Examining the Status of Health Literacy, E-Health Literacy and Acceptance of Conspiracy Beliefs in the Face of COVID-19

This study investigates the status of health literacy, e-health literacy, and acceptance of conspiracy beliefs in the face of COVID-19 among graduate students of Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz in Iran. The current research is a descriptive survey. Data were collected by a researcher-made questionnaire. The statistical population of the research consists of graduate students of Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz in the academic year 2020-2021. The sampling of the research was determined based on the Kurjesi-Morgan sample size table and the sample size was 362 people. According to the findings, the level of health literacy, e-health literacy, and acceptance of conspiracy beliefs in the face of COVID-19 among students was above average. During a crisis, more than any other time, attention should be paid to the promotion of health literacy and e-health literacy of students. Due to the higher acceptance of conspiracy beliefs among students compared to the average level, the need to inform them about the infodemic phenomenon and improve the level of health literacy and e-health literacy among them is felt

Age-Related Macular Degeneration: A Scientometric Analysis

Age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) is a major cause of central blindness among working aged adults across the world. Systematic research planning on any subject, including ARMD is in need of solid data regarding previous efforts in this field and to identify the gaps in the research. This study aimed to elucidate the most important trends, directions, and gap in this subject. The data extracted from the Institute for Scientific Information were used to perform a bibliometric analysis of the scientific productions (1993–2013) about ARMD. Specific parameters related to ARMD were analyzed to obtain a view of the topic’s structure, history, and document relationships. Additionally, the trends and authors in the most influential publications were analyzed. The number of articles in this field was found constantly increasing. Most highly cited articles addressed genetic epidemiology and clinical research topics in this field.  During the past 3 years, there has been a trend toward biomarker research. Through performing the first scientometric survey on ARMD research, we analyzed the characteristics of papers and the trends in scientific production.  We also identified some of the critical gaps in the current research efforts that would help in large-scale research strategic planning

Normalization and Valuation of Research Evaluation Indicators in Different Scientific Fields

Given the difference in research performance in various scientific fields, this study aims to weight and valuate current indicators used for evaluation of scientific productions (publications), in order to adjust these indicators in comparison to each other and make possible a more precise evaluation of scientific productions. This is a scientometrics study using documentary, evaluative, and survey techniques. The statistical population consisted of 106 top Iranian researchers, scientists, and scientific and research managers. Then their research résumé information was gathered and analyzed based on research questions. In order to compare values, the data gathered from research production performance of the population was weighted using Shannon entropy method. Also, the weights of each scientific production importance according to expert opinions (extracted from other works) was analyzed and after adjustment the final weight of each scientific production was determined. A pairwise matrix was used in order to determine the ratios. According to the results, in the area of engineering sciences, patents (0.142) in the area of science, international articles (0.074) in the area of humanities and social sciences, books (0.174), and in the area of medical sciences, international articles (0.111) had the highest weight compared to other information formats. By dividing the weights for each type of publication, the value of each scientific production compared to other scientific productions in the same field and productions of other fields was calculated. Validation of the results in the studied population resulted in very high credibility for all investigated indicators in all four fields. By using these values and normalized ratios of publication indicators it is possible to achieve precise and adjusted results, making it possible to feasibly use these results in realistic policy making

Investigating the relationship between health literacy and acceptance of conspiracy beliefs and future anxiety in the face of pervasive diseases

Introduction: Due to the encounter of the research community with information and the discussion of distinguishing true from false information that individuals face during a crisis, this study endeavors to determine the relationship between health literacy and e-health literacy with the acceptance of conspiracy beliefs and anxiety. The future in the face of covid-19 among graduate students of Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz has been conducted.Methods: The population for this correlational survey study of the research was the post-graduate students of Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz in the academic year 2018-2019, which included 362 individuals in the research sample. The instrumentation included a 32-item questionnaire adopted from Duplaga & Grysztar (2021). The data were analyzed using the Pearson correlation coefficient test.Results: Correlation analysis test was used to measure the relationship between the variables. It was found that health literacy and e-health literacy had an inverse relationship with acceptance of conspiracy belief and future anxiety, and increasing health literacy and e-health literacy decreased acceptance of conspiracy belief and anxiety.Conclusion: According to the findings, students with higher health literacy act more intelligently against false and fake information and future anxiety caused by it, as well as conspiracy theories related to the information. Therefore, increasing health literacy and e-health literacy of students can help to fight against the negative consequences and bad effects of health crisis and information diseases