Bita Mesgarpour - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Bita Mesgarpour

Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology, Sep 1, 2004

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common mental disorders in chi... more Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common mental disorders in childhood and it continues to adulthood without proper treatment. Stimulants have been used in treatment of ADHD for many years and the efficacy of methylphenidate (MPH) in the treatment of adults with ADHD has been proven to be acceptable according to meta-analysis studies. However, there are some concerns about stimulants. Finding other effective medications for the treatment of adult ADHD seems necessary. We tried a monoamine oxidase inhibitor, Selegiline, as there are some theoretical and experimental evidences for the efficacy of this medication. Method: Forty patients were randomized to receive Selegiline or methylphenidate in an equal ratio for an 8-week double-blind clinical trial. Each patient filled the CAARS self report screening form before starting to take the medication and in weeks 2-4-6 and 8. Patients were also assessed by a psychiatrist at the baseline and on each 14 days up to the 8 weeks period. Results: The mean score of the two groups-receiving Selegiline or methylphenidate-decreased over the 8 weeks. There was not a significant difference between the two groups. The most prevalent side-effect of methylphenidate was decrease of appetite and for Selegiline change in sleep pattern. Conclusion: Selegiline is as effective as methylphenidate in the treatment of adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Selegiline can be an alternative medication for the treatment of adult ADHD If its clinical efficacy is proven by other larger studies .

Background: One of the ways to reduce the impact of sanctions on health-related issues is to rely... more Background: One of the ways to reduce the impact of sanctions on health-related issues is to rely on domestic researchers; however, there are obstacles in the way of researchers in Iran. One of the solutions that can solve their problems is to use a national academic social network. Objectives: This study aimed to describe the procedure of the implementation of an academic social network in a developing country in four stages. Methods: Given that there has been no previous research in this regard, the present study was the first attempt to design and implement a social network for Iranian health academics. Therefore, to achieve the goals of this study, various methods will be used to prevent the failure of the project and gather comprehensive information. This research project will make use of four qualitative studies, one comparative study, one review study, and four quantitative studies. Results: Results: This study introduces a model for an academic social network for health researchers. This model consists of four main steps and 13 sub-steps. It should also be noted that the needs assessment and determination of the usability and performance are among the strengths of this model. Conclusion: This study faces two main challenges, namely the lack of budget and similar national social networks. Moreover, the problems of information and communication technology infrastructure in Iran and issues, such as compliance with copyright and privacy, complicated the project.

Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, Dec 5, 2022

Journal of Medical Internet Research, Dec 7, 2021

Background: Today, academic social network sites' role in improving the quality of education and ... more Background: Today, academic social network sites' role in improving the quality of education and how investigators conduct their research has become more critical. Objective: This study aimed to investigate Iranian health researchers' requirements for academic social network sites from a low-income country perspective. Methods: This qualitative study with a phenomenological approach was done in 2020. In this study, 23 researchers in the health system were selected by purposive sampling. Semistructured interviews were used to collect data. Data were analyzed by MaxQDA-10 software and the content analysis method. Results: We identified 2 categories of functional and technical characteristics in the study participants' expectations. Functional characteristics included facilitating communication and team activities, managing scientific publications, enhancing the process of conducting research, being informative, and sharing and trading laboratory materials and equipment. Technical characteristics of an academic social network include user management capabilities, high security and privacy, being user-friendly, and other technical features. Conclusions: Health researchers emphasized 2 functional and technical characteristics required to meet academic social network sites' expectations.

Iranian journal of public health, Dec 9, 2020

The article&amp;amp;#39;s abstract is not available.

Corresponding author: Vandad Sharifi, MD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Roozbeh Hospital, Te... more Corresponding author: Vandad Sharifi, MD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Roozbeh Hospital, Tehran, Iran No. 669, South Karegar Ave., Tehran 1333795914, Iran . Tel: +98-21-55412222 Fax: +98-21-55419113 ... Psychiatric disorders are amongst the most prevalent

UNSTRUCTURED Iran has faced severe sanctions in recent years from some countries. Due to the depe... more UNSTRUCTURED Iran has faced severe sanctions in recent years from some countries. Due to the dependence of the Iranian health industry on government payments, the health of the people in this country has suffered a lot. One of the solutions for Iran&#39;s sanctions to reduce the impact of sanctions on health is to rely on domestic researchers, but researchers in Iran are having problems. One way to reduce researchers&#39; problems is to use the National Academic Social Network. This article describes the steps of setting up an academic social network in a developing country in four stages.

iranian journal of epidemiology, Mar 15, 2009

Health Research Policy and Systems, Dec 1, 2020

Producing evidence in epidemics is crucial to control the current epidemic and prevent its recurr... more Producing evidence in epidemics is crucial to control the current epidemic and prevent its recurrence in the future. Data must be collected and analyzed rapidly to recognize the most efficient and feasible methods with proper timelines. However, there are many challenges a research system may encounter during a crisis. This article has presented lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic for health research system (HRS) to deal with current and future crises. Therefore, a HRS needs to produce and use evidence in such a situation. The components Knowledge Translation Self-Assessment Tool for Research Institutes (SATORI) framework was used to review the actions required and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in a national HRS. This framework consists of four categories of defining the research question, conducting research, translating the research results, and promoting the use of evidence. The work is proposed actions in response to the COVID-19 crisis and improving a HRS's resilience. While COVID-19 has serious harm to the health and broader socioeconomic consequences, this threat should be accounted for as an opportunity to make research systems more accountable and responsible in the timely production and utilization of knowledge. It is time to seriously think about how HRS can build a better back to be resilient to potential shock and prepare for unforeseen emerging conditions.

Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, Aug 1, 2012

We developed search strategies that facilitate the identification of studies on &amp;amp;... more We developed search strategies that facilitate the identification of studies on &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;off-label&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; drug use in the bibliographic database OvidSP MEDLINE. We compiled a gold standard reference set of reports classified as relevant or not relevant to off-label drug use. We conceived search queries, including search words and word strings. We searched MEDLINE via OvidSP from 1948 to 2011. In comparison with the gold standard, we determined sensitivity and precision of search queries and their combinations. We attempted to achieve the highest possible sensitive search strategy and an optimal balance of sensitivity and precision. Our gold standard set contained 4,067 relevant documents overall of 6,785 records, among those 2,177 could be retrieved from MEDLINE. The most sensitive single term was &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;off label∗.af.&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; (overall sensitivity 40.9%, sensitivity within MEDLINE 76.4%, and precision 84.4%). A combination of 31 search queries had the maximum overall sensitivity of 53.3% (sensitivity within MEDLINE 99.5%) at a precision of 60.3%. A search strategy with the maximum precision (84.0%) yielded a sensitivity of 49.0% (sensitivity within MEDLINE 91.5%). We empirically developed two versions of optimized sensitive search strategies, which can achieve reasonable performance for retrieving off-label drug use documents in OvidSP MEDLINE.

Human Psychopharmacology-clinical and Experimental, May 8, 2017

Background: Dysregulation of glutamate is implicated in the pathogenesis of obsessivecompulsive d... more Background: Dysregulation of glutamate is implicated in the pathogenesis of obsessivecompulsive disorder (OCD). Consistently, glutamate-modulating agents, such as riluzole and memantine have been used in OCD treatment. Previous research has identified some neuroprotective role for L-carnosine potentially via its modulatory effect on glutamate. Here, we assessed the efficacy of L-carnosine as adjuvant to fluvoxamine in OCD treatment. Methods: Forty-four patients diagnosed with moderate to severe OCD were recruited in a randomized double-blind trial. Patients received either L-carnosine or placebo as adjuvant to fluvoxamine for 10 weeks. The Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) was used for assessing the severity of symptoms at baseline and at weeks 4, 8, and 10. Results: General linear model repeated measure showed significant effects for Time × Treatment interaction on total Y-BOCS [F (2.10, 88.42) = 8.66, p < 0.001], obsession [F (1.88, 79.34) = 4.96, p = 0.01] and compulsion [F (1.88, 79.11) = 4.57, p = 0.01]. At week 10, the change from baseline in Y-BOCS scores was 8.86 AE 2.89 (mean AE SD) in the L-carnosine group compared to 5.86 AE 2.88 in the placebo group. Conclusion: L-carnosine results in significant reduction of obsessive-compulsive symptoms when used as an adjuvant to fluvoxamine.

DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals), Oct 1, 2021

Frontiers in Pharmacology

Background: In recent years, Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR) has become a global public health th... more Background: In recent years, Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR) has become a global public health threat. Health system decision-makers need valid and reliable situation analysis to better plan for mitigating this threat. This scoping review investigates the research gaps on AMR publications in Iran and provides an evidential base to support the identification of priority research to better address antibiotic resistance needs in Iran. Method: A search of four academic databases, including Scopus, ISI web of Science, MEDLINE/ PubMed, EMBASE and IDML was performed in February 2018. The identified studies evaluated the resistance or susceptibility of antibiotics against any bacteria in an Iranian population. Title, abstract, and full-text screening were conducted, and the included studies were accordingly analyzed with respect to the study protocol. Result: From the 37,769 identified studies, 1,718 studies met all the inclusion criteria. These studies have been evaluated the susceptibilit...

Journal of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Dec 15, 2003

The Journal of Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Jan 10, 2005

Background and purpose: The burden of psychiatric disorders in the developed countries has been i... more Background and purpose: The burden of psychiatric disorders in the developed countries has been identified by screening questionnaires and standard clinical interviews at a high level, but the epidemiological studies of psychiatric disorders in our country are brief and their numbers are few. Planning for providing essential mental health services to the people requires proper knowledge about the present status of psychiatric disorders in our society. The objective of this research was to carry out an epidemiological study of the psychiatric ...