Antibiotic Resistance Clinical Research in Iran: A Scoping Review

Abstract Background: In recent years, Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR) has become a global public health threat. Health system decision-makers need valid and reliable situation analysis to better plan for mitigating this threat. This scoping review investigates the research gaps on AMR publications in Iran and provides an evidential base to support the identification of priority research to better address antibiotic resistance needs in Iran. Method: A search of four academic databases, including Scopus, ISI web of Science, MEDLINE/ PubMed, EMBASE and IDML was performed in February 2018. The identified studies evaluated the resistance or susceptibility of antibiotics against any bacteria in an Iranian population. Title, abstract, and full-text screening were conducted, and the included studies were accordingly analyzed with respect to the study protocol. Result: From the 37,769 identified studies, 1,718 studies met all the inclusion criteria. These studies have been evaluated the susceptibility of 131 antibiotics to 82 types of bacteria by conducting 3,509 antibiotic resistances tests. Ofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, and gentamicin had the highest number of studies, samples, and tested bacteria. Regarding the characteristics of the studies, 306 studies had an insufficient explicit definition of study characteristics, 231 studies published their result more than three years after conducting them, and 803 studies (46.7% ) were published in the local journals. Conclusion: Considering the AMR crisis importance, this scoping review debates the low quality of reporting in AMR-related publications in Iran despite the extensive research.