Mohammadreza Zakeri

@health-policy.sums.ac.ir

Health policy Research Center, Institute of Health
Health policy Research Center, Institute of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

Mohammadreza Zakeri


                        Download Compact PDF  
https://researchid.co/mrzakeri

RESEARCH, TEACHING, or OTHER INTERESTS

Health Policy, Management Science and Operations Research, Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health, Health (social science)
14

Scopus Publications

293

Scholar Citations

7

Scholar h-index

6

Scholar i10-index

Scopus Publications

  • Lessons from the pandemic: an interrupted time series analysis of food and non-food household expenditures in Iran
    Mohammadreza Zakeri, Amirreza Radfar, Mohsen Bayati, Kamran Bagheri Lankarani
    BMC Public Health, 2025
    BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted household consumption worldwide. Evidence from middle-income countries remains limited. We examined changes in Iranian household expenditures before, during, and after the pandemic. METHODS: We used nationally representative Household Income and Expenditure Survey data (2014-2023; 381,302 households). Expenditures were CPI-deflated, and interrupted time series regression was applied to six major categories (food, housing, transport, health, education, and other) across three phases: pre-COVID (2014-2019), during COVID (2020-2021), and post-COVID (2022-2023). Budget shares and subgroup analyses (urban-rural) were also examined. RESULTS: Before the pandemic, most real expenditures were declining. At the onset of COVID-19, sharp contractions were observed in transport, health, and non-essential categories, while food and housing remained relatively stable. Education showed no significant immediate decline. In the post-COVID period, food and housing increased but did not return to pre-pandemic trajectories. Health and non-essential spending remained depressed, whereas education recorded a significant but incomplete rebound. Budget shares shifted toward essentials, with food and housing rising, and education and other non-essentials declining. Urban-rural patterns were broadly consistent, although levels were higher among urban households. CONCLUSIONS: The pandemic caused immediate and lasting structural shifts in household spending. Reallocation toward food and housing reflects pressure on discretionary categories such as education and health. Limitations include the absence of detailed income analysis and the overlap with other macroeconomic shocks. Targeted policies are needed to protect vulnerable groups and sustain investment in human capital.
  • Lack of hospital resilience as the main challenge of hospital management during the COVID-19 pandemic: A grounded theory study
    Sulmaz Ghahramani, Kamran Bagheri Lankarani, Mohammadreza Zakeri, Sahar Ghahramani, Payam Shojaei
    Health Services Management Research, 2025
    Background Traditional hospital management responses during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic proved ineffective, particularly considering the pre-existing challenges in healthcare systems. The study examines hospital management challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, transforming their lived experiences into a conceptual approach to prevent repetition and benefit health planners and policymakers in future crises and normal times. Methods This qualitative study utilized the grounded theory methodology, conducting in-depth interviews with 12 hospital administrators from seven major referral hospitals in Shiraz, Bushehr, and Tehran, focusing on COVID-19 patients’ complex conditions. The participants had a mean age of 46.6 ± 8.8 years. Data analysis was conducted using the grounded theory (Straussian approach). Results A total of 98 subthemes and 25 themes were identified during the data analysis process. Using axial and selective coding, we found that in the presence of contextual and causal conditions, the lack of hospital resilience was recognized as the core theme in the final model. Intervening conditions, strategies to overcome the challenges of hospital management, and the outcomes were identified. Conclusions Iranian hospital administrators dealing with COVID-19 recognize the lack of hospital resilience as their main management obstacle. Non-resilient hospitals’ response to crises with new management strategies can fail due to insufficient documentation and information sharing, leading to persistent problems. Prioritizing evidence-based strategies and sharing successful approaches from other healthcare systems can improve resilience. Nationwide guidelines will ensure equitable patient treatment and reduce lawsuits against physicians for resource-efficient use. Hospital resilience implementation in real-world settings is widely sought for evidence.
  • Excess Deaths During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Southern Iran: Estimating the Absolute Count and Relative Risk Using Ecological Data
    Mohammadreza Zakeri, Alireza Mirahmadizadeh, Habibollah Azarbakhsh, Seyed Sina Dehghani, Maryam Janfada, Mohammad Javad Moradian, Leila Moftakhar, Mehdi Sharafi, Alireza Heiran
    Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, 2024
    Objectives: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic led to increased mortality rates. To assess this impact, this ecological study aimed to estimate the excess death counts in southern Iran.Methods: The study obtained weekly death counts by linking the National Death Registry and Medical Care Monitoring Center repositories. The P-score was initially estimated using a simple method that involved calculating the difference between the observed and expected death counts. The interrupted time series analysis was then used to calculate the mean relative risk (RR) of death during the first year of the pandemic.Results: Our study found that there were 5571 excess deaths from all causes (P-score=33.29%) during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, with 48.03% of these deaths directly related to COVID-19. The pandemic was found to increase the risk of death from all causes (RR, 1.26; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.19 to 1.33), as well as in specific age groups such as those aged 35-49 (RR, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.12 to 1.32), 50-64 (RR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.28 to 1.49), and ≥65 (RR, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.12 to 1.32) years old. Furthermore, there was an increased risk of death from cardiovascular diseases (RR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.11 to 1.22).Conclusions: There was a 26% increase in the death count in southern Iran during the COVID-19 pandemic. More than half of these excess deaths were not directly related to COVID-19, but rather other causes, with cardiovascular diseases being a major contributor.
  • Requirements for improving social capital among faculty members of medical universities: A multicenter qualitative study
    Mohammad Hasan Keshavarzi, Saeed Shahabi, Ahmad Kalateh Sadati, Maryam Hashempour‐Sadeghian, Leila Zarei, Ali Ardekani, Ali Akbary, Mohammadreza Zakeri, Seyed Taghi Heydari, Kamran Bagheri Lankarani
    Health Science Reports, 2023
    IntroductionSocial capital is critical to organizational dynamics, particularly in developing countries. This study explored strategies for enhancing social capital among faculty members at seven medical universities in the south of Iran.MethodsThis qualitative study was conducted in 2021. We used a purposeful sampling technique to recruit faculty members and conducted individual semi‐structured interviews with them. Thematic analysis was used to analyze and describe the collected data.ResultsA total of 49 faculty members (34 males; 15 females) participated in this study. The participants expressed satisfaction with their affiliations with medical universities. Social capital was related to the feeling of belonging to the organization, as well as to interpersonal and intra‐organizational relations. Social capital was associated with three components: empowerment, organizational policy change, and organizational identification. Additionally, a dynamic relationship between the individual, interpersonal, and macro‐organizational levels reinforced the organization's social capital. This means that, just as the macro‐organizational level affects the members' identities, the members' activism affects the macro‐organizational level.ConclusionTo strengthen the organization's social capital, managers should work on the mentioned components at the individual, interpersonal, and macro‐organizational levels.
  • Women’s Health in Post-COVID Era: A report from the 11th International Conference on Women’s Health
    Kamran Bagheri Lankarani, Ali Ardekani, Reza Fereidooni, Seyed Reza Abdipour Mehrian, Reza Moshfeghinia, Hafez Shojaaldini, Dorsa Shekouh, Aida Bazrgar, Masoumeh Saberi Rounkian, Najmeh Maharlouei, Hassan Joulaei, Mohammadreza Zakeri, Seyyed Taghi Heydari, Mohsen Bazargan
    Shiraz E Medical Journal, 2023
  • What do hospital doctors and nurses think wastes their time?
    Kamran Bagheri Lankarani, Sulmaz Ghahramani, Marjan Roozitalab, Mohammadreza Zakeri, Behnam Honarvar, Hengameh Kasraei
    Sage Open Medicine, 2019
    Objective: With regard to limitation in national budget, the relevant authorities of healthcare and treatment throughout the globe are seeking the use of available resources in a way that no wastage of money or time—which is, of course, convertible to money—is acceptable. This study sought the opinions of hospital doctors and nurses on those activities at work that wasted their time. Methods: A questionnaire designed to identify activities that waste time during hospital care was completed based on the review of previous studies and including hospital wastes items. The authors designed a questionnaire, which was filled out by 209 nurses and 30 doctors in the surgery wards in hospitals affiliated to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (SUMS). The items for time wasting activities were extracted from previous studies, and the reliability of the questionnaire was more than 0.785 using Cronbach’s alpha. The response rate was more than 60%. Results: The mean age of the participating nurses and doctors was 30.24 ± 6.85 and 32.77 ± 7.05 years. In all aspects, more time was wasted during the morning and evening shifts in comparison with the night shifts. The activity that was thought to waste time in hospital care the most was paper-based documentation. Preventable wasted time during the shift was 16%–30% in the nurses’ view and 18%–34% in the doctors’ view. For both nurses and doctors, the highest-rated preventable wasted time was related to time spent waiting in ward for lab data responses, transfer of patients, or delivery of care. Conclusion: Hospital working environment is complex, and opportunities for improvement of the efficiency of the nurses’ and doctors’ workload should be analyzed, case by case, in each hospital and work group. Process change (for the decrease in the wasted time for waiting in wards), simple innovative ways (for the decrease in the wasted time for searching the needed equipment), using hospital information system technology for documentation, communication, and the better design of the wards (to decrease the wasted time due to transfer between the ward and restroom) could be helpful for improving efficiency and for a safer and acceptable delivery of care.
  • Social determinants of health and health equity: Islamic republic of Iran’s executive actions and monitoring system
    Mohammad Reza Zakeri, Ardeshir Khosravi, Maryam Beheshtian
    Shiraz E Medical Journal, 2018
    Background and Objectives: Increasing evidence leaves no doubt that significant disparity in health arises from uneven distribution of wealth across populations. Diverse patterns in pervasiveness of social factors eventually become manifest in heterogeneous face of disease prevalence, morbidity, and mortality rate within and between communities and remarkably affect expectancy of human life. Here, we presented the formulation and implementation of executive actions as well as a monitoring system for social determinants of health (SDH) initiated by the Ministry of Health and Medical Education (MOHME) since 2006. Methods: This was a descriptive review of various actions performed by MOHME on social elements to reduce health disparities. Results: Nomination of national think tank committee and sensitizing and mobilizing sectors other than health in all policies resulted in approval of 52 health indicators at the government level. Emphasis was placed on the collaborative efforts particularly on developing a monitoring system which could show the distance between achievements and goals and assure the effectiveness of implemented actions on reducing health inequities. Conclusions: We pictured the road which was paved by MOHME on social determinants of health (SDH) to facilitate the evaluation and formulation of the future actions to reduce health disparities in a more effective manner.
  • Determinants of cesarean section: A meta-synthesis approach
    Journal of Zanjan University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, 2016
  • Equity analysis of hospital beds distribution in Shiraz, Iran 2014
    Medical Journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 2016
  • Lessons learned from national health accounts in Iran: Highlighted evidence for policymakers
    Shiraz E Medical Journal, 2015
  • The financing of the health system in the Islamic Republic of Iran: A National Health Account (NHA) approach
    Medical Journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 2015
  • Developing a household survey tool for health equity: A practical guide in Islamic Republic of Iran
    Medical Journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 2015
  • Iran's multiple indicator demographic and health survey - 2010: Study protocol
    International Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2014
  • Intersectoral collaboration to develop health equity indicators in Iran
    Iranian Journal of Public Health, 2013

RECENT SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS

  • Assessing Readiness for Hospital 5.0: Identifying and Prioritizing Key Indicators for the Future of Healthcare
    Y Jafari, P Shojaei, M Alimohammadlou, K Askarifar, L Zarei, M Zakeri
    Shiraz E-Medical Journal , 2025
    2025.0
  • Lessons from the pandemic: an interrupted time series analysis of food and non-food household expenditures in Iran
    M Zakeri, A Radfar, M Bayati, KB Lankarani
    BMC Public Health 25 (1), 3821 , 2025
    2025.0
  • Lack of hospital resilience as the main challenge of hospital management during the COVID-19 pandemic: A grounded theory study
    S Ghahramani, K Bagheri Lankarani, M Zakeri, S Ghahramani, P Shojaei
    Health services management research 38 (3), 164-172 , 2025
    2025.0
    Citations: 2
  • Excess deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic in southern Iran: estimating the absolute count and relative risk using ecological data
    M Zakeri, A Mirahmadizadeh, H Azarbakhsh, SS Dehghani, M Janfada, ...
    Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health 57 (2), 120 , 2024
    2024.0
    Citations: 5
  • Requirements for improving social capital among faculty members of medical universities: A multicenter qualitative study
    MH Keshavarzi, S Shahabi, A Kalateh Sadati, M Hashempour‐Sadeghian, ...
    Health Science Reports 6 (2), e1113 , 2023
    2023.0
    Citations: 6
  • Therapeutic Efficacy of Melatonin in Patients with Coronavirus 2019: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials: Melatonin in COVID-19 Patients
    KB Lankarani, M Akbari, R Homayounfar, R Tabrizi, M Vali, MR Zakeri, ...
    Galen Medical Journal 11, e2562 , 2022
    2022.0
    Citations: 2
  • What do hospital doctors and nurses think wastes their time?
    HK Kamran Bagheri Lankarani, Sulmaz Ghahramani, Marjan Roozitalab ...
    SAGE Open Medicine , 2019
    2019.0
    Citations: 27
  • Social determinants of health and health equity: Islamic Republic of Iran's executive actions and monitoring system.
    MR Zakeri, A Khosravi, M Beheshtian
    2018.0
    Citations: 2
  • Determinants of Cesarean Section: A Meta-Synthesis Approach
    E Siavashi, P Shojaei, M Zakeri
    Journal of Advances in Medical and Biomedical Research 24 (106), 30-41 , 2016
    2016.0
  • Equity analysis of hospital beds distribution in Shiraz, Iran 2014
    N Hatam, M Zakeri, A Sadeghi, SD Ramandi, R Hayati, E Siavashi
    Medical journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran 30, 393 , 2016
    2016.0
    Citations: 19
  • Developing a household survey tool for health equity: A practical guide in Islamic Republic of Iran
    M Beheshtian, A Khosravi, A Olyaeemanesh, H Malekafzali, SB Esfahani, ...
    Medical journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran 29, 305 , 2015
    2015.0
    Citations: 7
  • The financing of the health system in the Islamic Republic of Iran: A National Health Account (NHA) approach
    M Zakeri, A Olyaeemanesh, M Zanganeh, M Kazemian, A Rashidian, ...
    Medical journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran 29, 243 , 2015
    2015.0
    Citations: 52
  • Lessons learned from National Health Accounts in Iran: highlighted evidence for policymakers.
    KB Lankarani, S Ghahramani, M Zakeri, H Joulaei
    2015.0
    Citations: 25
  • Iran's multiple indicator demographic and health survey-2010: Study protocol
    A Rashidian, A Karimi-Shahanjarini, A Khosravi, E Elahi, M Beheshtian, ...
    International journal of preventive medicine 5 (5), 632 , 2014
    2014.0
    Citations: 111
  • Intersectoral collaboration to develop health equity indicators in Iran
    M Beheshtian, AO Manesh, SH Bonakdar, HM Afzali, B Larijani, ...
    Iranian journal of public health 42 (Supple1), 31 , 2013
    2013.0
    Citations: 28
  • Health Care Utilization Inequality in a Mixed Public-Private Health Care System: An Insight from the National Survey in Iran
    M Zakeri, KB Lankarani, Z Kavosi, R Ravangard
    Health Scope 9 (1), e88589 , 0
    Citations: 7

MOST CITED SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS

  • Iran's multiple indicator demographic and health survey-2010: Study protocol
    A Rashidian, A Karimi-Shahanjarini, A Khosravi, E Elahi, M Beheshtian, ...
    International journal of preventive medicine 5 (5), 632 , 2014
    2014.0
    Citations: 111
  • The financing of the health system in the Islamic Republic of Iran: A National Health Account (NHA) approach
    M Zakeri, A Olyaeemanesh, M Zanganeh, M Kazemian, A Rashidian, ...
    Medical journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran 29, 243 , 2015
    2015.0
    Citations: 52
  • Intersectoral collaboration to develop health equity indicators in Iran
    M Beheshtian, AO Manesh, SH Bonakdar, HM Afzali, B Larijani, ...
    Iranian journal of public health 42 (Supple1), 31 , 2013
    2013.0
    Citations: 28
  • What do hospital doctors and nurses think wastes their time?
    HK Kamran Bagheri Lankarani, Sulmaz Ghahramani, Marjan Roozitalab ...
    SAGE Open Medicine , 2019
    2019.0
    Citations: 27
  • Lessons learned from National Health Accounts in Iran: highlighted evidence for policymakers.
    KB Lankarani, S Ghahramani, M Zakeri, H Joulaei
    2015.0
    Citations: 25
  • Equity analysis of hospital beds distribution in Shiraz, Iran 2014
    N Hatam, M Zakeri, A Sadeghi, SD Ramandi, R Hayati, E Siavashi
    Medical journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran 30, 393 , 2016
    2016.0
    Citations: 19
  • Developing a household survey tool for health equity: A practical guide in Islamic Republic of Iran
    M Beheshtian, A Khosravi, A Olyaeemanesh, H Malekafzali, SB Esfahani, ...
    Medical journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran 29, 305 , 2015
    2015.0
    Citations: 7
  • Health Care Utilization Inequality in a Mixed Public-Private Health Care System: An Insight from the National Survey in Iran
    M Zakeri, KB Lankarani, Z Kavosi, R Ravangard
    Health Scope 9 (1), e88589 , 0
    Citations: 7
  • Requirements for improving social capital among faculty members of medical universities: A multicenter qualitative study
    MH Keshavarzi, S Shahabi, A Kalateh Sadati, M Hashempour‐Sadeghian, ...
    Health Science Reports 6 (2), e1113 , 2023
    2023.0
    Citations: 6
  • Excess deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic in southern Iran: estimating the absolute count and relative risk using ecological data
    M Zakeri, A Mirahmadizadeh, H Azarbakhsh, SS Dehghani, M Janfada, ...
    Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health 57 (2), 120 , 2024
    2024.0
    Citations: 5
  • Lack of hospital resilience as the main challenge of hospital management during the COVID-19 pandemic: A grounded theory study
    S Ghahramani, K Bagheri Lankarani, M Zakeri, S Ghahramani, P Shojaei
    Health services management research 38 (3), 164-172 , 2025
    2025.0
    Citations: 2
  • Therapeutic Efficacy of Melatonin in Patients with Coronavirus 2019: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials: Melatonin in COVID-19 Patients
    KB Lankarani, M Akbari, R Homayounfar, R Tabrizi, M Vali, MR Zakeri, ...
    Galen Medical Journal 11, e2562 , 2022
    2022.0
    Citations: 2
  • Social determinants of health and health equity: Islamic Republic of Iran's executive actions and monitoring system.
    MR Zakeri, A Khosravi, M Beheshtian
    2018.0
    Citations: 2
  • Assessing Readiness for Hospital 5.0: Identifying and Prioritizing Key Indicators for the Future of Healthcare
    Y Jafari, P Shojaei, M Alimohammadlou, K Askarifar, L Zarei, M Zakeri
    Shiraz E-Medical Journal , 2025
    2025.0
  • Lessons from the pandemic: an interrupted time series analysis of food and non-food household expenditures in Iran
    M Zakeri, A Radfar, M Bayati, KB Lankarani
    BMC Public Health 25 (1), 3821 , 2025
    2025.0
  • Determinants of Cesarean Section: A Meta-Synthesis Approach
    E Siavashi, P Shojaei, M Zakeri
    Journal of Advances in Medical and Biomedical Research 24 (106), 30-41 , 2016
    2016.0