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Background: Injury is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, and the abdomen is the most common area of trauma after the head and extremities. Abdominal injury is often divided into two categories: blunt and penetrating injuries. This study aims to determine the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of these two types of abdominal injuries in patients registered with the National Trauma Registry of Iran (NTRI). Methods: This multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted with data from the NTRI from July 24, 2016, to May 21, 2023. All abdominal trauma patients defined by the International Classification of Diseases; 10th Revision (ICD-10) codes were enrolled in this study. The inclusion criteria were one of the following: hospital length of stay (LOS) of more than 24 h, fatal injuries, and trauma patients transferred from the ICU of other hospitals. Results: Among 532 patients with abdominal injuries, 420 (78.9%) had a blunt injury, and 435 (81.7%) of the victims were men. The most injured organs in blunt trauma were the spleen, with 200 (47.6%) and the liver, with 171 (40.7%) cases, respectively. Also, the colon and small intestine, with 42 (37.5%) cases, had the highest number of injuries in penetrating injuries. Blood was transfused in 103 (23.5%) of blunt injured victims and 17 (15.2%) of penetrating traumas (p = 0.03). ICU admission was significantly varied between the two groups, with 266 (63.6%) patients in the blunt group and 47 (42%) in penetrating (p < 0.001). Negative laparotomies were 21 (28%) in penetrating trauma and only 11 (7.7%) in blunt group (p < 0.001). In the multiple logistic regression model after adjusting, ISS ≥ 16 increased the chance of ICU admission 3.13 times relative to the ISS 1–8 [OR: 3.13, 95% CI (1.56 to 6.28), P = 0.001]. Another predictor was NOM, which increased ICU chance 1.75 times more than OM [OR: 1.75, 95% CI (1.17 to 2.61), p = 0.006]. Additionally, GCS 3–8 had 5.43 times more ICU admission odds than the GCS 13–15 [OR:5.43, 95%CI (1.81 to 16.25), P = 0.002] respectively. Conclusion: This study found that the liver and spleen are mostly damaged in blunt injuries. Also, in most cases of penetrating injuries, the colon and small intestine had the highest frequency of injuries compared to other organs. Blunt abdominal injuries caused more blood transfusions and ICU admissions. Higher ISS, lower GCS, and NOM were predictors of ICU admission in abdominal injury victims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Telehealth services can utilize various information technologies and improve quality and efficiency of healthcare delivery by facilitating education, treatment, follow-up, and decision-making. However, these services are not always commercialized, and in case of commercialization, there is no guarantee for their long-term sustainability in market. Therefore, business models and frameworks are used as part of commercialization processes to identify a set of factors affecting the sustainability, effectiveness, and key business activities. The current study aimed to develop a telehealth business framework for Iran.Methods: This research was conducted in 2021, and a mixed-methods approach was used for data collection. Initially, a telehealth business framework was developed based on the findings derived from a systematic review and a qualitative research. The proposed framework was then reviewed by an expert panel (n = 9) in which the participants had at least three years of work experience in telehealth. Finally, the framework was validated using the Delphi method (three rounds).Results: The expert panel believed that some components such as partners' expertise, required capital and financial resources, research and analysis, marketing and branding, tax, product registration, and marketing at scientific congresses and science and technology exhibitions needed to be added to the framework. In the Delphi study, 68 out of 74 components proposed in the initial framework were approved across four major dimensions; namely, prerequisites, production, payments and costs, and post-production services.Conclusions: It seems that the developed framework can facilitate commercializing telehealth technologies and developing business plans. In addition, telehealth start-ups can use this framework and its various components in a competitive market to be more successful in their businesses. However, it is still critical to evaluate the effectiveness of the framework in practice and in relation to the commercialization of telehealth technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Policymakers require a systematic approach when planning for information technology needs in healthcare. Objective: The aim of this study was to obtain experts' predictions of future health information technology (HIT) needs until 2025 for Iran in relation to the relative importance of key technologies, expected timeframe of realisation, areas that may be impacted upon and obstacles to achieving these goals. Method: This article presents results from the third phase (a Delphi study) of a larger mixed-method study. Policymakers from the Iranian Ministry of Health and faculty members from different medical universities across the country who were expert in the field of HIT were invited to participate (n = 61). Results: Participants (39) completed the first-round questionnaire and 24 completed the second. The development of personal health records (n = 32, 82.0%), the development of clinical decision-making systems (n = 30, 76.9%) and the use of business intelligence for collecting and analysing clinical and financial data (n = 32, 82.0%) were predicted to occur after 2025. The healthcare areas predicted to experience the greatest impact from most HITs were facilitating patient–provider communication and improving healthcare quality. Key barriers to achieving HITs were related to weaknesses in planning and limited financial resources for most technologies. Conclusion: By identifying the areas of impact and the barriers to achieving the HIT goals, more accurate planning is possible and resources can be allocated according to priorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research was aimed at examining the challenges of the publishing industry in order to identify scientific solutions to these problems with a qualitative study. The analysis of interviews resulted in four main themes, 12 classes, and 36 subclasses. The main themes were the economy in the publishing industry, technology in the publishing industry, politics in the publishing industry, social issues in the publishing industry. Totally, it resulted in 11 major challenges. In general, Iran's publishing industry needs to consider its challenges in order to plan for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The field of education has experienced a profound change following the introduction of mobile technology over the last decades, and nursing education is not an exception. This study explored the experiences of nursing students about the ethical concerns regarding the use of mobile devices for learning purposes, that is, mobile learning, in educational and clinical contexts. A qualitative phenomenological study was carried out on nursing students (n = 19) in Saveh University of Medical Sciences of Iran between December 2017 and April 2018. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with openended questions. Data analysis was done using Colaizzi's 7-step method, revealing four themes and nine sub-themes including: 1) preserving professional dignity (in front of the patient, and the teacher, and preserving academic virtual identity); 2) securing informed consent and respecting personal (the patient's and teachers) autonomy; 3) proper and efficient use (observing the regulations and codes, and making educational use); and 4) avoiding harm (responsible use of class and patient data). It was revealed that using mobile technology in education could raise ethical concerns for nursing students, and this should be emphasized in nursing educational programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Currently, share of the scientific output, citation per paper, and coauthorship for articles indexed in databases such as ISI Web of Science, are very important criteria for the evaluation and ranking of countries, researchers, institutes, articles, disciplines and journals in the world. Therefore, the main objectives of the study were to determine co-authorship, the average citation per paper and the most prolific Iranian university or institution in the field of immunology. Methods: For performing this scientometric study, we employed survey methods and citation analysis of the indexed papers in the ISI Web of Science from 1974 to 2010. Results: A total of 1775 articles by Iranian authors in the field of immunology had been indexed in the database for the aforesaid period. Most collaborations and co-authorship of Iranian authors was with their counterparts from the USA. The average citation per paper in the field was 6.26 per paper. Tehran University of Medical Sciences had the highest number of articles in the database. Conclusion: According to the results, Iranians collaborated with American peers more than any other nationality and the average citation per paper in the field of immunology is higher than that of other fields in Iran but lower than the global average. Tehran University of Medical Sciences is the most prolific university in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus is known as a major chronic disease that has a number of consequences affecting individuals' health conditions and socioeconomic aspects of life. These challenges require innovative interventions, such as self-management to improve patients' health condition and reduce the economic burden of healthcare systems. The current research aimed to identify patients' and physicians' perspectives about the use of health information technology in diabetes management in Iran., Methods: This was a qualitative study conducted in 2019. In order to collect data, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight patients and 10 specialists in an endocrine and metabolism research center and in a teaching hospital. The interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim. Finally, data were analyzed by using framework analysis method and MAXQDA version 10., Results: According to the results, both patients and physicians believed that while using health information technology can improve access to healthcare services, the high cost of technology may hinder its usage. Factors such as government and health system support can motivate users to use the technology, and factors such as lack of user training and technical problems may have a negative impact on technology usage., Conclusion: As a number of motivational and inhibitory factors may influence the use of health information technology in diabetes management, it is imperative to take each of these factors into account before designing and implementing new technologies, especially for diabetes management., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 by the American Health Information Management Association.)

Background: Mobile applications and social media serve their users as convenient tools to improve and monitor diseases and conditions such as pregnancy. These tools also exert a positive impact on Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) self-management., Introduction: Despite the expansion of mobile health apps for the management of GDM, no study has evaluated these apps using a valid tool. This study aimed to search and review the apps developed for this purpose, providing overall and specific rating scores for each aspect of MARS., Methods: Two cases of app stores (IOS and Google Play) were searched in January 2019 for apps related to GDM. Search keywords included "gestational diabetes", "pregnant diabetes", and "Health apps". Eligibility criteria include: capable of running on Android or IOS operating systems, in the English language, especially for GDM, and available in Iran. After removal of duplicates, the apps were reviewed, rated, and evaluated independently by two reviewers with Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS) tools., Results: Initially, 102 apps were identified after the exclusion process, five selected apps were downloaded and analyzed. All apps were classified into four categories according to contents and their interactive capabilities. In most quadrants of MARS, the Pregnant with Diabetes app received the highest scores. Also, in general, the maximum app quality mean score belonged to Pregnant with Diabetes (3.10 / 5.00)., Conclusion: Findings revealed that apps designed for GDM are small in number and poor in quality based on MARS tools. Therefore, considering pregnant women's need for using the capabilities of these apps in pregnancy management and promoting community-based care, it seems essential to develop and design a series of high-quality apps in all four specified categories (only giving comments, obtaining data and giving comments, diagnosis of GDM, and diet calculator)., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)