ABSTRACT
Aim: This study aimed to analyze the content of questions and answers posted on dentistry websites. Subject and methods: A mixed-method study was conducted in 2020. A total of 1354 related questions were included, of which 1182 were answered by dentists. The data was analyzed quantitatively according to the classification of the questions, main complaints of the subjects and length of the questions and answers using Excel2013. A qualitative content analysis was carried out also for data robustness and triangulation. Results: Of the 1354 questions, 866 of them were categorized into 11 categories according to the main sub-classes of the International Classification of Diseases to Dentistry and Stomatology. Furthermore, the inquiries were allocated to 3 communication styles to present the users' main complaints that included contextual (52.33%), emotional (6.79%) and focal (40.89%) strategies. Results of the qualitative content analysis have led to 6 main themes: seeking the related recommendations of any actions, treatment seeking, information seeking, seeking for causes and reasons, seeking for oral and dental health recommendations and seeking for the dentists' diagnosis or comments. Conclusions: The present study can be used for designing specific customized websites of dentistry and help the website managers for better optimization of the websites. All these interventions can pave the way for developing teleconsulting in dentistry for middle-income countries.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to characterize the representation of public health information related to COVID-19 posted on Instagram in 2020. METHODS: This qualitative content analysis study was conducted in Iran as one of the countries with the highest number of confirmed cases of COVID-19. Data were collected from the contents published from February 19 to April 3, 2020, on Instagram. The search feature of the Instagram app was used to find the posts related to Coronavirus or COVID-19. Overall, 1612 posts from 92 accounts were retrieved and analyzed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: A total of 23 themes emerged from the analysis of the retrieved posts. These themes include epidemiology and statistics, training and caring, general prevention guidelines, hygiene, healthy diet and lifestyle, patients, diagnosis and treatment, personal protective equipment, traditional medicine, psychology, children, cultural aspects, socio-cultural impacts, religious, misinformation, and wrong behaviors, animals, satire, condition of the healthcare system, politics, quarantine, operations of the Iranian National Disaster Management Organization (NDMO), economic impacts, and world news. CONCLUSION: The contents analysis of Instagram posts during a public health crisis can provide new and realistic insights into the crisis and identify the topics of interest or concern of the public. Furthermore, the information collected in this way can help policymakers identify the most critical issues from the public perspective and utilize the gained knowledge to manage the ongoing and future pandemics.
ABSTRACT
The immune system plays an important role in the development of leukemia. CXC chemokines, as the molecular members of this system, are involved in the immune responses. Therefore, this study was designed to examine and compare the levels of CXCL1 (Gro-α), CXCL10 (IP-10) and CXCL12 (SDF-1) in ALL patients prior to and post bone marrow transplantation (BMT). In this experimental study, samples were obtained from ALL patients and controls, and subjected to ELISA for detection of chemokines. Demographic data were also collected by a questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS software. Our results showed that the serum levels of CXCL1 (Gro-α), CXCL10 (IP-10) and CXCL12 (SDF-1) were significantly increased in ALL patients compared to the controls. We also showed that the CXCL10 (IP-10) level was increased after BMT in ALL patients, while CXCL1 (Gro-α) and CXCL12 (SDF-1) were inversely decreased. Our results allow for the conclusion that CXCL1 (Gro-α), CXCL10 (IP-10) and CXCL12 (SDF-1) are important for the pathogenesis of ALL. Notably, these chemokines might be used as pivotal biological markers in the diagnosis of leukemia. Recombinant CXCL1 (Gro-α), CXCL10 (IP-10) and CXCL12 (SDF-1) may be applied as a therapeutic approach in the treatment of leukemia patients.
