Journal of Education and Health Promotion
Volume:12 Issue: 8, Sep 2022

The staff of health and dentistry schools can play an important role in encouraging students and their clients to adopt health and preventive behaviors. The aim of this study was to compare health‑promoting behaviors in staff and students of health and dental schools in Ardabil University of Medical Sciences (ARUMS).

This cross‑sectional descriptive‑analytical study was conducted in 2021. The research population was staff and students of health and dental schools. Staff sampling was by census and students were sampled by simple random sampling. The data collection tool was a questionnaire whose validity and reliability had been confirmed in previous studies. Data analysis was performed using descriptive and analytical statistics tests using SPSS version 20 software. Linear regression was performed using stepwise method.

The results showed that the mean score of the individuals was 99.2 ± 20.24. In the leveling, the behaviors of 33 people (17.55%) were appropriate, desirable and good, and the health‑promoting behaviors, 154 people (82.45%), were moderate and low. The correlation between age, gender, marital status, and workplace of the individuals with health‑promoting behaviors was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). The output of stepwise regression analysis showed that the variables were significant and could predict the scores of health‑promoting behaviors.

Health‑promoting behaviors in <20% of students and staff are desirable, and in more than 80% of them are moderate and poor. Therefore, educational administrators should use these results in curriculum planning to increase health‑promoting behaviors of students and staff. The score of health‑promoting behaviors is related to the above‑mentioned areas, but the relationship may not be linear.

Transformation of education to virtual mode during COVID‑19 pandemic was a major challenge for a clinical specialty like dentistry.

A sequential explanatory mixed method was adopted with quantitative dominant design. A self‑reported questionnaire on attitude and perceptions toward online learning were distributed among dental undergraduate students. The qualitative arm explored perceptions of online teaching among various stakeholders and thematic content analysis was performed.

A total of 141 responses were obtained, about 21% of them felt online classes to be highly useful and 78% felt it was moderately useful. About 80% of the students were satisfied with the online education. About 40% of participants felt internet connectivity was a frequent issue. The qualitative data analysis revealed five emergent themes of lecture content and delivery, instructional control, resource management, interaction, and evaluation exploring the perceptions of various stakeholders toward online learning and provided several insights.

Though online education cannot be compared to traditional education in a clinical specialty like dentistry, it does have its advantages and a portion of student learning can be conducted through this mode.

Health policymakers use a variety of policy tools. These policies are either based on external factors or are based on paternal considerations; people may need to have help in the selection of items that may be regretted about them in the future. However, recent research on behavioral economics shows that major decision‑making mistakes are not only limited to vulnerable groups but also are ubiquitous and systematic. The purpose of this study was on health policy making with a behavioral economics approach in health promotion.

The eligible studies were obtained from Medline (PubMed), Web of Science, and Scopus databases. The search strategy uses a combination of keywords in the titles. The keywords of behavioral economics along with the keyword of health have been used to find related articles.

After deleting duplicate articles, a total of 38 articles were identified. After reviewing the title and abstract, 13 studies were omitted because they did not meet the inclusion criteria. Ten articles were removed from the found articles due to the unavailability of the full text and four articles were excluded because their method was quantitative. Finally, a total of 11 articles were eligible for including this review study.

Recent research on behavioral economics shows that decision‑making errors are not limited to vulnerable groups but are ubiquitous and systematic. Forgotten income or negligible income is very high and is reasonably explained by transaction costs. Educational interventions often have little effect and do not benefit from basic cost‑benefit tests. In addition, the seemingly insignificant aspects of choice‑frameworks and assumptions‑often have a profound effect on behavior.

Osteoporosis is a systemic skeletal disease that is associated with negative physical and psychosocial consequences, so understanding the effective strategies that can be used in the prevention of osteoporosis is especially important. The aim of this study was to integrative review the published interventional of nonpharmacological studies regarding the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis among menopausal women. In this systematic review, databases such as PubMed, PsycInfo, Web of Science (ISI), Scopus, ScienceDirect, EmBase, Cochrane library, Google scholar, and Iranian databases, such as Scientific Information Database and Magiran, were searched. The latest search was performed between “November 2020 and December 2020” separately by two researchers and then double‑checked by them. The quality of the included studies was assessed using the Jadad score calculation tool. Twenty eight randomized controlled trials and quasi‑experimental studies were included in this current study. The quality assessment indicated that 19 studies had acceptable (good) methodological quality and also 9 studies had weak methodological quality. The main results of this study were classified in three main categories such as exercise or physical activity training (n = 15), educational sessions (n = 11), and other interventions (n = 2). The results of most included studies showed that nonpharmacological strategies such as physical activity and educational interventions are considered as the appropriate actions to prevention of osteoporosis among menopausal women so implementing these strategies can be a good alternative for women with contraindication of hormone therapy or therapeutic treatment.

Augmented reality (AR) is capable of facilitating constructive learning through the provision of a learner‑centered environment, making for more flexible learning and providing a more distinct experience of learning. AR technology has a significant influence on the teaching approach provided to students with learning disabilities, particularly on their level of self‑regulation, and this premise is what motivated the present study.

The research is a quasi‑experimental study that adopted a pre‑ and post‑test control group design, involving 24 students who have disabilities. The students were divided into AR group and control group, and data were then exposed to the descriptive statistics and paired sample t test.

The results showed that AR technology has a significant effect on the enhancement of the self‑regulation of students with learning disabilities.

The study indicated a significant effect of AR app on the self-regulation skills of students. The study, therefore, encouraged decision academicians to implement technology approaches in the disability setting.

COVID‑19 virus continues to be an international concern, challenging psychological resilience in all areas, especially virtual education, making the psychopathology and problems more evident.

The present study is a qualitative study of conventional content analysis, in which 24 participants (14 parents, 5 teachers, and 5 principals) were selected by purposive sampling from primary schools in Zahedan. Data collection tools included semi‑structured interviews with open‑ended questions. Interviews continued until reaching data saturation. The transcripts of the interviews were coded according to Graneheim and Lundman’s 5‑step approach, and then, the codes were classified according to the specified axes. For accuracy and exactness of information, the researchers used the criteria of validity, verifiability, reliability, and transferability.

The results of this study include two categories, “e‑learning infrastructure” and “psychopathology,” indicating the importance of creating, using, and strengthening cyberspace infrastructure for the use of education in primary schools during COVID‑19 pandemic.

The results indicated that identifying these cases and attempting to eliminate them can reduce psychopathology and improve the quality of virtual education for students. Moreover, this can help principals and educational planners have new insights so that they can focus on solving psychological problems in e‑learning and provide their supportive planning.

COVID‑19 virus continues to be an international concern, challenging psychological resilience in all areas, especially virtual education, making the psychopathology and problems more evident.

The present study is a qualitative study of conventional content analysis, in which 24 participants (14 parents, 5 teachers, and 5 principals) were selected by purposive sampling from primary schools in Zahedan. Data collection tools included semi‑structured interviews with open‑ended questions. Interviews continued until reaching data saturation. The transcripts of the interviews were coded according to Graneheim and Lundman’s 5‑step approach, and then, the codes were classified according to the specified axes. For accuracy and exactness of information, the researchers used the criteria of validity, verifiability, reliability, and transferability.

The results of this study include two categories, “e‑learning infrastructure” and “psychopathology,” indicating the importance of creating, using, and strengthening cyberspace infrastructure for the use of education in primary schools during COVID‑19 pandemic.

The results indicated that identifying these cases and attempting to eliminate them can reduce psychopathology and improve the quality of virtual education for students. Moreover, this can help principals and educational planners have new insights so that they can focus on solving psychological problems in e‑learning and provide their supportive planning.

Workplace causes tress which negatively affects the physical as well as the emotional well‑being of individuals. However, it is widely reported in the literature that a number of factors have received significant attention in the professional life, stressing their significance to the individual’s psychological, social, and professional life.

The research is a descriptive that study adopted a quantitative method, involving 40 female teachers. A survey method was randomly distributed to teachers who are identified to have worked with students with disability using randomly sampling, and data were then exposed to the descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation.

The results showed that respondents had good psychological resilience level with moderate occupational stress level. Furthermore, a significant correlation between psychological resilience and occupation stress is supported.

The present study indicated that the participants have acceptance level of psychological resilience which helps them to reduce their stress when performing their work. The study, therefore, encouraged decision academicians to regularly organize several positive counseling and psychological training to the teachers.

Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is one of the accident‑prone settings in the health‑care system. There is a series of structural and process threats to the safety of infants hospitalized in this unit, which can be prevented by taking the right actions. For this purpose, developing standards based on current knowledge, available resources, and the context that provides care can determine patient injury prevention requirements. Likewise, it can be a source for national development and application of related guidelines and protocols. This study aims to develop patient safety standards in the NICUs of Iran.

This mixed‑methods study will apply the exploration, preparation, implementation, and sustainment framework to develop patient safety standards. In each phase of this framework, a set of activities take place. Exploration is based on the world health organization model to develop standards. Determining the validity and applicability of standards will be done in Phase 2 (Preparation) and Phase 3 (Implementation), respectively. Since the long‑term effects are not desired, the fourth phase (Sustainment) will not be considered.

Patient safety standards from this study will contribute to efficient and effective, equitable, and high‑quality health‑care delivery. The application of them will further promote patient safety and the quality of medical care in Iranian NICUs.

Nurse educators require to exhibit specialized behaviors that demonstrate the beliefs of the nursing profession. The aim of the study is to explore the factors influencing professionalism among nurse educators in the selected nursing educational institutes of Indian States.

Qualitative approach was adopted where multiple focus group discussions were planned and conducted. The study was carried out among nurse educators from the Northern Indian states. Thematic analysis, using the argumentative interactions approach was used. The consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ) guide were followed.

Three types of factors, that is, individual (micro‑level), organizational (meso‑level), and external professional occupational (macro‑level) were explored, where individual factors emerged as having a strong positive impact on nurse educators’ professionalism as compared to other factors. Poor organizational infrastructure, privatization of educational institutions, and other related factors were reported as having a negative influence on nurse educators’ professionalism.

Most of the educational institutions included in the present study, lacked basic infrastructure/facilities for the professional development of nurse educators and professionalism.

Osteoporosis, the fourth most common disease in the world, affects the elderly and postmenopausal women and imposes a great financial and social burden on individuals and society. Furthermore, it has a significant impact on the quality of patients’ life. This study tries to take an effective step toward improving the quality of patients’ life by developing and evaluating the self‑care program of women with osteoporosis.

In this research, a hybrid sequential design of quantitative and qualitative type consisting of three phases is used. This mixed‑method study aimed to develop and evaluate a self‑care program for women with osteoporosis.

Familiarity with the needs of these patients and the use of self‑care programs and considering social, cultural, and psychological factors could be effective steps to improve the health of women with osteoporosis. These steps can improve the quality of life and reduce the costs of treatment for this group of women.

The corona virus disease (COVID‑19) pandemic has caused widespread effect on the lives of health care professionals. The postgraduate medical students, who are the major pillars of medical institutions had to bear multitude of setbacks due to the pandemic involving academic, research and well‑being issues.

This was a cross sectional feedback based online survey done in the month of October 2021 to study the effect of COVID‑19 pandemic induced changes in the postgraduate medical education; amongst 78 students pursuing MD/MS degree in all departments of a tertiary medical institute in Himalayan foothills of North India. The questionnaire consisted of ten questions; each of which needed to be answered on a five point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Results were assessed for the most common answers of each question (represented by mode) and association between various components of the questionnaire analyzed by Spearman’s rho correlation coefficient.

The internal consistency of the questionnaire as tested by Cronbach’s Alpha (0.82) was good. Most number or respondents were from surgical branches (n = 31, 39.74%). There was a generalized agreement towards preference of resumption of onsite education (75.64%), the lack of variety of cases causing hampering of thesis work (88.46%) and increased mental stress during the pandemic (58.9%). While more time for self‑study was seen as the only consensual positive aspect of online teaching (64%), most students opined that technical glitches are a major roadblock in online education (80.76%). Significant positive correlation was seen between disciplinary ease and punctuality in online teaching (R = 0.543, P < 0.001), lack of interaction and its effect on learning and mental health (R = 0.471; P < 0.001) and the lack of diversity in cases and difficulties in dissertation work (R = 0.351; P < 0.05). Negative correlation was observed between the satisfaction from overall learning through online teaching and the desire of resumption of offline classes (R = −0.491; P < 0.001).

COVID‑19 pandemic and its effects on medical education are long lasting. A comprehensive approach is required to rebuild the medical education curriculum, inculcating both traditional and newer virtual methods of education. A consistent support in academics and overall growth needs to be provided to medical postgraduate residents who have been the first line fighters in face of the massive disaster compromising their basic needs and education.

Midwifery services help maintain and improve the health of the community. However, a comprehensive examination reduces students’ psychological well‑being by creating anxiety. For this purpose, the present study was conducted to determine and compare the effect of two educational methods based on mindfulness and cognitive emotion strategies on psychological well‑being and anxiety of eighth‑semester midwifery students before the final clinical trial.

This study was a quasi‑experimental three‑group study with available sampling method that was performed on 30 eighth‑semester midwifery students of the School of Nursing and Midwifery of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in 2020–2021. Data collection tools were psychological well‑being and Test Anxiety Questionnaire. Two intervention groups were trained for eight sessions. The control group did not receive any training program. The data collected by SPSS version 22 software were analyzed by analytical statistical tests of ANOVA and least significant difference post hoc test.

The results showed that there was a statistically significant difference between the three groups in terms of components of test anxiety and psychological well‑being. Furthermore, emotion regulation training and mindfulness‑based training reduced test anxiety and increased students’ psychological well‑being before the comprehensive test (P = 0.001).

It is recommended that educational programs be considered before the comprehensive examination to promote the mental health and success of these students.

Work in informational technology (IT) professionals is highly competitive and stressful, leading to job stress. This can lead to burnout, effort‑reward imbalance (ERI), and poor sleep quality.

The present study examined associations of ERI, burnout, and poor sleep quality among IT professionals using data from 200 software engineers (mean age of 29.3 ± 4 years, 32% women). ERI and overcommitment were assessed using Siegrist’s “effort‑reward” questionnaire. The Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI) was used to assess burnout and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) to assess sleep quality.

ERI, burnout and poor sleep quality were present in 72%, 60%, and 70%, respectively. Females had higher ERI, burnout, and poor sleep quality compared to males. ERI is significantly associated with burnout (r = 0.45, P < 0.01) and poor sleep quality (r = 0.31, P < 0.01). Linear regression to assess the ability of ERI to predict levels of burnout yielded a statistically significant (R2 = 0.206, P < 0.01) indicating ERI to be a unique incremental predictor of burnout (b = 0.454, t = 7.16, P < 0.01). ERI tends to be a predictive factor of poor sleep quality with Odd’s ratio = 3.5, 95%CI (1.81–6.73), P < 0.01.

In summary, Intervention programs both at the individual and at the organization level have to be designed to combat ERI, burnout, and poor sleep quality among IT professionals.

The outbreak of COVID‑19 pandemic has made it difficult for older adults to utilize ordinary elder services. This cross‑sectional study investigated the status of feeling the need, seek, and utilization of health promotion services among older adults in Ardabil, Iran, covered by the country’s comprehensive health system during the pandemic.

This descriptive‑analytical and cross‑sectional study was conducted on 739 elderly people in Ardabil province. Cluster random sampling method was used for sampling. Data were gathered by referring trained individuals to the place of residence of the selected older adults Questionnaires were consisted of three parts: demographic information, household’s economic status, and feeling the need, seek, and utilization from health promotion services. Multivariate logistic regression was used to separately model the need, seeking for, and utilization of health promotion services in STATA ver. 14.

The mean age of the older adults in this study was 68.88 ± 4.72 years. The results indicate that men showed significantly greater need, seek for, and utilization of health promotion services during COVID‑ 19 than women. According to the results, people over the age of 80 had 4.08 times (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.99–12.60) more need and utilization of health services than the older adults under 65 years. The results also indicate that use of health promotion services was significantly associated with being married (3.74, 95% CI: 1.22–2.62), having primary insurance and supplementary insurance (1.92, 95% CI: 1.21–3.12), and obesity (2.05, 95% CI: 1.13–3.76) in P < 0.05 level. Based on the results, people with chronic disease and obesity were more likely to utilize health promotion services.

Findings suggest that the access and utilization of inpatient and outpatient health services by the elderly in the COVID‑19 pandemic has somewhat decreased, which could be due to the fear of the disease being referred to health centers by the elderly. Hence, enabling conditions such as parental health care were major factors affecting health‑seeking habits among the Iranian elder population.

Although older people are at a higher risk of COVID‑19 infection, there is a lack of research that focuses on COVID‑19 in older people in Malaysia. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the level of knowledge and attitudes related to COVID‑19, and to identify the association of sociodemographic background with knowledge and attitudes towards COVID‑19 among older people.

This is a cross‑sectional study involving 382 older people living in the community in Malaysia. Data was collected using convenience sampling through an online questionnaire that consisted of three parts: sociodemographic details, knowledge, and attitude related to COVID‑19.

The overall correct rate of knowledge was 77.3%, indicating that participants had slightly good knowledge related to COVID‑19. The participants showed a positive attitude with a mean score of 26.0 (SD = 5.0). There were significant associations between knowledge and education level (P = 0.00) and marital status (P = 0.02). Marital status was significantly associated with attitude towards COVID‑19 (P = 0.03). A weak positive correlation was found between knowledge and attitude (r = 0.17, P = 0.00) suggesting that an increase in knowledge will increase the positive attitude among older people.

Older people reported good knowledge and positive attitudes towards COVID‑19. The Malaysian government should provide relevant health education for those with lower education levels and divorced or widowed to improve knowledge and attitudes towards COVID‑19.

The impact of Coronavirus Disease‑19 on peoples’ life has become evident. Recently, sport activities are important in improving individual health and their well‑being. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of using mobile phone fitness applications on some characteristics of physical fitness and psychological well‑being of female university students.

A descriptive study design was implemented using a survey which was adapted to collect data from a sample of 50 female participants within the age of 18 to 19 years. As for the results, the participants indicated that they used physical fitness application by smart phone regularly during COVID‑19.

The results also illustrate that there was a significant difference on the study variables based on the study groups and test time. The study results extend literature concerning sport activities participation and promoting positive well‑being during COVID‑19 pandemic.

The study indicated a significant difference of the application on physical fitness and psychological well‑being among the participants. Based on the results, the study recommended to organize several sport activities among students and encourage them to use smart phones for positive purposes. Finally, practical implications are outlined.

Social participation and group interaction are the basic and expected indicators of serving in the job of the faculty. Some improvements are needed for universities and professors in this area, which they can be better identified by studying the main beneficiaries. In this regard, this study was aimed to identify strategies to increase social capital and interaction of medical universities’ faculty members.

This qualitative study which was a qualitative content analysis type was performed on 22 faculty members of Isfahan, Mashhad, Tabriz, Iran, Army, Shahrekord, Sabzevar, Arak, and Khomein universities through semi‑structured interviews and purposive sampling. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.

According to finding, in order to improve the social interactions of medical universities’ faculty members, there were 2 factors and 8 main categories including organizational factors (“organizational dynamics,” “organizational security,” “standardization of selection and evaluation,” “value creation,” and “establishing a compensation system”) and individual social factors (“education and social programs,” “personal skills and beliefs promotion,” and “personality and learning”).

The obtained strategies in this study to improve social capital and group interactions and group participation of medical universities’ faculty members can be planned and implemented by managers and can be used for faculty members themselves.

Depression among elderly is an emerging public health concern. Along with other comorbidities, depression affects the quality of life and functional ability of the geriatric population. This study aimed to assess the depression and quality of life among elderly and compare these parameters among the inhabitants of old age home and in the community.

A cross‑sectional study was conducted among the elderly of the community and old‑age homes in the urban areas of Raipur, Chhattisgarh between March and July 2016. Hundred elderly (50 in each group) participated in the study. Geriatric Depression Scale 15 (GDS‑15) and Older People Quality of Life (OPQoL)‑35 scale were used to assess the geriatric depression and quality of life, respectively. Association between depression and demographic variables were analyzed by Chi‑square/Fisher’s exact test. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was calculated between GDS‑15 and OPQoL‑35 scale.

The prevalence of geriatric depression was 59%. Quality of life was better among the old‑age home elderly participants than that of community elderly when compared for score of life over all (11.78 vs. 13.56), health (12.8 vs. 14.0), social relationship (10.48 vs. 13.9), control over life (11.92 vs. 14.08), home and neighborhoods (9.38 vs. 12.36), psychological and emotional wellbeing (10.96 vs. 13.7), financial circumstances (14.5 vs. 16.7), and leisure and activities (13.86 vs. 15.28). Moderate positive correlation was observed between depression and quality of life.

The higher prevalence in our study emphasizes the need to delineate the actual burden in the elderly population and provide necessary supportive measures. It needs to be addressed adequately through a coordinated primary care approach and community and social support. Timely and adequate management of depression can improve the quality‑of‑life outcomes.

Case‑based learning is a modern learning approach, aims to prepare students for practical skills. In the present study, we aimed to determine the effectiveness of case‑based e‑learning (CBEL) on the academic performance and problem‑solving ability of nursing students.

In this pre‑ and post‑test study, census sampling method was used to select 128 nursing students who had nutrition courses during 2015–2017 at (blinded). Before and after the educational intervention, the students completed the problem‑solving inventory including problem‑solving confidence (PSC), approach‑avoidance style (AA), and personal control (PC) and a scientific test for evaluating academic function. Continuous variables before and after the intervention and categorical variables were analyzed using paired t‑test and Chi‑square test, respectively.

The mean scores of PSC, AA, and PC decreased after the intervention (P < 0.001). The mean scientific score of the students improved after the intervention (P < 0.001).

This study showed that the CBEL method had a positive effect on the ability to solve the learning problems and the academic performance of the students and can be used to train nurses to improve their ability to confront clinical problems in the future.

This study aimed to investigate how medical students perceive their educational environment, as well as the implications of motivation, learning strategies, and the factor of emotional intelligence on academic achievement.

In a cross‑sectional study, 3384 undergraduate students were recruited from randomly selected Egyptian medical colleges. Students from second to final year, taking fundamental and clinical courses and, at a minimum, three professional exams, were enrolled and subjected to the Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure scale, the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire, and Emotional intelligence questionnaire.

The overall mean age of the studied students was 21.42 ± 1.61 years. Females represented 63.5%, rural residents were 52.2% and students with enough income represented 88.0%. The traditional system adopted 28.4% of the students versus 71.6% in the integrated system. Linear regression using path analysis was conducted to study the predictors of academic achievement, and it revealed that motivation was the highly significant predictor of academic achievement (β = 2.68, CI95%:2.35–3.05, P < 0.001), followed by learning (β = 1.09, CI95%:0.80–1.41, P < 0.001), emotional intelligence (β = 0.92, CI95%:0.87–0.97, P < 0.001), and the educational environment (β = 0.14, CI95%:0.13–0.15, P < 0.001).

The study’s findings have implications for medical educators trying to understand the personal factors that influence learning and performance in medical school. Students’ motivation was the highly significant predictor of academic achievement followed by learning, emotional intelligence, and educational environment. Perception of the learning environment had improved because of the integrated student‑centered system, which fosters motivation and emotional intelligence. To improve learners’ EI, optimal learning, and educational outcomes, the EI components can be taught and fostered.

In recent decades, the prevention of domestic violence against women (DVAW) has been considered a priority for women’s health in many countries. Identifying factors related to DVAW by their husbands or intimate partner can promise prevention and decrease in prevalence. The objective of this study was to examine and compare associated factors of domestic violence based on demographic characteristics and some life skills.

This cross‑sectional study was conducted in Abadan, Iran. 640 couples completed questionnaires including demographic characteristics, communication skills, anger management, and problem‑solving skill. In addition, women completed the questionnaire on domestic violence. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (t‑test and one‑way analysis of variance) and multiple linear regression.

Approximately 57% of the women in this study have been subjected to psychological violence in their lifetime by their husbands. The result of multiple regression indicated that demographic characteristics had a very small contribution to explaining domestic violence (R2 = 0.03) and only the education level of women was identified as a key predictor of domestic violence. The result of multiple regression based on life skills among couples demonstrated that communication skills and anger management of couples were inversely and significantly associated with domestic violence and these variables explained 51% of the variance in domestic violence.

Empowering couples with anger management and communication skills can play an important role in decreasing domestic violence. Therefore, developing and planning educational interventions by policymakers and health care providers seems necessary for couples.

All health care workers including nurses are working in the frontline against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid‑19), which keeps them at high risk of getting infected. This study was conducted to identify risk factors for Covid‑19 infection and compliance to Covid appropriate behavior among nurses.

A cross‑sectional study was conducted on 150 nurses in a tertiary care hospital attached to a medical college in Mumbai, from April 2020 to December 2020. Data were collected telephonically using an interviewer‑administered pre‑validated, semi‑structured questionnaire. Data entry and analysis were performed using SPSS version 21.0.

The mean age of the nurses was 38.19 ± 12.14 years. The majority (80.7%) were exposed to Covid‑19 while taking active care of Covid patients; a total of 108 (72%) were symptomatic at the time of testing; dietary modifications because of fear of Covid were performed by 121 (80.2%); 92.77% used the appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) category according to the workplace; 121 (80.77%) followed all steps of donning and doffing at all times, and 19 (12.77%) reported a breach in PPE. A greater proportion of nurses working in Covid duties opted for hospital isolation than home isolation (p = 0.003). Risk factors such as sleep, shift duty, shift pattern, food timing, mode of travel, and type of PPE during travel were also found to be significantly associated with work type – Covid versus non‑Covid (p < 0.05).

Use of workplace appropriate PPE, proper donning and doffing facilities, duty shifts with a fixed duration, adequate hand hygiene practices, and regular food intake with adequate sleep can prevent Covid‑19 infection at the workplace among nurses.

Health literacy (HL) is the ability of a person to acquire the process, understand the necessary health information, and make the health services needed for conscious health decisions. Besides, diabetes is the most common metabolic disorder that affects patients’ quantity and quality of life. This study focused on determining the factors that affect the HL status of patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) through the role of the demographic variables.

This descriptive‑analytical research survey recruited a sample based on 280 patients with T2D at the Diabetes Research Center of Ayatollah Taleghani Hospital in Kermanshah in 2020. This study selected patients with T2D using a simple random sampling technique. The study applied the demographic information questionnaire and the Functional, Communicative, and Critical HL Scale to collect data from patients with T2D. This study used the SPSS version 23 on the received data sets to perform statistical analysis, including t‑test, analysis of the variance, and multiple regression, to predict the factors affecting HL among diabetes patients.

The study results showed that the mean age of the participating patients with T2D was 55.80 ± 13.04. The results indicated the mean score and standard deviation of total HL score in patients with T2D 2.70 ± 0.44. The findings specified a statistically significant relationship between HL, gender, education, occupation, income, and place of residence. Results indicated that β‑coefficients of the multiple regression analysis and the income variable (β = 0.170), age (β = 0.176), and employment variable (β = 0.157). These are the most predictive of the HL of patients with T2D.

The results of this study specified that the HL rate of individuals with diabetes type 2 is average. The potential communicative and critical HL influence is essential for communication and education for diabetes patients in the primary health‑care system settings. The findings indicate that communicative and critical HL related to patients’ management and functional HL looks passable in this study.

Education and assessment have changed during the COVID‑19 pandemic so that online courses replaced face‑to‑face classes to observe the social distance. The quality of online assessments conducted during the pandemic is an important subject to be addressed. In this study, the quality of online assessments held in two consecutive semesters was investigated.

One thousand two hundred and sixty‑nine multiple‑choice online examinations held in the first (n = 535) and second (n = 734) semesters in Birjand University of Medical Sciences during 2020–2021 were examined. Mean, standard deviation, number of questions, skewness, kurtosis, difficulty, and discrimination index of tests were calculated. Data mining was applied using the k‑means clustering approach to classify the tests.

The mean percentage of answers to all tests was 69.97 ± 19.16, and the number of questions was 34.48 ± 18.75. In two semesters, there was no significant difference between the difficulty of examinations (P = 0.84). However, there was a significant difference in the discrimination index, skewness, and kurtosis of tests (P < 0.001). Moreover, according to the results of the clustering analysis in the first semester, 43% of the tests were very hard, 16% hard, and 7% moderate. In the second semester, 43% were hard, 16% moderate, and 41% easy.

To evaluate the tests’ quality, calculating difficulty and discrimination indices is not sufficient; many factors can affect the quality of tests. Furthermore, the experience of the first semester had changed characteristics of the second‑semester examinations. To enhance the quality of online tests, establishing appropriate rules to hold the examinations and using questions with higher taxonomy are recommended.

Psychological well‑being is an important part that undergraduate students and universities cannot neglect as it helps students lead a better study life at the university. Various studies revealed that social support can affect students’ psychological well‑being. However, the causal relationship between social support and psychological well‑being has received little attention in North China. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to analyze the causal relationship between social support and psychological well‑being among undergraduate students in North China.

The survey approach was adopted and conducted with a total of 689 undergraduate students in North China. Data were collected using a reliable questionnaire. Data analysis was performed with descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation, and structural equation modeling at P < 0.01 significance level using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Linear Structural Relations (LISREL).

The overall levels of social support and psychological well‑being among undergraduate students in North China were high. All observed variables in this study were significantly correlated. The findings also confirmed that the causal relationship between social support and undergraduate students’ psychological well‑being in North China fitted to the empirical data well (χ2 [22, N = 689] = 27.69, χ2 /degree of freedom [df] = 1.26, P = 0.19, goodness of fit index [GFI] = 0.99, adjusted goodness of fit index [AGFI] = 0.98, comparative fit index [CFI] = 1.00, standardized root mean square residual [SRMR] = 0.02, root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] = 0.02).

Undergraduate students’ psychological well‑being had been significantly affected by social support in North China. The findings from the current study will be useful for university administrators to develop strategies for the enhancement of undergraduate students’ psychological well‑being.

Disaster planning and management pose a serious challenge to most countries. These challenges point to insufficient planning to deal with these events. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to the methods and characteristics of the decision‑making approaches in these events. In this study, we tried to identify most appropriate approaches for the Iranian health system by studying disaster planning approaches.

This study was conducted using mixed methods in 2020–2021 in two phases: qualitative and quantitative. First, we reviewed at the research literature. Our goal was to identify studies that suggested approaches to disaster planning. The next step in this study was a qualitative study using semi‑structured interviews. Participants in qualitative phase included managers and employees from different parts of the Iranian health system from the provinces of Golestan, Fars, Khuzestan, Lorestan, Kerman, Sistan, and Baluchestan.

By combining approaches taken from literature reviews and qualitative study, four main approaches were identified. The results of our study have shown that disaster response planning approaches include function, risk assessment, capability, and futuristic base.

This study provides complete overview of disaster planning approaches that enable health professionals to use them to develop response plans. Our findings indicate that in complex and large‑scale events such as floods and pandemics, it is necessary to combine the introduced methods for operational planning.

Recognition of the factors influencing returning to work by people after heart surgery is very significant in performing supportive interventions. Factors affecting return to work of Iranian patients after surgery are unknown. Therefore, a qualitative study is in demand in order to close this knowledge gap. This study was aimed to explore the facilitators and barriers of return to work after heart surgery.

This qualitative study was conducted during 2020–2021. People after heart surgery were studied in this research. Nineteen interviews were performed with 17 participants. The main participants were selected from the cardiac surgery ward of Golestan Province Hospital. The sampling method was purposeful. Data were collected through semi‑structured interviews. Questions were asked in an unguided and open‑ended manner. Data analysis was performed by qualitative content analysis.

According to the results, “perceived psychosocial support,” “individual characteristics,” and “occupational factors” were considered as facilitators and “effects of heart surgery” and “limited support of public and private institutions” were introduced as barriers to return to work in patients after heart surgery.

The effects caused by heart surgery and limited support of public and private institutions were identified as barriers to return to work. Cardiac rehabilitation after surgery can reduce the impact of heart surgery and can help people to return to work. It is recommended that the planners of the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare and Health, with the support of insurance organizations, help solve the work problems of people after heart surgery.

Fear of childbirth is a common problem during pregnancy, which can give rise to sleep disorders and diminish sleep quality. This study aimed to determine the effect of cognitive– behavioral training on fear of childbirth and sleep quality of pregnant adolescent slum dwellers who visited the slum health centers of Zahedan city, Iran, in 2020.

This quasi‑experimental study was conducted in 2020 on 100 pregnant adolescent slum dwellers between 11 and 19 years old at 24–28 weeks pregnant. Multi‑stage sampling was used and the participants were randomly divided into an intervention and a control group. The intervention group received four sessions of cognitive–behavioral training at weekly intervals. The control group only received routine care. The Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index were filled before and 4 weeks after the training course. The data were analyzed in SPSS 21 using independent t‑test, paired t‑test, Fisher’s exact test, and Chi‑squared test. and covariance. A P value of < 0.05 was considered significant.

After the intervention, the fear of childbirth significantly decreased (P = 0.004), and sleep quality significantly improved (P = 0.001) in the intervention group compared with the control group. The results of analysis of covariance to control the significant effect of pre‑test scores showed that the mean score of fear of childbirth (P = 0.03) and mean score of sleep quality (P = 0.001) in the two groups after the intervention was statistically significant.

The results showed that in addition to reducing fear of childbirth, cognitive–behavioral training improved the sleep quality of women in the intervention group. Therefore, this training could be used as an easy and accessible method without complications to improve women’s health.

Graduates’ job performance has become a matter that needs urgent attention. This is because many stakeholders are increasingly becoming interested in understanding the extent schools are able to produce output that meets the yearnings of society. Along these lines, we examined the contributions of alcohol intake to the job performance of higher education graduates while treating mental stress and psychotic experiences as mediators in the nexus.

The study's population comprised all the graduates of higher education institutions in Nigeria between 2015 and 2020. Data were collected from a virtual cross‑section of 3,862 graduates who self‑reported to have taken alcohol in the past. These participants responded to an electronic questionnaire that was mailed to them. The scale content validity for clarity and relevance were 0.90 and 0.88, respectively, while the Cronbach alpha reliability estimate of the instrument is 0.86.

Amongst many others, key findings indicate that alcohol intake, mental stress and psychotic experiences jointly made a significant negative contribution to the overall job performance of graduates (R2 = 0.256, 95% confidence interval (CI) [0.23, 0.28], P = 0.00). Mental stress (B = −0.09, β = −0.14, z = −4.45, 95%CI [−0.24, −0.05], P = 0.00) and psychotic experiences (B = −0.26, β = −0.43, z = −8.07, 95%CI [−0.68, −0.16], P = 0.01) have significant negative contributions to graduates’ job performance, respectively. Alcohol intake and mental stress jointly predict the psychotic experiences of graduates (B = −0.26, β = −0.43, z = −8.07, 95%CI [−0.68, −0.16], P = 0.01). Alcohol intake has a positive contribution to the mental stress of graduates (R2 = 0.797, 95%CI [0.77, 0.825], P = 0.01). Mental stress and psychotic experiences jointly mediated the relationship between alcohol intake and graduates’ job performance.

It was concluded that high intake of alcohol and high levels of mental stress and psychotic experiences significantly reduce graduates’ job performance generally and in specific aspects. Alcohol intake can increase graduates’ job performance to a small extent depending on the amount consumed.

This study aimed to determine the perception, perspectives, and behaviors of health‑care providers, as well as cues to action toward interprofessional education (IPE).

The interview sessions were conducted from August 2020 to November 2020 at the College of Pharmacy, Gulf Medical University (GMU), Ajman. The invited participants belonged to all the colleges which are a part of GMU, providing academic and practice support to the university. All were residents of UAE, and both genders were considered for qualitative assessment. The sample size based on data saturation plus two as standard guidelines in qualitative res earch. All the interviews were audiotaped for verbatim transcriptions. All the recorded interviews were transcribed to avoid bias. The prepared transcripts were then verified for accuracy by the relevant participant and after approval, data were analyzed. In case of an emergent theme, all the investigators were focused on refining the analysis.

A total of 17 health‑care professionals (HCPs) were interviewed. The participants were chosen from five different colleges at GMU. All the participants had similar perceptions about IPE, as it is a collaboration between different HCPs to achieve better patient outcomes. A diversity in perspectives toward IPE was found among the participants. Several barriers were identified during the interview session and also highlighted the importance of choosing the right topic for IPE, as it affects planning of the activities greatly. The participants also stressed that the lack of communication also contributes to decreased involvement of HCPs.

This study identified inefficient implementation of IPE. The barriers were lack of team effort, lack of communication within the institute, and administrative support, despite the availability of resources and infrastructure in the university

This study was designed to evaluate the impact of the COVID‑19 pandemic on the learning status of students from different educational boards and universities of Nepal. An online survey was conducted from tenth to twentieth of September 2020 to record the data.

A self‑designed questionnaire link, using “Google form” was sent to the students via social networks. A total of 589 participants shared their complete information. The simple percentage distribution was employed to evaluate the learning status of the students.

During the lockdown period, >70% of the students were engaged in online classes, most commonly by using the Zoom app. The majority of the students were using WIFI as an internet source to attend online classes. Students have been suffering from various problems related to anxiety, stress, economic crises, poor internet connectivity, deprivation of study materials, required e‑learning accessories, and an unsuitable study environment. Mainly, students from remote areas and middle income families suffered enormously. Among those participants, who were able to attend the online classes, the majority of students (70%) were dissatisfied with the ongoing online classes. Only 23.3% of the participants suggested the feasibility of online classes in the near future.

Our study recommended that training teachers and students about online classes might create effectiveness toward e‑learning. The government needs to provide free internet services to the remote areas and the poor students since in the current scenario, huge numbers of the population are struggling with the economic burden.

Since the field of health professions education (HPE) is an emerging trend in the country, educationists face considerable challenges in their workplaces while proposing any changes in the existing systems of academic institutions. The challenges affect the quality of work, hinder innovation, and create a dysfunctional work environment, non‑conducive for both personal and professional progress. The study was conducted to explore the various kinds of challenges faced by educationists while bringing changes to the existing systems of academic institutions in Pakistan.

A qualitative exploratory research design was used to explore the challenges faced by health professions educationists in Pakistan during their efforts to bring about changes in the existing systems and structures. Thirteen health professions educationists working in various academic institutions of Pakistan were interviewed through one‑to‑one semi‑structured interviews from March to May 2022. The data obtained were analyzed through manual thematic analysis, and themes and subthemes were identified.

Four themes emerged after qualitative data analysis explaining the predominant challenges faced by educationists. These included challenges related to faculty and staff, institutional constraints, challenges from leadership, and stakeholders’ apprehension.

Challenges are inevitable at every workplace but the field of health professions education in Pakistan faces significant challenges in institutions, leading to hindrance in positive developments and innovations in the field. Educationists should be skilled at recognizing the predominant challenges in the workplace and be equipped with strategies to manage conflicts to achieve productive results and to promote the long‑overdue reforms in the field.

As a main pillar of the health and social welfare system, hospitals affect the public health status in two ways: (1) Prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation services and (2) external effects on society and the environment. The present study aimed to identify the roles and functions of future hospitals in the world. The present study was a systematic review in which all studies about the roles and functions of future hospitals in different countries with a time limit of 2000 to August 2021 were extracted from foreign databases, including PubMed, Cochrane, Scopus, and Web of Science, and search engine, Google Scholar, as well as Persian databases, including Magiran, SID, and Iran Medex. We utilized the STROBE checklists for quantitative studies and SRQR checklists for qualitative studies to critique and evaluate the quality of qualitative studies. We then extracted their results and classified the content according to the main and subtopics. A total of 16 articles met the inclusion criteria of the present study. Hospitals can play four roles: stand‑alone, dominant, collaborative, and partner. Findings were classified into six general groups: the role and mission of future hospitals, the way of providing care, funding, staff and patients, technology and information of future hospitals, and the challenges and barriers of current hospitals. Health service policy‑makers need to pay special attention to technological innovations and advances as well as changes in the roles and functions of hospitals and seek to turn the threats arising from external changes into opportunities for better hospital performances.

The COVID‑19 pandemic is a major health crisis that has changed the life of millions globally. Coronaviruses are viruses’ group that can contract animals and humans and the cause of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and COVID‑19. Nurses are the primary service providers in the health care; nurses who are in close contact with infectious patients need to get their mental health checked and supervised on a regular basis, particularly with regard to stress, anxiety, and suicidal ideation, so that they can provide optimal quality of life and healthy mental health to have good care for patients to assess the impact of the pandemic on mental health status for nurses in Iraq.

A total of sample study (1000) nurses in Iraq completed an online questionnaire between March and May 2021. Psychological impact was assessed using the depression anxiety stress scale (DASS21).

The study revealed impact COVID‑19 on mental health status (anxiety stress) and no impact COVID‑19 on mental health status (depression) for nurses was (P value = 0.040 and P value = 0.045, respectively).

The impact COVID‑19 on mental health status for nurses. Protecting the nursing staff from chronic stress, anxiety, and depression, which constitutes a psychological burden on health during the outbreak of the COVID‑19 pandemic, by clarifying the disease and how to prevent it, as well as providing the personal protective equipment to decrease stress, anxiety, and depression during the pandemic.