A matters arising: a structural equation modeling approach to investigate HIV testing willingness for men who have sex with men.

This is a Matters Arising about an article titled "A structural equation modeling approach to investigate HIV testing willingness for men who have sex with men in China" in the issue of AIDS Res Ther 20, 64 (2023) " of this journal has been published. While thanking and appreciating the good authors of this article, we would like to explain some of the methodological issues of this study in order to clarify and disambiguate the methodology part of this article and other articles submitted in this style. First of all, it should be known that the concept and definition of structural equation modeling, the reason and method of doing it, specifying the observable and latent variables in the model, the exogenous and endogenous variables of the model, the correct way to draw the SEM graph, should be properly considered. The authors of this Matters Arising do not seek to refute or confirm the authors of this article. Our final opinion is that the methodology section should be written better and scientific clarification should be made in the methodology section for readers and interested parties.

Factors affecting the survival of prediabetic patients: comparison of Cox proportional hazards model and random survival forest method.

BACKGROUND: The worldwide prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus in adults is experiencing a rapid increase. This study aimed to identify the factors affecting the survival of prediabetic patients using a comparison of the Cox proportional hazards model (CPH) and the Random survival forest (RSF). METHOD: This prospective cohort study was performed on 746 prediabetics in southwest Iran. The demographic, lifestyle, and clinical data of the participants were recorded. The CPH and RSF models were used to determine the patients' survival. Furthermore, the concordance index (C-index) and time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were employed to compare the performance of the Cox proportional hazards (CPH) model and the random survival forest (RSF) model. RESULTS: The 5-year cumulative T2DM incidence was 12.73%. Based on the results of the CPH model, NAFLD (HR = 1.74, 95% CI: 1.06, 2.85), FBS (HR = 1.008, 95% CI: 1.005, 1.012) and increased abdominal fat (HR = 1.02, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.04) were directly associated with diabetes occurrence in prediabetic patients. The RSF model suggests that factors including FBS, waist circumference, depression, NAFLD, afternoon sleep, and female gender are the most important variables that predict diabetes. The C-index indicated that the RSF model has a higher percentage of agreement than the CPH model, and in the weighted Brier Score index, the RSF model had less error than the Kaplan-Meier and CPH model. CONCLUSION: Our findings show that the incidence of diabetes was alarmingly high in Iran. The results suggested that several demographic and clinical factors are associated with diabetes occurrence in prediabetic patients. The high-risk population needs special measures for screening and care programs.

The Process of Validating a Persian Version of Addiction Potential Scale for Children in the Iranian Population: A Systematic Review.

Background: Hitherto, no instrumental research has been designed to measure the addiction potential for children in Iran. Therefore, the questionnaires designed to investigate addiction were examined in this systematic review article. Methods: In the present systematic review, all Iranian and foreign research on addiction potential for children were examined until March 2022. Using separate keywords and their Latin synonyms according to Mesh terms, an extensive search was conducted in databases: PubMed, Magiran, Iranmedex, Medline, Google Scholar, SID, and Irandoc. In total, 173 Farsi and English papers were included in the initial list, and after evaluation according to the Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE) checklist and acceptance criteria, 43 final papers were selected for systematic review. Findings: Through searching in Persian and English databases and using related keywords, 173 papers were found in the initial search and after removing duplicates and unrelated studies, 43 papers were selected for systematic review. In this research, papers related to the addiction potential between 1998 and 2019 were considered, and among these, 22 papers particularly dealt with addiction. In the conducted studies, the awareness, attitude, talent, and factors affecting addiction were mostly measured and in some papers, addiction potential was measured. Conclusion: Designing psychometrically appropriate tools is necessary to measure the addiction potential of children in Iran. Due to the unavailability of appropriate tools and the fact that the previous versions are not up to date and are not checked regularly, for better and more complete decision-making in the health policy-making process more investigation in this field is necessary.