Dear Readers,
The Editorial Board of the Shiraz E-Medical Journal hereby retracts the above-mentioned article (1) following concerns regarding the unauthorized use of copyrighted assessment tools—specifically, the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE).
It was brought to the journal’s attention by PAR Inc., the copyright holder of the MMSE, that the authors did not obtain the required permissions to use these instruments in their research. Upon inquiry, the authors failed to provide documentation confirming authorization or to retroactively secure permission from the copyright holder.
In accordance with the guidelines set forth by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), particularly those related to legal or regulatory breaches involving published data, the editorial team conducted a formal investigation. As a result of insufficient evidence of proper authorization, and to uphold the ethical standards and integrity of the scientific record, this article is hereby retracted.
We thank our readers for their understanding and continued trust.
Prof. Mohammad Hossein Dabbaghmanesh
Editor-in-Chief
Internal Medicine, Shiraz Medical School-Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
