Original Article
Seyed-Arash Tehrani Banihashemi; Ali Akbar Haghdoost; Mohammed Amir Amirkhani; Ali Akbar Haghdoost; Seyed-Moayed Alavian; Homa Asgharifard; Hamid Baradaran; Mozhgan Barghamdi; Saeid Parsinia; Sahar Fathi Ranjbar
Volume 4, Issue 1 , July 2007, Pages 1-9
Abstract
Background & Objective: Health literacy is defined as the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain process and understand basic health information and services required for making appropriate health decisions The aim of this study was to estimate the level of health literacy and to ...
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Background & Objective: Health literacy is defined as the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain process and understand basic health information and services required for making appropriate health decisions The aim of this study was to estimate the level of health literacy and to determine the factors influencing it using valid instrument Methods: In a Populationbased household survey in 5 cities and 5 villages of Boushehr Mazandaran Kermanshah Ghazvin and Tehran provinces 1086 adults aged 18 and older were enrolled into the study Health literacy was measured by the questionnaire designed for test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (TOFHLA) after validation Regression analysis was used to determine the association of demographic factors and level of health literacy Results: The average response rate was 708% in the studied clusters From all participants 614% were female and the rest were male Mean age of participants was 381 years Seventeen percent of the study population was illiterate and 36% had diploma or higher education The level of health literacy was adequate in 281% borderline in 15 3% and inadequate in 565% of the subjects Mean score of health literacy was 453 in males and 411 in females (P=0057) However after adjustment for educational level in the regression model health literacy was found to be higher in females (P=014) Limited health literacy was also associated with lower economic status (P=0004) Conclusion: This study indicates that the level of health literacy is low in Iran Educational level was the most important determinant of health literacy and the most increase was seen in subjects with more than 8 years education Lower health literacy in women older people and rural inhabitants was mainly due to lower educational levels in these groups
Original Article
Mousa Alavi; Ali Reza Irajpour; Heidar Ali Abedi
Volume 4, Issue 1 , July 2007, Pages 10-18
Abstract
Background & Objective: One of the most important goals of clinical education is ensuring from students clinical competency In such process the evaluation of clinical skills is one of the most important challenges The aim of the present study was to introduce some of the important concepts related ...
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Background & Objective: One of the most important goals of clinical education is ensuring from students clinical competency In such process the evaluation of clinical skills is one of the most important challenges The aim of the present study was to introduce some of the important concepts related to the evaluation of clinical skills Methods : Using phenomenological approach participants were selected from students and teachers of Isfahan Nursing and Midwifery School A purposive sample of 18 individuals (10 nursing students and 8 clinical teachers) who had experienced at least one course of clinical education was recruited An indepth interview was undertaken and Colaizzi method was used for data analysis The reliability and validity of the study was grounded on the four items (factual value applicability consistency and neutrality) Results : The transcribed interviews were analyzed in the seven stages of analysis Emerging codes were categorized in the following three major themes: Triangulation in evaluation the atmosphere of clinical evaluation and Evaluation syndrome Conclusion : Based upon an emphasis on the relationship among clinical evaluation environment (physical and psychosocial) the characteristics of the evaluator and the evaluated and relevant concepts the findings of the present study identified a need for the integration of all influential factors in the process of clinical evaluation Findings also suggest that clinical evaluation has to enjoy relevant models including various influential factors rather than strict structured tools
Original Article
Eznollah Azargashb; Hamidreza Arasteh; Zahra Sabaghian; Jafar Towfighi
Volume 4, Issue 1 , July 2007, Pages 19-29
Abstract
Background & objective : The responsibilities of boards of trustees in Iranian universities are more restricted comparing to those in the developed countries Therefore doing a comprehensive study in order to develop the functions and authorities of boards of trustees in Iranian universities is of ...
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Background & objective : The responsibilities of boards of trustees in Iranian universities are more restricted comparing to those in the developed countries Therefore doing a comprehensive study in order to develop the functions and authorities of boards of trustees in Iranian universities is of a great importance The aim of the present study was to find the opinions of members of universities boards of trustees and councils about the domain of their responsibilities and their role in the autonomy of public universities affiliated to Iran Ministry of Sciences Research and Technology Methods : First a questionnaire consisted of 66 items listing the responsibilities of boards of trustees in the universities of some other countries was prepared Then by using stratified random sampling 20 universities were selected and their members of boards of trustees and councils were asked to indicate their level of agreement for the 66 listed items of the prepared questionnaire as well as their opinions about the universities autonomy and role of boards of trustees in this regard Results : From 230 respondents 83% agreed with the appropriateness of 55 functions for boards of trustees in Iranian universities Means ( ± SD) of agreement with listed functions universities autonomy and role of boards of trustees in it were respectively 360 (±059) 349 (±065) and 318 (±072) that all are significantly higher than the accepted levels (p
Original Article
Mitra Amini; Mohammad Mehdi Sagheb; Mohsen Moghadami; Sedighe Shayegh
Volume 4, Issue 1 , July 2007, Pages 30-35
Abstract
Background & Objective: Evidencebased medicine (EBM) is defined as the application of the best research evidence in making decisions in the management of the individual patient EBM due to its importance has obtained great consideration in recent years This study was designed to determine the knowledge ...
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Background & Objective: Evidencebased medicine (EBM) is defined as the application of the best research evidence in making decisions in the management of the individual patient EBM due to its importance has obtained great consideration in recent years This study was designed to determine the knowledge of Medical residents in Shiraz School of Medicine about EBM and the application of it by them Methods : In this crosssectional study performed in 2006 71 residents of Shiraz School of Medicine were studied by using a questionnaire The validity of the questionnaire was approved by getting experts opinions and internal consistency reliability was determined in a pilot study Results : In whole 939% of residents had positive attitudes toward EBM but 803% of them reported that they had not passed any formal education in this field From all participants 85% have access to internet but more than 70% of them were not aware of EBM resources and 609% of them mentioned that for the management of their patients during the previous year they had used Medline or other search engines less than 10 times Conclusion : According to the obtained results in spite of positive attitude toward EBM and internet access residents have not yet integrated the use of EBM with their professional practice widely and also they are not familiar with specific EBM Sites This may be due to the lack of education in the field of EBM Because of the important role of Medical residents in making clinical decisions and also their role in training Medical students inclusion of EBM training courses in their educational program is highly necessary
Original Article
Zinat Salem; Mohsen Rezaeian; Siyavash Dehghan
Volume 4, Issue 1 , July 2007, Pages 36-43
Abstract
Background & Objective: The validity of a thesis is important from two perspectives First the research issue by itself and second the references that are used in the research The present study was designed to investigate the bibliographies of the theses of Medical students in Rafsanjan University ...
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Background & Objective: The validity of a thesis is important from two perspectives First the research issue by itself and second the references that are used in the research The present study was designed to investigate the bibliographies of the theses of Medical students in Rafsanjan University Methods : In this crosssectional study all of the defended theses of Rafsanjan Medical students from 1993 to 2003 (a total of 332 theses) were evaluated Bibliographies were assessed by using a check list Data analysis was done by applying descriptive and analytical statistical methods Results : Mean ( ± SD) of the number of references was 259( ± 1899) and 12% of the theses have not used any references There was no reference to electronic publications and review articles in the studied theses English articles had the highest rate of citation (161%) and abstracts presented in the congresses the lowest (008 %) In whole 61100% of the references belonged to five years prior to the study In 885% of the theses bibliography writing was according to the standard styles Conclusion : It is suggested that by planning educational workshops students be taught to benefit from using more recent scientific published or electronic references in writing their theses
Original Article
Mahnaz Movaghar; Alireza Sultanian; Mahrokh Movaghar
Volume 4, Issue 1 , July 2007, Pages 44-50
Abstract
Background & Objective : One of the greatest problems of the present century is the uncontrolled increase in population and control of this increase is among the most important priorities of every society if it is to achieve the goals of health and development Proper education via creating a change ...
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Background & Objective : One of the greatest problems of the present century is the uncontrolled increase in population and control of this increase is among the most important priorities of every society if it is to achieve the goals of health and development Proper education via creating a change in individuals attitudes and way of thinking is considered as a basic step in achieving the goals of family planning The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of family planning course presented in universities on knowledge and attitude of students toward contraceptive methods Methods : This quasiexperimental study (beforeafter) performed on 234 female students of Islamic Azad University/Abadan branch who attended the population and family planning course in the first semester of the academic year 20052006 Subjects were selected by nonrandom and convenience sampling Data were collected using a questionnaire distributed once before and once after attending the family planning course Results : According to the results 661% of the students were in the age range of 2024 years 117% were married 177% were employed and 836% were students of associate degree and 164% bachelor degree Mean (±SD) knowledge score of students was 365(±179) before the course that raised to 889(±26) after the course (P=0001) Mean (±SD) attitude score of students before the intervention was 588(±199) that rose to 727(±201) after the intervention (p=0003) Conclusion : Based on the results of this study family planning programs should be based on training since an increase in awareness and attitude of people resulting from efficient educational programs paves the way for using safe contraceptive methods and change of reproductive behaviors
Original Article
Ali Fattahi Bafghi; Hossein Karimi; Mohammad Hossein Anvari; Kazem Barzegar
Volume 4, Issue 1 , July 2007, Pages 51-56
Abstract
Background & Objective: Education is one of the most basic necessities of human communities and an important base of continuous development Variation in teaching methods is an obvious need in our complicated world and selecting the most appropriate teaching method is the key issue at every stage ...
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Background & Objective: Education is one of the most basic necessities of human communities and an important base of continuous development Variation in teaching methods is an obvious need in our complicated world and selecting the most appropriate teaching method is the key issue at every stage of learning process The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of two teaching methods of group discussion and lecturing on the learning rate of the students of Laboratory Medicine in Medical Parasitology and Mycology course in Yazd Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences and Health Services during the academic year of 2005006 Methods: This semiexperiential study carried out on 50 students of Laboratory Medicine selected by purposive sampling method The students divided into two groups matched for age sex and average scores of their last two semesters One group was taught by using group discussion method and the other group by the traditional lecturing method for 8 sessions each lasting 30 minutes Data collection was done by a questionnaire including demographic information and 50 questions of Medical Parasitology and Mycology given to the subject as class quizzes midterm exam final exam and a test one month after the instruction sessions (25 questions were on taxonomy I 15 ones on taxonomy II and 10 questions on taxonomy III) Results: From 50 students 30 ones (60%) were female and 20 ones (40%) were male According to the findings both methods increased the level of knowledge significantly but this increase was more in discussion group comparing to the lecture group (P=0/002 and P=0/003) Conclusion: The research findings show a higher rate of learning for group discussion method that is due to the more efficacy of this method in promoting intergroup relations brainstorming groupactivity group assimilation and elevating level of judgment and analytic ability Therefore this teaching method is suggested especially for teaching Medical Parasitology and Mycology
Original Article
Roghaieh Ershad Sarabi; Ali Mirzazadeh
Volume 4, Issue 1 , July 2007, Pages 57-63
Abstract
Background & Objective: The rate of using new information services such as Internet is an important criterion for the assessment of development This study was designed to determine the rate of using internet and biomedical databases by academic staffs of Kerman Medical University (KMU) and their ...
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Background & Objective: The rate of using new information services such as Internet is an important criterion for the assessment of development This study was designed to determine the rate of using internet and biomedical databases by academic staffs of Kerman Medical University (KMU) and their attitude towards the available services Methods : In this crosssectional study 120 individuals referring to the KMU Information Center during a period of three months (the first semester of 2006) were selected by convenience sampling and examined by a selfreported questionnaire consisted of 4 sections related to the demographic features subjects opinions about the availability of soft/hardware and subjects attitude and practice in regard to using Internet Results : The response rate was 74% About 64% of the subjects had personal computers at home of whom only 535% had internet connection Only 35% of male respondents and 20% of female respondents had access to KMU Internet connection (P=012) Among 97% of subjects who had active email addresses only 213% used KMU email service About 73% of the subjects were using the subscribed fulltext databases of KMU Science direct Ovid Blackwell Image MD and MD Consult were respectively the most used sources According to the subjects Internet connection at home had a significant positive effect on their professional communications and use of email services (P
Letter to editor
Keyghobad Tahernejad; Fatemeh Javidan
Volume 4, Issue 1 , July 2007, Pages 64-66