The effect of Ramadan fasting on serum leptin, neuropeptide Y and insulin in pregnant women

Background: Many pregnant Muslim women choose to fast during Ramadan every year worldwide. This study aimed to examine the effect of Ramadan fasting on serum leptin, neuropeptide Y and insulin in pregnant women and find whether fasting during pregnancy could have a negative effect on the health of mothers and fetuses. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 39 healthy volunteer fasting pregnant women. Serum leptin, neuropeptide Y, insulin levels, body mass index and weight were measured five times on 0, 7th, 14th and 28th days of Ramadan and on the 14th day post-Ramadan. The data were analyzed by SPSS software (version 11.5) using repeated measures ANOVA to find whether any changes occurred in the variables of interest during the study, and Pearson correlation coefficient was used to examine the relations among the variables. Results: A significant change in fasting blood sugar, neuropeptide Y and leptin was observed during the study (p0.05). Conclusion: The result of this study revealed the important role of leptin and neuropeptide Y in the long term regulation of energy balance in pregnant women with chronic diurnal fasting, and it further revealed that Ramadan fasting did not significantly change the serum insulin level

Translation and psychometric evaluation of kember\'s reflective thinking questionnaire in Iranian physicians

Background & Objective: Physicians require to develop some abilities such as self-assessment, critical thinking, self-regulatory learning, and lifelong learning. Reflection is one of the essential educational concepts that make it possible to cultivate and create such abilities in medical students and health professionals. The aim of this study was translation and psychometric evaluation of Kember reflective thinking questionnaire in Iranian physicians. Materials & Methods: First, the Kember reflective thinking questionnaire was translated according to backward-forward translation procedure. Then, face validity was evaluated by examining the opinion of experts. Next, content validity was assessed by calculating content validity index and content validity ratio. Subsequently, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis was studied among 280 specialist and general physicians. Then, reliability was examined by calculating the intra-class correlation coefficient and investigating Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Results: Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the whole scale was 0.849 and the intra-class correlation coefficient was 0.714. Content validity index was 0.849 and content validity ratio was 0.825. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis resulted in a four-factors model including habitual action, understanding, reflection and critical reflection in the Iranian medical community. Conclusion: The Persian version of Kember reflective thinking questionnaire with four factors has the desired reliability and validity in the Iranian medical community. Due to the appropriate psychometric properties, and ease of implementation, it can be used to evaluate the level of reflection of doctors

Comparative Study of the Effect of Three Teaching Methods of Group, Personal (Face-to-Face), and Compact Disc on Correcting the Pronunciation and Reading of the Prayer in the Students of Qom University of Medical Sciences

Background and Objectives: Emphasis is placed on the correction of reading the prayer as an important precept in Islamic culture, and it is essential to use an effective teaching method to promote the status of reading the prayers in youth. This study was conducted with the aim of comparing the effect of the methods of group teaching, personal (face-to-face) teaching and using compact disc (CD) on correcting the pronunciation and reading of the prayer in the students of Qom University of Medical Sciences in 2011.Methods: This semi-experimental study was done on the students of the Faculty of Nursery and Midwifery of Qom University of Medical Sciences. The samples were randomly assigned into three groups, and the number of students in each group was 22. A checklist of reading mistakes was completed before the intervention, and then, teaching content was given to them in the form of group and face-to-face teaching and CD. In the following, reading mistakes of the students’ prayer were recorded one month after intervention. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, and Kruskal–Wallis and Wilcoxon tests at a significance level of p<0.05.Results: Findings showed that the highest mean change in reading letters and pronunciation was in face-to-face teaching method, So that the mean and standard deviation of reading of letters and pronunciation before teaching were, respectively, 10.24±3.99 and 1.6±3.17, and after face-to-face teaching were, respectively, 1.56±1.8 and 1.08±0.4 (p=0.000). There was no significant statistical difference between the mean changes of letter reading in three teaching groups (p>0.05).Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, the effect of teaching methods of group, personal, and CD was the same in correcting the students’ reading of the prayer. Therefore, it is suggested that considering the students’ interest and current circumstances, various methods could be used for correction of the students’ reading of the prayer

Comparison of Two Self-Learning Methods(CD-Rom or Booklet) for Physician Education about Reporting Diseases Cases

Introduction: Success in surveillence programs is mostly dependent on physicians’ skill to report diseases. Self-learning is an appropriate method for medical education programs and has been used in many countries. The purpose of this study was to compare self-learning of reporting diseases through compact disks (CD) and booklets in physicians’ education. Methods: This study was a quasi-experimental study performed on 40 general physicians in Qom . They were divided into two groups [CD (n=20) and booklet (n=20)] by balanced block randomization. Knowledge and attitude were assessed before the intervention and a month after. The data collection tool was a self-administered questionnaire in 4 parts: demographic information, knowledge and attitude about notifiable diseases and evaluation of the educational method applied. The data were analyzed by SPSS software, through calculation of frequency, mean, standared deviation, t-test, kolmogorov -smirnov test and mann-whithney U- test. Results: Knowledge and attitude were promoted significantly in both groups(p<0.05). Mean and standard deviation of knowledge increased in the CD group,the mean score for knowledge increase was 10.55± 3.97 and in the booklet group it was 7.55±4.40,which showed a significant difference (p=0.03). There was no significant difference in attitude scores in the two groups. Regarding the evaluation of the methods, there was no significant difference between the groups in total mean scores. But as for two items, preference for either method and attraction,the CD group score stood significantly higher than the booklet group (p<0.001). Conclusion: Self-learning methods such as CD and booklet can be used for physicians to learn reporting skills and CD is more effective than booklet. These methods especially educational CD is recommended to be used in continuing medical education programs

Demographic Survey Of The Spiritual Intelligence In Medical Faculty Of Qom University of Medical Sciences

Background and Objectives: Spiritual intelligence is a kind of ultimate intelligence that shows the conceptual and valuable issues and to solve the problems associated with it. the foundation of individual beliefs can have important role in various fields especially in the promotion and provision of psychic health . Thus, the aim of this study was to survey the rate of spiritual intelligence among the students of Medical Faculty of Qom University of Medical Sciences and the relation between this issue and other demographic features. Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 353 nursing, midwifery and medicine students participated in the census method. The questionnaire used included spiritual intelligence and demographic features. We use statistical &ndash; descriptive and deductive tests and SPSS software for data analysis in the significant and valuable levels . Results: The mean and standard deviation of the students&rsquo; spiritual intelligence score was 152.93&plusmn;18.83 from 210 . Also, the results showed that spiritual intelligence score did not have any significant statistical relationship with age , location ,&nbsp; marital status , university admission and parents&rsquo; occupationand education ( p>0.05 ) . But it was observed that there was a significant relationship between spiritual intelligence and mother&rsquo;s education on the student&rsquo;s average coarse score ( p<0.05 ) . Conclusion: The students of nursing, midwifery and medicine in the Medical Faculty of Qom University of Medical Sciences had relatively high spiritual intelligence that can help them to improve and maintain their psychic health

Critical thinking in nursing education in Iran

Introduction: Nurturing critical thinking is one of the nursing educational goals in Iran. Assessing the critical thinking ability of nurses’ and nursing students' and the effect of current instructional strategies to foster it can assist to determine the efficacy or probable inadequacy of the educational system. The present study reviews the published studies on critical thinking in nursing, in Iran. Methods: This paper reviewed studies concerning critical thinking in nursing, paying particular attention to the effect of academic education on nursing students' critical thinking ability in Iran. This systematic review searched internal resources such as Iranmedex, SID, Magiran and library sources from 2003 through 2009. Other sources such as Pubmed and Elsevier were used for discussion. The key words used were “critical thinking”, “nursing” and “nursing education”. Results: The literature review showed nurses’ and students' critical thinking ability in Iran is low. It also showed that academic education did not have a significant effect on critical thinking. Conclusion: Low critical thinking skills score of nurses and nursing students in literature review asserted that it is necessary to reassess current educational strategies. It is also essential to consider probable insufficiency of critical thinking instruments

Validity and reliability of Persian version of HIV/AIDS related stigma scale for people living with HIV/AIDS in Iran

To assess the perceived HIV/AIDS related stigma a comprehensive and well developed stigma instrument is necessary. This study aimed to assess validity and reliability of the Persian version of HIV/AIDS related stigma scale which was developed by Kang et al for people living with HIV/AIDS in Iran.Thescale was forward translatedby two bilingual academic members then both translations were discussed by expert team. Back-translation was done by two other bilingual translators then we carried out discussion with both of them. To evaluate understandability the scale was administered to 10 Persons Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). Final Persian version was administered to 80 PLWHA in Qom, Iran in 2014. Test-retest reliability was assessed in a sample of 20 PLWHA after a week by intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC).Cronbach's alpha coefficient for overall scale was 0.85. Also Cronbach's alpha coefficients for the five subscales were as follows: social rejection (9 items, α = 0.84), negative self-worth (4 items, α = 0.70), perceived interpersonal insecurity (2 items, α = 0.57), financial insecurity (3 items, α = 0.70), discretionary disclosure (2 items, α = 0.83). Test-retest reliability was also approved with ICC = 0.78. Correlation between items and their hypothesized subscale is greater than 0.5. Correlation between an item and its own subscale was significantly higher than its correlation with other subscales.This study demonstrate that the Persian version of HIV/AIDS related stigma scale is valid and reliable to assess HIV/AIDS related stigma perceived by people living whit HIV/AIDS in Iran

Nursing students experiences toward evidence-based learning in clinical setting: A qualitative study

Introduction: Evidence-based learning is an effective educational strategy. Assessment of nursing student’s viewpoints about this new method can increase its application. This research was conducted to find out student’s experiences toward evidence-based learning in clinical setting. Methods: This qualitative study was performed by grounded theory method in 2010. Eighteen nursing students were selected by purposeful sampling. Students were asked to use evidence for problem solving in their pediatric internship rotation and report their findings in the morning report sessions. Data was collected by interview and was analyzed using content analysis methods. Results: Five main themes categorized in this research including experiences of thinking, self efficacy, integrating theory and practice, group interaction and problem solving. Conclusion: In attention to positive experience of evidence-based learning, intergrating of this method in clinical nursing education is recommended

Experiences of fathers with inpatient premature neonates: Phenomenological interpretative analysis

Background: Birth and hospitalization of premature neonates create enormous challenges for the family with serious impacts on parents' mental and emotional health. The present study was designed to explore the experiences of fathers with premature neonates hospitalized in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Materials and Methods: In this interpretative phenomenological study, data were collected using in-depth interviews guided with a semi-structured questionnaire and analyzed by interpretative phenomenological analysis. Totally seven interviews were conducted with six participants. Results: The mean age of the fathers was 32 (23–42) years, and all of the fathers lived with their wives. Experiences of the fathers were categorized into 13 subordinate and three superordinate themes: “abandonment and helplessness” (lack of financial support, lack of informational support, and indignation and distrust toward the hospital staffs); “anxiety and confusion” (family disruption, shock due to the premature birth of the neonate, uncertainty, the loss of wishes, feeling of guilt and blame, and occupational disruption); and “development and self-actualization” (emotional development, spiritual development, independence and self-efficacy, and responsibility). Conclusions: The present study showed that the fathers with premature neonates hospitalized in NICU encounter both positive (development and self-actualization) and negative experiences (lack of financial and informational supports, distrusting toward the hospital staffs, family disruption, and occupational disruption). Planning to manage adverse experiences can help fathers to cope with this situation