Multiple sclerosis epidemiology in Middle East and North Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is one of the most common neurological disorders and a leading cause of nontraumatic disability in young adults in many countries. Recent reports from the Middle East and North Africa have suggested a moderate to high risk of MS in these countries. Methods: A literature search was performed in August 2014 in MEDLINE, EMBASE, and IMEMR to retrieve original population-based studies on MS epidemiology in the Middle East and North African countries published between 1st January 1985 and 1st August 2014. We designed search strategies using the key words: MS, prevalence, incidence, and epidemiology. According to the inclusion criteria, 52 studies were included in this systematic review. Results: McDonald's criteria were the most widely used diagnostic criteria in the studies. Most studies were conducted in single hospitalbased centers with a defined catchment area. The female/male ratio ranged from 0.8 in Oman to 4.3 in Saudi Arabia. MS prevalence ranged from 14.77/100,000 population in Kuwait (2000) to 101.4/100,000 in Turkey (2006). The overall MS prevalence in the region was 51.52/100,000. The mean age at disease onset ranged from 25.2 years in Kuwait to 32.5 years in Northeastern Iran, with an overall estimate of 28.54 years. Conclusions: Recent advances in MS registries will allow nation-wide studies and temporal comparisons between countries, provided that age- and sex-standardized estimates are available. © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel

Medical podcasting in Iran; pilot, implementation and attitude evaluation

Podcasting has become a popular means of transferring knowledge in higher education through making lecture contents available to students at their convenience. Accessing courses on media players provides students with enhanced learning opportunities. Development of teaching methods able to cope with ever-changing nature of medicine is crucial to train the millennium students. Pharmacology education in Tehran University of Medical Sciences has been based on lectures so far; our aim was to implement a pilot study to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of offering the course contents as podcasts as well as evaluating whether such program can be feasible in our educational program. 46% of students downloaded the podcast according to our download center. 48% favored usage of both internet and DVD-ROM concurrently. Overall 96% of students perceived that podcasting had a positive impact on their learning in pharmacology course. Our results indicate that most of attendants proposed the positive yields of podcasting despite low usage of it, mainly as a pre-class preparing tool.publisher versio

Supplementary Material for: Multiple Sclerosis Epidemiology in Middle East and North Africa: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

<b><i>Background:</i></b> Multiple sclerosis (MS) is one of the most common neurological disorders and a leading cause of nontraumatic disability in young adults in many countries. Recent reports from the Middle East and North Africa have suggested a moderate to high risk of MS in these countries. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> A literature search was performed in August 2014 in MEDLINE, EMBASE, and IMEMR to retrieve original population-based studies on MS epidemiology in the Middle East and North African countries published between 1st January 1985 and 1st August 2014. We designed search strategies using the key words: MS, prevalence, incidence, and epidemiology. According to the inclusion criteria, 52 studies were included in this systematic review. <b><i>Results:</i></b> McDonald's criteria were the most widely used diagnostic criteria in the studies. Most studies were conducted in single hospital-based centers with a defined catchment area. The female/male ratio ranged from 0.8 in Oman to 4.3 in Saudi Arabia. MS prevalence ranged from 14.77/100,000 population in Kuwait (2000) to 101.4/100,000 in Turkey (2006). The overall MS prevalence in the region was 51.52/100,000. The mean age at disease onset ranged from 25.2 years in Kuwait to 32.5 years in Northeastern Iran, with an overall estimate of 28.54 years. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> Recent advances in MS registries will allow nation-wide studies and temporal comparisons between countries, provided that age- and sex-standardized estimates are available