the quantitative model of intellectual capital promotion at Mashhad University of Medical Sciences through using a social capital approach was designed successfully, and all the fit indices were within the desired range.

To investigate the effects of comprehensive, integrated interventions on dyslipidemia Knowledge and Practices (LIPOKAP) using population and high-risk approaches.

The baseline of this national, multicentric community trial was conducted on three groups: the general population (adults over the age of 18 and their children aged 6-18), patients with dyslipidemia and their caregivers, and health professionals (physicians, nurses, health providers, and health workers). The general population was selected using multi-stage random sampling, while patients and health professionals were recruited using the consecutive sampling method. The research was carried out in urban and rural areas of five Iranian counties. The sampling method and sample size were similar in baseline and post-intervention surveys. Approximately 8-month intervention programs were carried out on the target groups, which generally included educational strategies. The intervention activities addressed the management, prevention, and control and were tailored to each target group, focusing on lifestyle and self-care. 

All questionnaires’ content validity ratio, content validity index, and Cronbach’s alpha were over 0.68, 0.83, and 0.73, respectively. We enrolled 2456 adults and 850 of their children, 3331 dyslipidemia patients, 1699 caregivers, and 1800 health professionals.

The validity and reliability of all developed questionnaires that can examine knowledgeand practice  changes as a result of intervention activities were acceptable.

In 2015, The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS) updated its level of evidence (LOE) scale. We reviewed all studies published in JBJS in the two years before updating the LOE scale, and re-designated according to the updated scale. Level 4 therapeutic studies were the most common (32%). Level 2 prognostic studies had the greatest number of LOE designation changes (26). Near perfect agreement was met for therapeutic (k:0.96) and diagnostic studies (k:0.96). Prognostic studies demonstrated a lower agreement (k:0.65). Studies published in JBJS before 2015 may have different LOE designations if published today.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals have been the most important centers for the virus spread. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the management of infection control in central corona hospitals in Kashan using the quantitative strategic planning matrix (QSPM) matrix.

The existing documents studied the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the organization identified by environmental health experts. The internal and external factors were identified as internal factor evaluation (IFE) and external factor evaluation (EFE) matrices, respectively, then, prioritized and weighted. In the next step, the SWOT matrix was formed and the type of used strategy by the organization was determined, and solutions to improve the current situation were presented by experts. Finally, the attractiveness table was compiled and weighted using the QSPM method to prioritize the proposed strategies.

After identifying 25 strengths, 28 weaknesses, 15 opportunities, and 13 threats, weighting was performed, the final score for internal and external factors was 2.6475 and 2.3825, respectively. The final strategy for implementing COVID-19 disease control in the studied hospitals was the Conservative Strategy (WO). Based on this, six control strategies were presented. The priority and attractiveness of each strategy were evaluated using the QSPM matrix. Finally, the strategy of “structuring the system and providing and upgrading the equipment and infrastructure facilities” was implemented as a priority.

According to the results, the combination of SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) and QSPM methods can play an efficient role in identifying and evaluating the factors affecting the management of the COVID-19 pandemic in hospitals and further developing and prioritizing control strategies for this infectious disease.

The aim of this study was to provide a model of social determinants of cell-phone marketing with customer expected value approach.

A mixed-method was used to identify the social components and indicators of the cell-phone marketing. The study population included marketing experts and professors in the qualitative section and managers and senior managers of marketing managers in the quantitative section. The sample size was 10 experts of marketing management in the qualitative section, and 384 people in qualitative section. To collect data, a semi-structured interview in the qualitative section and a questionnaire in the quantitative section were used. Construct validity using confirmatory factor analysis in SmartPLS software and its reliability was confirmed by using Cronbach's alpha coefficient in SPSS software. To analyze the data in the qualitative section, MAXQDAsoftware was used. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling tests were used to confirm the components and present the model in Smart PLS software.

Game making and advertising had a significant effect on consumer behavior, social media and expected value. The results showed that the components of consumer behavior, social media and expected value had an impact on the promotion of cell-phone marketing through the quality of customer journey from beginning to end.

By identifying opportunities and threats, as well as identifying organizational strengths and weaknesses, with the help of web marketing and marketing through applications, recognizing customer needs and demands, obtaining information about user behavior, creating a suitable platform for easy connection and easy access.

A hand-held portable direct-reading monitor, including photoionization detector (PID) is renowned for its good sensitivity, considerable dynamic range, and nondestructive vapor detection ability in comparison to the tardy response of the PID in gas chromatography (GC), which its application has been restricted. In this study, the performance of a PID system (MultiRAE Lite) was evaluated as a replacement of GC in the measurement of toluene in a dynamic adsorption system.

The test was done at different relative humidity levels (30%, 50%, and 80%), temperatures (21, 30, 40°C), and toluene concentrations (20, 100, 200, and 400 ppm).

The PID achieved 48% of all measurements meeting the comparison criterion. The results showed that the performance of the PID could be altered by the variables. The best performance of the PID was at temperature of 21°C, the relative humidity of 50%, and concentration of 200 ppm with the percentage of readings achieving the criterion of comparison to 58%, 54%, and 52%, respectively. The averages of the PID readings (mean ± SD at 200 ppm= 207.9 ± 8.7) were higher than the reference method measurements averages (mean ± SD at 200 ppm= 203.5 ± 5.8). The regression analysis of the toluene results from the PID and the reference method results indicated that the measurements were significantly correlated (r2 = 0.93).

According to the results, the device response is linear. Therefore, the findings are acceptable in adsorption studies. In this way, the measurement of the sample concentration should be performed using the same instrument before and after the reactor in order to calculate the adsorption efficiency.

Healthcare research is a systematic inquiry intended to generate robust evidence about important issues in the fields of medicine and healthcare. Qualitative research has ample possibilities within the arena of healthcare research. This article aims to inform healthcare professionals regarding qualitative research, its significance, and applicability in the field of healthcare. A wide variety of phenomena that cannot be explained using the quantitative approach can be explored and conveyed using a qualitative method. The major types of qualitative research designs are narrative research, phenomenological research, grounded theory research, ethnographic research, historical research, and case study research. The greatest strength of the qualitative research approach lies in the richness and depth of the healthcare exploration and description it makes. In health research, these methods are considered as the most humanistic and person-centered way of discovering and uncovering thoughts and actions of human beings.

Review studies (Literature review) are instructive scholarly papers with low cost of preparation and acceptable novelty and they are considered interesting material for scientific journals. These articles summarize previously published studies and provide a critical and useful analysis of the current literature in a particular topic through summarizing, classification, and comparison of related research papers.

Data from international databases including PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar and Web of science were collected and evaluated.Results and

In this paper, a brief glance and instruction about the organizational pattern of the text and appropriate writing methods in narrative review articles were provided for enthusiastic students who want to take steps in this field.

Meta-analyses, like all other studies, may be poorly designed and implemented. This study was designed to determine the quality of meta-analyses in systematic reviews in the field of pharmaceutical research in Iran.

Web of Science Core Collection, EMBASE, Ovid Medline, CINAHL, Scopus, and PubMed were systematically searched on June 4, 2017. The search was limited to the researches in the field of pharmaceutical studies. Based on inclusion criteria, 104 systematic reviews with meta-analysis (SRMA) were selected and assessed using quality assessment tools introduced by Higgins.

Participants, experimental interventions, and outcomes were reported in all the articles. Comparator intervention and study design were correctly reported in 103 (99.04%) and 101 (97.12%) articles, respectively. The comprehensive search strategy was available only in 48 articles (46.16%), and there was no evidence of a comprehensive search in 56 articles (53.84%). Risk of bias was investigated in 78 articles (75%). Also, funnel plots were the most commonly used method for reporting the bias in 64 articles (46.42%).

In many of the meta-analyses, several items of the tool that represented a high-quality meta-analysis were absent. According to the findings, the comprehensive search and quality assessment were not at an appropriate level. Thus, the importance of reproducibility of information and quality assessment of included studies should be emphasized.

Currently, numerous papers are published reporting analysis of biological data at different omics levels by making statistical inferences. Of note, many studies, as those published in this Journal, report association of gene(s) at the genomic and transcriptomic levels by undertaking appropriate statistical tests. For instance, genotype, allele or haplotype frequencies at the genomic level or normalized expression levels at the transcriptomic level are compared between the case and control groups using the Chi-square/Fisher’s exact test or independent (i.e. two-sampled) t-test respectively, with this culminating into a single numeric, namely the P value (or the degree of the false positive rate), which is used to make or break the outcome of the association test. This approach has flaws but nevertheless remains a standard and convenient approach in association studies. However, what becomes a critical issue is that the same cut-off is used when ‘multiple’ tests are undertaken on the same case-control (or any pairwise) comparison. Here, in brevity, we present what the P value represents, and why and when it should be adjusted. We also show, with worked examples, how to adjust P values for multiple testing in the R environment for statistical computing (http://www.R-project.org).

Gestational diabetes mellitus has adverse effects on maternal and fetal outcomes during pregnancy and after delivery. The aim of this study was evaluation of the status of scientific research in gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in Iran.
This study is a part of the Iranian diabetes research roadmap (IDDR) project. We investigated the electronic database, including PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus as well as Scientific Information Database (SID), Indexing Articles Published in Iran Biomedical Journals (Iran Medex) and Iranian Magazine Database (Magiran) and extracted documents published by Iranian authors up to 2015. We also determined the subject area and the study design as well as the WHO and Australian National Health classifications.
There were 229 relevant publications related to GDM. The most rapidly increasing trend in the publication was observed in two stages; 2007-2009 and then 2010-2013. The highest portion of the publications was clinical studies (74%). Regarding the study design, cross-sectional (32%), case-control (26%) and cohort (18%) studies were the most common types of studies. Regarding the subject, the most percentage of publications were allocated to fetal complications (46%) and the least were about prevention of GDM (1%).
The research about the GDM is non-coordinated and not effective and there is not any participated framework to guide the research related to GDM in Iran. Thus, it is critical to provide the roadmap for GDM studies to preserve time and money. This study identified and highlighted the research gap in GDM in Iran to provide a roadmap for the medical research of GDM.

Nutrition behaviors of adolescent girls is of serious health concerns. Although nutrition education interventions in Iran have met with some success, most of them could not promote nutrition behavioral changes. The aim of our study is to determine a school-based nutrition education intervention to improve adolescents’ nutrition behaviors and behavioral mediators based on the social cognitive theory (SCT).
This study is a single-blind randomized controlled trial. Eligible participants will be all student girls in grade 6 and 7, their parents and teachers in Isfahan governmental schools. This multi com­ponent school-based intervention include adolescents’ nutrition education package, parents’ nutrition massages, participatory homework, parents and teachers nutrition education package, supportive group, and collaboration with decision makers. Changing in nutrition behaviors including breakfast, fruit and vegetable, snack and fast food consumption will be examined, as primary outcome. Secondary outcome will be behavioral mediators such as knowledge, self-efficacy, intention, situation, self-regulation, social support, outcome expectations and expectancies, in adolescent girls. The outcomes will be assessed at baseline, and after 3 and 6-month follow-up.
This study evaluates a school-based, guided SCT intervention, designed to improve healthy dietary behaviors, nutrition knowledge of adolescent girls. Few behavioral interventions have targeted this high-risk population in Iran. The intervention seems to be promising and has the potential to bridge the gap of the limited program outcomes of nutrition education in Iranian adolescents.

For some time now the field of medical education has been criticized by many of its stakeholders. Countless debates have been presented in the literature regarding the quality of medical education research, adequacy of methodological rigor, and other concerns.
At present, the views expressed have largely come from physicians and individuals with less familiarity with education science.
As prolific educational researchers with Ph.Ds in Education and Psychology, we offer a critique of medical education’s apparent identity crisis and address what we believe are some of the most significant problems continuing to impede the field of medical education from catching up with the broader field of education. We close with specific recommendations for improving the overall state of medical education.
Finally, both editors and reviewers for medical education journals need to abandon the hegemonic views regarding research design. Thus, research designs that many in the clinical sciences often perceive as ‘weak’ are entirely appropriate in education research fields.

Pesticide poisoning is a common method of suicide attempt and less commonly accidental poisoning in Bangladesh. This review for the first time estimated the extent and characteristics of pesticide poisoning in Bangladesh and explored existing limitations in methodologies of studies done on poisoning in the country. A narrative search in electronic medical databases including MEDLINE, Google Scholar and Banglajol was carried out. Search terms used were «Bangladesh», «pesticide», «poisoning» and «organophosphate». Relevant studies were collected and assessed for their originality. Organization reports were also collected. Studies after the year 2000 were only selected. Methodologies of the studies were carefully scrutinized. Estimated case load of poisoning in hospitals of Bangladesh was 7. 1% (CI 6. 9-7. 2) of total admissions. Pesticide poisoning accounted for 39. 1% (CI 37. 6-40. 6%) of total poisoning cases admitted in different levels of hospitals in Bangladesh. Majority of them were due to WHO class-II pesticides (moderately hazardous). Reported frequency of different pesticides includes organophosphate compounds (OPCs) in 89. 8%, rodenticides in 4. 3%, carbamates in 4. 0%, unknown compounds in 1. 6% and pyrethroids in 0. 3% of cases. Pesticide poisoning was responsible for 72. 6% (CI 68. 0-76. 8) of total poisoning related deaths. Approximately 0. 7 deaths per 100, 000 population was due to pesticide poisoning. Reporting the frequency of chemical nature of pesticides varied significantly with methodology used for case identification (P < 0. 001). In studies that toxidromic assessment was used, most cases were treated as OPC poisoning. In studies that applied sample identification by evaluation of container/pack and reading its label, over 30% of cases were due to carbamates. Presence of only one toxicological analysis center in the country has made routine chemical identification practically impossible. Pesticide poisoning is responsible for great number of admissions and deaths in Bangladesh. Creating a register of commercially available pesticides in each region for rapid identification of nature of the pesticide is recommended.

Commitment to abstracting standards has a very significant role in information retrieval. The present research aimed to evaluate the rate of Commitment to ISO 214 Standard among the Persian abstracts of approved research projects at School of Health Management and Medical Informatics, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.

This descriptive study used a researcher‑made checklist to collect data, which was then analyzed through content analysis. The studied population consisted of 227 approved research projects in the School of Health Management and Medical Informatics, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences during 2001‑2010. The validity of the checklist was measured by face and content validity. Data was collected through direct observations. Statistical analyzes including descriptive (frequency distribution and percent) and inferential statistics (Chi‑square test) were performed in SPSS‑16.

The highest and lowest commitment rates to ISO 214 standard were in using third person pronouns (100%) and using active verbs (34/4%), respectively. In addition, the highest commitment rates to ISO 214 standard (100%) related to mentioning third person pronouns, starting the abstract with a sentence to explain the subject of the research, abstract placement, and including keyword in 2009. On the other hand, during 2001‑2003, the lowest commitment rate was observed in reporting research findings (16/7%). Moreover, various educational groups differed significantly only in commitment to study goals, providing research findings, and abstaining from using abbreviations, signs, and acronyms. Furthermore, educational level of the corresponding author was significantly related with extracting the keywords from the text. Other factors of ISO 214 standard did not have significant relations with the educational level of the corresponding author.

In general, a desirable rate of commitment to ISO 214 standard was observed among the Persian abstracts of approved research projects at the School of Health Management and Medical Informatics of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. However, commitment rates differed between years. In addition, commitment to ISO 214 standard was not significantly related with educational group and level.