Mesenchymal stem cells for chronic knee pain secondary to osteoarthritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effectiveness of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for chronic knee pain secondary to osteoarthritis (OA). METHODS: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and Cochrane Central to September 2023 for trials that (1) enrolled patients with chronic pain associated with knee OA, and (2) randomized them to MSC therapy vs. placebo or usual care. We performed random-effects meta-analysis and used Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation to assess the certainty of evidence. RESULTS: We included 16 trials (807 participants). At 3-6 months, MSC therapy probably results in little to no difference in pain relief (weighted mean difference [WMD] -0.74 cm on a 10 cm visual analog scale [VAS], 95% confidence interval [95%CI] -1.16 to -0.33; minimally important difference [MID] 1.5 cm) or physical functioning (WMD 2.23 points on 100-point 36-item Short Form Survey (SF-36) physical functioning subscale, 95%CI -0.97 to 5.43; MID 10-points; both moderate certainty). At 12 months, injection of MSCs probably results in little to no difference in pain (WMD -0.73 cm on a 10 cm VAS, 95%CI -1.69 to 0.24; moderate certainty) and may improve physical functioning (WMD 19.36 points on 100-point SF-36 PF subscale, 95%CI -0.19 to 38.9; low certainty). MSC therapy may increase risk of any adverse events (risk ratio [RR] 2.67, 95%CI 1.19 to 5.99; low certainty) and pain and swelling of the knee joint (RR 1.58, 95%CI 1.04 to 2.38; low certainty). CONCLUSIONS: Intra-articular injection of MSCs for chronic knee pain associated with OA probably provides little to no improvement in pain or physical function.

Global, regional, and national burden and quality of care index (QCI) of oral disorders: a systematic analysis of the global burden of disease study 1990-2017.

BACKGROUND: Oral disorders are still a major global public health challenge, considering their perpetuating and chronic nature. Currently, there is no direct index to measure the quality of care on a population scale. Hence, we aim to propose a new index to measure the quality of care for oral disorders worldwide. METHODS: We generated our database using the data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study 2017. Among different variables such as prevalence, incidence, years lived with disability, and disability-adjusted life years, we utilised principal component analysis (PCA) to determine the component that bears the greatest proportion of information to generate the novel quality of care index (QCI) for oral disorders. RESULTS: Global QCI for oral disorders gradually increased from 1990 to 2017 (from 70.5 to 74.6). No significant gender disparity was observed during this period, and the gender disparity ratio (GDR) was considered optimal in 1990 and 2017. Between 1990 and 2017, the age-standardised QCI for all oral disorders increased in all the SDI regions. The highest QCI for all oral disorders in 2017 belonged to high-middle SDI countries (=80.24), and the lowest YLDs rate was seen in the low SDI quintile. In 1990, the quality of care in European, Central Asian, and Central and South American countries was in the lowest quintiles, whereas the North American, East Asian, Middle Eastern, and some African countries had the highest quality of dental care. Maynmar (=100), Uganda (=92.5), Taiwan (=92.0), China (=92.5), and the United States (=89.2) were the five countries with the highest age-standardised QCI. Nicaragua (=41.3), Belgium (=40.2), Venezuela (=38.4), Sierra Leone (=30.5), and the Gambia (=30.3) were the five countries with the least age-standardised QCI values. CONCLUSION: The quality of care for all oral disorders showed an increasing trend on a global scale from 1990 to 2017. However, the QCI distribution was not homogenous among various regions. To prevent the exacerbation of imminent disparities in this regard, better attention to total tooth loss in high-income countries and prioritising primary healthcare provision in low-income countries are recommended for oral disorders.

Dental Caries among the Elderly in Iran: A Meta-analysis.

Background: The prevalence of dental caries among the elderly is high worldwide, and dental caries cause the major burden of oral diseases. This meta-analysis aimed to determine the dental caries experience among the elderly in Iran. Methods: A systematic review of the published and grey literature on Iranians aged 65 years or older was performed. Six international and local databases provided the most comprehensive population-based studies. National oral health surveys and national disease and health surveys were considered other primary data sources. The quality of remained studies was assessed by a modified tool designed based on the STROBE statement checklist to evaluate the cross-sectional studies. R Version 3.6.0 was used for statistical analysis. Heterogeneity was assessed using Cochran's Q and F statistics. Subgroup analysis was performed to detect the source of heterogeneity. Funnel plots and Egger's regression intercept test were used to assess publication bias and selective reporting. Results: Overall, 3099 sources were found. After excluding ineligible studies, 46 data points with 10411 people ≥65 years were included in the meta-analysis. The mean pooled decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) among older people was 26.84 (range, 26.41-27.28). The DMFT was 26.78 (range, 26.12-27.43) in women and 26.91 (range, 26.32-27.50) in men. The mean number of decayed teeth was 1.48 (range, 1.32-1.65). The mean pooled missing teeth was 24.83 (range, 24.20-25.46), and the mean pooled filled teeth was 0.14 (range, 0.12-0.17). The majority (92%) of the DMFT was related to missing teeth. Conclusion: Iranian elderly have almost 5 sound teeth in their mouth on average. The Iranian oral health policymakers should address this considerable burden of dental caries in designing and implementing better oral health policies for the population, especially older Iranian adults.

Research transparency in dental research: A programmatic analysis.

We assessed adherence to five transparency practices-data sharing, code sharing, conflict of interest disclosure, funding disclosure, and protocol registration-in articles in dental journals. We searched and exported the full text of all research articles from PubMed-indexed dental journals available in the Europe PubMed Central database until the end of 2021. We programmatically assessed their adherence to the five transparency practices using a validated and automated tool. Journal- and article-related information was retrieved from ScimagoJR and Journal Citation Reports. Of all 329,784 articles published in PubMed-indexed dental journals, 10,659 (3.2%) were available to download. Of those, 77% included a conflict of interest disclosure, and 62% included a funding disclosure. Seven percent of the articles had a registered protocol. Data sharing (2.0%) and code sharing (0.1%) were rarer. Sixteen percent of articles did not adhere to any of the five transparency practices, 29% adhered to one, 48% adhered to two, 7.0% adhered to three, 0.3% adhered to four, and no article adhered to all five practices. Adherence to transparency practices increased over time; however, data and code sharing especially remained rare. Coordinated efforts involving all stakeholders are needed to change current transparency practices in dental research.

Marginal fit of monolithic versus layered zirconia crowns assessed with 2 marginal gap methods.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM: Zirconia can be used either monolithically or veneered with porcelain. However, whether veneering zirconia affects marginal fit is unclear. PURPOSE: The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the marginal fit of the monolithic and layered zirconia prostheses using 2 different assessment methods. MATERIAL AND METHODS: An ideal complete crown with a chamfer finish line was prepared on an extracted maxillary central incisor. Two prosthesis designs, a framework and a monolithic design, and 2 marginal fit evaluation methods, the silicone replica and the triple scanning techniques, were used. In the first group, 10 crowns were fabricated with the framework design followed by porcelain veneering, and 10 crowns were fabricated monolithically in the second group. The marginal gap in each group was evaluated with both the silicone replica and triple scan methods. Data were statistically analyzed with a 2-way repeated measures ANOVA (α=.05). RESULTS: A significant difference was found in the mean marginal gap by design type (P=.003), with the monolithic prostheses having lower mean marginal gaps (31.0 and 84.0 µm). However, both groups showed clinically acceptable marginal fit. No significant difference was found between the assessment methods (P=.092). CONCLUSIONS: Monolithic zirconia crowns had a better marginal fit than veneered zirconia frameworks. Both the replica and triple scan techniques for marginal gap assessment yielded similar results.

Assessing Google Searches for Toothache during COVID-19 Lockdowns.

Background: Lockdowns due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic forced many dental offices to be closed. This study aims to investigate the association between COVID-19 imposed lockdowns and online searches for toothache using Google Trends (GT). Methods: We investigated GT online searches for the term "toothache" within the past 5 years. The time frame for data gathering was considered as the initiation and end dates of national/regional lockdowns in each country. We used 1-way analysis of variance to identify statistical differences in relative search volumes (RSVs) between 2020 and 2016-2019 for each country. Results: Overall, 16 countries were included in our analyses. Among all countries, Indonesia (n = 100), Jamaica (n = 56), Philippines (n = 56), Iran (n = 52), and Turkey (47) had the highest RSVs for toothache in the specified period. Compared with the previous 4 years, higher RSVs were seen in the world (as a whole) (2020 RSVs, 94.4; vs 2019 RSVs, 77.8 [ P < 0.001]) and 13 countries (81.3% of the included countries). Conclusion: Generally, searching for the term "toothache" showed an increase during the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 compared with the past 4 years. This can imply the importance of dental care as urgent medical care during public health emergencies such as COVID-19.

Dahaan: a framework for delivering evidence-informed dentistry recommendations and dental public health advocacy in Iran.

Although health is mostly determined by socio-political factors, the need for providing reliable health recommendations to the public should not be neglected. There has been a considerable void in delivering evidence-informed oral health recommendations in Iran; whilst there is a significant gap in oral health knowledge among socioeconomic classes, recommendations are neither fully compatible with each other nor up-to-date. To fill in this void, we started Dahaan (meaning "mouth" in Persian) with the aim of providing the latest easily accessed evidence-informed dentistry recommendations and advocating dental public health in the Iranian community. In this paper, we as the authors present the performance and achievements of this group, which is a member of the NCD Alliance and the Informed Health Choices project with a reasonable number of readers across the country, and illustrate the way ahead towards our goals.

Trends in dental caries of deciduous teeth in Iran: a systematic analysis of the national and sub-national data from 1990 to 2017.

BACKGROUND: Dental caries is the most prevalent child affliction in the world and can be reduced through effective preventive interventions. To plan cost-effective interventions, clear and integrated data are needed. This study has been designed to overcome the lack of national trend in deciduous dental caries in Iran. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the dental caries trend in deciduous teeth in the Iranian population at different ages from 1990 to 2017. METHODS: From 1990 to 2017 a literature search about dmf and its components (decayed, missed, and filled tooth, abbreviated as dt, mt, and ft) as well as dental caries was done in the Iranian population in three English (PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus) and three national databases (in Persian). All eligible national oral health surveys in these 28 years were included. National dmft data were categorised based on age (1-4, 5-9, and 10-14), sex, province and year. The final trends were estimated using an age-spatio-temporal hierarchical model. We used the bootstrap method in multilevel models to predict the uncertainty interval (UI) of the modelled results. Finally, the estimations of dmft, dt, mt, and ft with a 95% UI were reported from 1990 to 2017. RESULTS: Almost 22% of the Iranian deciduous teeth were involved with dental caries in 1990 [dmft = 4.37; (95% UI 2.23, 6.62)] which more than 83% of it was dt [3.64 (1.53, 5.88)] and less than 7% was ft [0.30 (0.06, 0.65)]. During 1990-2017, dmft increased by more than 15% [in 2017, dmft = 5.03 (2.82, 7.29)]. The highest increase was seen in dt which was more than 17% [in 2017, dt = 4.27 (1.96, 6.57)]. CONCLUSION: Increasing dental caries among Iranian children over 28 years shows that oral health policies in Iran need critical evaluation. We need cost-effective nationwide interventions (e.g., supervised tooth brushing and improving dietary habits) and training well-experienced intermediate manpower (e.g., dental hygienists) to reduce dental caries.

Assessing research misconduct in Iran: a perspective from Iranian medical faculty members.

BACKGROUND: Research misconduct is a global concern in biomedical science. There are no comprehensive data regarding the perception and situation of scientific misconduct among the Iranian medical faculty members. We conducted a nationwide survey to assess the research misconduct among the medical faculty members in Iran. METHODS: We used the Persian version of the research misconduct questionnaire (PRMQ) on the Google Forms platform. We sent the survey link to a systematic random sample of medical faculty members in Iran (N = 4986). Descriptive analyses were performed on the individual items of the PRMQ, with frequencies and percentages for categorical and Likert-type response items, and means and standard deviation (S.D.) for continuous variables. Chi-square analysis was conducted to test hypotheses examining differences in the frequency of responses related to factors influencing misconduct. We also defined four tenure categories (TC) based on the working years of the participants as tenured faculty members. All the analyses were performed using R 3.6.0. RESULTS: The response rate was 13.8% (692 responses). Nearly 70% of the respondents agreed that their publication output would be of higher quality if there were no publication pressure. Approximately three-quarters (N =499, 72.1%) of the respondents had been aware of some instances of research misconduct during the previous year according to their understanding of misconduct. Among the participants, 18.5% perceived the effectiveness of their associated organisation's rules for reducing research misconduct to be high or very high. Pressure for tenure was identified as the item most frequently perceived with a strong behavioural influence on engaging in research misconduct (80.2%). CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms that research misconduct needs to be actively addressed among the medical faculty members. Making policies with a focus on boosting awareness regarding the occasions of scientific misconduct and its management seems to be indispensable in the future in Iran.

Association of COVID-19-imposed lockdown and online searches for toothache in Iran.

BACKGROUND: Novel coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has impacted populations in many ways worldwide, including access to oral health services. This study aims to assess the association between lockdown due to COVID-19 and online searches for toothache in Iran using Google Trends (GT). METHODS: We investigated GT online searches for toothache within the past five years. The time frame for data gathering was considered as the initiation and end dates of the national lockdown in Iran. We performed one-way ANOVA statistical test to compare relative search volumes (RSVs) between the year 2020 and 2016-2019 for the whole country. Then we investigated the possible association of RSVs in provinces with dentists' density, prevalence of current daily smokers, Human Development Index (HDI), Internet access, and fluoride concentration in water using linear regression. RESULTS: When comparing 2020 with the previous four years, there was a rise of 2020 RSVs versus all previous years combined and each year (P < 0.001 for all of them). In the linear model for the year 2020, HDI (B = - 3.29, 95% CI: (- 5.80, - 0.78), P = 0.012) had a strong negative relationship with provincial RSVs. HDI mostly had strong positive relationship with provincial RSVs in prior years. Fluoride concentration (B = - 0.13, 95% CI: (- 0.24, - 0.03), P = 0.017) and dentists' density (B = - 0.04, 95% CI: (- 0.25, 0.17), P = 0.669) were also negatively associated with RSVs in 2020. These associations were mostly negative in the previous years as well. Internet access (B = 0.36, 95% CI: (- 0.38, 1.09), P = 0.325) and prevalence of daily smokers (B = 0.33, 95% CI: (0.13, 0.53), P = 0.002) were positively associated with RSVs. CONCLUSION: The RSVs for toothache in 2020 have increased due to COVID-19-imposed lockdown compared with the same period in the past four years. This increase was related to socioeconomic factors.

Global, regional, and national burden and quality of care index (QCI) of lip and oral cavity cancer: a systematic analysis of the Global Burden of Disease Study 1990-2017.

BACKGROUND: To measure the quality of care for lip and oral cavity cancer worldwide using the data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2017. METHODS: After devising four main indices of quality of care for lip and oral cavity cancer using GBD 2017 study's measures, including prevalence, incidence, years of life lost, years lived with disability, and disability-adjusted life years, we utilised principal component analysis (PCA) to determine a component that bears the most proportion of info among the others. This component of the PCA was considered as the Quality-of-Care Index (QCI) for lip and oral cavity cancer. The QCI score was then reported in both men and women worldwide and different countries based on the socio-demographic index (SDI) and World Bank classifications. RESULTS: Between 1990 and 2017, care quality continuously increased globally (from 53.7 to 59.6). In 1990, QCI was higher for men (53.5 for men compared with 50.8 for women), and in 2017 QCI increased for both men and women, albeit a slightly higher rise for women (57.2 for men compared with 59.9 for women). During the same period, age-standardised QCI for lip and oral cavity cancer increased in all regions (classified by SDI and World Bank). Globally, the highest QCI scores were observed in the elderly age group, whereas the least were in the adult age group. Five countries with the least amount of QCIs were all African. In contrast, North American countries, West European countries and Australia had the highest indices. CONCLUSION: The quality of care for lip and oral cavity cancer showed a rise from 1990 to 2017, a promising outcome that supports patient-oriented and preventive treatment policies previously advised in the literature. However, not all countries enjoyed such an increase in the QCI to the same extent. This alarming finding could imply a necessary need for better access to high-quality treatments for lip and oral cavity cancer, especially in central African countries and Afghanistan. More policies with a preventive approach and paying more heed to the early diagnosis, broad insurance coverage, and effective screening programs are recommended worldwide. More focus should also be given to the adulthood age group as they had the least QCI scores globally.

Orofacial adverse effects of COVID-19 vaccines exist but are rare.

Data sources The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Health Canada, European Medicines Agency (EMA)/European Commission and UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).Study selection Product monographs, product information and consumer medicine information for the BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) and mRNA-1273 (Moderna) vaccines.Data extraction and synthesis Reported side/adverse/undesirable effects concerning the orofacial region were extracted and tabulated.Results There were rare reports of adverse events affecting the orofacial region for both vaccines in their pertaining documents, including acute peripheral facial paralysis (Bell's palsy), facial swelling and swelling of the lips, face or tongue associated with anaphylaxis. There was heterogeneity in the acknowledgement of vaccine-related adverse events in North America compared with Europe.Conclusions There are rare reports of orofacial adverse effects of two mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines in their documents; however, there are inconsistencies in the description of these adverse effects in different countries.

Patients with COVID-19 may present some oral manifestations.

Data sources Medline (using PubMed) and Google Scholar. Also, a case was reported by the authors.Study selection Case reports dealing with oral manifestations of COVID-19.Data extraction and synthesis Two reviewers independently reviewed articles and papers which reported any oral lesions in patients with COVID-19 and summarised the data. In addition, they collated all relevant information about each case.Results The authors described a case history in which oral symptoms were observed which included dry mouth, acute dysgeusia, mild pain and burning sensation in lower lip mucosa, then after two days, vesicles appeared in the same region with simultaneous systemic symptoms of COVID-19. The patient reported a previous history of herpetic infections. After seven days, oral lesions were healed and systemic symptoms regressed on day 14.Literature review Seventeen studies reporting 226 confirmed cases, and the case reported by the review authors, were included. The age range was between 9-90 years. More than 170 cases developed oral manifestations. The most common oral manifestations were dry mouth (n = 75), dysgeusia (n = 71) and pseudomembranous fungal structure (n = 67). Changes in tongue sensation (n = 48) and ulceration (n = 28), muscle pain during mastication (n = 15), swelling in the oral cavity (n = 10) and herpetic lesions (n = 6) were other common symptoms. The mean onset time of the oral manifestation was 7.21 days after systemic symptoms (range: 10-42 days). In 42 cases, oral lesions resolved spontaneously or with some basic treatment within three weeks.Conclusions Some patients with COVID-19 may present oral manifestations during their course of the disease; however, we do not know if there is a causal relationship between COVID-19 and these manifestations or not.

Is periodontitis associated with hypertension?

Data sources Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Medline (Ovid), Embase, Web of Science, Latin American & Caribbean Health Sciences Literature (LILACS) and SIGLE database.Study selection Randomised controlled trials (RCTs), controlled clinical trials (CCTs), cohort studies, case-control studies and cross-sectional studies.Data extraction and synthesis Two reviewers screened papers independently and assessed the risk of bias. Data categorised based on the study design. The primary outcome was the odds ratio (OR)/relative risk (RR) and confidence interval (CI) for hypertension in individuals with periodontitis.Results Diagnoses of moderate-to-severe (OR = 1.22; 95% CI: 1.10-1.35) and severe periodontitis (OR = 1.49; 95% CI: 1.09-2.05) were associated with hypertension. Diagnosis of periodontitis increased odds of occurring hypertension (OR = 1.68; 95% CI: 0.85-3.35). Patients with periodontitis exhibited higher mean systolic (weighted mean difference [WMD] of 4.49 mmHg; 95% CI: 2.88-6.11) and diastolic blood pressures (2.03 mmHg; 95% CI: 1.25-2.81). There was inconclusive evidence that periodontal therapy reduces blood pressure (3-12.5 mmHg of systolic and 0-10 mmHg of diastolic blood pressures).Conclusions Periodontitis could be associated with increased risk of hypertension. Further, the management of periodontitis could impact on the management of hypertension. However, there is still a need for more high-quality research.

The relationship between the source of oral health information and dental caries: Findings from Child Dental Health Survey 2013 in England.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the magnitude and shape of the relationship between dental caries experience and the source of oral health information in England. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study using the Child Dental Health Survey 2013 in England. Using a negative binomial model, the relationship between the number of decayed, missing, filled teeth (DMFT) of 12- and 15-year-old students and their primary source of oral health information was assessed. The sources of oral health information included parents, television, newspapers, the Internet, and social media. The adjusted model included age, sex, and the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD). R was used for data handling, analysis and reporting. RESULTS: Overall, 2,372 children were assessed (48.7% female, 48.6% 12-year-old). For the majority, the primary source of oral health information was their parents (89.5%) followed by the Internet (43.4%). Over nine-tenth of the participants had a DMFT = 0. The adjusted model showed that the prevalence rate of DMFT for the children whose primary source of information is their parents (0.45) or television (0.62) is lower than 1. The prevalence rate for the Internet (1.17) and social media (1.67) was higher than 1, but they were removed from the final model due to being non-statistically significant. Age and deprivation had a direct relationship with the prevalence rate of DMFT, meaning that 15-year-olds and children from more deprived areas had a higher prevalence rate of DMFT. CONCLUSION: Children whose primary source of oral health information was their parents or television had a lower DMFT. On the contrary, using the Internet or social media as the source of oral health information was associated with higher caries experience among schoolchildren.

National and Subnational Trend of Dental Caries of Permanent Teeth in Iran, 1990-2017.

OBJECTIVE: There are currently no integrated data on the trend of dental caries amongst distinct age groups in Iran. We aimed to assess the national and subnational trend of dental caries of permanent teeth in Iran from 1990 to 2017. METHODS: A literature search about dental caries and the decayed-missing-filled teeth index (DMFT) was performed in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and 3 national databases (in Persian). All eligible national oral health surveys in these 28 years were included. We categorised and aggregated the DMFT values and their components based on age (5-year-based groups from 5 to 9 to 60+ years), sex, year, and province. The data for missing spots were estimated using the spatiotemporal Bayesian hierarchical model. We used the bootstrap method in multilevel models to predict the uncertainty interval (UI) of the modelled results. RESULTS: Nationally, the all-ages mean DMFT increased by nearly 58.0% (6.8 [95% UI, 4.1-10.5] in 1990 to 10.8 [95% UI, 7.5-14.5] in 2017). Decayed teeth (DT) and missing teeth (MT) rose by 84.5% and 31.6% during this period, respectively. Filled teeth (FT) showed almost a 2.6-fold increase in the same period from 0.6 (95% UI, 0.01-1.6) in 1990 to 1.7 (95% UI, 0.6-2.8) in 2017. The proportion of DT and FT continuously increased in both sexes. In 2017, the highest DT, MT, and FT were estimated in the 25-29 (4.9 [95% UI, 2.5-7.2]), 60+ (21.5 [95% UI, 17.5-25.4]), and 35-39 (2.6 [95% UI, 1.3-4.0]) year age groups. CONCLUSIONS: Caries of permanent dentition levies a growing burden on the Iranian population. Considering the continuous increase in caries during the 1990-2017 period, Iranian policymakers should pay heed to these findings and react more proactively to mitigate this perpetuating issue. Implementing nationwide interventions such as sugar consumption management should be encouraged to achieve sustainable outcomes in this regards.

An investigation into gender distributions in scholarly publications among dental faculty members in Iran.

BACKGROUND: Research on gender inequality is crucial as it unveils the pervasive disparities that persist across various domains, shedding light on societal imbalances and providing a foundation for informed policy-making. AIM: To investigate gender differences in scientometric indices among faculty members in dental schools across Iran. This included overall data and speciality-specific data. METHODS: The publication profiles of academic staff in all dental schools were examined using the Iranian Scientometric Information Database (ISID, http://isid.research.ac.ir). Variables analyzed were working field, academic degree, the total number of papers, papers per year, total number of citations, percentage of self-citation, h-index, g-index, citations per paper, gender, university type, number of years publishing, proportion of international papers, first-author papers, and corresponding-author papers. Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis nonparametric tests were used to analyze the relationship between background characteristics and scientometric indicators. The extracted data were analyzed using R v4.0.1. RESULTS: The database included 1850 faculty members, of which about 60% (1104 of 1850) were women. Men (n = 746) had a higher number of papers (6583 vs. 6255) and citations (60410 vs. 39559) compared with women; 234 of the 376 faculty members with no papers were women. Almost half of the women (N = 517 of 1104) were in Type 2 universities, and nearly half of the men (N = 361 of the 746) were faculty members at Type 1 universities (Type 1 universities ranking higher than Type 2 and 3 universities). The medians of scientometric indices were higher in men, except for self-citation percentage (0 (IQR = 2) vs. 0 (IQR = 3), P = 0.083), international papers percentage (0 (IQR = 7.5) vs. 0 (IQR = 16.7), P<0.001). The proportion of corresponding-author papers was more than 62% higher in women (25 (IQR = 50) vs. 15.4 (IQR = 40), P<0.001). Men had a two-fold higher median h-index (2 (IQR = 4) vs. 1 (IQR = 3), P<0.001). Restorative dentistry and pediatric dentistry had the highest men-to-women ratios (1.5 for both). Dental materials and oral and maxillofacial surgery showed the lowest men-to-women ratios (0.42 and 0.5, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Women made up the majority of dental faculty members in Iran. Nevertheless, men showed better scientometric results in several significant indices. Having identified scientometric information reflecting differences across faculty members, further research is now needed to better understand the drivers of these differences.

Transparency of COVID-19-related research: A meta-research study.

BACKGROUND: We aimed to assess the adherence to five transparency practices (data availability, code availability, protocol registration and conflicts of interest (COI), and funding disclosures) from open access Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) related articles. METHODS: We searched and exported all open access COVID-19-related articles from PubMed-indexed journals in the Europe PubMed Central database published from January 2020 to June 9, 2022. With a validated and automated tool, we detected transparent practices of three paper types: research articles, randomized controlled trials (RCTs), and reviews. Basic journal- and article-related information were retrieved from the database. We used R for the descriptive analyses. RESULTS: The total number of articles was 258,678, of which we were able to retrieve full texts of 186,157 (72%) articles from the database Over half of the papers (55.7%, n = 103,732) were research articles, 10.9% (n = 20,229) were review articles, and less than one percent (n = 1,202) were RCTs. Approximately nine-tenths of articles (in all three paper types) had a statement to disclose COI. Funding disclosure (83.9%, confidence interval (CI): 81.7-85.8 95%) and protocol registration (53.5%, 95% CI: 50.7-56.3) were more frequent in RCTs than in reviews or research articles. Reviews shared data (2.5%, 95% CI: 2.3-2.8) and code (0.4%, 95% CI: 0.4-0.5) less frequently than RCTs or research articles. Articles published in 2022 had the highest adherence to all five transparency practices. Most of the reviews (62%) and research articles (58%) adhered to two transparency practices, whereas almost half of the RCTs (47%) adhered to three practices. There were journal- and publisher-related differences in all five practices, and articles that did not adhere to transparency practices were more likely published in lowest impact journals and were less likely cited. CONCLUSION: While most articles were freely available and had a COI disclosure, adherence to other transparent practices was far from acceptable. A much stronger commitment to open science practices, particularly to protocol registration, data and code sharing, is needed from all stakeholders.