Awareness of Academic Staff Physicians with Principles of Evidence-Based Medicine and its Application in Daily Practice

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to evaluate familiarity of academic staff physicians with EBM and its application in daily practice. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2022 with the participation of academic staff physicians of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences in Iran. Data were collected using CEBM questionnaire and were analyzed with SPSS 20 software, using T-test and Spearman correlation statistical tests. Results: Out of 156 academic physicians, 97 (62.2%) completed the questionnaire, 62 (63.9%) were male, and 33 (34%) had participated in EBM workshops. Mean score of knowledge and attitude questions were 14.7± 3.9 and 3.8± 0.5 respectively. There was no significant difference between males and females in knowledge and attitudes (P >0.05). Physicians who participated in EBM workshops had higher scores in knowledge (P <0.05) but not in attitude (P= 0.06). Positive and significant correlation between age (r = 0.32, P = 0.001) and teaching experience (r = 0.28, P = 0.005) was observed with knowledge and attitude about EBM. 69.1% of participants used very little or not at all EBM in their daily practice. The most important obstacles were lack of time (49.5%) and specific information (22.7%). More than 65% of physicians tended to use EBM in their daily practice. Conclusion: The academic staff physicians of Hamadan, Iran had a positive attitude towards evidence-based medicine, but did not have enough information in this regard. Accordingly, its application in daily clinical work was relatively low. Holding EBM workshops is essential to increase awareness about EBM

Acute Poisoning in Elderly; a Five-Year Study (2008-2013) in Hamadan, Iran

Background: A good proportion of poisoned patients treated at poisoning wards are elderly. This study was designed to evaluate the epidemiologic pattern of acute poisoning in elderly in Hamadan, western Iran. Methods: In this retrospective cross-sectional study, poisoned patients aged 60 years and older treated at department of poisoning of Farshchian Hospital from March 2008 to March 2013 were included. Results: In this 5-year period, 7951 poisoned patients were treated at Farshchian Hospital in Hamadan, Iran. Among them, 418 (5.3%) patients were 60 years old or older, with mean age of 71.6 ± 5.1 years. Narcotics and recreational substances were the most common type of poisons responsible for poisoning (46.4%), which among them, methadone was the most commonly used drug (20.3%). Neurologic medicines were the most commonly used pharmaceutical products (16%), among which, benzodiazepines (8.9%) were responsible for the highest number of poisonings due to pharmaceuticals. Fifteen patients (3.6%) including 13 men and 2 women died. The toxic agents used by cases with fatal outcome were opioids (8 patients), organophosphates (5 patients) and aluminum phosphide (2 patients). Men were found to be significantly more affected with recreational substances (P < 0.001) and pesticides (P < 0.001), while poisoning with pharmaceutical products (P = 0.017) was significantly more common in women. Regarding the intention of poisoning, accidental poisoning (P = 0.025) and overdose (P < 0.001) were significantly more common in men while deliberate self-poisoning was significantly more frequent in women (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Deliberate self-harm and poisoning with opioids especially methadone showed a high prevalence in elderly poisoned patients in Hamadan, Iran.  It seems that drug trafficking control, addiction rehabilitation therapies and suicide prevention programs for elderly can be helpful in poisoning reduction in this age group in this part of the country

Psycho-social Factors Affecting the use of Masks during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Be\'sat Hospital in Hamadan: A Descriptive Study

Background and Objective: Despite the definite positive effect of wearing masks in preventing diseases, the level of adherence has been reported to be very low in some communities. This study was conducted to determine psycho-social factors affecting the use of masks during the COVID-19 pandemic at Be'sat Hospital in Hamadan, Iran. Materials and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 384 people referring to the Be'sat Medical Research and Training Hospital in Hamadan in 2022. The samples were selected using the availability sampling method. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire that included 51 questions to assess the participants' demographic, economic, social, cultural, and spiritual status and was completed by face-to-face interview method. The data were analyzed in SPSS 26 software using Chi-square, Monte Carlo, Mann-Whitney, and Student's t-tests were used to analyze the data. Results: The mean age of the participants was 36.76±11.71 years. More than half of the participants (54.7%) were men. The frequency of wearing a mask at the time of the interview was 48.4%. According to the findings, the frequency of using a mask was significantly lower in men than in women. A significant relationship was observed between wearing a mask and being single, being more educated, living in the city, and lacking a smoking history (P<0.001). Moreover, higher economic, cultural, and social status showed a significant relationship with using a mask (P<0.001). Conclusion: Economic, social, and cultural factors were identified as the influential factors in mask use; therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to preventive behaviors, social norms, and culturalization during epidemics