The Relationship Between Food Security and Dietary Patterns Status with COVID-19 in Northeastern Iran: Protocol for a Case-Control Study

  1. Sepideh Badri-Fariman
  2. Bahram Pourghassem-Gargari
  3. Mahtab Badri-Fariman
  4. Mohammad Pourfridoni
  5. Milad Daneshi-Maskooni

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Abstract

Background

Food insecurity is defined as the limited or uncertain availability of enough food for a consistently active and healthy life. COVID-19 is a highly transmissible viral infection with high mortality due to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and, or the uncommon severe pneumonia. This study assesses the relationship between food security and dietary patterns status with COVID-19 in the North Khorasan province, Iran.

Methods

This case-control study will be conducted in the men and women aged 20-60 years improved from COVID-19 infection. The cases (n=124) and controls (n=124) were selected according to the eligibility criteria, including recently improved COVID-19 according to the positive COVID-19 PCR test. People referred to public and private laboratories or employees of public and private factories, offices, and departments of hospitals and universities (for the cases) and negative PCR tests without any clinical signs of COVID-19 infection (for the controls). The North Khorasan province was the target place. The groups are matched for age, sex, and body mass index (BMI). The assessments will include anthropometric measurements and general demographic, USDA 18-item food security (18item-FSSM), and 147-item food frequency (FFQ) questionnaires. Finally, the determination of the relationship between food security and dietary patterns status and associated socioeconomic factors with COVID-19 is done. P-value will be <0.05.

Discussion

This study would be the first assessment of the relationship between food security and dietary patterns status with COVID-19 disease. It may help planners and policymakers to manage food insecurity and unhealthy dietary patterns and later increasing the immune system and decreasing the incidence of COVID-19. Further studies are suggested.

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  1. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.10.20.21265103: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    EthicsField Sample Permit: The sample size: First, a pilot study to get acquainted with the research environment, how patients respond to questionnaires, changes needed General questionnaire of demographic characteristics and socio-economic factors, determining the number of samples and the accuracy of the study was conducted.
    IRB: Then, the sample size was calculated 124 cases and an equal number of controls with 5% drop, 95% power, and 95% confidence interval and using the following formula: Ethics: All protocols used in this study were approved by the Ethics Committee of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences (Ethical Code: IR.TBZMED.REC.1399.1053).
    Sex as a biological variableStudy design and Setting: The design of this study will be a case-control study which will be performed on men and women aged 20-60 years living in North Khorasan province, Iran, in a 1:1 ratio between case and control groups.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power AnalysisThen, the sample size was calculated 124 cases and an equal number of controls with 5% drop, 95% power, and 95% confidence interval and using the following formula: Ethics: All protocols used in this study were approved by the Ethics Committee of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences (Ethical Code: IR.TBZMED.REC.1399.1053).

    Table 2: Resources

    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    Statistical analysis: Statistical data analysis will be performed using SPSS software (version 16.0; SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA).
    SPSS
    suggested: (SPSS, RRID:SCR_002865)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    The study’s limitations are self-reporting of dietary intakes, and lack of cooperation of some patients in the end, which may lead to patients being replaced.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    Results from scite Reference Check: We found no unreliable references.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  2. Version published to 10.1101/2021.10.20.21265103v1 on medRxiv