akram yazdani

Background & Aims:

 One of the goals of providing training to the anesthesia care team is to train staff with theoretical and functional abilities to deal with clinical challenges. However, there is a gap between the existing and desired performance levels of personnel in anesthesia procedures. This study aims to assess the competence of anesthesia personnel in Kashan, Iran, and find its related factors.

Materials & Methods :

This descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 95 anesthesia personnel of hospitals in Kashan, Iran, in 2023, who were selected using a census method. The data collection tools were a demographic form and the Anesthesia Nursing Competence Scale. Data were analyzed in SPSS v.22 software using descriptive statistics (frequency, mean, standard deviation), Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis test, Spearman’s correlation test, Point-Biserial correlation test, and regression analysis.

Results:

 The mean age of the participants was 34.57±10.1 years. The overall competence level of anesthesia personnel was at a high level (84.84±53.11). Their competence had a significant relationship with their sex and marital status (P<0.05).

Conclusion :

The competencee of anesthesia personnel in Kashan is at a high level in all fields, except for the patient’s risk care. It is recommended to empower personnel in this area to prevent adverse events and improve the quality of medical services.

Quantile regression is a valuable alternative for survival data analysis, enabling flexible evaluations of covariate effects on survival outcomes with intuitive interpretations. It offers practical computation and reliability. However, challenges arise when applying quantile regression to censored data, particularly for upper quantiles. The minimum distance approach, utilizing dual-kernel estimation and the inverse cumulative distribution function, shows promise in addressing these challenges, especially with higher-dimensional covariates.

This study contrasts two methods within the realm of quantile linear regression for survival analysis: check-based modeling and the minimum distance approach. Effectiveness is assessed across various scenarios through comprehensive simulation.

The simulation results showed that using the quantile regression model with the minimum distance approach reduces the percentage of root mean square error in parameter estimation compared to the quantile regression models based on the check loss function. Additionally, a larger sample size and reduced censoring percentage led to decreased root mean square error in parameter estimation.

The research highlights the benefits of using the minimum distance approach for quantile regression. It reduces errors, improves model predictions, captures patterns, and optimizes parameters even with complete data. However, this approach has limitations. The accuracy of estimated quantiles can be influenced by the choice of distance metric and weighting scheme. The assumption of independence between censoring mechanism and survival time may not hold in real-world scenarios. Additionally, dealing with large datasets can be computationally complex.

The liberal arts have wide-ranging effects on topics related to education; The use of liberal arts can make students eager and interested in studying. One of the most prominent forms of liberal arts is music. Although extensive studies have investigated the physiological effects of music, there are still limited studies related to creating satisfaction in students. For this reason, this research was conducted to investigate the effect of music on the teaching satisfaction of anesthesia students at Kashan University of Medical Sciences.

This research was conducted in a semi-experimental study designed on 16 Anesthesia students of Kashan University of Medical Sciences. Borimnejad et al.'s modified teaching satisfaction questionnaire was used to measure the satisfaction level of students. The ratio and index of content validity and Cronbach's alpha of this questionnaire were above 90%. This questionnaire was collected from the students at the end of the training sessions. The educational sessions selected for this study were from the internal-surgery pathology course, which had a significant correlation with each other in terms of educational components. The obtained data were analyzed using SPSS 16 software.

The mean and standard deviation of the scores of the teaching satisfaction questionnaire were obtained for the session without educational intervention were (40.00±6.50). The scores were obtained from the educational session with the musical educational intervention were also (36.94 ± 6.94). There is a significant difference between the grades obtained from the session without educational intervention and the educational session with musical intervention at a significance level of 5% (P Value=0.043).

The results of the study showed that playing music in the classroom can improve students ‘satisfaction. This increase in satisfaction level can be due to increased learning and knowledge transfer, increased attention and concentration, and adjustment of the automatic nervous system. It is recommended to use this phonetic art in other subjects and other disciplines to examine additional aspects of music.

Vaccination and observing hygienic measures were rendered necessary due to the spread of the Covid-19.Yet, in spite of the effective and immunizing role of vaccines in the past, hesitancy about undergoing vaccination against Covid-19 has become a global issue.

The present study aimed to investigate the barriers and facilitators of Covid-19 vaccine injections from the perspective of people in Yazd in 2022.

The present study was a population-based cross-sectional study conducted on 572 people over 12 years of age in Yazd, Iran, using cluster sampling (46 head clusters of health centers). To collect data, a researcher-made questionnaire was applied, which measuredbarriers and facilitators of Covid-19 vaccine injection.The mean score of the questionnaire was above 70, indicating more attitude, trust, and willingness.

Based on the findings, 406 (70.7%) participants were female, 457 (79.6%) were married, and 232 (40.4%) were housewives. The mean age of the subjects was 39.1±14.7 years. In total, 277 (48.4%) participants had a positive attitude toward Covid-19 vaccination, 224 (39.2%) had trust in the vaccine, and 21(3.8%) showed willingness to injection, indicating an overall low attitude, trust, and willingness toward the injection of Covid-19 vaccine.There was a significant relationship between willingness to inject the vaccine and education (P=0.048). A strong correlation was also found between attitude and trust in vaccination, with a coefficient of 0.811 (P<0.001).

A positive attitude and trust in Covid-19 vaccination were observed at an average level, and willingness to be vaccinated was at a low level.Considering the role of the three variables of education, gender, and the type of a person’s occupation, planning should be done to improve people’s attitude, trust, and willingness to inject the vaccine by focusing on the above variables.

To organize efforts to manage the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19), it is necessary to understand which groups are at higher risk of infection. Kidney disease seems to be substantial in COVID‑19 patients, but there are limited data on COVID‑19 incidence and fatality among chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. In this study, we intend to examine the association between CKD and susceptibility to COVID‑19 infection.

Participants were selected from those recruited in a population‑based cross‑sectional survey of CKD prevalence and associated risk factors in Iranian people 18 years and older. A three‑part questionnaire was used for COVID‑19 infection clinical symptoms and epidemiologic and hospitalization data.

A total of 962 individuals including 403 CKD patients and 559 healthy controls were recruited in this study. Healthy controls were suffering more from common cold signs, cough, fever, sore throat, headache, anosmia, dyspnea, and abdominal pain (all P < 0.05). Furthermore, the number of healthy individuals with myalgia was marginally higher compared to the CKD patients (P = 0.057). Data regarding the number of CKD patients with/without COVID‑19 infection throughout different CKD stages revealed that there was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of COVID‑19 infection in different stages of CKD (P = 0.956).

We found that some of the clinical presentations of COVID‑19 including common cold symptoms, cough, fever, sore throat, headache, anosmia, dyspnea, and abdominal pain were higher among healthy individuals compared to the CKD group. On the other hand, the susceptibility to COVID‑19 infection was not significantly different in various early stages of CKD.

Benson’s relaxation (BR) technique is a suitable non-pharmacological approach to reduce preoperative anxiety (PA).

This study aimed to investigate the effect of BR therapy on PA and the induction and maintenance dose of propofol during cataract surgery (CS).

Seventy-two patients were randomly divided into two experiments or BR and control groups. The Amsterdam and Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety inventory (STAI) scores were used to assess PA directly two days and a half-hour before the CS. The control group did not receive any preoperation intervention or relaxation. Benson’s relaxation method was performed three times, each time for 20 minutes, including two days before surgery, a night before surgery, and an hour before the surgery in the presence of a researcher by an audio file. The induction and maintenance dose of anesthetic drug was recorded and compared between the two groups.

The mean propofol consumption was significantly reduced during the induction of anesthesia in the intervention group compared to the control group (0.99 ± 0.29 versus 1.29 ± 0.49; P = 0.005) as well as the maintenance of anesthesia (84.66 ± 17.98 versus 108.33 ± 34.38, P = 0.001). The results of the post-intervention Amsterdam anxiety score showed a significant decrease in the intervention group compared to the control group (P = 0.032, F = 9.61, Eta2 = 0.12). The control group showed a higher Spielberger state score compared to the intervention group as well as the Spielberger trait (P < 0.001, F = 14.78, Eta2 = 0.18).

The BR method effectively reduces the level of PA in patients undergoing CS. Moreover, it reduces the need for anesthetic drug, propofol, during surgery.