Mapping Research Trends of Universal Health Coverage From 1990 to 2019: Bibliometric Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Universal health coverage (UHC) is one of many ambitious, health-related, sustainable development goals. Sharing various experiences of achieving UHC, in terms of challenges, pitfalls, and future prospects, can help policy and decision-makers reduce the likelihood of committing errors. As such, scholarly articles and technical reports are of paramount importance in shedding light on the determinants that make it possible to achieve UHC. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to conduct a comprehensive analysis of UHC-related scientific literature from 1990 to 2019. METHODS: We carried out a bibliometric analysis of papers related to UHC published from January 1990 to September 2019 and indexed in Scopus via VOSviewer (version 1.6.13; CWTS). Relevant information was extracted: the number of papers published, the 20 authors with the highest number of publications in the field of UHC, the 20 journals with the highest number of publications related to UHC, the 20 most active funding sources for UHC-related research, the 20 institutes and research centers that have produced the highest number of UHC-related research papers, the 20 countries that contributed the most to the research field of UHC, the 20 most cited papers, and the latest available impact factors of journals in 2018 that included the UHC-related items under investigation. RESULTS: In our analysis, 7224 articles were included. The publication trend was increasing, showing high interest in the scientific community. Most researchers were from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada, with Thailand being a notable exception. The Lancet accounted for 3.95% of published UHC-related research. Among the top 20 funding sources, the World Health Organization (WHO), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) accounted for 1.41%, 1.34%, and 1.02% of published UHC-related research, respectively. The highest number of citations was found for articles published in The Lancet, the American Journal of Psychiatry, and the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The top keywords were "health insurance," "insurance," "healthcare policy," "healthcare delivery," "economics," "priority," "healthcare cost," "organization and management," "health services accessibility," "reform," "public health," and "health policy." CONCLUSIONS: The findings of our study showed an increasing scholarly interest in UHC and related issues. However, most research concentrated in middle- and high-income regions and countries. Therefore, research in low-income countries should be promoted and supported, as this could enable a better understanding of the determinants of the barriers and obstacles to UHC achievement and improve global health.

Global injury morbidity and mortality from 1990 to 2017: results from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017.

BACKGROUND: Past research in population health trends has shown that injuries form a substantial burden of population health loss. Regular updates to injury burden assessments are critical. We report Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2017 Study estimates on morbidity and mortality for all injuries. METHODS: We reviewed results for injuries from the GBD 2017 study. GBD 2017 measured injury-specific mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) using the Cause of Death Ensemble model. To measure non-fatal injuries, GBD 2017 modelled injury-specific incidence and converted this to prevalence and years lived with disability (YLDs). YLLs and YLDs were summed to calculate disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). FINDINGS: In 1990, there were 4 260 493 (4 085 700 to 4 396 138) injury deaths, which increased to 4 484 722 (4 332 010 to 4 585 554) deaths in 2017, while age-standardised mortality decreased from 1079 (1073 to 1086) to 738 (730 to 745) per 100 000. In 1990, there were 354 064 302 (95% uncertainty interval: 338 174 876 to 371 610 802) new cases of injury globally, which increased to 520 710 288 (493 430 247 to 547 988 635) new cases in 2017. During this time, age-standardised incidence decreased non-significantly from 6824 (6534 to 7147) to 6763 (6412 to 7118) per 100 000. Between 1990 and 2017, age-standardised DALYs decreased from 4947 (4655 to 5233) per 100 000 to 3267 (3058 to 3505). INTERPRETATION: Injuries are an important cause of health loss globally, though mortality has declined between 1990 and 2017. Future research in injury burden should focus on prevention in high-burden populations, improving data collection and ensuring access to medical care.

How Cancer Supportive and Palliative Care is Developed: Comparing the Policy-Making Process in Three Countries from Three Continents.

BACKGROUND: Supportive and palliative care worldwide is recognized as one of the six main cancer control bases and plays an important role in managing the complications of cancer. Limited studies have been published in the field of this policy analysis in the world. AIM: This study aimed to analysis the policy-making process of supportive and palliative cancer care in three countries. METHODOLOGY: This qualitative study is a part of a comparative study. The data were collected through reviewing scientific and administrative documents, the World Health Organization website and reports, government websites, and other authoritative websites. Searches were done through texts in English and valid databases, in the period between 2000 and 2018. To investigate the policy process, heuristic stages model is implemented consisting of the four stages: agenda setting, policy formulation, policy implementation, and policy evaluation. RESULTS: The findings of the study were categorized based on the conceptual model used in four areas related to the policy process, including agenda setting, policy formulation, policy implementation, and evaluation of cancer palliative care policies. CONCLUSION: Several factors are involved in how cancer palliative care policy is included in policy-makers' agenda, understanding a necessity, raising public awareness, and acceptance as a result of sensing the physical and nonphysical care outcomes. The stages of development, implementation, and evaluation of palliative care in countries regardless of existing differences are a function of the health system and context of each country.

The Prevalence of Malnutrition in Iranian Elderly: A Review Article.

BACKGROUND: The elderly population following the improvement in health status and life expectancy in developing countries is increasing. Malnutrition causes decreased quality of life and increased mortality in elderly. This study aimed to review systematically and meta-analysis of studies assessing the prevalence of malnutrition among Iranian elderly people over 60 yr of age using Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA). METHODS: This systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted in 2016 to estimate the overall malnutrition prevalence. Data were collected using the following keywords: prevalence, elderly, aging, malnutrition, nutrition, nutritional assessment, nutritional status, health status, mini nutritional assessment, MNA and Iran in PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, Iranmedex, Magiran, and SID. Computer software CMA: Two were applied to estimate the overall prevalence of malnutrition. RESULTS: Seventeen of 811 articles were included in our analyses. The overall estimated prevalence of malnutrition among elderly based on the random effect model was 12.2% (95% CI 8-18.5). In subgroups, the prevalence of malnutrition among elderly living in home based on the fixed effect model was 9.2% (95% CI 7.1-11.9) and prevalence of malnutrition among elderly residents of nursing homes based on the random effect model was 21.6% (95% CI 12-38.6). CONCLUSION: Given the increase in the elderly population in future and the prevalence rate of malnutrition among them as well as the higher prevalence of malnutrition in elderly care centers, more attention to this population group is a matter of necessity.

Role of transformational leadership on employee productivity of teaching hospitals: using structural equation modeling.

BACKGROUND: In today's transforming world, increased productivity and efficient use of existing facilities are practically beyond a choice and become a necessity. In this line, attention to change and transformation is one of the affecting factors on the growth of productivity in organizations, especially in hospitals. AIM: To examine the effect of transformational leadership on the productivity of employees in teaching hospitals affiliated to Iran University of Medical Sciences. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 254 participants from educational and medical centers affiliated to Iran University of Medical Sciences (Tehran, Iran) in 2016. The standard questionnaires of Bass & Avolio and of Hersi & Goldsmith were used to respectively assess transformational leadership and level of productivity. The research assumptions were tested in a significance level of 0.05 by applying descriptive statistics and structural equations modeling (SEM) using SPSS 19 and Amos 24. RESULTS: Results of the fitting indicators of the assessing model after amending includes Chi-square two to degrees of freedom of 2.756, CFI indicator 0.95, IFI indicator 0.92, Root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) indicator 0.10. These results indicate that the assessing model is well fitting after the amendment. Also, analysis of the model's assumptions and the final model of the research reveals the effect of transformational leadership on employees' productivity with a significance level of 0.83 (p=0.001). CONCLUSION: This research indicates that the more the leadership and decision-making style in hospitals lean towards transformational mode, the more positive outcomes it brings among employees and the organization due to increased productivity. Therefore, it is essential to pay focused attention to training/educational programs in organizations to create and encourage transformational leadership behaviors which hopefully lead to more productive employees.

Rate and Causes of Discharge against Medical Advice in Iranian Hospitals: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Discharge against Medical Advice (DAMA) is a problem for hospitals which may result in increasing readmissions, morbidities, inabilities, deaths and health care costs. This study, aimed to investigate the rate and causes of DAMA in Iranian hospitals. METHODS: A systematic review and meta-analysis study was conducted in 2014. Required data were collected through searching for key words included: "Discharge Against Medical Advice", "Leaving against medical advice", "causes*", "hospital" and their Persian equivalents, over databases including PubMed, OVID, Google Scholar, Embase, Scopus, Magiran, scientific information database (SID). The reference lists of the articles, certain relevant journals and web sites in this field were also searched. RESULTS: Out of 913 articles initially retrieved, finally 17 articles were incorporated into the study. There were 244858 individuals studied in the articles. Using a random effects model, the rate of DAMA in Iranian hospitals was estimated at 7.9% (6.3%-9.8%). While the highest rate of DAMA was associated with patients in departments of psychiatry (12%), the lowest rate was related to patients in departments of pediatrics (3.7). DAMA was in men more than women (P<0.05) Patient's perception of feeling of wellbeing, financial problems, family problems, the lack of attention from physicians and nurses, inappropriate behavior with patients by hospital team and the lack of timely care were mentioned as main causes for DAMA. CONCLUSION: The rate of DAMA in Iranian hospitals is relatively high. Thus effective initiatives in this area are required.