Psychometric Properties of the Persian Version of the Gaming Motivation Scale

Objective@#Gaming motivations are a central aspect of playing video games, and their importance to understanding both healthy and problematic gaming behavior has been increasingly elucidated. In this study, we aimed to translate the 18-item Gaming Motivation Scale (GAMS-18) to Persian and validate it in a population of Persian speaking gamers, specifically for the assessment of online gaming. @*Methods@#After translation from English to Persian, content validity of the questionnaire was assessed by a panel of experts and test–retest reliability was calculated in a sample of 70 students. Data from an online survey of 791 Iranian online gamers were used for the assessment of construct validity using confirmatory factor analysis. @*Results@#The item content validity index and the scale content validity index for clarity and relevance ranged from 0.80 to 1.00. Internal consistency reliability of the GAMS-18 was 0.90 and the test–retest reliability was 0.89. The test–retest reliability of the GAMS-18 was 0.89, and the internal consistency was 0.90. The GAMS factors had acceptable correlation with other motivational scale such as Player Experience of Need Satisfaction. Incorporating the proposed additional error paths improved the model fit to an acceptable level. @*Conclusion@#The Persian version of the GAMS can assess digital gaming behavior based on the six self-determination theory motivation types, and measures different aspects of motivation that other instruments. It is also demonstrated to have good reliability and validity and could be used in research on the motivations of online gamers in Persian-speaking populations.

Psychometric Assessment of the Motives for Online Gaming Questionnaire Among Iranian Gamers

Objective@#Gaming motivations are crucial aspects of healthy and problematic video gaming behavior. The aim of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of the widely used Motives for Online Gaming Questionnaire (MOGQ). @*Methods@#Test-retest reliability was evaluated in a sample of 66 university students. Data from 791 participants in an online survey of Iranian online gamers were examined to assess convergent validity and construct validity using confirmatory factor analysis. Internal consistency of MOGQ factors was assessed in both samples. @*Results@#The item content validity index (I-CVI) and the scale content validity index (S-CVI) were between 0.8 and 1.0 for clarity and relevancy. The test-retest reliability of the 27-item questionnaire was 0.85 and internal consistency was 0.94. After incorporating additional error paths, model fit improved to an acceptable level. The MOGQ factors had acceptable correlations with relevant motivational scales such as Gaming Motivation Scale and Player Experience of Need Satisfaction. Recreation motives had the highest average score in the sample and social ones had the lowest, and males scored higher than females across all motivation domains except escape. @*Conclusion@#The MOGQ is a suitable instrument for the assessment of online gaming motivations in the Iranian population.

Out-of-pocket cost of drug abuse consequences: results from Iranian National Mental Health Survey

Drug abuse has significant cost to the individual, the family and the society. This study aimed to assess out of-pocket costs of consequences of drug use disorder. Data were drawn from the Iranian Mental Health Survey [IranMHS] through face-to-face interviews with 7841 respondents aged 15-64 years. We used a bottom-up cost-of-illness method for economic analysis. Out-of-pocket costs for treatment of mental and drug problems, treatment of medical illnesses, as well as costs of crimes were assessed. The average of total annual expense was US dollar 2120.6 for those with drug use disorder, which was 23.5% of annual income of an average Iranian family in the year 2011. The average of total out-of-pocket cost was US$ 674.6 for those with other mental disorder and US dollar 421.9 for those with no mental disorder. Catastrophic payment was reported in 47.6% of the patients with drug use disorder and 14.4% of those with other mental disorder. Thus, considerable amount of family resources are spent on the consequences of drug use

Drop-out from a drug treatment clinic and associated reasons

The aim of this study was to assess drop-out rates and associated reasons among patients at the Iranian National Center for Addiction Studies [INCAS] clinic. In a one-year period [April 2014 to March 2015], all patients with drug dependence who had been referred for treatment and attended for a first assessment were included in this study [N=242]. Those who received treatment were followed until March 2016. Survival analysis showed that 70.2% had dropped out from treatment. Log rank test showed that treatment drop-out rates differed between the different approaches used [P < 0.001], with the lowest slope inbuprenorphine maintenance treatment and the highest in the detoxification programme. Drop-out rates within the first three months was 62% [SE= 0.05] and 82.4% [SE=0.03] for opioids and stimulants dependence, respectively. Analyses were performed using SPSS [Version 21.0] and STATA software, [version 13.0]. From the patients' perspective, motivational inconsistencies were considered as the main reason for not starting or leaving treatment. The findings of this study could give service providers a better grasp of drop-out rates and the associated reasons

Use of amphetamine-type stimulants in the Islamic Republic of Iran, 2004-2015: a review

Amphetamine-type stimulants [ATS] are the second most commonly used illicit drugs in the world, after cannabis. The production of ATS has increased worldwide, including in the Middle East. This review aims to assess ATS use in the Islamic Republic of Iran. PubMed, Scientific Information Database [a national database] and Iranian Center for Addiction Studies were searched. The review included studies on the general population, university and high school students, other specific populations, and drug users. The result show that self-reported methamphetamine and ecstasy use in 2016 was < 1% in the general population and university and high-school students, but the prevalence was higher in certain groups. There has also been an increase in the proportion of ATS users among clients of drug treatment centres. The findings highlight the need for high quality epidemiological studies and closer monitoring of stimulant use in different populations

Assessing measurement error in surveys using latent class analysis: application to self-reported illicit drug use in data from the Iranian Mental Health Survey / 한국역학회지

Latent class analysis (LCA) is a method of assessing and correcting measurement error in surveys. The local independence assumption in LCA assumes that indicators are independent from each other condition on the latent variable. Violation of this assumption leads to unreliable results. We explored this issue by using LCA to estimate the prevalence of illicit drug use in the Iranian Mental Health Survey. The following three indicators were included in the LCA models: five or more instances of using any illicit drug in the past 12 months (indicator A), any use of any illicit drug in the past 12 months (indicator B), and the self-perceived need of treatment services or having received treatment for a substance use disorder in the past 12 months (indicator C). Gender was also used in all LCA models as a grouping variable. One LCA model using indicators A and B, as well as 10 different LCA models using indicators A, B, and C, were fitted to the data. The three models that had the best fit to the data included the following correlations between indicators: (AC and AB), (AC), and (AC, BC, and AB). The estimated prevalence of illicit drug use based on these three models was 28.9%, 6.2% and 42.2%, respectively. None of these models completely controlled for violation of the local independence assumption. In order to perform unbiased estimations using the LCA approach, the factors violating the local independence assumption (behaviorally correlated error, bivocality, and latent heterogeneity) should be completely taken into account in all models using well-known methods.

Reliability of a patient survey assessing "Short Form Injury Questionnaire 7" in Iran / 中华创伤杂志(英文版)

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>Injury is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the world. The assessment of patterns and severity of injury in high-risk groups is crucial for planning and service development. On a large scale national household survey, we estimated the annual incidence and the patterns of injury, the demographics of the injured people, as well as the service use for all injuries in Iran. The current study aims at assessing the reliability of the questionnaire before carrying out a national survey.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>In a pilot study using cluster random sampling approach, 73 people were interviewed. The interviewers asked the participants to report all injuries occurred in them and the care provided during the previous 12 months, based on "Short Form Injury Questionnaire 7" About two weeks later, the interview was repeated by another interviewer.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>In our test-retest reliability, Kappa score was good for three and moderate for four questions. The question on the injured organ had the highest test-retest reliability with a Kappa score of 0.84.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The reliability of the questionnaire and the procedure of questioning are confirmed. The ques-tionnire is proper for utilization in large national surveies.</p>

[Lifetime prevalence of tobacco use among high school students in Iran: a systematic review]

Objective: The prevalence of smoking in the adolescence is a valuable indicator for prediction of national burden of smoking in the future. The aim of this systematic review is to determine the prevalence of lifetime smoking among high school students in Iran

Methods: Various search methods have been used including searching Pubmed, ISI, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Embase, IranMedex, IranPsych and database on drug abuse, as well as hand-searching. All original researches, which had described lifetime use of cigarette, hookah, and pipe among high school students were included in the study with no restriction on date of publication, and were qualitatively assessed. Subsequent to data extraction, heterogeneity test was carried out on indicators for which more than two studies were found and meta-analyses were performed

Results: In total, 18 studies were included in this review. The combined prevalence of lifetime cigarette smoking for boys, girls and total high school students were calculated as 30.9% [95% confidence interval [CI]: 25-36.8], 14% [95% CI: 7-20.9] and 21% [95% CI: 15.1-26.9], respectively. The combined prevalence of lifetime cigarette smoking for boys was significantly different [P<0.001] in the year 2001 and before [38.6%], with the years after 2002 [21.5%]

Conclusion: In Iran, the prevalence of smoking in this age range is lower than many other countries and in recent years, a decreasing trend was found in boys. These findings can be attributed to the national control and prevention strategies. However, some studies have several qualitative limitations, which points to the necessity of high quality repeated surveys in the future