seyed javad ghazi

This study aimed to identify the level of knowledge of dental authors regarding the use of MeSH indexing tools in research by comparing the keywords of the articles published in Iranian dental journals indexed in PubMed. In this descriptive and applied study, a total of 1,091 keywords in 239 research articles published in 20 issues of 5 Iranian dental Latin journals indexed in PubMed in 2016 were matched with MeSH descriptors. The keywords were classified according to the degree of compliance in three groups of exact compliance, relative compliance, and noncompliance. According to the results, 483 (44.3%), 153 (14%), and 455 (41.7%) keywords had exact compliance, relative compliance, and non-compliance with MeSH descriptors, respectively. The three keywords, namely Cone-Beam Computed Tomography, Scanning Electron Microscopy, and Mineral Trioxide Aggregate, were among the top most frequent keywords with exact compliance, relative compliance, and noncompliance with MeSH descriptors, respectively. The articles in all the reviewed journals, with the exception of the Journal of Dentistry of Tehran University of Medical Sciences, were prone to the risk of nonretrieval and anonymity due to the inefficiency of researchers in using MeSH for keyword selection.

The core of health care services is providing information for patients. The negative effects of cancer on the quality of patients’ life require them to receive comprehensive care, called "palliative care". The present study was conducted with the aim to evaluate the information behavior of patients with cancer in the field of palliative care. A descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on 100 patients with cancer. Sampling was selected in a non-randomized and convenience method. Data were collected by a researcher-made questionnaire, with approved validity and reliability (α = 0.89), distributed among the patients. Finally, mean and standard deviation were used to describe the data. The information needs in "mental health" care was more than other palliative care dimensions. The highest source of information used was "talk with the nurse", and the patient's most willingness to source information was "physician". The "shortage of physicians’ and nurses’ time" was mentioned as the highest barrier, and "free counseling by the poverty care team" as the highest priority in the selection of patient information services. The attention of the treatment team, especially the physician and nurse, to the patient's information needs, as well as the elimination of concerns, stress, and other needs of the patient was of the important points in this study. Moreover, alongside this team, information services include the use of virtual spaces, the organization of virtual groups, and the use of medical information counselors in health centers to meet the patient's needs, is from the issues considered in this study.

Considering the importance of using indexing tools such as thesauri and Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) in storage and retrieval of medical information, this study was performed with the aim to determine the compliance rate of keywords of articles published in an English-language journal Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Journal of Paramedical Sciences, with the MeSH.
This was a cross-sectional and descriptive study using applied method. The data gathering tool was a researcher-made checklist. In total, 1143 keywords extracted from 269 articles published in 24 issues of the journal; those keywords were compared with MeSH, and were classified in three groups: exact match, partial match and no match.
During the investigated years, on average, 277 keywords (24.2%) were exact matches, 409 keywords (35.8%) were partial matches, and the 457 keywords (40.0%) were not match with the terms contained in the MeSH. Keywords in match or match with the entry term categories formed the largest portion of partial match keywords.
The results show that the authors of this journal do not have sufficient knowledge on correct keyword selection with use of the MeSH, and it is necessary for them to be trained in the correct way. In addition, the editorial board of this English-language Iranian journal in the paramedical field should request authors to adjust their keywords based on the MeSH during article selection.