Impact of Mobile Phone-Based Interventions on Methamphetamine Use and High-risk Sexual Behaviors in Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM): A Systematic Review

Background: Today, increased use of methamphetamine in homosexual men is associated with high-risk sexualbehaviors and (HIV) epidemic. Mobile phone-based interventions are an accessible and rapid method toprovide healthcare services to this population. This study aimed to systematically review the effects of mobilephone-based interventions on methamphetamine use and high-risk sexual behaviors in homosexual men.Methods: This systematic review was conducted by two researchers via searching in PubMed, Google Scholar,Web of Science, Scopus, and PsycINFO databases to retrieve the published articles regarding the effects ofmobile phone-based interventions on the control of methamphetamine use and high-risk sexual behaviors.Findings: Among 250 unique articles that were retrieved, only five cases met all the inclusion criteria of thestudy. Accordingly, some of the applied interventions included text messaging (n = 4) and mobile apps(n = 1). In this regard, the use of text messaging significantly decreased the rates of methamphetamine use,condomless anal intercourse (CAI), and HIV transmission among homosexual men.Conclusion: According to the results, short-term interventions based on text messaging could decrease therates of methamphetamine use and the high-risk sexual behaviors associated with HIV infection inhomosexual men. Despite the positive impact of these interventions, long-term follow-ups are required forindividuals using methamphetamine in different communitie

Comparison of the Effect of Direct and Distant Study Skills Training on Study Methods and Satisfaction of Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Iran, Undergraduate Students

Background & Objective: Lack of conformity to study principles results in reduced level of human productivity and efficiency, demoralization, and loss of self-esteem, boredom and disenchantment. Effective studying, like any other activity, requires special skills. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of direct and distant training of study skills on study methods and satisfaction of undergraduate students of Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Methods: This interventional study was conducted on 80 new entrants to the undergraduate program of Kerman University of Medical Sciences in 2013. Students completed a questionnaire before and after the training. The data were analyzed using independent and paired t-tests in SPSS software. Data were expressed as central and distribution indicators, and descriptive tables. Results: The mean scores of study skills and satisfaction were significantly different in both e-learning and workshop groups after the intervention (P < 0.001). The e-learning group achieved higher scores compared to the workshop group. Furthermore, the subcategories of study skills were significantly increased in the e-learning group compared with the workshop group after the intervention (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Although both methods improved the students study skills, the results revealed that e-learning had a more significant effect on their skills. The results of this study also showed the positive effects of participating in a study skills training program on the students’ satisfaction. It is therefore suggested that, due to students’ interest in electronic tools, e-learning be included in the training of new entrants to the undergraduate students programs. Key Words: Study skills, Satisfaction, Direct and distant educatio

Strategies for Clinical Medical Education in Iran: A Systematic Review

Background: In order to improve clinical education, after evaluating the current situation and identifying the shortcomings and problems, it is essential to find strategies to change and improve the situation. This results in planning an efficient clinical education program and achieving the educational goals. Objectives: This study aimed at identifying strategies for clinical medical education in Iran. Methods: This systematic review was conducted in 2017 to find strategies for clinical medical education in Iran. Bedside teaching, ward round teaching, ward round, teaching round, training round, grand round, clinical teaching, ambulatory education, and bedside round were the keywords searched in both Persian- and English-language databases. Related articles were carefully reviewed and the key information was extracted. Finally, the data were analyzed in MAXQDA software version 10. Results: After retrieving the related articles, the title and abstract of 593 papers were reviewed, and after excluding the irrelevant and duplicate ones, full-texts of 101 articles were reviewed based on the study inclusion and exclusion criteria. The strategies for clinical medical education in Iran were classified into five categories including infrastructures, areas of clinical education, educational planning, and clinical teachers and students. Conclusion: Improving the quality of clinical education and the effectiveness of the educational system depends on the identification of appropriate strategies. The identified strategies pave the way for achieving targeted educational goals. Keywords: Strategies, Clinical Education, Iran, Systematic Revie

A qualitative study of factors influencing ePHR adoption by caregivers and care providers of Alzheimer's patients:An extension of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology model

Background and AimsAs the nowadays provision of many healthcare services relies on technology, a better understanding of the factors contributing to the acceptance and use of technology in health care is essential. For Alzheimer's patients, an electronic personal health record (ePHR) is one such technology. Stakeholders should understand the factors affecting the adoption of this technology for its smooth implementation, adoption, and sustainable use. So far, these factors have not fully been understood for Alzheimer's disease (AD)-specific ePHR. Therefore, the present study aimed to understand these factors in ePHR adoption based on the perceptions and views of care providers and caregivers involved in AD care. MethodsThis qualitative study was conducted from February 2020 to August 2021 in Kerman, Iran. Seven neurologists and 13 caregivers involved in AD care were interviewed using semi-structured and in-depth interviews. All interviews were conducted through phone contacts amid Covid-19 imposed restrictions, recorded, and transcribed verbatim. The transcripts were coded using thematic analysis based on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model. ATLAS.ti8 was used for data analysis. ResultsThe factors affecting ePHR adoption in our study comprised subthemes under the five main themes of performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions of the UTAUT model, and the participants' sociodemographic factors. From the 37 facilitating factors and 13 barriers identified for ePHR adoption, in general, the participants had positive attitudes toward the ease of use of this system. The stated obstacles were dependent on the participants' sociodemographic factors (such as age and level of education) and social influence (including concern about confidentiality and privacy). In general, the participants considered ePHRs efficient and useful in increasing neurologists' information about their patients and managing their symptoms in order to provide better and timely treatment. ConclusionThe present study gives a comprehensive insight into the acceptance of ePHR for AD in a developing setting. The results of this study can be utilized for similar healthcare settings with regard to technical, legal, or cultural characteristics. To develop a useful and user-friendly system, ePHR developers should involve users in the design process to take into account the functions and features that match their skills, requirements, and preferences

Information Needs of Addicted Individuals: A Qualitative Case Study

Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate the information needs of addicts from the perspective of addicts. By identifying the experiences of the individuals involved in addiction and assessing the information they need, targeted educational interventions can be provided to meet their needs.Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 addicts in two addiction outpatient clinics. Data were analyzed using the qualitative content analysis approach proposed by Graneheim and Lundman.Findings: The information needs of the interviewees included recognizing types of addictive substances and the degree of dependence on them, awareness of the physical and psychological symptoms of addiction to various addictive substances, awareness of various pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments, physical and psychological symptoms of quitting addiction, awareness of the length of treatment, knowledge about the dose and degree of dependence on drugs, recognizing the causes of failure in quitting addiction, awareness of governmental and non-governmental services, and awareness of the psychological measures and care services necessary after quitting addiction.Conclusion: The results of the study showed that the knowledge and awareness of addicted individuals in various fields of addiction is low and it is necessary to provide education based on the information needs of these individuals. This requires the cooperation and efforts of policy makers, the Ministry of Education, welfare managers, and specialists in camps and addiction treatment centers. Specialists in addiction treatment clinics can use the information needs of addicts determined in this study to enrich the education of addicts

The Trend of Prescribing Ceftriaxone Injection in the Medical Prescriptions of the Social Security Organization-insured Persons in Kerman during 2006- 2012

Background: Rational drug usage is a main priority in health research, and controlling prescribing Ceftriaxone injection due to its fatal adverse effects is a crucial challenge in Iran. The aim of this study was to assess the trend of prescribing Ceftriaxone injections in the medical prescriptions of the Social Security Organization-insured persons in Kerman during 2006- 2012. Methods: In this Cross-sectional study, using descriptive data mining all data about prescribing the three types of Ceftriaxone injection that were prescribed by the physicians and dentists and dispensed in Kerman pharmacies during 78 months (December 22, 2005 to June 20, 2012), obtained from The Comprehensive Medical Documentation System, in the Medical Documents Audit Office of Social Security Organization in Kerman was extracted by census sampling. Then, the prescribing rate of Ceftriaxone injection (defined daily dose) was analyzed and compared in different groups. Results: About 17 million prescriptions from 3621 physicians and dentists (aged 28-91 years) with male/female ratio as 1.7 were analyzed. About 300 thousands of prescriptions (1.75%) contained Ceftriaxone. The average number of monthly prescriptions; count of monthly prescriptions with the drug; and the ratio of prescribing Ceftriaxone in all prescriptions were significantly different between general practitioners and specialists/sub-specialists (P<0.001). The trend of Ceftriaxone prescribing has slightly decreased during 6.5 years. Conclusion: The studies on drug prescribing in Iran show the inappropriate patterns of drug prescribing and use, and also low adherence to the prescribed medications; therefore, serious interventions should be performed by the responsible organizations to control this challeng

The Evaluation of Web-based Software for Sending Medication Adherence Reminders in Infectious Disease Patients

Background: Incomplete drug adherence can cause problems for patients as well as physicians and cost billions of dollars each year throughout the globe. One of the tools that can help patients and physicians is short text messaging (SMS). This research aims to design and implement the first web-based software specified for medicine use in Iran and test its feasibility to send short message reminders to infectious disease patients and also patient acceptance, and satisfaction. Methods: In this qualitative action research, initially a software was designed for sending text messages to patients and then 30 patients were chosen purposefully in four weeks and were sent short text messages exactly based on clinicians’ prescribed order. After completing a treatment course, each patient was interviewed and questions were asked to assess patient’s satisfaction. Results: The result showed that all of the patients who received the text messages, believed that this method in comparison to their previous experience has helped them to use their medicine on time and correctly and they were keen to use this service in the future. Conclusion: Short text messaging can be used as an effective tool to remind patients to take their medicine correctly, and increase their satisfaction and compliance. Keywords: Reminder system, Drug utilization, Text messaging, Cellular phone, Infectious disease

Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of a Medical Education Fellowship Program for the Faculty Members of Kerman University of Medical Sciences Based on the Kirkpatrick Model

Background: Attempts to increase the development of faculty members can improve their ability to assume different roles. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to design, implementation, and evaluation a medical education fellowship program for the faculty members of Kerman University of Medical Sciences and to propose practical recommendations for the future design of development programs. Methods: In this semi-experimental study, a total of 53 faculty members of Kerman University of Medical Sciences participated in a one-year development program, which was designed by the Education Development Center and included the main disciplines of medical education. The program was evaluated in several steps, using the Kirkpatrick model. Results: In the first level of Kirkpatrick model, the majority of the participants were satisfied with the general quality of the fellowship program. Based on the findings, the program led to an increase in the knowledge of faculty members and promoted a more positive attitude towards education and these programs. The findings related to the second level of Kirkpatrick model showed a significant difference between the pretest and posttest results (P < 0.05). In addition, analysis of the effects of the program on the participants’ behaviors and practical learning indicated positive changes. Conclusions: The medical education fellowship program led to positive changes in the participants’ attitudes towards education and faculty development programs and increased their knowledge about educational principles and strategies and achieving of training skills. It can be concluded that the medical education fellowship program could achieve many of its preset goals. Keywords Faculty Development Programs Medical Education Faculty Member

Estimating travel reduction associated with the use of telemedicine by patients and healthcare professionals: proposal for quantitative synthesis in a systematic review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A major benefit offered by telemedicine is the avoidance of travel, by patients, their carers and health care professionals. Unfortunately, there is very little published information about the extent of avoided travel. We propose to undertake a systematic review of literature which reports credible data on the reductions in travel associated with the use of telemedicine.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>The conventional approach to quantitative synthesis of the results from multiple studies is to conduct a meta analysis. However, too much heterogeneity exists between available studies to allow a meaningful meta analysis of the avoided travel when telemedicine is used across all possible settings. We propose instead to consider all credible evidence on avoided travel through telemedicine by fitting a linear model which takes into account the relevant factors in the circumstances of the studies performed. We propose the use of stepwise multiple regression to identify which factors are significant.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Our proposed approach is illustrated by the example of teledermatology. In a preliminary review of the literature we found 20 studies in which the percentage of avoided travel through telemedicine could be inferred (a total of 5199 patients). The mean percentage avoided travel reported in the 12 store-and-forward studies was 43%. In the 7 real-time studies and in a single study with a hybrid technique, 70% of the patients avoided travel. A simplified model based on the modality of telemedicine employed (i.e. real-time or store and forward) explained 29% of the variance. The use of store and forward teledermatology alone was associated with 43% of avoided travel. The increase in the proportion of patients who avoided travel (25%) when real-time telemedicine was employed was significant (<it>P </it>= 0.014). Service planners can use this information to weigh up the costs and benefits of the two approaches.</p