The Readability of Online Health Information on Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Disease

Objectives: The study aims at exploring the readability of health websites on Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS‐CoV). Methods: The term "MERS" was searched in Google, Yahoo, and Bing search engines. The readability of the first 30 results for each search engine was evaluated by using the five readability scales, including Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL), Flesch Reading Ease (FRE), Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG), Coleman-Liau Index (CLI) and Gunning Fog. Moreover, the official HONcode toolbar was used to identify websites that had been officially certified by the HON foundation.  Results: Almost half of the retrieved websites were governmental (44.2%). All the surveyed websites were written above the recommended level and so, their readability is suitable for those with a high school or a college degree. The mean grade level for the MERS related websites was in a similar range across the five readability scales. Furthermore, there was no association between the search rank, credibility, and readability Discussion: The readability level of MERS information available through search engines results, exceeds the recommended 6th-grade level, and they do not currently adhere to the recommended readability guidelines. Even credible websites have provided the contents that are not readable enough for the public. Conclusion: Considering the lack of a specific policy about the providing of readable health information on the web, it is recommended for healthcare providers to advise their patients to use the online information after consulting with the physicians

The compliance of Iranian library and information science journals with Thomson Reuters’ basic standards

     Presently, journals are considered as the most important tools of information science and knowledge growth throughout the world. Due to the increase in the number of scientific journals, the selection, evaluation and determination of the authenticity of these resources by the authorized organizations has attached more significance to them. Thus, the present study aims at investigating the compliance of Iranian library and information science journals with basic standards of journal evaluation through Thomson Reuters’ viewpoint. This is an applied research, which has been conducted through comparative analysis. It evaluates the authenticity of scientific journals through four basic standards of  Thomson Reuters, namely on-time publishing of journals, observing international publishing laws, full-text in English, and peer review. The population of the research includes all the active scientific Iranian journals in the field of library and information sciences (12 journals). Results showed that the mean of correlation ratio between the studied journals and standards was 75%. On-time publishing and full-text in English were observed only in 33% and 58% of the studied journals respectively. However, observing international laws of publishing and peer review are in optimal status. Studies are needed in order to find out the compliance of the other countries’ library science journals with international standards,  (specially developing ones) to help those countries to identify the existing gaps which will assist them to present their researches in the international level through being indexed in authentic databases. Obviously more research is needed in this area, as Thomson Reuters has published standards other than the basic standards

Evaluating the trustworthiness of consumer-oriented health websites on diabetes

Objective: The patients involvement in disease management can decrease economic burden on diabetic patients and society. Quality health information may help patients to involve in their health management. Thus, individuals need to find the additional information from other information resources such as health websites. Nevertheless, health websites vary in quality and reliability. Therefore, it is of great importance to identify trustable health websites on diabetes. Thus, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the reliability of health websites concerning diabetes. Materials and methods: The keyword ‘’diabetes mellitus ‘’ was entered as a search term into the three most used search engines Google, Yahoo and Bing. The results for first three pages reported by each search engine were selected. After excluding 19 websites, 71 unique websites were eligible for examination. The reliability of websites was evaluated manually using the HONcode of conduct tool by both researchers. Furthermore, HONcode toolbar function was used to recognize officially verified websites. Results: Only 19 out of 71 websites were officially verified by HONcode foundation. None of the other retrieved websites achieved all 8 principles. Most of the retrieved websites were commercial (67.6%) and the minimum number of the them belongs to university websites (1.4%). The highest and lowest compliance with the HON principles belonged to justifiability (99%), and attribution (51%). Conclusion: Diabetic patients need high quality information from trustworthy websites to decide better about their health. Thus, physicians should have knowledge about the variable quality of health websites and guide their patients to reliable online resources

Learning About the Information Seeking behavior of Allied Medical Sciences Students: Advices For Libraries of multidisciplinary Colleges

Libraries will have satisfactory performance in terms of providing services to users if they firstly identify the information needs of their clients and then, they seek to meet these needs. To accomplish this aim, identifying the information seeking behavior of users seems necessary. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the methods and motives of information seeking by students of allied medical sciences. The population of the study included the postgraduate students of Faculty of Allied Medical Sciences of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences accepted to the university in 2015 to 2016. The results indicated that the main motivations of students for the information seeking is first to update their professional knowledge and then to do research activities. Among the information channels used, formal channels have been given more attention. In rating the difficulties ahead in the searching for information, the lack of or unavailability of resources was identified as the most important factor. Providing more and better information on the electronic resources of the university for the graduate students could lead to the more efficient use of the existing resources and would have much success in achieving the educational and research goals. In addition, librarians need to have detailed and scientific knowledge about the information seeking behaviors of their users so that they can meet the information needs of them through providing the necessary facilities and resources using minimum time and the lowest cost

Investigating perceived digital literacy skills of master students: A case study at the University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences

Introduction: Researchers and students, who play an essential role in promoting education and research, must inevitably use various information sources to obtain information in order to meet their information needs. However, to use digital resources, they need the ability to use digital technology, referred to as digital literacy . Objectives: This research aimed to examine the digital information behaviour and digital literacy of master\u27s students at the University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences. On this basis, it will be possible to determine web users\u27 level of expertise and knowledge in utilizing the information available on the web. By determining the current situation, appropriate solutions and training will be provided to improve the information behaviour of this group. Methods: This study cross-sectional study was carried out using a five-point Likert questionnaire developed by the researchers. The population of this study comprises 36 master\u27s students at the University of Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences. Results: The results of this study revealed that the digital information-seeking ability and literacy of students at the University of Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences are generally weak. Conclusion: It is advised that internet search training sessions be offered to the students and that the degree of development in their abilities is closely studied so that their inability to locate information using online resources may be precisely discovered. A timely subscription of databases, as well as an increase in periodical subscriptions based on the user demands, seem to be necessary

The role of Artificial Intelligence in Management of Critical COVID-19 patients

Background: the COVID-19 outbreak has created a great challenge for the healthcare system worldwide. One of the most critical points of this challenge is the management of COVID-19 patients needing acute and/or critical respiratory care. This study was performed to discover an AI based model to improve the critical care of the COVID-19 patients.Material and methods: in a descriptive study, all the published research available in PubMed, Web of Science, Google scholar and other databases were retrieved. Based on these studies, a three stage model of input, process and output was created.Results: the three stage model of AI application in ICU was completed. Input included Clinical, Paraclinical, Personalized Medicine (OMICS) and Epidemiologic data. The process included Artificial Intelligence (i.e. Artificial Neural Network, Machine Learning, Deep Learning and Expert Systems). The output which was ICU Decision Making included Diagnosis, Treatment, Risk Stratification, Prognosis and Management.Conclusion: the efforts of the healthcare system to defeat COVID-19 could be supported by an AI-based decision-making system which would double them up and help manage these patients much more efficiently, especially those in COVID-19 IC

Allied medical sciences students\u27 experiences with technology: are they digitally literate?

Objective: The ability to use digital resources is important for medical students. In order to use digital resources, they need the capabilities of digital technology utilizing, which is referred to as digital literacy. However, how much effectively students can use these facilities is a subject that needs to be addressed. So, the present study intended to investigate the digital literacy level of students of the Allied medical sciences of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was performed at the Faculty of Allied medical sciences of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in academic year of 2016-2017 using a researcher-made questionnaire containing 23 closed questions in four sections. A total of 115 students in three educational grades: bachelor, master and the PhD grade were included in this study. Z-test was used to evaluate the relationship between internet skills and students\u27 academic achievements if any exist. Results: Almost half of the students (51.3%) have not completed any computer courses regarding basic ICT skills. The findings showed that 41.2% of PhD students are aware of digital literacy concept; meanwhile, only 11% of bachelor students and 20.6% of master ones knew the actual meaning of this concept. The use of public search engines was a favorite alternative for finding specialized terminologies at all grades. Furthermore, there was a significant difference between the level of familiarity with the Internet and the students\u27 grade (p≤0.05). Conclusion: Digital literacy training courses can enhance digital literacy skills significantly. Most students agreed with the inclusion of digital literacy courses in their curriculum. Therefore, they should be supported by educators and librarians in order to effectively use the Internet and information technology as well as to overcome the problems of finding and using information to gain academic achievement

ResearchGate Social Network: Opportunities and Challenges

Introduction: ResearchGate, as one of the academic-social networks, has become a platform for scientific cooperation to promote scientific skills. A large number of researchers engage in scientific activities and share research results. This paper aims to study the ResearchGate related researches and examines its opportunities and challenges for the academic communities. Methods: The present research is a narrative-review. The study population includes English-language articles indexed in reputable databases such as Scopus and Web of Science and articles retrieved through Google Scholar published in reputable journals. Results: Activity in ResearchGate enhances citation indexes more than ever. According to some studies and due to the importance of citation in universities' ranking, the use of the ResearchGate professional network can lead to improving the ranking of universities in international ranking systems. However, according to former studies, there are drawbacks to this network, and it is necessary for the scientific communities to use the benefits of this network consciously. Conclusion: Familiarity with the opportunities and challenges of applying ResearchGate can provide relevant information to authorities to make informed decisions about using this social network in academic communities

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome on Health Information Websites: How Much Credible They Are?

Background: The most recent MERS outbreak has raised questions about prevention and symptoms since there is currently no vaccine to prevent MERS. People can help protect themselves from this illness by taking everyday preventive actions. To do so, it is helpful to get medical information on the Internet about this illness. Regarding the importance of ensuring the provision of accurate online information, the aim of this study was to assess the credibility of health websites about MERS by using HONcode tool. Materials and methods: The term “MERS” was searched in Google, Yahoo, and Bing and the first three pages reported by each search engine were selected for evaluation. After excluding 26 websites, 64 unique websites were eligible for examination. Subsequently, the trustworthiness of the websites was then evaluated by using the HONcode of conducts quality rating tool. Results: Our findings indicate that most of the retrieved websites were commercial and governmental (37.5%). Furthermore, only 7 out of 64 websites were officially HONcode certified. In general, the health websites regarding MERS were of poor credibility and while searching for MERS information people will encounter websites which include more commercial content rather than educational. Conclusion: The internet is a place to educate individuals on their health condition and possible treatment options. Nevertheless, the internet cannot replace the role of health professionals in patient education. Regarding the poor credibility of MERS related websites, directing patients to reliable sources of online health information is important, mainly because search engine rank does not assure the trustworthiness of websites

Credibility of health websites on infectious diseases: Are there any fully trustable website to read on Ebola?

     When a new disease develops, people are looking for information about that disease where the internet is considered as one of the sources of health information. Beside empowering individuals to identify and select valid information, reliable and up-to-date websites should also be introduced for them. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate and identify the high quality websites on Ebola virus and disease. To do this study, the term "Ebola" was searched for in Google, Yahoo, and Bing search engines using the Google Chrome browser. Three pages were obtained from the search in these three selected search engines and were examined, with the exclusion of duplicate websites, non-English websites, the results related to news, images, ads, and inaccessible websites; finally, 43 websites out of the 90 retrieved websites were selected for evaluation. The research tools included the HONcode toolbar and an eight-item checklist was developed by the researchers based on the HONcode of conducts. The result showed that out of 43 websites evaluated, only 6 websites (14%) were trustable and the 86% were not approved after evaluation based on the HONcode criteria. Only 37% of evaluated websites have been considered complementarity criterion. Justifiability was the most considered criterion and 95% of evaluated websites had paid to distribute information fairly enough. Online information about Ebola is available on many websites and this information affects people's health decisions and behaviors. Physicians and other health professionals can help patients and other community members to find their needed information on infectious diseases (e.g. on Ebola) from the most reputable and valid international websites