Effects of technology-based educational tools on nursing learning outcomes in intensive care units: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Nurses working in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), due to the sensitivity and difficulty of tasks, need continuous and scientific training to be able to offer the best performance in difficult situations and use their knowledge in the best way. Also, nursing students spend internships in ICUs and receive special training in practice in the actual center. Educational tools based on new technologies can potentially improve the educational outcomes of nursing in ICUs. OBJECTIVES:  The present study aims to review and evaluate the effect of using technology-based educational tools for training critical care nurses and nursing students. METHODS:  A comprehensive search was conducted to identify peer-reviewed English language articles in Embase, Medline (through PubMed), Scopus, and ISI web of science published from 2010 to Feb 18, 2022. The studies that examined the effectiveness of technology-based educational interventions with control groups were included. The risk of bias in each study was assessed using the Cochrane Collaboration's tool. Also, we used Standard Mean Difference (SMD) to estimate the effect of technology-based educational tools on learning outcomes. All meta-analyses were performed with a random effects model in Stata Ver.16. RESULTS:  Altogether, ten studies were eligible for the quality assessment and systematic review, while one study that had not reported the pre-intervention analysis was excluded from the meta-analysis. Nine studies were considered to have a low RoB regarding reporting ways, and one of them showed a high risk. Performance and selection bias caused a high risk in six and five of the studies, respectively. In the meta-analysis, improvement in knowledge (SMD = 0.91), skills (SMD = 0.52), and self-confidence (SMD = 0.96) was noticed by applying technology-based educational tools. CONCLUSION: It can be offered that if the learning method based on the new technologies tested is more effective than conventional teaching methods, they are likely to improve the learning outcome significantly. The new-developed tools also have great potential in improving health care functions among nurses or nursing students as well as enhancing the quality of life and patient satisfaction.

Scientometric Analysis of Global Scientific Publications on COVID-19 and Diabetes with an Emphasis on Middle Eastern Countries.

Background: Due to the worldwide spread of COVID-19, various countries have designed scientific studies on different aspects of the disease. Patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) have been proven to be at higher risk of COVID-19-related complications, hospitalization, and death. Objectives: The aim was to conduct a scientometric analysis of scholarly outputs on diabetes and COVID-19. Methods: Web of Science was searched for scientific publications on diabetes and COVID-19 by Middle Eastern researchers until September 14, 2021. Collected data were analyzed for document type, subject area, countries, top journals, citation number, and authors' collaboration network using VOS viewer 1.6.15 and bibliometrix R-package 4.1.1. Results: Overall, the characteristics of 603 documents on DM and COVID-19 were analyzed. The top three productive countries in the field were Iran, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia. The top affiliation was from Iran; "Tehran University of Medical Sciences" (n = 168), followed by "Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences" (n = 82). The total citation number was 3704 times. The highest cited paper (348) was a systematic review from Iran, published in arch Acad Emerg Med. The top source was "Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research & Reviews," with 26 documents. Conclusions: The current study provides an overview of the quantity and quality of published scholarly documents on the intersection of DM and COVID-19 in the region. Our findings help scientists find the existing gaps, manage the research budgets, identify active authors and scientific institutes to collaborate with, and use their experience to produce new knowledge in the future.

Metabolomics prospect of obesity and metabolic syndrome; a systematic review.

Purpose: Due to growing concerns about the obesity pandemic as a worldwide phenomenon, a global effort has been made for managing it and associated disorders. Accordingly, metabolomics as a promising field of "OMICS" is presented for investigating different molecular pathways in obesity and related disorders through the evaluation of specific metabolites in both animal and human subjects. Herein, the aim of the present study as the first systematic review is to evaluate all available studies about different mechanisms and their biomarkers discovery using metabolomics approaches. Method: The study was designed according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Using a comprehensive search strategy we searched in databases including; Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus using specific keywords. Based on predefined inclusion/exclusion criteria study selection has been conducted considering the type of studies, participant, and outcome measures. Quality assessment was done using CASP (Critical Appraisal Skills Programme) checklist followed by data extraction according to a predefined data extraction sheet. Results: Among the articles that resulted from electronic search, a total of 74 articles met our inclusion criteria. The most prevalent studied metabolites were amino acids and lipid derivatives and both targeted and non-targeted approaches were applied for metabolomics studies. Conclusion: This systematic review summarized a wide range of studies regardless of the age, history, language, and type of the study. Further studies are needed to compare the application of emerging methods in the treatment of obesity and related disorders. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40200-021-00917-w.

Educational approaches for patients with heart surgery: a systematic review of main features and effects.

INTRODUCTION: Patients who undergo heart surgery are exposed to mental and physical difficulties after discharge from hospital. They often need support and follow-up after discharge. The use of educational approaches or solutions before or after heart surgery can increase patients' knowledge on the post-operative complications and self-care. The main purpose of this systematic review is to determine the applications of educational approaches and investigate the effects of these approaches on patients with heart surgery. METHOD AND MATERIEL: A thorough search was conducted in Medline (through PubMed), Scopus, ISI web of science to select related articles published between 2011 and May 2022. All of the retrieved papers were screened according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) checklist. RESULTS: A total of 29 articles were obtained from the search, which included in this systematic review after being assessed based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Most of the articles (n = 10, 34.48%) had been conducted in Canada and Iran, with the most significant number published in 2016. Out of 29 studies, 23 were experimental studies, and six were observational-analytical studies. The number of participants in the studies ranged from 11 to 600 (IQR1: 57.5, median: 88, IQR3: 190). In 28 (96.55%) studies, the educational approaches had a significant effect on clinical, economic or patient-reported outcomes. The greatest effect reported by the studies was related to clinical outcomes such as patient care improvement or change in clinical practice. The most effects in the patient-reported outcomes were related to improving patient satisfaction and patient knowledge. In terms of global rating scores, 17.24% of the included studies were considered as weak, 20.68% as moderate, and 62.06% as strong. CONCLUSION: The results of systematic review showed that the use of educational approaches by patients before and after heart surgery can have significant effects on reducing stress and financial burden, and increasing the quality of care and level of knowledge in patients.

Effect of vitamin E supplementation on cardiometabolic risk factors, inflammatory and oxidative markers and hormonal functions in PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome): a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrinopathy among reproductive-age women. Various therapeutical approaches are currently used to manage or control symptoms associated with PCOS. This systematic review intended to assess the effects of Vit E supplementation on cardiometabolic risk factors, inflammatory and oxidative markers, and hormonal functions in PCOS women based on the clinical trial's results. The databases including PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane, Web of Science, and Embase were used to find all relevant studies. The authors reviewed all relevant clinical trials via systematic evaluation of abstracts and titles. Searches were conducted on August 1, 2020. After the initial search and reading of the article's title and abstract, 353 articles were reviewed; finally, 12 articles met the inclusion criteria. Vitamin E supplementation improves lipid profile, decreases insulin and HOMA-IR levels. Furthermore, while Vitamin E supplementation decreases LH and testosterone concentrations, it increases FSH and progestrone concentrations. The following meta-analysis showed that vitamin E supplementation made statistically significant improvements in triglyceride (TG) and low-density lipoproteins (LDL) levels, meanwhile, pooled mean difference for waist circumference (WC) and HOMA-IR were also statistically significant. Supplementary regimens containing vitamin E can positively affect metabolic and hormonal parameters in women with PCOS.