مجله اطلاع رسانی پزشکی نوین
سال هشتم شماره 4 (پیاپی 22، زمستان 1401)

 The Intensive care unit (ICU) in hospitals is known as the bottleneck of performance control where the compliance with standards is very important; to achieve quality management goals, the provided services must comply with the predetermined requirements. Hospital performance evaluation is needed for giving feedback on the efficiency of hospitals and effectiveness of services. This study aims to evaluate the performance of the ICUs in hospitals affiliated to Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences in Iran during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

 This is a descriptive/analytical study that was conducted in 2021. The study samples were 19 ICUs in medical and teaching hospitals affiliated to Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, which were selected by census method. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire. The content and face validity of the questionnaire was confirmed based on the opinions of a panel of experts and its construct validity was confirmed by the confirmatory factor analysis. Its reliability was reported 0.82 using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and its composite reliability was 0.91. Data analysis was performed by non-parametric tests of Wilcoxon, Friedman and Kruskal-Wallis in SPSS software, version 21 and Splus applications.

The highest level of compliance with the standards was in the area of management and leadership (4.74±0.93), followed by the areas of medical equipment (4.53±0.52), nursing processes (4.53±0.66), space, structure and facilities (4.47±0.39), safety (4.3±0.69), functioning (4.0±11.04) and manpower (4.19±0.42). The lowest level was related to the field of infection control with a mean score of 3.42±1.24. This difference in ranks between different areas was significant according to the results of Friedman test (P<0.05).

 The overall performance of the ICUs of study hospitals is favorable, but they need more attention and effort in the area of infection control. They are recommended to train and monitor the measures of infection control.

 The origin and status of public libraries as public institutions in providing services appropriate to the society are very important. This study aims to measure the public libraries affiliated to Abadan University of Medical Sciences in terms of health information sources and the readiness of librarians in these libraries to provide health information.

 This is a descriptive survey study. The study population consists of all librarians and public libraries affiliated to Abadan University of Medical Sciences in 2020. Samples were 20 librarians and 10 public libraries. Data were collected using a questionnaire and a checklist, and were described using descriptive statistics and analyzed using chi-square test in SPSS software, Version 26.

 In the public libraries, only 1.32% of the total sources were related to health. In 65% of public libraries, no educational courses in the field of health had been held. Moreover, 15% of librarians were very familiar with health-related topics, 65% were moderately familiar, and 20% were not familiar at all.

 There is a need for planning in public libraries affiliated to Abadan University of Medical Sciences to improve the status of health sources and for teaching the necessary skills to librarians to provide health information services.

 One of the major challenges in the implementation of the Picture Archiving And Communication System (PACS) is the attitudes of physicians towards the system. This study aims to design and assess the psychometric properties of a questionnaire for identifying the factors affecting the acceptance and use of PACS in Iran based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and use of Technology (UTAUT).

 This methodological study with cross-sectional design was conducted with the participation of 400 physicians working in hospitals affiliated to Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in 2019. Physicians were selected by stratified random sampling method with the probability proportional to size procedure.  The questionnaire’s face validity, content validity, construct validity with exploratory factor analysis (EFA), test-retest reliability with intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), and internal consistency with Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, were determined. The data were analyzed in SPSS.

 The face validity was 1.51-3.4 and the content validity index and content validity ratio ranged 0.6-1 in all factors. Twelve factors including performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, computer self-efficiency, behavioral intention, technology optimism, problem solving, rationalized decision-making, horizontal integration, vertical integration, and presentation of health services to clients were extracted by conducting EFA, which explained 67.86% of the common variance. Cronbach’s alpha was obtained 0.92 and the ICC was 0.86 .

 The designed questionnaire has good validity and reliability. It is recommended as a valid tool to evaluate the factors affecting the acceptance and use of PACS in Iran.

 The field of “medical library and information science” has a broad research platform due to its interdisciplinary nature. However, the lack of resources necessitates the attention to research priorities in this field. This study aims to identify the research priorities of Iranian faculty members and PhD students in medical library and information science.

 This is a descriptive survey study that was conducted in 2020. The study population included all PhD students (n=45) and faculty members (n=36) in medical library and information sciences from different medical universities of Iran. Sampling was done by a census method. The data was collected using a researcher-made questionnaire whose validity was confirmed by experts and its reliability was confirmed using Cronbach’s alpha (α= 0.98). The data analysis was performed in SPSS statistical software on the data from 64 questionnaires using descriptive statistics (Mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (T-test and Friedman’s test).

 Friedman's test results showed that research priorities of faculty members were education (Mean=4.01), entrepreneurship (Mean=3.96) and research (Mean=3.80); For the students, the research priorities were evidence-based practice (Mean=4.15), information literacy (Mean=3.87) and education (Mean= 3.76).

 Replacing traditional and theoretical topics with practical and future-based topics can be effective in preventing waste of time and resources in future studies.

 Identifying the strengths and weaknesses of curriculums and updating them in accordance with the future needs of students and the qualifications corresponding to their job positions is of particular importance. This study aims to identify the shortcomings of the current curriculum of Health Information Management for PhD students in Iran.

 This descriptive study was conducted in 2021. The study population included all professors in the department of health information technology & management and the department of medical informatics and all PhD students and graduates in health information management from medical universities in Iran who were selected for the study by a census sampling method. Data were collected by a researcher-made questionnaire, by which the relevance and applicability of the courses and amount of required revision in the courses were evaluated. Data were analyzed in SPSS software, version 19. The answers to the open-ended questions were analyzed using the qualitative content analysis approach.

 Out of 67 participants, 61.1% were faculty members. In terms of relevance, the courses “Clinical Governance Information Systems” and “Health Information Economy”, and in terms of applicability, the courses “Clinical Governance Information Systems”, “Health Information Economy”, and “Methods for Improving and Managing Information Quality” were identified as the courses required modifications. Regarding the amount of required revision, most of the courses, except for “Advanced Statistical Methods”, “Thesis”, “Research Seminar” and “Design and Development of Health Information Systems No. 1”, needed serious revision.

 It seems necessary to modify the curriculum of health information management for PhD students in Iran to improve the quality of education in this filed and respond to the needs of graduates based on the changes in the health field toward digital health and health information technologies.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has exposed nurses to many stressful conditions that may affect their quality of life. This study aims to compare the quality of life of nurses working in COVID-19 referral hospitals and other hospitals in Iran.

This descriptive -comparative study was conducted on 122 nurses working in COVID-19 referral hospitals and other hospitals in Sabzevar, Iran in May 2020, who were selected using a convenience sampling method. The 36-item short form survey (SF-36) was used to collect information online. Data were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics in SPSS software, version 16. P<0.05 was statistically significant.

The Mean age of participants in the COVID-19 referral hospital was 32.38±7.158 years and in other hospitals it was 35.08±.6.547 years. Most of nurses (58%) had a moderate quality of life. Marital status (P= 0.008), exposure to COVID-19 (P=0.034) and underlying diseases (P=0.031) had a statistically significant relationship with the quality of life (QoL). There was no significant difference between the two groups in the total score of SF-36.

Due to the prevalence of COVID-19 and its negative effects on the quality of life of nurses, it is recommended to take the necessary measures such as social participation, planning for greater welfare of nurses, and adjusting the working hours in order to improve the QoL of nurses during the pandemic.

 Occupational stress is one of the main problems in medical centers. It affects the physical and mental health of medical staff. This study aims to design a stress management model to find occupational stressors in hospital staff.

 This is a descriptive-correlational study that was conducted in 2021. The study population consists of 2046 employees (with permanent, temporary, or contractual employment) of teaching hospitals in Kashan, Iran, of whom 384 were randomly selected as the study samples. The data were collected by interviewing 15 participants and using a researcher-made questionnaire with acceptable validity and reliability. Descriptive statistics (such as frequency, percentage) and the inferential statistics including the structural equation modeling in smart PLS software were used to design and assess the conceptual model of the study.

 Most of the participants were male and married aged 41-50 years with a bachelor’s degree. Based on the results, individual factors (70.4%), organizational factors (66.6%), and extra-organizational factors (40.7%) had an effect on creating occupational stress in the hospital staff. The use of stress management strategies was effective in reducing occupational stress by 54.9%. In the model, the occupational stress had 4 dimensions including individual factors with 14 components, organizational factors with 27 components, extra-organizational factors with 23 components, and stress management strategies with 36 components. 

 Considering the multiplicity of occupational stressors and their effects in reducing productivity and waste of organizational resources, the necessary conditions for managing occupational stress in hospital staff should be provided by hospital managers and officials in the health sector.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) emerged in China and spread rapidly around the world which caused anxiety and fear in people and had a negative impact on their mental health. The rapid development of information and communication technology has affected all fields, including the health. Due to the increase of electronic sources for health-related information, having sufficient e-health literacy seems to be necessary. This systematic review aims to determine the relationship between e-health literacy and mental state of people during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is a systematic review study. A search was conducted for related studies in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Sciences databases using the keywords “Electronic Health Literacy”, “COVID-19”, “Mental State” in English. The studies that investigated the relationship between e-health literacy and mental state of people during the pandemic were included in the review without time limits. The articles were examined using the PRISMA checklist. From 116 found articles, 6 eligible articles were finally selected for the review.

The age of participants in the selected articles was in a range of 18-65 years. In all studies, the positive effect of e-health literacy on people’s mental health was mentioned. They showed that e-health literacy, through increasing people’s knowledge and coping skills, leads to reducing the fear of COVID-19, increasing resilience and well-being, supporting mental well-being, and finally improving the quality of life (QoL) of people.

The e-health literacy can reduce the mental health problems of patients, medical staff and the general public during the pandemic. It seems that taking measures that increase the e-health literacy of people can improve their general health.