Antibiotic Resistance Clinical Research in Iran: A Scoping Review

Context: 

In recent years, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has become a global public health threat. Health system decision-makers need valid and reliable situation analysis to better plan for mitigating this threat.

 This scoping review investigated the research gaps in AMR publications in Iran and provided an evidential base to support the identification of priority research to better address antibiotic resistance needs in Iran.

 A search of academic databases, including Scopus, Institute for Scientific Information (ISI), Web of Science, MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, and Iranian Database of Medical Literature (IDML), was performed in February 2018. The identified studies evaluated the resistance or susceptibility of antibiotics against any bacteria in an Iranian population. Title, abstract, and full-text screening were conducted, and the included studies were accordingly analyzed with respect to the study protocol.

 From 37,769 identified studies, 1,718 studies met all inclusion criteria. These studies evaluated the susceptibility of 131 antibiotics to 82 types of bacteria by conducting 3,509 antibiotic resistance tests. Ofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, and gentamicin had the highest number of studies, samples, and tested bacteria. Regarding the characteristics of the studies, 306 studies had an insufficient explicit definition of study characteristics, 231 studies published their results more than three years after conducting them, and 803 studies (46.7%) were published in local journals.

 Considering the importance of the AMR crisis, this scoping review debates the low quality of reporting in AMR-related publications in Iran despite extensive research.