Osteoporosis medication adherence tools: a systematic review.

Poor adherence reduces the effectiveness of osteoporosis treatment, resulting in lower bone mineral density and subsequently higher fracture rates. Reliable and practical tools are needed to measure medication adherence. The aim of this systematic review was to find osteoporosis medication adherence measurement tools and assess their applicability. Osteoporosis adherence measurement tools and all their related keywords in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Scopus databases were searched on 4 December, 2022. After excluding duplicates in the Endnote software, two researchers independently investigated the remaining articles and included all those that used a method for measuring adherence to osteoporosis pharmacotherapy. Articles that did not specify the medications evaluated or if the primary focus was not adherence excluded. Two common measures of adherence, i.e., compliance and persistence were included. Four separate tables were designed, one for direct methods, one for formulas, one for questionnaires, and one for electronic methods of measuring adherence to treatment. Quality assessment was performed for selected articles by the Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale (NOS). A total of 3821 articles were found, of which 178 articles met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. In general, five types of methods were observed to measure medication adherence of osteoporosis, including direct methods (n = 4), pharmacy records (n = 17), questionnaires (n = 13), electronic methods (n = 1), and tablet counting (n = 1). The most commonly used adherence measurement tool, based on pharmacy records, was medication possession ratio (MPR). Among questionnaires, Morisky Medication Adherence Scale was mostly used. Our findings show what tools have been used to measure medication adherence in osteoporosis patients. Among these tools, direct methods and electronic methods are the most accurate methods. However, due to their high cost, they are practically not used in measuring osteoporosis medication adherence. Questionnaires are the most popular among them and are mostly used in osteoporosis.

The association between oral contraceptive pills and ovarian cancer risk: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Previous study results have been inconclusive, so this meta-analysis aims to evaluate the association between ovarian cancer and oral contraceptive pills (OCPs). METHODS: PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched to identify studies on the association between OCPs and ovarian cancer from January 1, 2000 through February 5, 2023. The pooled relative risk (RR) and odds ratio (OR) were used to measure this relationship. RESULTS: A total of 67 studies were included. In the association between ever-use compared with never-use of OCPs and ovarian cancer risk, the pooled RR in cohort studies was 0.69 [95% CI: 0.61, 0.78]. For the relationship between duration of OCPs use and ovarian cancer in the cohort studies, no association between duration of use1-12 months 0.92 [95% CI: 0.82, 1.03] and duration of use 13-60 months 0.87 [95% CI: 0.73, 1.04], but there is a statistically significant inverse relationship between duration of use 61-120 months 0.62 [95% CI: 0.48, 0.81] and more than 120 months 0.51 [95% CI: 0.32, 0.80] and ovarian cancer. For the relationship between OCPs and histological subtype of epithelial ovarian cancer in the cohort studies, the pooled RR for invasive was 0.70 [95% CI: 0.56, 0.87], but no association between OCPs and borderline ovarian cancer 0.64 [95% CI: 0.31, 1.31]. CONCLUSION: Our analysis shows a statistically significant inverse relationship between ever-use compared to never-use of OCPs and ovarian cancer risk,and also between invasive cancer and OCPs. By increasing the duration of OCPs use, the risk of ovarian cancer decreased.

Iran osteoporosis registry: protocol for nationwide study.

Background: Osteoporotic fractures can result in significant health complications and an increased risk of death. Registry studies could provide better treatment options and improve patient outcomes by providing useful information about the disease. The present study describes the protocol for an osteoporosis registry in Iran. Materials and methods: This registry is a prospective multicenter cohort study recruiting patients with osteoporosis from Iran. The inclusion criteria of the study are individuals diagnosed with primary or secondary osteoporosis according to the diagnostic criteria of the study; patients will be identified and recruited from outpatient clinics in this registry. All patients diagnosed with primary or secondary osteoporosis are the target population of the study. Our expected sample size is 1000 participants and the study will continue for at least 2 years. The measurements of the Iranian Osteoporosis Registry include four parts: (i) variables measured by the specific questionnaires package, (ii) bone mineral density (BMD, (iii) clinical examination, and (iv) lab data. The final questionnaire package includes "demographics information", "socioeconomic status", "lifestyle", "reproductive health", "medical history and medication", "Osteoporosis diagnosis gap", "Osteoporosis adherence and treatment gap", "fracture history and fall risk assessment", "FRAX ® tool ", "hospitalization and death outcomes", "low back pain", "hospitalization history", "attitude toward osteoporosis", "osteoporosis awareness", "osteoporosis related-performance", "quality of life (Iranian version of SF12 questionnaire )", and "food frequency questionnaire (FFQ)". Clinical examination of this registry includes anthropometric measurements (including height, weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, hip circumference, and right wrist circumference), and blood pressure. The baseline questionnaires will be filled out right after patients are diagnosed with osteoporosis and then osteoporotic patients will be followed up regularly on a yearly basis. In the follow-up visit, variables that may have changed over time are updated. The main outcomes include registration of fall, fracture, hospitalization, medication adherence, and death. An online web-based user-friendly software is also developed for data collection. Data analysis will be conducted with the collaboration of data-mining experts and epidemiologists at the end of each follow-up. Conclusion: The Iran Osteoporosis Registry will be a valuable source of information regarding osteoporosis outcomes (i.e. fractures, hospitalizations, adherence, and death at the national level), and its results will be very beneficial and practical for policy makers in the field of musculoskeletal diseases.

Prevalence of osteoporosis in the Iranian population: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Purpose: The prevalence of osteoporosis increases as the population ages. The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the prevalence of osteoporosis among the general population ≥ 50 years old in Iran. Methods: Multiple databases including Scopus, WOS, Medline, Embase, and Persian databases (SID and Magiran) were systematically searched to identify relevant research papers. All population-based studies estimating the prevalence of osteoporosis in the Iranian population were included and imported into Endnote software. Two authors independently reviewed the articles. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to assess the risk of bias. Statistical analysis was performed using Stata software, and a significance level of 0.05 was applied to the analyses. Results: Totally 2117 documents were retrieved from the databases up until October 11, 2022. After reading the full texts, 10 documents were included in the study. Our results indicated that the pooled prevalence of osteoporosis in the femoral neck region was 0.19 (95%CI: 0.12-0.26) and 0.19 (95%CI: 0.13-0.25) for women and men, respectively. Pooled prevalence of spinal osteoporosis was 0.29 (95%CI: 0.21-0.38) among women and 0.16 (95%CI: 0.12-0.19) among men. The total pooled prevalence of osteoporosis was 0.38 (95%CI: 0.29-0.48) for women and 0.25 (95%CI: 0.22-0.29) for men. Conclusion: Our study highlights the elevated prevalence of osteoporosis among individuals aged 50 years and older, with females exhibiting higher rates. Notably, osteoporosis in the femoral neck region demonstrated the lowest prevalence in both sexes. The implementation of comprehensive strategies is imperative to address osteoporosis problems effectively. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40200-023-01352-9.

Consumers' Willingness to Pay for Pharmacist Counselling Services and the Factors Affecting It in Community Pharmacies.

Background: Community pharmacists play an important role in improving outcome by providing advice and counselling services to patients. Objectives: The aim of this study was to measure the willingness to pay (WTP) for pharmacist counselling services in community pharmacies and identify determinant factors on consumers' WTP. Methods: A self-administered questionnaire-based survey was conducted in community pharmacies in Tehran (capital of Iran) from January 1, 2020 to February 20, 2021. Contingent valuation method was applied to evaluate respondents' maximum WTP using three hypothetical scenarios illustrating different levels of counselling services. Logistic regression was used to analyze the association between different variables and WTP for pharmacy services. Results: Total number of participants who completed the questionnaire were 332 and 60% of the participants were male. In the first scenario 70.2% of participants were willing to pay for oral counselling pharmacy services. In the second and third scenario, percentage of people willing to pay increased to 79.5%. and 86.1%, respectively. In the first scenario, monthly income (OR = 0.041, P value = 0.04), the duration of underlying illness (OR = 0.04, P value = 0.04) and the using internet (OR = 2.59, P value = 2.59) had a statistically significant relationship with willingness to pay. In the third scenario, the willingness to pay increased as the age decreased. The possibility of using the internet (OR = 3.32, P value = 0.00) and the need for a community pharmacist (OR = 2.19, P value = 0.03) increased the chance of willingness to pay. Conclusions: More consumers are willing to pay for more pharmacist counselling services. Therefore, improving the quality of counselling services could have positive economic effects on community pharmacies.

Mind the osteoporosis care gap with timely diagnosis: an executive summary of nationwide osteoporosis Campaigns 2019-2021.

Background: The World Osteoporosis Day inaugurate on October 20 every year by the International Osteoporosis Foundation to initiate bone health and osteoporosis as a global health agenda for policymakers, health care providers, and the public. The reported the campaigns activities in three years 2019, 2020, and 2021. The aim of this campaigns was to promote the osteoporosis awareness to close osteoporosis care and data gaps. Methods: World Osteoporosis Day campaigns were held during three consecutive years 2019-2021 through "structuring" and "implantation" phases. The slogan of "early detection and timely diagnosis of osteoporosis" was followed in different public awareness and healthcare professional educational events. Also, a short survey regarding the knowledge of women aged ≥ 50 years of osteoporosis was used in campaigns to gather data for future planning. These nationwide campaigns was supported by the Osteoporosis Research Center in collaboration with the non-communicable diseases management office of Iran's Ministry of Health. Results: All activities stablished to close the "data" and "awareness" gap in osteoporosis care. 1972, 1881, and 2538 women aged ≥ 50 were participated in the world osteoporosis campaigns and educated in 2019, 2020, and 2021, respectively. More than thousands of online and published educational materials were provided and disseminated in group and face-to-face and virtual education via celebration meetings in primary healthcare facilities, parks and shopping malls. The wide-ranging health slogans and massages was distributed by way of SMS, press conferences on television, radio, and other social media platforms. In addition, the in-person and virtual events such as up-date osteoporosis symposiums, national osteoporosis research network meetings, osteoporosis essential courses, and subspecialty one-day seminars provided knowledge for health care teams and policy makers. Conclusion: Closing the osteoporosis treatment gap was approached by nationwide campaigns to make an appropriate intervention to emphasize early diagnosis and awareness of osteoporosis to close the care gap. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40200-023-01257-7.

Sputnik V vaccine-related complications and its impression on inflammatory biomarkers in healthcare providers.

PURPOSE: The current pandemic made scientists create new platforms of vaccines to fight against SARS-CoV-2. Without a doubt, the new forms of present vaccines could develop a diversity of unknown complications. Sputnik V vaccine with two different adenovirus vectors (Ad26 priming and Ad5 boost) was first announced safe and effective by Russia. However, there are controversies surrounding this vaccine such as the possible decline of its immunogenicity and diminished neutralizing capacity against some Covid-19 variants. In addition, its impression on serum biomarkers is not clearly surveyed. The present study aimed to evaluate the frequency of Sputnik V vaccine-related complications and its impression on inflammatory and hematologic biomarkers. MATERIALS &METHODS: An observational cohort study was performed to evaluate the side effects and serum biomarkers changes in healthcare workers receiving Sputnik V vaccine. The vaccine adverse events were recorded daily within 60 days. The blood samples were obtained before vaccination, and on the10th day after each dose of vaccination. The prevalence of all complications and inflammatory biomarkers levels were compared between two doses. All analyses were performed using SPSS software version 22.0. RESULTS: Totally, 126 participants completed the study. The mean age was 37.19 â€‹± â€‹7.73 years. The prevalence of all complications was higher following the first dose than the second dose. The most common side effects were pain at the injection site, body pain, fever, headache, weakness, vertigo, sore throat and sleep disorder. The hematocrit, mean corpuscular volume of red blood cells and neutrophils count declined following vaccination significantly (P-value; 0.04, 0.039, 0.000 respectively). CONCLUSION: It seems the side effects of Sputnik-V vaccine are mild and decrease significantly after the second dose. The decreasing level of hematocrit, MCV and neutrophil count was found significant following vaccination.

Global COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rate: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Aim: Achieving high COVID-19 vaccination coverage rates is essential as soon as a vaccine is available to deal with and end this pandemic. Due to the different amounts of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rates in different regions, the pooled estimation of this rate is essential. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate worldwide COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rates. Subject and methods: International databases (including, Web of sciences, PubMed, and Scopus) were searched to identify related studies. The heterogeneity among studies was assessed using the I2 index, the Cochran Q test, and T2. A random-effects model was used to pool estimate vaccine acceptance rates. Results: The overall pooled estimate of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rate was 65.1 (95% CI 60.1-70.1; P < 0.001, I2 = 99.8). The vaccine acceptance rate in the general population was 68.5 (95% CI 62.5-74.5; P < 0.001, I2 = 99.8) and among healthcare workers (HCWs) was 55.9 (95% CI 47.8-64.1; P < 0.001, I2 = 99.6). The lowest COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rate was in the Middle East (46.1% (35.1-57.0)), and the highest coverage rate was (85% (71-99.1)) in South America. Conclusion: COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rate among HCWs is lower than the general population. More studies are recommended to identify related factors to the COVID-19 vaccine acceptance rate.

The association between migraine and breast cancer risk: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Migraines is likely to play a protective role in the risk of breast cancer. Some studies have shown that there is an inverse relationship between migraine and breast cancer, and some studies have not found an association; therefore, results from previous studies have been inconclusive and we conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate association between migraine and breast cancer. METHODS: PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus and Web of Science were searched to identify studies on the association between migraine and breast cancer from January 1, 2000 through March 12, 2021. The pooled relative risk (RR) and the 95% confidence intervals (CI) was used to measure this relationship by assuming a random effects meta-analytic model. RESULTS: A total of 10 studies were included. Our study revealed that there was statistically significant inverse relationship between migraine and breast cancer in case-control studies 0.68 [95% CI: 0.56, 0.82], but no significant relationship was found in cohort studies 0.98 [95% CI: 0.91, 1.06]. Also, migraine reduced the risk of ductal carcinoma 0.84 [95% CI: 0.73, 0.96], and lobular carcinoma 0.83 [95% CI: 0.73, 0.96]. With respect to ER_PR status no association between migraine and breast cancer was found. We found no evidence of publication bias. CONCLUSION: Our analysis demonstrated a statistically significantly inverse relationship between migraine and total risk of breast cancer only in case-control studies. In summary, cohort studies do not support an inverse association between migraine and incident breast cancer. While in case-control studies, migraine has an inverse association with ductal carcinoma and lobular carcinoma of breast.

The relationship between metabolic syndrome and its components with bladder cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies.

A previous meta-analysis, entitled "The association between metabolic syndrome and bladder cancer susceptibility and prognosis: an updated comprehensive evidence synthesis of 95 observational studies involving 97,795,299 subjects," focused on all observational studies, whereas in the present meta-analysis, we focused on cohort studies to obtain more accurate and stronger evidence to evaluate the association between metabolic syndrome and its components with bladder cancer. PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched to identify studies on the association between metabolic syndrome and its components with bladder cancer from January 1, 2000 through May 23, 2021. The pooled relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to measure this relationship using a random-effects meta-analytic model. Quality appraisal was undertaken using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. In total, 56 studies were included. A statistically significant relationship was found between metabolic syndrome and bladder cancer 1.09 (95% CI, 1.02 to 1.17), and there was evidence of moderate heterogeneity among these studies. Our findings also indicated statistically significant relationships between diabetes (RR, 1.23; 95% CI, 1.16 to 1.31) and hypertension (RR, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.01 to 1.13) with bladder cancer, but obesity and overweight did not present a statistically significant relationship with bladder cancer. We found no evidence of publication bias. Our analysis demonstrated statistically significant relationships between metabolic syndrome and the risk of bladder cancer. Furthermore, diabetes and hypertension were associated with the risk of bladder cancer.

Hospital length of stay for COVID-19 patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

The length of stay in the hospital for COVID-19 can aid in understanding the disease's prognosis. Thus, the goal of this study was to collectively estimate the hospital length of stay (LoS) in COVID-19 hospitalized individuals. To locate related studies, international databases (including Google Scholar, Science Direct, PubMed, and Scopus) were searched. The I2 index, the Cochran Q test, and T2 were used to analyze study heterogeneity. The mean LoS in COVID- 19 hospitalized patients was estimated using a random-effects model. COVID-19's total pooled estimated hospital LoS was 15.35, 95%CI:13.47-17.23; p<0.001, I2 = 80.0). South America had the highest pooled estimated hospital LoS of COVID-19 among the continents, at 20.85 (95%CI: 14.80-26.91; p<0.001, I2 = 0.01), whereas Africa had the lowest at 8.56 8 (95%CI: 1.00-22.76). The >60 age group had the highest pooled estimated COVID-19 hospital LoS of 16.60 (95%CI: 12.94-20.25; p<0.001, I2 = 82.6), while the 40 age group had the lowest hospital LoS of 10.15 (95% CI: 4.90-15.39, p<0.001, I2 = 22.1). The metanalysis revealed that COVID-19's hospital LoS was more than 10 days. However, it appears that this duration varies depending on a number of factors, including the patient's age and the availability of resources.

Evaluation of Blood Biochemistry and Cardiopulmonary status of Hospitalized Covid-19 Patients in 3 Months Post Discharged Follow up Survey.

BACKGROUND: The new coronavirus causes systemic inflammation and damage to various organs. So, this study aimed to follow up patients with COVID -19 after recovery for three months by performing cardiac, pulmonary and laboratory tests. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a prospective cohort study of COVID-19 patients who were discharged from Baharloo Hospital. The diagnosis of COVID-19 was confirmed by PCR or long CT scan. Inclusion criteria were age over 18 years and patients with more than 50% of pulmonary involvement in lung CT scan. The patients were called to Baharloo hospital three months after recovery and were examined for cardiac, pulmonary and blood tests. RESULT: Our study included 178 participants with mean age of 55.70, and 50.6% of them were male. Among pulmonary factors in the hospital, 71.9%, 15.7%,1.7%,19.1% and 53.4% had positive GGO, consolidation, reverse halo sign, traction bronchiectasis and vascular enlargement, respectively. After three months follow up, percentage of patients who had reticulation, honeycombing, fibrotic brand and bullae were 12%, 1.1%,8.4% and 0%, respectively. The Mean values of FVC and FEV1 were reported 4.21 and 3.01, respectively. Among Cardiac factors, positive PVC, PAC and mean Pap were decreased after three months. Only Growth in myalgia and Decreased sense of taste were statistically significant. Also, D dimer, UA protein, PMN, Ferritin CRP, PMN, LDH and HB amounts had decreased significantly. CONCLUSION: Our study indicated that in addition to pulmonary changes, rapid damage to other organs and the occurrence of cardiac symptoms and changes in laboratory result were also reported in patients recovered from COVID-19.

Viral Coinfection among COVID-19 Patient Groups: An Update Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Coinfections have a potential role in increased morbidity and mortality rates during pandemics. Our investigation is aimed at evaluating the viral coinfection prevalence in COVID-19 patients. METHODS: We systematically searched scientific databases, including Medline, Scopus, WOS, and Embase, from December 1, 2019, to December 30, 2020. Preprint servers such as medRxiv were also scanned to find other related preprint papers. All types of studies evaluating the viral coinfection prevalence in COVID-19 patients were considered. We applied the random effects model to pool all of the related studies. RESULTS: Thirty-three studies including 10484 patients were identified. The viral coinfection estimated pooled prevalence was 12.58%; 95% CI: 7.31 to 18.96). Blood viruses (pooled prevalence: 12.48%; 95% CI: 8.57 to 16.93) had the most frequent viral coinfection, and respiratory viruses (pooled prevalence: 4.32%; 95% CI: 2.78 to 6.15) had less frequent viral coinfection. The herpesvirus pooled prevalence was 11.71% (95% CI: 3.02 to 24.80). Also, the maximum and minimum of viral coinfection pooled prevalence were in AMRO and EMRO with 15.63% (95% CI: 3.78 to 33.31) and 7.05% (95% CI: 3.84 to 11.07), respectively. CONCLUSION: The lowest rate of coinfection belonged to respiratory viruses. Blood-borne viruses had the highest coinfection rate. Our results provide important data about the prevalence of blood-borne viruses among COVID-19 patients which can be critical when it comes to their treatment procedure.