Shiraz Emedical Journal
Volume:23 Issue: 11, Nov 2022

Context: 

This study investigated the uses of statistical techniques in nursing research articles (RAs) published within 2016 - 2020.

Evidence Acquisition: 

Through stratified random sampling, 374 quantitative and mixed-method RAs were selected from five nursing journals (i.e., International Journal of Nursing Studies, Journal of Nursing Scholarship, Nurse Education Today, Nursing Outlook, and Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing) published within 2016 - 2020. The statistical techniques used in these articles were derived, aggregated, and listed.

 Descriptive statistics (20.59%) and multiple regression (15.74%) were the most frequent statistics used in the nursing RAs. Regarding the level of statistics, 49.83%, 17.00%, and 4.31% of the techniques were basic, intermediate, and advanced, respectively, indicating that basic statistical techniques are by far the most frequently used techniques in nursing RAs. The findings also revealed that students with basic and intermediate knowledge of statistics could understand 66.83% of the techniques used in nursing RAs.

 The classification of statistical techniques derived from RAs presented in this study can meet the needs of nurses who wish to understand the benefits of statistics in nursing practice and hopefully can encourage them to take this part of research and practice more seriously.

 Exposure to an unfamiliar clinical environment is highly important for medical students since it affects their attitudes.

 This study aimed to determine the effect of implementing a short course of familiarity with the clinical environment through video-based education and learning-in-hospital settings on the attitudes of first-year medical students.

 In the present quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design, 59 first-year medical students were divided into two groups of “learning-in-hospital settings” and “video-based education”. Students' attitudes and motivations were measured using questionnaires, and the obtained data were analyzed using SPSS 22.

 The attitude of most students from learning-in-hospital settings group was positive before and after the exposure. The attitude of most students from the video-based education group, on the other hand, was positive after watching the video while it was negative before the intervention; this difference, however, was not statistically significant (P = 0.1). In pre-exposure and post-exposure stages, the motivation of students in video-based education group was higher than that of students in learning-in-hospital settings group, but this difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.6). Female students in video-based education group had a higher positive attitude (P = 0.02) than male students (P = 0.01) before and after the exposure, and were highly motivated.

 Early clinical exposure to learning-in-hospital settings and, particularly, to video-based education may have been an effective factor contributing to motivating and encouraging the medical students.

 Different electrocardiographic (ECG) results, seen in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients are most likely due to the combined impact of acute COVID-19 and chronic heart disease. Few studies have addressed the effects of hypoxemia, the hallmark of the pandemic disease, on ECG.

 The present study discusses the prevalence of arrhythmias and disorders of conduction system in demised and survived COVID-19 patients, using ECG and Sokolow-Lyon voltage as a sign of hypoxemia to predict mortality in the admitted patients and after discharge.

 We investigated the ECG, and other medical data of 960 COVID-19 patients admitted to Faghihi hospital in Shiraz, Iran, from August 2021 to December 2021.

 Most of the patients were male (541 or 56.4%) and older than 65 years old (462 or 48.1%). A total of 475 (49.5%) patients died. Multiple logistic regression revealed an independent association between the COVID-19 death rate and cardiovascular disease (OR = 3.05; 95% CI: 1.96 - 4.74), QT dispersion more than 40 (OR = 5.08; 95% CI: 3.61 - 7.15), heart rate (more than 100 versus less than 60 OR = 2.86; 95% CI: 1.03 - 7.9), ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (OR = 3.93; 95% CI: 2.63 - 5.86), poor progression (OR = 2.33; 95% CI: 1.56 - 3.49), hypertrophy (OR = 1.97; 95% CI: 1.02 - 3.81), and Sokolow-Lyon (OR = 2.91; 95% CI: 1.64 - 5.16).

 Electrocardiographic examination of COVID-19 patients is important during admission and after discharge. Sokolow-Lyon voltage less than 10 can be regarded as an independent predictor of mortality in COVID-19 patients discharged from hospital.

 Cancer family history (CFH) could be an effective non-invasive preventive tool for cancer screening. There are limited data on the prevalence of CFH.

 We aimed to estimate a robust population-based prevalence of CFH in southeastern Iran.

 This study is a population-based survey. Participants were recruited in a multistage proportional-to-size cluster sampling design. A validated interview form was used, including a pedigree table and a cancer detail table. A positive CFH was defined as a verbal self-report of cancer diagnosis in at least 1 relative. The CFH prevalence was estimated according to age, gender, residential area, relatives’ closeness, and cancer type. Estimated prevalence values were corrected for the sensitivity of self-reported CFH in a Monte Carlo-based sensitivity analysis.

 A total of 2057 interviews with a male-female ratio of 1: 14 were analyzed. The overall prevalence (95% uncertainty level (UL)) of CFH in at least 1 relative (first or second-degree relatives (FDR/SDR)) was 37.06 (27.50, 47.05). The prevalence (95% UL) of CFH in at least 1 female and male FDR was 12.54 (8.62, 17.25) and 11.07 (7.22, 15.34), respectively. The prevalence (95% UL) of a positive history of lung, breast, and colorectal cancers in at least 1 FDR was 2.05 (1.36, 2.90), 1.36 (0.79, 2.08), and 1.23 (0.63, 2.02), respectively.

 The prevalence of positive CFH in FDRs is less than that of developed countries and exceeds 11.8% in the general population of southeastern Iran. CFH taken by general practitioners in routine visits is recommended as a screening tool in this population.

 Due to the increased publication of articles in various scientific fields, analyzing the published topics in specialized journals is important and necessary.

 This research has identified the published topics in global publications in the health information technology (HIT) field.

 This study analyzed articles in the field of HIT using text-mining techniques. For this purpose, 162,994 documents were extracted from PubMed and Scopus databases from 2000 to 2019 using the appropriate search strategy. Text mining techniques and the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modeling algorithm were used to identify the published topics. Python programming language has also been used to run text-mining algorithms.

 This study categorized the subject of HIT-related published articles into 16 topics, the most important of which were Telemedicine and telehealth, Adoption of HIT, Radiotherapy planning techniques, Medical image analysis, and Evidence-based medicine.

 The results of the trends of subjects of HIT-related published articles represented the thematic extent and the interdisciplinary nature of this field. The publication of various topics in this scientific field has shown a growing trend in recent years.

 It is critical to identify the factors affecting the academic success of students in the context of medical sciences. The research approaches in positive psychology have shown that the variables of hope and optimism play important roles in the academic achievement of college students.

 The present study aimed to compare and evaluate the relationship between the academic achievement of medical and paramedical students with hope and optimism.

 A descriptive-correlative and cross-sectional research design was adopted in this study. The statistical population of the study consisted of all medical and paramedical students at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. A total of 350 students were selected based on Cochran's sampling formula, out of who 306 ones completed and returned the questionnaires. In order to collect the required data, two valid and reliable scales, including the Adult Hope Scale (AHS) and the Academic Optimism Questionnaire, were used. Moreover, descriptive and inferential statistics were performed to analyze the data by using SPSS 21V software.

 The findings showed that students’ academic optimism (r = 0.16, P ≤ 0.01) and hope (r = 0.17, P ≤ 0.01) were positively and significantly associated with their academic achievement. The results also indicated that there was a considerable, positive correlation between student identification and their academic achievement (r = 0.197, P ≤ 0.01). Furthermore, a significantly positive relationship was detected between student hope dimensions in terms of agency thinking (r = -0.15, P ≤ 0.05), pathways thinking (r = -0.17, P ≤ 0.01), and academic achievement. The findings demonstrated that paramedical students were significantly more optimistic than medical students (P ≤ 0.01).

 It was concluded that hope and academic optimism may have increased and improved students’ academic performance and, consequently, had a positive impact on their success and achievement in universities.

 This study sought to determine the anatomical variations of the mental foramen (MF) and the mandibular canal (MC) in the full edentulous Iranian subpopulation using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). These variations can have significant clinical implications in dental implant surgery.

 This descriptive cross-sectional study evaluated the mandible CBCT scans of 384 completely edentulous patients that required dental implant treatment. The CBCT scans were retrieved from four radiology clinics in Tehran, Iran, using quota sampling. The reconstructed images were evaluated to determine the dimensions and position of the MC and its cortication at the site of the mandibular first molar, the branching of the MC, the existence of the anterior loop of the mental nerve, and anatomical variations of the MF. The correlations of variables with age and gender were analyzed using the independent t-test, chi-square test, and analysis of variance based on the type of the variable.

 The cortication of the MC at the site of the mandibular first molar was present in 72.9% of the cases and was significantly more common in male patients (P = 0.0001). Bifid mandibular canal, accessory MF, and anterior loop of mental nerve were present in 9.9%, 65%, and 54.7% of the samples, respectively, and they had no significant correlation with age/gender. The mean MC diameter, the mean MF height, and the mean distance from the inferior border of the mandible to the center of MF were all significantly higher in male patients (P<0.05). The mean distance between the MC and the buccal and lingual cortical plates had no correlation with age/gender. The mean height between the superior part of the MC and the alveolar crest was significantly lower in female patients and those within the age range of 71-95 years (P<0.05). The MC opened in the MF superiorly in 40.1% of the patients with no significant correlation with age/gender.

 Anatomical variations in the course and location of the MC and MF necessitate the precise assessment of the edentulous ridge by CBCT prior to the placement of implants.

 Public participation is of crucial importance in immunization programs. Therefore, we aimed to study the determinants of participation in immunization against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) before the distribution of the vaccines in Iran.

 This cross-sectional study was conducted in February 2021 with interviews and online components. The questionnaire comprised socio-demographic information, past medical history, perceived susceptibility to COVID-19 infection, and the tendency to participate in vaccination against COVID-19.

 Of 2071 participants, 1020 (49.2%) were men, and 1803 (87.1%) were determined to participate in the COVID-19 vaccination program. Among participants, 87.1% (1803) stated that they were determined to participate in the immunization program against COVID-19. In addition, in this group, 52.1% believed vaccination could reduce mortality, and 48.8% thought the vaccine could decrease transmissibility. There was a significant association between positive attitudes toward vaccination against COVID-19 and the respondents’ socio-economic status (SES), educational levels, reporting non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in themselves or their first-degree families, perceived susceptibility toward getting COVID-19 infection in the following months in themselves or close family members and being a healthcare worker. Most respondents were determined to participate in the COVID-19 vaccination because they believed vaccination would be effective in preventing mortality and decreasing COVID-19 transmission.

 SES, educational level, positive history of NCDs, perceived susceptibility toward getting COVID-19 infection, and being a healthcare worker had a significant positive association with the respondents’ intention to participate in the COVID-19 vaccination program.