Survey of characteristics of neonatal death in neonatal intensive care unit of Boo-Ali Sina educational & therapeutic center between 2003-2006

, , , (Received 24 June, 2009 ; Accepted 16 September, 2009)AbstractBackground and purpose: The neonatal mortality rate is an important index for evaluation of public health. It involves the death of infants under 28 days. Obviously, recognizing the characteristics of neonatal mortality in this center, may be useful for promoting the procedures in the NICU, as well as planning to impede the severe complications or death.Materials and methods: This is a descriptive study performed by analyzing the available data from the medical records of NICU patients at Boo-Ali Sina Educational & Therapeutic Center during 2003 and 2006. The number of deaths, names, and medical records number of the dead infants were collected. Among 1238 patients in the NICU, 363 deaths were reported. According to medical records, 222 deaths occurred in neonates aged 0 to 27 days. Data were collected using a checklist, the validity and reliability of which were approved by clinicians. The Descriptive methods were used in analyzing the data.Results: The findings include: 140 subjects were male (63.1%); 72 from single birth (77.5%); the age-group of mothers of 38 cases (37.7%) was 20-24 y; 132 cases (59.5%) resided in villages; 129 cases (58.1%) with prenatal care; 120 cased of Caesarian section (54%); 155 cases (76%) with birth weight lower than 2500 grams and 154 preterm (75.5%). Mortality during neonatal period was divided in two groups: early death (0-6 days) 142 cases (62%) and late death (7-27 days) 80 cases (36%).Conclusion: Correct and exact completion of NICU forms would help undertaking descriptive and analytic epidemiologic studies.Key words: Neonatal mortality, early neonatal mortality, late neonatal mortality, NICUJ Mazand Univ Med Sci 2009; 20(74): 79-83 (Persian

Prediction of Active Learning by Evaluating the Components of Competency and Teaching Quality in the Students of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences

Background & Objective: Competency and teaching quality of professors play a key role in the quality of active learning in students. The present study aimed to predict the components of competency and teaching quality of professors regarding active learning in the students of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Materials and Methods: In this study, 359 students were selected via stratified random sampling, and Cochran’s formula was used to determine the sample size. Validity of three questionnaires was assessed using content validity and face validity, and the reliability was determined at the Cronbach’s alpha of 0.853 for the questionnaire of professors’ competency, 0.894 for the questionnaire of teaching quality, and 0.938 for the questionnaire of active learning in students. Data analysis was performed using parametric tests. Results: Variables of professors’ competency, teaching quality, and active learning in students were estimated to be above average at the significance level of 0.001 in the affiliated schools. A significant association was observed between teaching quality and professors’ competency at the significance of 0.001 and correlation-coefficient of 0.65. In addition, there was a significant association between teaching quality and active learning at the significance of 0.001 and correlation-coefficient of 0.61. Our findings indicated a linear correlation between the variables of competency and teaching quality compared to active learning (F=126.958; P=0.0001). Conclusion: According to the results, there seems to be a significant correlation between teaching quality and professors’ competency, which could predict the level of active learning in student