Oncogenic Viral Infections Among Iranian Hemodialysis Patients: A Systematic Review.

INTRODUCTION: Chronic hemodialysis is a lifesaving procedure for end-stage renal failure patients who may lead to the transmission of oncogenic viral infections discussed as a major cause of liver disease and a potential cause of substantial morbidity and mortality. In this regard, the hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) are the most common infections that studied recently. This study aimed to review systematically all available documents on the prevalence of hepatitis D virus (HED), hepatitis E virus (HEV), hepatitis G virus (HGV), human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpes virus (KSHV) in Iranian hemodialysis patients. METHODS: We conducted a comprehensive systematic review of literature on the prevalence and factors associated with HED, HEV, HGV, HTLV, HIV, and KSHV in Iranian hemodialysis patients. Using Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms, Emtree, and related equal Persian key words, irrespective of age, date, and language, the main domestic databanks of Barekat, Scientific Information Database (SID), Iran-doc, and also international databases of PubMed and NLM Gateway (for MEDLINE), Institute of Scientific Information (ISI), and SCOPUS searched. Interest outcome of infection prevalence was confirmed based on reported positive tests of blood samples. Since the studied factors are very numerous and there is even a high heterogeneity in each factor, so the meta-analysis was not performed. RESULTS: Based on our search strategy through comprehensive searching, 509 studies were found. From them, 314 articles were from international data bases and others from Iranian data banks. After excluding duplicates and overlapping studies, 41 studies were included in the analysis; 11 studies were relevant to HIV, 10 studies assigned to HEV, and 7 studies belonged to HGV field. The HDV, HTLV1,2, and KSHV were the other research subject areas. The prevalence of HIV, HGV, and HTLV1,2 ranged from 0% to 1.5%, 0% to 24.19%, and 0.6% to 70.4%, respectively, in different provinces. CONCLUSIONS: This is the comprehensive systematic review on oncogenic viral infections prevalence in the Iranian hemodialysis patients. Present findings emphasize on requirement to evidence-based practical intervention for better prevention and control of problem. The findings could be used as a scientific evidence for developing related policies and highlighting the future plan of complementary researches.

Hepatitis B Virus Infection in Iranian Hemodialysis Patients: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in hemodialysis patients and its associated adverse health consequences are a worldwide health priority. This systematic review aimed to provide evidence on HBV infection in Iranian hemodialysis patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Through a comprehensive systematic review of literature, which led to meta-analysis of findings, we estimated the pooled prevalence of HBV infection in Iranian hemodialysis patients. The main international electronic data sources were MEDLINE, Institute of Scientific Information, and Scopus. We also search several Persian-language databases. All cross-sectional and analytical studies conducted in Iran concerning HBV infection were included irrespective of date and language. RESULTS: Of 602 publications retrieved from literature search, 66 met the inclusion criteria, and 36 were eligible for including in the study. The prevalence rate varied from zero to 9.75% across different provinces. The national prevalence of HBV was reported between 2.1% and 18.2%. Significant heterogeneity was found between reported prevalence rates (I2 = 83.5%, P < .001), as a result of which, we used random effect analysis. Results of meta-analysis showed that the estimated pooled prevalence was 4% (95% confidence interval, 3.3% to 4.7%). CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this was the first comprehensive systematic review of HBV infection in the hemodialysis patients of Iran. Results could be useful for informed health policy making and planning further studies in this field.

The Increasing Trend in Global Ranking of Websites of Iranian Medical Universities during January 2012-2015.

BACKGROUND: Researchers and academic institutions need assessment and rating to measure their performance. The criteria are designed to evaluate quality and adequacy of research and welcome by most universities as an international process to increase monitoring academic achievements. The study aimed to evaluate the increasing trend in global ranking of Iranian medical universities websites emphasizing on comparative approach. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study involving websites of Iranian medical universities. Sampling was conducted by census selecting universities affiliated to the Ministry of Health in webometrics rating system. Web sites of Iranian medical universities were investigated based on the webometrics indicators, global ranking as well as the process of changing their rating. Universities of medical sciences were associated with improved ratings in seven periods from Jan 2012 until Jan 2015. RESULTS: The highest rank was in Jan 2014. Tehran University of Medical Sciences ranked the first in all periods. The highest ratings were about impact factor in universities of medical sciences reflecting the low level of this index in university websites. The least ranking was observed in type 1 universities. CONCLUSION: Despite the criticisms and weaknesses of these webometrics criteria, they are critical to this equation and should be checked for authenticity and suitability of goals. Therefore, localizing these criteria by the advantages model, ranking systems features, continuous development and medical universities evaluation based on these indicators provide new opportunities for the development of the country especially through online media.

Correlation between Self-Citation and Impact Factor in Iranian English Medical Journals in WoS and ISC: A Comparative Approach.

BACKGROUND: In this study, the impact of self-citation (Journal and Author) on impact factor of Iranian English Medical journals in two international citation databases, Web of Science (WoS) and Islamic world science citation center (ISC), were compared by citation analysis. METHODS: Twelve journals in WoS and 26 journals in ISC databases indexed between the years (2006-2009) were selected and compared. For comparison of self-citation rate in two databases, we used Wilcoxon and Mann-whitney tests. We used Pearson test for correlation of self-citation and IF in WoS, and the Spearman's correlation coefficient for the ISC database. Covariance analysis was used for comparison of two correlation tests. P. value was 0.05 in all of tests. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between self-citation rates in two databases (P>0.05). Findings also showed no significant difference between the correlation of Journal self-citation and impact factor in two databases (P=0.526) however, there was significant difference between the author's self-citation and impact factor in these databases (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: The impact of Author's self-citation in the Impact Factor of WoS was higher than the ISC.

The performance of the ethics committees in teaching hospitals affiliated with mashhad university of medical sciences.

BACKGROUND: During the last three decades, ethics committees have been formed with a growing trend. These committees have a satisfactory and effective impact on the pattern of patient care and its performance. The medical ethics committee is considered one of the most active committees in hospitals, having the aim of providing necessary approaches for the optimal use of the findings in empirical science and diagnostic treatment and observance of Islamic noble values in performing medical affairs. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to assess the performance of the ethics committees, in the teaching hospitals affiliated with Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, in Mashhad. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Subjects of this study include teaching hospitals in Mashhad, affiliated with Mashhad University of Medical Sciences and the tool used in gathering the data was a questionnaire, completed based on the information provided by the proceedings of the meetings held by the ethics committees. Also, for the purpose of gathering the suggestions, specifically on the improvement of the performance, a meeting was held with the representatives from hospitals' ethics committees. During the meeting, work reports were presented and recommendations made, based on those presentations. . RESULTS: Findings of the present study suggest that all hospitals under study, have an ethics committee, of which 85.7% operate in combination with other committees. The composition of the members of the committees, in 57.1% of the hospitals, was based on the guidelines for hospital evaluation. CONCLUSIONS: For the performance of the medical ethics committees to improve, it is recommended that the hospital administration and evaluation section, hold regular meetings and oblige members to participate more actively.