Iranian Journal of

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Background: One of the common problems of the elderly, which increase of its prevalence with aging is the dementia and the cognitive impairment. We can help the involved patients to have a better quality of life with early diagnosis of the cognitive impairment. The aim of this study was an assessment of the validity and reliability of the Persian version of the abbreviated mental test (AMT) among the older people in a nursing home setting. Methods: 176 eligible elderly people aged ≥ 60 years living in KahrizakCharity Foundation (KCF), were selected randomly based on medical record number. Demographic information and past medical history of the participants were collected. Geriatric depression scale 15 (GDS-15), global deterioration scale (GDS) forms and also the Persian version of the abbreviated mental test (AMT) were administered. The participants were assigned to two groups the normal and impaired cognitive groups, based on DSM-IV diagnostic criteria. The GDS cut-points were used for assessment of validity, sensitivity and specificity of the Persian version of AMT. Results: The mean age of the participants was 77.30 (7.94) years. The Persian version of AMT had good discriminated validity in diagnosis of normal and impaired cognitive participants (7.35 ± 2.33 and 5.99 ± 2.29, P < 0.01 respectively) and at cut-point AMT< 8,(based on GDS cut-point) it had a sensitivity and specificity 92.15 % and 81.50% respectively. The sensitivity and specificity based on theism IVcriteriawere 64.9% and 64.0% at cut-off point equal to 7, respectively. The internal consistency of the Persian version of AMT was acceptable (Cronbach’salpha coefficient =0. 76). As well as the external reliability (intra-rater) of this instrument was good inter-class correlation coefficient (ICC) = 0.89) Conclusion: The Persian version of the AMT has appropriate validity and reliability in Iranian older people.

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In medical studies, measures are required to reveal the effect of exposures and interventions and also the precision of measurements. This paper aimed to introduce the measures of effect and agreement and inferences about them in these studies. Principles and method of calculating measures of effect and agreement and inference about them were presented for all types of medical studies taking into account the relevant considerations. To assess the effect of risk factors on outcomes in case-control and cohort studies, and to determine the relevant effect, the attributable risk and fraction in the exposed group and population were used along with their confidence intervals. Also the relative risk reduction, absolute risk reduction and number needed to treat were applied as the measures of effect of intervention in the interventional studies especially in trails. The sensitivity, specificity and related measures along with their confidence intervals were computed for diagnostic accuracy and screening studies. In addition it is needed to evaluate the precision of measurements using standard error of measurements, ICC, Altman and Bland’s limits of agreement and Lin’s concordance correlation coefficient for quantitative variables and using kappa and weighted kappa for nominal and ordinal variables. In each of these situations the results of research based examples were presented along with the methods of their calculations.To assess the measures of effect and agreement, the mentioned analyses are recommended considering the situation and purpose of the study.

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Background: Type 1 diabetes mellitus or juvenile/adolescent diabetes has a significant impact on the quality of life among children and parents. Thus, the development of a deep understanding of the disease of diabetes in childhood and the ways to prevent and treat patients allows health care providers to respond to their specific needs. One of the solutions to improve the knowledge of the patients is online education. Therefore, this study designed and evaluated a childhood diabetes education website with the goal of improving the quality of care for children and reducing mortality.
Methods: This study involved three phases of content collection, website design, and evaluation. The website content information was collected from reliable library sources and created using the WordPress website design tool. Subsequently, the website content, performance, display capabilities, terminology and information retrieval, and ease of learning were evaluated by physicians and nurses.
Results: Comprehensive clinical information about pediatric diabetes was provided on the website. In the evaluation of the website content, the highest average was related to the type 1 diabetes section at a glance and the lowest average was related to the pathology section. In evaluating the website performance, the highest average was related to the overall design and the lowest average was related to the ease of use. Overall, the website performance was of good quality.
Conclusion: To increase the effectiveness of care services and reduce the complications of diseases, providing accurate and reliable information in the form of educational websites should be considered.

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Background: National Document for the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and Related Risk Factors, developed in 2015, serves as Iran’s roadmap for guiding health policies to manage NCDs. After a decade, assessing its implementation and progress is essential. We aimed to review and synthesize existing evidence on the implementation status of the document’s interventions, and identify facilitators, barriers, and strategies to enhance its execution.
Methods: Following the PRISMA-ScR 2020 checklist, a systematic search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, SID databases, Google Scholar, organizational repositories, and reference lists of related studies in Persian and English. Research or review studies that evaluated at least one objective or intervention of the national document—using health or health system indicators in Iran—were included. Three researchers independently performed screening and data extraction. Data were analyzed narratively and organized into thematic categories.
Results: Overall, 78 studies, reports, and national documents were included. Implemented actions encompassed establishing committees, developing action plans, integrating services into the health system, revising standards, producing educational materials, launching registries, and signing multisectoral cooperation agreements. Facilitators included legal support, intersectoral collaboration capacities, service delivery structures, and community capabilities. Major challenges were deficiencies in the national document, limited resources, weak coordination, and external disruptions such as COVID-19 and sanctions. Recommended strategies emphasized strengthening cost-effective interventions, continuous monitoring, securing sustainable resources, improving service delivery models, and enhancing multi-sectoral approaches.
Conclusion: Successful implementation of NCD prevention and control policies requires evidence-informed policymaking, prioritization of cost-effective interventions, ongoing evaluation, and sustained managerial support.