bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of medical student program with the use of a reflective portfolio
Authors: Patel Arpit Bakulash , Shah Sachi Vinodkumar
Published: April 2024

BACKGROUND:

The concept of reflective practice is at the center of professional practice, allowing a bridge between theory and practice and learning from our own experiences in an ongoing process. Understanding what learners need such as regular observation of work, more responsibility, and technical and problem-solving with answers allows the teacher to help learners to progress to independence in pursing their own learning needs. Therefore, it is important that medical educators continually reflect and evaluate teaching ability to meet learners' needs and provide evidence to support it.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

A prospective, qualitative study was carried out using a combination of questionnaires and observed assessments. The study participants consisted of twenty final-year medical students from King's College London and took place at a hospital education center in the UK, April 2019. Two educational sessions were delivered by a doctor to the study group and a video recording was conducted. The educator completed a reflective portfolio using feedback questionnaires, peer observation forms, and observation of the video recording, and the results were analyzed using a video critique tool.

RESULTS:

Twenty learner feedback forms were completed, and a peer observation form was completed. This allowed a critical analysis of educator performance, reflection, and improvement. This was further solidified by in-depth analysis and critique of teaching session playback video.

DISCUSSION:

This study evaluates a medical student teaching program using a reflective portfolio. This study confirms the effectiveness of using a reflective portfolio to enhance the teaching experience. Video analysis can be self-critical, however this study shows how it is useful to review human experience first-hand, and identifying any specific techniques that create a positive or negative change can enable educators to improve as time progresses.
Determining the frequency of Candida species in women with candidal vaginal infection frequency of Candida species in women with candida vaginal infection
Authors: Tafazoli Mahin , Gholami Mahboobe , Mohebbi-Dehnavi Zahra , Shaghaghi Fatemeh , Kamali Zahra
Published: April 2024

BACKGROUND:

Candidiasis vaginitis is an opportunistic and common mucosal infection. Although Candida albicans is the most common isolated species, other species of Candida such as Candida glabrata, Candida krusei, Candida parapsilosis, and Candida tropicalis have also increased significantly in recent years. The aim of this study was to identify Candida species in women with candidal vaginal infection in order to promote health in women.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

This cross-sectional descriptive study was performed on nonpregnant women of childbearing age who referred to health centers in Neyshabur in 2018. At the beginning of the study, 163 people entered the study and the culture results were positive in 68 of them. In vitro, culture was performed in subduxtrose agar medium containing chloramphenicol and gentamicin. Species identification was performed using Candida specific culture medium (Saburo dextrose agar and chloramphenicol). After culture, 15% of the residual wet slide with potash (KOH) was prepared and observed with a lens. Finally, the data were analyzed with SPSS software version 24.

RESULTS:

The participants in the study were women with a mean age of 35.55 ± 5.47 and the average number of deliveries was 1.38 ± 1.15. In this study, the prevalence of C. albicans was 59.7%, C. tropicalis was 14.8%, C. krusei was 15%, and C. glabrata was 7.61% and also krusei and tropicalis were 3% simultaneously. Therefore, C. albicans was the most common species isolated from clinical specimens.

CONCLUSION:

In this study, the most common species after albicans were C. tropicalis and cruciferous. Considering the role of C. glabrata in the development of resistance to antifungal drugs, the lower prevalence of this species in the present study can be associated with improved treatment outcomes in patients.
Effect of spiritual care education on the spiritual health of preeclamptic women with postpartum stress disorder
Authors: Gholami Mahboobe , Tafazoli Mahin , Mohebbi-Dehnavi Zahra , Kamali Zahra
Published: April 2024

BACKGROUND:

Spiritual health in the field of health has a great importance in mental disorders and posttraumatic stress disorders, in treatment process. The present study was done aiming “determine the effect of spiritual care education on the spiritual health of preeclamptic women with postpartum stress disorder.”

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

This randomized clinical trial was done in 2017 on 260 women with preeclampsia in Mashhad. Data collection was done with questionnaires Perinatal Posttraumatic Stress Questionnaire (PPQ), the posttraumatic disorder checklist, Duke University Religion Index, and the Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS). In the intervention group, first, women were educated on spiritual care each day based on Richards and Bergin's pattern, in three sessions, which lasted 45–60 min. The control group also received routine cares. All units completed the questionnaire SWBS at the 8th postpartum period. P < 0.05 was meaningful.

RESULTS:

After the intervention, this score of spiritual health in the intervention and control groups had a significant difference with independent test (P = 0.004). Spiritual health significantly increased in the interventional group.

CONCLUSIONS:

Providing spiritual care to pregnant mothers with preeclampsia, increase their spiritual health.
Mental health of the people of northern Iran during the quarantine time of 2020 following the coronavirus epidemic
Authors: Mojarad Fereshteh Araghian , Gorji Mohammad Ali Heidari , Salehiniya Hamid , Yaghoubi Tahereh
Published: April 2024

BACKGROUND:

Coronavirus (COVID-19) is an infectious respiratory disease. Quarantine is often accompanied by unpleasant experiences for those who go through it. The aim of this study was to determine the mental health status of people during quarantine in northern Iran.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

This cross-sectional study was conducted during the quarantine period of coronavirus. Conventional sampling was done from March 6 to April 6. Six hundred and forty-two individuals were included. Inclusion criteria were living in Sari and being home quarantined during the corona outbreak. Exclusion criteria included hospitalization history due to corona and unwillingness to participate in the study. In this study, the General Health Questionnaire-28 was used online to collect the required data. To analyze the data, descriptive and inferential statistics (t-test, analysis of variance, and correlation coefficient) were used.

RESULTS:

In this study, individuals were included in the investigation with a mean age of 38.74 ± 11.89 (ranged from 15 to 73). Most of the participants were female (72.85%) and married (71.34%). According to the results, 21.5% of the participants had poor mental health. Mean mental health scores have a statistically significant relationship with gender, marital status, education, occupation, quarantine period, patients with corona, and exposure to a patient with corona (P ≤ 0.05). Furthermore, a negative correlation coefficient was observed between age and mental health score (correlation coefficient = −0.31, significance >0.001).

CONCLUSION:

The average score of mental health has a significant relationship with gender, marital status, education, occupation, quarantine period, corona, and exposure to a patient with corona. Given the high prevalence of mental disorders in people during the COVID-19 epidemic, educating people and planning to reduce the psychological effects of the epidemic can be helpful.
Performance analysis of data mining algorithms for diagnosing COVID-19
Authors: Nopour Raoof , Kazemi-Arpanahi Hadi , Shanbehzadeh Mostafa , Azizifar Akbar
Published: April 2024

BACKGROUND:

An outbreak of atypical pneumonia termed COVID-19 has widely spread all over the world since the beginning of 2020. In this regard, designing a prediction system for the early detection of COVID-19 is a critical issue in mitigating virus spread. In this study, we have applied selected machine learning techniques to select the best predictive models based on their performance.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

The data of 435 suspicious cases with COVID-19 which were recorded from the Imam Khomeini Hospital database between May 9, 2020 and December 20, 2020, have been taken into consideration. The Chi-square method was used to determine the most important features in diagnosing the COVID-19; eight selected data mining algorithms including multilayer perceptron (MLP), J-48, Bayesian Net (Bayes Net), logistic regression, K-star, random forest, Ada-boost, and sequential minimal optimization (SMO) were applied in data mining. Finally, the most appropriate diagnostic model for COVID-19 was obtained based on comparing the performance of the selected algorithms.

RESULTS:

As the result of using the Chi-square method, 21 variables were identified as the most important diagnostic criteria in COVID-19. The results of evaluating the eight selected data mining algorithms showed that the J-48 with true-positive rate = 0.85, false-positive rate = 0.173, precision = 0.85, recall = 0.85, F-score = 0.85, Matthews Correlation Coefficient = 0.68, and area under the receiver operator characteristics = 0.68, respectively, had the higher performance than the other algorithms.

CONCLUSION:

The results of evaluating the performance criteria showed that the J-48 can be considered as a suitable computational prediction model for diagnosing COVID-19 disease.
The effect of COVID-19 epidemic on the mental health of nurses’ family members
Authors: Banitalebi Soheila , Mohammadi Kobra , Marjanian Zhila , Rabiei Leili , Masoudi Reza
Published: April 2024

BACKGROUND:

The COVID-19 epidemic is a global health crisis that, in addition to physical health, has affected the mental health of all individuals, especially health-care workers, including nurses and family members. In this regard, the present study aimed to investigate the effect of COVID-19 epidemic on mental health of nurses’ family members.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

The present descriptive-analytic and cross-sectional study was conducted in 2020 year on family members of nurses working in Hajar Hospital for admission and hospitalization of patients with COVID-19, after obtaining the necessary permits and coordination. To prevent the spread of COVID-19 through respiratory or contact droplets, a blog was designed to collect data using software. Participation in this study was voluntary. Data collection tools included consent, demographic questionnaire, and mental health questionnaire (Patient Health Questionnaire-9). Data were analyzed by SPSS version 22.

RESULTS:

Findings of this study showed that out of 208 family members of nurses participating in this study, 96 were male and 112 were female and their mean age was 35.78 years, and 55.3% of the participants had university education. Their mean mental health score was 12.91 ± 3.75, so that 22.6% of people had mild depression, 71.4% of people had moderate depression, and 1.8% of people had severe depression. Independent t-test showed that there is a statistically significant relationship between mental health and gender and marital status (P < 0.001). Furthermore, one-way analysis of variance test showed that there is a significant relationship between mental health and age (P < 0.001); this test also showed that there is no relationship between education and mental health (P = 0.75).

CONCLUSION:

The results indicate that the mental health of nurses’ family members is affected by the challenges of COVID-19 epidemic time, so that many of them suffer from some degree of depression. Therefore, supporting this population requires urgent action.
The acceptance level of Hospital Information Management System (HIMS) among the nursing officials working in a teaching hospital
Authors: Mahla Mahesh , Talati Shweta , Gupta Anil Kumar , Agarwal Ritesh , Tripathi Shailesh , Bhattacharya Sudip
Published: April 2024

BACKGROUND:

The acceptability of hospital staff in the use of hospital information management system (HIMS) is an emerging research area it can explain the fate of any HIMS development and implementation project in hospitals. The aim of this study was to observe the level of acceptance of HMIS among nursing officials working at a teaching hospital.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

This cross-sectional study was conducted for 1 year in a teaching hospital of northern India by using a pretested questionnaire. Our study participants were nursing officers who were not under the probation period and we used a purposive sampling (10% nurses from each ward). Our sample size was 256.

RESULTS:

We have observed that majority of 174 (67.96%) participants had good acceptability to the HIMS system. Our study revealed that most of the participants were aware of HIMS. Among all participants, nearly half of them had good acceptability to the HIMS system. This is may be due to their job profiles, distribution of their working places, and their past experiences with HMIS. The bottlenecks such as connectivity problem, error prevention, and lack of training can be addressed by the hospital management by proper measures.

CONCLUSION:

The acceptance level of HIMS among the nursing officials working in a teaching hospital was good.
The knowledge of COVID-19 treatments, behaviors, and attitudes of providing the information on COVID-19 treatments
Authors: Perwitasari Dyah Aryani , Faridah Imaniar Noor , Dania Haafizah , Lolita Lolita , Irham Lalu Muhammad , Alim Muthia Dewi Marthilia , Shoaliha Maratun , Heriyanto Mochammad Junaidy
Published: April 2024

BACKGROUND:

Increasing community awareness about the transmission and treatment of COVID-19 will stop the spread of the virus. Pharmacy students are the potential facilitator to give community education about COVID-19 treatment. The objective of this study is to evaluate the pharmacy students’ knowledge of COVID-19 treatment, behavior, and attitude of providing the information about COVID-19 treatment.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

We conducted cross-sectional study, recruiting 429 pharmacy students from three schools of pharmacy in Indonesia. The questionnaire about the knowledge of COVID-19 treatment, behavior, and attitude of providing the information on COVID-19 treatment met the validity and reliability criteria. We defined the proportion of knowledge, behavior, and attitude of the students using SPSS® version 22.

RESULTS:

Most of the students are in the earlier years (46.63%), female (84.15%), find the information about COVID-19 from many sources of media (85.08%) including scientific articles and know information about COVID-19 transmission around their life area (76.46%). The students’ knowledge about antiviral and plasma convalescent is good (>70%), the positive behaviors are related to the COVID-19 treatment information regarding to the antiviral and the provision of Vitamin C (>50%), and the positive attitude are related to giving information about the use of avigan®, plasma convalescent, chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, and immunomodulator (>50%).

CONCLUSIONS:

As a future pharmacist, the knowledge of pharmacy students about COVID-19 treatment needs to be improved since earlier years. Furthermore, using the good knowledge about COVID-19 treatment, the positive behavior and attitude of providing information of the students, the community behavior and attitude will be improved. The high year students have a tendency for the good knowledge and positive behavior and attitude of providing the information.
The keys to a good and lasting marriage
Authors: Samadi Parisa , Alipour Zahra , Salehi Kobra , Kohan Shahnaz , Hashemi Maryam
Published: April 2024

BACKGROUND AND AIM:

Marital satisfaction is a multidimensional phenomenon, which refers to the quality of marital relationship, or the general view of marriage status and reflection of happiness and marital performance. Repetition of certain positive behaviors can make a huge difference in the success of continued married life, and that awareness of such behaviors seems to be critical to recognizing certain warnings. Therefore, this study with qualitative approach conducted to promoting long-term marital satisfaction by exploring couple's experiences.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

This study was conducted using descriptive phenomenology method. The participants were 12 person (six couples) with a history of 20–30 years of married life expectancy and a marital satisfaction score of above 65. The data were collected by purposeful sampling and semi-structured interviews, analyzed using Colaizzi method. By categorizing the codes, subcategories, and main categories were extracted.

RESULTS:

An analysis of the experiences of the participants resulted in emergence of eight subcategories, and three main categories: “Strong Foundation For Living Together,” “Mutual Commitment To Protecting Marital Cohesion,” and “Striving To Improve Sexual Relations.”

CONCLUSIONS:

A long-term marriage associated with a variety of variables, including a strong foundation for living together, a mutual commitment to protect marital cohesion, and an effort to improve sexuality. And the results showed that the type of relationship will change during the years after marriage in a way that takes on certain meanings and concepts and can be interpreted in physiological, cultural and other specific contexts.
Effect of media messages on health-promoting lifestyle of acute coronary syndrome patients
Authors: Nouhi Esmat , Dahesh Tania , Shojaefar Fahimeh
Published: April 2024

BACKGROUND:

Patient education is a key factor in promoting the health of people with acute coronary syndrome (ACS), and the effective use of technology can play an important role in this regard. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of education using media messages on the lifestyle of patients with ACS.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

The present clinical trial was conducted on 91 cases with ACS admitted to the cardiac ward of Afshar Hospital in Yazd, Iran, during 2018–2019, who were randomly assigned to control and intervention groups. The former only was provided with routine training before discharge, while the latter, in addition to routine training before discharge, received education on social networking and sending text/visual messages. At baseline and 3 months after the intervention, the Walker's Lifestyle Questionnaire was completed. The independent t-test, paired t-test, and Chi-square test were employed for data analysis.

RESULTS:

The average lifestyle value of the intervention group was significantly higher compared with the control group after the intervention (P < 0.001). Moreover, the lifestyle score was significantly different pre- and post-intervention in the intervention group (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS:

Education using media messages is useful to promote the lifestyle in cases with ACS, which seems effective in planning the follow-up for these patients.
Factors affecting the prevalence of stress, anxiety, and depression in undergraduate Indian dental students
Authors: Ahad Abdul , Chahar Puneet , Haque Ekramul , Bey Afshan , Jain Meena , Raja Waseem
Published: April 2024

BACKGROUND:

The objective was to assess the prevalence and the associated demographic factors of stress, anxiety, and depression among undergraduate (UG) Indian dental students and determine whether the pattern is different in government-run institutions and those managed by private authorities.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

A cross-sectional study was conducted among dental UG students from five dental colleges. Snowball sampling was used to approach 776 potential participants, resulting in a complete response from 507 students. The questionnaire consisted of demographic data; year of study; type of college; accommodation; and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS)-42. Descriptive data and inferential statistics were obtained. Chi-square test was applied for categorical data to test for significance, and higher analysis was done using multiple linear regression.

RESULTS:

Females and males comprised 71.8% (n = 364) and 28.2% (n = 143) of the study population, respectively. The prevalence of anxiety was highest (66.86%, n = 339), followed by depression (57.39%, n = 291) and stress (43.99%, n = 223). In terms of severity also, anxiety was the most prevalent condition as more than one-fourth of the students presented with severe and very severe scores in this aspect (25.43%, n = 129) compared to depression (14.39%, n = 73) and stress (10.09%, n = 51). Regression analysis revealed age as a strong positive predictor for all the three conditions, while staying in the hostel was a positive predictor for anxiety and stress. Being female was also an independent predictor for the high prevalence of stress.

CONCLUSION:

Stress, anxiety, and depression are highly prevalent among Indian dental students. Clinical students and interns have a higher prevalence of stress than preclinical students. Age, being female, and staying in the hostel are positive predictors for the severity of stress. There is no significant difference between government and private colleges, regarding the prevalence of any psychological condition.
The effect of sexual health literacy on the sexual life quality of women referring to healthcare centers in Qazvin, Iran
Authors: Panahi Rahman , Kheiri Mansoure , Daronkolaei Zeynab Abolhasani , Arjeini Zahra , Taherpour Maryam , Dehghankar Leila , Valinezhad Saman
Published: April 2024

BACKGROUND:

Considering the role of sexual quality of life in public satisfaction, improving interpersonal relationships, promoting the general quality of life, especially in women, and ultimately maintaining, consolidating, and promoting family and community health, the need to explain the factors affecting it, such as sexual health literacy, is felt from the perspective of women. This study aimed to determine the relationship of sexual health literacy on the sexual life quality of women referring to health-care centers in Qazvin.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

This research was a descriptive cross-sectional study. The population of this study was 420 women of Qazvin in 2020 who were selected by multistage sampling. The data collection tool was a demographic questionnaire and the standard questionnaire sexual health literacy for adults and Sexual Quality of Life-Female questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 22 and descriptive statistics and logistic regression.

RESULTS:

The mean (standard deviation) of the sexual health literacy score was 78.47 (17.85) and sexual quality of life was 59.71 (19.21). The results of logistic regression test showed that the variables of sexual health literacy, education level, age of marriage, and number of sexual intercourses per week were effective factors on the sexual quality of life (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION:

Women with lower sexual health literacy, lower education level, higher marriage age, and women who had sex less per week had a lower sexual quality of life. Therefore, it is necessary to pay more attention to these women in designing educational programs to improve the quality of sexual life.
Effectiveness of problem-based learning approach for teaching-learning biostatistics among medical students
Authors: Bihari Anand , Choudhari Sonali G. , Srivastava Ankit
Published: April 2024

BACKGROUND:

Lecturing (didactic) has been the key teaching-learning method for a long time. As per competency-based medical education, an Indian medical graduate should be competent in recommended skills. In the subject of Community Medicine of medical undergraduation, “Biostatistics” is one of the components of the curriculum. Often the students find the statistics challenging to understand and thus neglect it or prefer rote learning. In the recent era, many newer teaching-learning modalities have come up, namely problem-based learning (PBL), small group teaching, community-based learning, etc. The objective was to compare the utility and effectiveness of PBL versus traditional teaching techniques (didactic) for Biostatistics.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

The study was conducted in the department of Community Medicine, Government Medical College, Azamgarh (Uttar Pradesh) from March to November 2019. A total of 96 medical students of the final year were randomly divided into two groups. 'Group A' underwent didactic lecturing whereas “Group B” had problem-based learning for identified topics in Biostatistics. The teaching material and instructors were the same for both groups. Two weeks after completion of sessions, students' assessment was carried out for both groups.

RESULTS:

The study demonstrated that the PBL method was a more effective way of teaching-learning statistics compared to didactic lecturing. A significant difference (P < 0.05) was observed between the mean examination score of Group A (traditional teaching technique) and Group B (PBL). Group B had higher scores than group A in all assessment heads (Objective, Descriptive, and Viva-voce). PBL was perceived to be a student-centric Teaching-learning method promoting analytical skills, critical thinking & overall self-directed learning.

CONCLUSION:

PBL teaching method was found to be effective in improving the students' performance in Statistics in comparison to didactic lecturing.
Profile and antibiotic-resistance pattern of bacteria isolated from endotracheal secretions of mechanically ventilated patients at a tertiary care hospital
Authors: Sannathimmappa Mohan Bilikallahalli , Nambiar Vinod , Aravindakshan Rajeev , Al-Kasaby Nashwa M.
Published: April 2024

BACKGROUND:

Critically ill patients on mechanical-ventilation are always at a higher risk of acquiring ventilator-associated respiratory infections. The current study was intended to determine the antibiotic-resistance pattern of bacteria recovered from the endotracheal (ET) specimens of ventilated patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

This was a single-centered, retrospective study carried out in a 400-bed tertiary care hospital in Oman. The data of profile and antibiotic resistance pattern of bacterial isolates recovered from ET aspirates of ventilated patients during the period from January 2017 to August 2019 were retrieved from hospital database. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 22 (IBM, Armonk, New York, USA). Descriptive statistics were applied to find the frequencies and percentages. Charts and tables were constructed.

RESULTS:

In total, 201 bacterial isolates recovered from ET secretions of 154 ventilated patients were studied. The rate of isolation was predominant among males (65.6%) and in elderly people (50%). Gram-negative bacilli (GNB) were predominantly (88.6%) isolated. Acinetobacter baumannii (31.3%) was the most common isolate and 86% of them were multidrug-resistant strains. Klebsiella pneumoniae (23.9%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (22.9%) were the other common GNB, whereas Staphylococcus aureus was the most frequently isolated Gram-positive bacteria. Gentamicin showed good in vitro activity against S. aureus and all the GNB except A. baumannii reflecting good choice for empirical therapy.

CONCLUSION:

Gram-negative bacteria were the predominant isolates in ET secretions of ventilated patients. There was an alarmingly high rate of antimicrobial resistance among GNB. A rational use of antibiotics, regular monitoring of antibiotic resistance and use of right combination of drugs, in addition to refining of existing infection control practices are critical to control the emergence of drug-resistant strains.
Quality of life in health Iranian elderly population approach in health promotion
Authors: Poursadeqiyan Mohsen , Arefi Maryam Feiz , Pouya Amin Babaei , Jafari Mojtaba
Published: April 2024

BACKGROUND:

The quality of life (QOL) is essential in all different stages of life; however, It is more important for older people as it can be effective in promoting their health. Therefore, the present study aimed to review the literature on the QOL in the Iranian elderly population.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

The study was carried out as a systematic review. For this purpose, all databases were searched in March 2021. The keywords used for the search were “quality of life, elderly, older adults, aging, seniors, and Iran” along with the Persian equivalents. PRISMA protocol was used to screen articles. After removing duplicate and irrelevant items, two evaluators appraised the articles separately based on a researcher-made checklist derived from the SBEM and STROBE Statement standard checklists.

RESULTS:

The initial search yielded 3734 studies on the QOL in the Iranian elderly population. After screening and assessing the studies based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, 22 articles remained in the study. Most of the studies (cross-sectional) were conducted in Tehran using a 36-item Short-Form Health Survey to assess the QOL. The studies investigated sociodemographic determinants, physical and health-related behaviors, and spirituality and psychological determinants of the QOL. The sociodemographic determinants were the most common factors under study. The results showed that the role of gender and socioeconomic status was the strongest among the sociodemographic characteristics. A significant association was found between the QOL in the Iranian elderly population and factors such as depression and religious confrontation.

CONCLUSION:

In addition to chronic diseases, diseases of the oral and dental, as well as an unhealthy diet, should be considered in the elderly. Therefore, attention should be paid to all social, physical, and psychological variables that affect the QOL of older people.
Validation of academic motivation scale among medical students using factor analysis and structural equation modeling
Authors: Al Ansari Ahmed Mohammed , Kumar Archana Prabu , AlSaleh Aseel Fuad Fahad , Arekat Mona Rushdi Khalil , Deifalla Abdelhalim
Published: April 2024

BACKGROUND:

Demanding careers like medicine requires a lot of motivation and the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS) developed by Vallerand et al. (1992) is an instrument to measure motivation. This study evaluated the validity and reliability of AMS among medical students in the Middle East.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

This was a methodological research utilizing a convenient sampling technique. AMS scale comprising 28 items subdivided into seven subscales was administered to 900 students (281 students returned the filled AMS). Data were analyzed using the descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA, and t-tests. Exploratory factor analysis and Cronbach's alpha were used to evaluate the validity and reliability of the scale, respectively.

RESULTS:

There was a statistically significant difference between both genders in overall scores (P = 0.015*), two subscales, namely “Identified Regulation” (P =0.017*) and “Stimulating Experience” (P = 0.015*), with females showing higher value. Second-year students (n = 91) had significantly higher score (10.9 ± 4.1) for “Amotivation” (P =.001*) and first-year students (n = 48) had significantly higher score (16.2 ± 3.0) for “Achievement” subscale (P =.014*). P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant with 95% confidence interval. No statistically significant difference was observed between the groups based on nationality or age. Bartlett's test of sphericity was significant (Chi-square: 2988.010; df = 278; P < 0.001). Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin was 0.890. Principal component analysis with varimax rotation extracted seven factors corresponding to the original items of AMS questionnaire. All subscales correlated positively except “amotivation.” Structural equation modeling revealed the relation between observed and unobserved variables.

DISCUSSION:

This study demonstrated that AMS is valid and reliable for application among Middle East medical students, without needing any modification. AMS has widespread application in medical education as it impacts learning outcomes.

CONCLUSION:

This study demonstrated that AMS is valid and reliable for application among the Middle East students without needing any modification.
Designing a comprehensive clinical competency test for operating room technology student
Authors: Yazdimoghaddam Hamideh , Samadipour Ezat , Ghardashi Fatemeh , Borzoee Fateme , Akbarzadeh Roya , Zardosht Roghayeh , Hesari Mohammad Hosseinzadeh , Khalili Sedigheh
Published: April 2024

BACKGROUND:

The ultimate goal in educating medical students is to train skilled workforce who by obtaining the required knowledge of the discipline, personal and professional skills, and attitudes to enter the national health-care system. This study was conducted with the goal of designing a comprehensive clinical competency test of operating room technology student using the Delphi technique, and then, the clinical skills of the operating room technology students of the paramedical school were assessed using the CIPP evaluation model.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

The present study was conducted in the University of Medical Sciences to evaluate clinical skills with Delphi technique and CIPP evaluation model. This was a mixed methods study. Purposive sampling method was employed in the qualitative stage, and a census was conducted in the quantitative part. A comprehensive clinical competency test was designed in this research using the Delphi technique and was conducted with 18 students. Then, clinical skills evaluation was performed by descriptive-analytical statistical tests and evaluator's observation using the CIPP model.

RESULTS:

The comprehensive clinical competencies test of the surgical technology students was designed in four sections: content, evaluation method, test conditions, and the criteria for passing the comprehensive test. The results in the implementation stage showed that the operating room technology students had a range of excellent to weak performances in exhibiting basic skills at different levels.

CONCLUSIONS:

The results of the present study showed that the comprehensive test, designed based on the Delphi technique of experts, and using the CIPP model can be a good criterion for the evaluation of the operating room technology students before entering the clerkship.
Community empowerment for health promotion in slums areas
Authors: Mehrolhasani Mohammad Hosein , Yazdi-Feyzabadi Vahid , Ghasemi Sara
Published: April 2024

Community empowerment has been proposed since the 1980s as a way to increase people's power to influence social determinants of health. However, community empowerment for health promotion in urban slums still faces challenges. The present study examined interventions, challenges, actors, scopes, and the consequences mentioned in various studies and with emphasizing interventions and executive challenges tried to create a clear understanding of empowerment programs in slums and improving their health. Narrative review method was used to conduct the study. Databases including PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane were searched. The selection of studies was done according to the “community empowerment” defined by the World Health Organization, the concept of bottom–up approach for health promotion of Laverack and Labonte's study and definition of slums by UN-HABITAT. Finally, Hare and Noblit's meta-synthesis was used to analyze the studies. From 15 selected studies, the most intervention proposed for empowerment was identified to be “residents' participation in expressing problems and solutions.” The challenge of “creating a sense of trust and changing some attitudes among residents” was the greatest challenge in the studies. Moreover, “improving living conditions and health services” were the most important outcomes, “slum residents” and “governments” were the most important actors, and “sanitation” was the most important scope among the studies. Having a comprehensive view to the health and its determinants and attention to the factors beyond neighborhood and health sector would lead to fewer implementation challenges and better intervention choices to health promotion of slum dwellers.
Dose-dependent efficacy of antioxidant nanoparticles on red blood cells storage
Authors: Barzegar Saeid , Rezvani Mohammad Reza , Safa Majid , Amani Amir , Abbaspour Alireza , Pourfathollah Aliakbar , Hashemi Javad , Zaker Farhad
Published: April 2024

BACKGROUND:

Transfusion of healthy red blood cells (RBCs) after storage is important. One of the storage lesions on blood bags is oxidative stress. One way to prevent increased oxidative stress is to use antioxidant nanoparticles (NPs). Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) play an important role in antioxidant defense on RBC. poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) is a nontoxic biodegradable polymer that is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for drug delivery. This study aimed to assess dose-dependent efficacy of SOD-CAT-polyethylene glycol -PLGA on RBCs storage.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Using a descriptive study, during 1 month, twenty donors from Bojnourd Blood Donation Center were selected. NPs with different concentrations were injected into the satellite bags after directing blood to them. On target days, experiments were performed on the samples taken. Electrospray was employed to prepare SOD-CAT-PLGA NPs. Twenty packed RBCs were isolated from the whole blood bags by the mechanical method, and certain amount of product was transferred to the satellite bags. On days 1, 7, 14, 21, 28, and 35, bags were sampled. Malondialdehyde (MDA), prooxidant-antioxidant balance (PAB), and Annexin V were performed on the samples taken. The repeated measures analysis with the help of SPSS software version 20 was performed on samples.

RESULTS:

MDA increased in both groups. The maximum increase in test group was seen in concentration 12 mg (MDA Day 14, test [1.93 ± 0.3], [P MDA < 0.001]). Maximum increase in PAB was seen in concentration 12 mg (from 444 ± 1.7 to 563 ± 2.5) (P PAB = 0.000). Furthermore, PS expression increased in the concentration of 12 mg greater than other concentration in consecutive (from 5.00 ± 0.8 to 22.26 ± 1.7, [P < 0.001]).

CONCLUSION:

Evaluation of dose dependency showed that different concentrations of antioxidant NPs affect RBC. This effect can be changed oxidative stress and apoptosis. Using both changes to evaluate functional and toxicity can be helpful.
Introducing practical tools for fit to drive assessment of the elderly
Authors: Bahrampouri Saiedeh , Khankeh Hamid Reza , Hosseini Seyed Ali , Mehmandar Mohammadreza , Ebadi Abbas
Published: April 2024

Today, as age increases, the demand for independent living has increased. Since driving is one of the safest and preferred ways for the elderly to travel, paying close attention to the accurate assessment of the elderly's driving ability can prevent traffic accidents in this age group. The purpose of this study was to identify and introduce practical tools for drive assessment fitness of the elderly. This systematic review was conducted according to Cochrane methodology and reported findings according to PRISMA. The following databases were searched from PubMed, ISI web of knowledge, Scopus, ProQuest, Medlib, SID, Magiran, Iran doc, and Iran Medex based on the population intervention comparison outcome method. The total records involving 12 main tools were assessed from 26 selected records in the final evaluation. The research findings indicated the selection of seven tools in the psycho-cognitive function domain such as TMT-B, Clock Drawing Test, MAZE, Montreal Cognitive Assessment, GDS-15, MMSE, and ACE-R, three tools in the sensory function domain such as Snellen, Confrontation Visual field, and Whispered Voice Test, and also two tools in motor function domain such as Rapid pace walk, and Manual test of the range of motion. The findings led to selecting practical, accurate, and fast tools for widespread use for the assessment of driving competencies of the elderly. Therefore, it is recommended that the selected tools be used in practical batteries to assess the driving skills of the elderly.
Scoring systems of kidney donation from deceased donors
Authors: Moghbeli Fateme , Jangi Majid , Ebnehoseini Zahra
Published: April 2024

Renal disease is the most prevalent disease. Kidney failure can cause physical problems. Hence, patients need to use dialysis therapy or kidney transplantation, and actually, people are in the waiting list for a transplant. This research aimed to extract the prognostic models that evaluate the preparation of kidney donors diagnosed with brain death (DBD). This research was a systematic review of PubMed, Science Direct, and general explorers up until 2020. It followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses-P protocol. The assessment of the articles was done by the authors. This evaluation was supposed to be in the form of scoring, prioritizing, and ranking the donors in terms of their preparation. Eleven sources of information included 9 academic articles along with 2 Grey Sources from 7 different countries. 9 algorithms and models were extracted which included, overall 10 factors. All the models were comprised of 4 factors and about 90% of these models considered 4 or 5 factors to evaluate the preparation of kidney donors DBD. Over 60% of the models had taken into account age, blood pressure history, and creatinine factors. Disease prognosis facilitates a doctor's decision-making on the emergence of the disease. Prognostic models of renal diseases can be a great help to patients. A review of the related literature revealed that all the models received a high score in terms of the two factors they included, age and history of blood pressure.
Survey COVID-19 among the homeless residents of Isin camp in Bandar Abbas in South of Iran
Authors: Fini Elham Ahmadizadeh , Asadian Ali , Sotoudeh Ahmad , Hadadian Mohammad , Zakeri Abdoljabar , Dadras Masoud
Published: April 2024

BACKGROUND:

One way to reduce the burden of early detection of COVID-19 disease is in vulnerable and high-risk groups. The aim of this study was to diagnose and evaluate the disease in the homeless in Southern Iran Bandar Abbas.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

The target group of this study was 234 homeless people. Census sampling included all homeless residents of Isin camp Bandar Abbas. People were individually examined, and their information was recorded. COVID-19 sampling was done for all as outpatients this year.

RESULTS:

Eight percent of people were able to answer the questions of awareness about symptoms, ways of transmission, and ways of prevention of COVID-19 disease. Nine percent of the homeless people in the target group stated that they used to wash their hands before settling in the camp. Six percent of homeless people stated that they used face masks before settling in the camp. Fifteen participants showed similar symptoms to COVID-19, yet their test result was negative. However, six people who were asymptomatic ended up afflicted. The mean duration of time (since the emergence of symptoms to the sampling date) was 3 days. The minimum duration of time from the emergence of symptoms to the sampling date was 3 h, and the maximum time was 7 days.

CONCLUSION:

Considering the spread of the disease, certain social measures need to be taken in society to help take care of these people and transfer them from streets to safe places and provide for their essentials. Diagnostic tests should be done periodically among these people at regular intervals.
Effects of dust events and meteorological elements on stroke morbidity in northern Khuzestan, Iran
Authors: Sadeghimoghaddam Ali , Khankeh Hamidreza , Norozi Mehdi , Fateh Shahrokh , Farrokhi Mehrdad
Published: April 2024

BACKGROUND:

In recent years, the prevalence of dust events has increased in the region and the world. According to the Meteorological Organization, the most frequent days with dust events are on stations located in Khuzestan province. Objective: Assessment of the effects of dust events and meteorological elements on stroke morbidity in health in Iran: a health promotion approach.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

The present study was a retrospective cohort study 2020 and 2013 provided between based on ecological data-based on population. Information about patients with stroke was obtained from the hospital. Information on the dust events and meteorological elements was also from the data center of the Meteorological Organization of Iran. Using STATA the correlation between the diseases and the, 14 statistical software version occurrence of dust events and changes in meteorological elements was obtained and the statistical model (Spearman correlation coefficient) individually estigate the equation was used inv modified by Poisson regression simultaneous effect of variables.

RESULTS:

the results of adjusted statistical models show that increasing the severity of dust event increases the risk of stroke in males (lag 0–21 confidence interval [CI] 95% = 1.496–1.0067 relative risk [RR] = 1.03 P = 0.01). Increasing the average wind speed also increases the risk of stroke in males (lag 0–3 CI 95% = 1.0491–0.9996 RR = 1.02 P = 0.05). Increased rainfall and average relative humidity increase the risk of stroke in people under 60 years (lag 0–7 CI 95% = 1.0012–0.9058 RR = 1.95 P = 0.05). Increasing the average daily temperature reduces the risk of stroke in males (lag 0–3 CI 95% = 0.9874–0.9254 RR = 0.51 P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION:

Increasing the intensity of dust storms along with meteorological elements has increased the risk of stroke. However, increasing the average temperature has had a protective effect on the risk of stroke.
The relationship between frailty syndrome and self-care ability in the elderly with heart failure
Authors: Nakhjiri Leila Zahed , Darvishpour Azar , Pourghane Parand , Chaboki Bahareh Gholami
Published: April 2024

BACKGROUND:

Identification of frailty syndrome in patients with heart failure can affect the process of the disease and their ability to self-care. Considering the lack of a study on the relationship between frailty syndrome and self-care ability in the elderly with heart failure in the Guilan province, the North of Iran, this study was conducted to determine the relationship between fertility syndrome and self-care ability in these patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

The present cross-sectional correlational study was conducted in 2020. Research settings were the CCU and post CCU wards in the East Guilan public hospitals. The sample size was 125 people who were selected by the convenience sampling method. The research tools include; Self-Care Heart Failure Index and Tilburg Frailty Index Questionnaires. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 20 using descriptive and inferential statistics with a significance level of 0.05.

RESULTS:

The results showed that the mean score of frailty syndrome in the elderly with heart failure was 5.44 ± 2.47. In addition, the mean score of self-care in the elderly with heart failure was 67.16 ± 10.96. There was a significant and negative correlation between frailty syndrome and the ability to care in the elderly with heart failure (P < 0.001, r = −0.358).

CONCLUSIONS:

According to the results, the elderly with fragility syndrome cannot take good care of themselves. This indicates that in the management of heart failure, the assessment of frailty syndrome as a care/treatment goal in the care programs of these patients should be considered.