دکتر امین قنبرنژاد

Development and progress of human society is rely on research and the application of its principles in educational-scientific fields. Research is one of the most important tasks of universities in order to find and provide solutions to solve problems and obstacles in the society. Students play an important role in research and production of scientific documents, and this is the reason why universities have moved from education only, which is known as first-generation universities, to second-generation universities or education combined with research. Student research committees in the second generation universities play a vital role in the development of research, they identify interested students by establishing a relationship between faculty members and students, creating friendly research groups, research camps and show them the way. Which may be a kind of research talent search. Due to the importance of the mentioned cases, it is necessary to investigate the knowledge, attitude, and performance of students towards research in medical sciences universities. Because the first stage is the formation of research beliefs and ideas in the university and during the student period. The knowledge, attitude, and research performance of students in the field of health and treatment can play an effective role in the field of public health policies, providing health services, as well as the efficiency of the trained forces to fulfill their mission. This study was conducted to investigating the knowledge, attitude, and performance of students towards research in the Health Faculty of Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences in 2022.

The present study was a descriptive-analytical study that was conducted cross-sectionally on all undergraduate students of Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Health. The sample size (N) was equal to 200 people, and due to a series of restrictions and lack of necessary access to students, 164 of them were participated in this study. To conduct research, the code of ethics (IR.HUMS.REC.1401.133) obtained in the Faculty of Health of Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences. Then a standard questionnaire was applied to investigate students' knowledge, attitude, and performance towards research. The data collected via a questionnaire consisting of four sections of demographic characteristics, knowledge assessment, attitude, and research performance of students. Wrong answers were given a score of zero and correct answers were given a score of 1. The ranking of the students' knowledge based on the obtained score was as follows: 1. Poor level (0-7), 2. Average level (8-11), 3. Good level (12-15). In the attitude section, each question had a score between 1 and 5. In this study, scores of 15-34 were considered as poor attitude, scores of 35-59 as average attitude, and scores of 60-75 as good attitude. In the functional questions section, each question had a score between 0-3. Based on the results, scores of 0-10 were considered as poor performance, scores of 11-20 as average performance, scores of 21-30 as good performance, and scores greater than 30 as excellent performance. The obtained data were statistically analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics (T-Test, ANOVA, etc.) at a significance level of p<0.05 in SPSS V25.0 software. In order to describe and analyze the data, frequency distribution tables, graphs, index of central tendency (mean, median and mode), and dispersion index (variance, standard deviation, coefficient of variation and their range) are used.

Among 164 studied students, 29 (17.7%) were male, and 135 (82.3%) were female. The information of students participating in the study showed that 85.4% of students were single and the rest were married. The largest number of students participating in this study (36%) are related to the field of environmental health engineering, and other fields are 23.8%, 20.7%, and 19.5%, respectively, related to the fields of public health and occupational health engineering, and biology and vector control. About 72% students lived in dormitories. The relationship between each of the three parts of students' knowledge, attitude, and research performance using Pearson's correlation (at a significance level of 0.05) indicates a correlation of 0.325 between knowledge and attitude, a correlation of 0.334 between knowledge and performance, and the correlation was 0.285 between attitude and performance. The relationship between each part of students' knowledge, attitude, and research performance with their educational level (average) was also investigated. It was observed that there was a positive and significant correlation (0.193) between students' GPA and their research performance. The analysis of the relationship between the variables of gender, marital status, residence status, membership in the student research committee, and field of study using the T-Test showed that the knowledge of girls was significantly higher than that of boys (p<0.05) but in the field of attitude and No significant difference was observed between boys and girls. Regarding the marital status, no significant relationship was observed between the knowledge, attitude, and performance of single and married students. Statistical analysis and examination of the data obtained from the performance of the studied students according to their living conditions showed that the non-dormitory students had a higher average than the dormitory students (p<0.05), but there was a significant difference between their knowledge and attitude. There were no dormitory and non-dormitory people. Dormitory people had a weaker performance than non-dormitory people, which can be due to reasons such as the psychological effect caused by being away from the family environment, the lack of access to free time due to the creation of friendly meetings in the dormitory environment. It should have suitable facilities and space for studying and conducting research. In the study conducted by Izadi et al. at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, there was a significant statistical relationship between the level of attitude and the place of residence of people; So that the students living in the dormitory had a better attitude about research, which is contrary to the results of the present study.The knowledge, attitude, and research performance of students who were members of the student research committee were higher than other students. Regarding the field of study of the students, a significant difference (p<0.05) was observed in the average score of knowledge (0.032) and performance (0.014) of students studying in different fields of study at the undergraduate level. The results of the ANOVA statistical test on the relationship between students' knowledge, attitude, and performance with the students' academic year showed that, in general, the average scores related to knowledge, attitude, and research performance increased with the increase of the academic year, and therefore the difference There was a significance between students working and studying in different academic semesters (p<0.05). These results are consistent with the findings of Ghafornia et al.'s study (2004) in Isfahan. In a study related to chiropractic students in England, the attitude of 76% of these students towards research was investigated. In this study, the final year students' views on research were significantly different from the first year students and they had a more positive attitude, which is consistent with the results of the present study. In addition, in a study that was conducted in connection with the students of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in order to investigate their knowledge and attitude about research, the attitude of students in lower educational levels towards research was positive compared to postgraduate students.

Based on the results, it is necessary to find ways to overcome the obstacles faced by students and motivate them to participate in research. Faculties of medical sciences can by updating their curricula and focusing on research-oriented activities, teaching research methods and research empowerment of students, allocating time, developing spaces, facilities, budgets, and research opportunities, forming and Expanding student research cores, assigning supervisors for student research, encouraging and persuading faculty members to participate in student research, provide research experience for all students in faculties of medical sciences. What is certain is that efforts to comprehensively evaluate this issue and to find ways to overcome the existing obstacles can lead to an increase in the participation of students in various fields of medicine in research.

Objective:

 Infertility is affected by various factors. The hookah use can aggravate this problem. This study aims to determine the effect of hookah use on male infertility.

Methods :

This is a cross-sectional study on 40 men with hookah use and 40 non-users who referred to Imam Reza Hospital in Bandar Abbas, Iran in 2019. Data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire, and semen parameters were analyzed. Independent t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, and Chi-square test were used to assess the relationship of hookah use with infertility-related parameters in abnormal and normal sperms of the two groups.

Results :

There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of demographic parameters; hookah use was more in young and employed men with academic education. Means of sperm count,  motile sperm, sperms with progressive sperm motility, inactive sperms with progressive motility, and normal-shape sperms in the hookah users were 22±12, 35±10, 6±3, 21±6, 34±8 %, respectively, which were significantly lower than in non-users.

Conclusion:

 Given the adverse effects of hookah use on male fertility, health managers should increase the awareness of people about its effects.

Objective :

Among the pollutants in water sources, heavy metals are of great concern due to their non-biodegradability characteristics, their ability to accumulate in the food chain, and their adverse and chronic effects on human health. Therefore, this study aims to assess the health risk of exposure to heavy metals through drinking water in Bandar Abbas, Iran.

Methods:

 This descriptive-analytical study was performed on drinking water samples in Bandar Abbas, Iran in 2020. Forty-two samples were taken from the drinking water distribution networks, the point-of-use water treatment devices, and municipal water treatment centers. Heavy metal concentrations in the samples were measured using the inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry method. The carcinogenic risk of heavy metals was assessed according to probabilistic risk assessment method and Monte Carlo simulation technique.

Results :

The mean concentrations of arsenic, nickel, lead, and cadmium in drinking water were 1.25, 0.0713, 1.28, and 0.0005 µg/L, respectively. The mean carcinogenic risks of the mentioned metals were 1.23×10-4, 8.89×10-5, 2.07×10-4, and 2.23×10-4, respectively.

Conclusion:

 The average concentrations of heavy metals in drinking water of Bandar Abbas city and their risks, except for arsenic, were lower than the standard level. Although the concentrations and risk levels showed no significant threat for the consumers, more studies are needed especially on the arsenic concentration.

High blood pressure is one of the major risk factors for cardiovascular diseases in developed and developing countries. Controlling blood pressure requires lifelong self-care behaviors. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of intervention based on social cognitive theory on self-care behaviors of patients with hypertension.

The target population of this quasi-experimental study were patients with high blood pressure in health centers of Farsan. Participants were randomly divided into two groups of intervention (90 people) and control (90 people). Data were collected using the self-care activity and social cognitive theory questionnaires before and 3 months after the educational intervention. The training program were held in 12 sessions with 60 to 90 minutes duration, using lecture, group discussion, practical demonstrations, questions and answers, and video/film methods, as well as the use of a WhatsApp group for the intervention group. Data were analyzed using SPSS ver. 22 software.

After the educational intervention, the mean scores of knowledge, social cognitive theory constructs, and self-care behaviors in the intervention group increased significantly compared to that of the control group. Results of the regression analysis showed that more changes in the constructs of observational learning, self-regulation, and outcome evaluation results in the better self-care behavior in patients with hypertension.

In interventional studies based on social cognitive theory, in order to improve the self-care behaviors of patients with hypertension, special emphasis should be placed on observational learning, self-regulation, and outcome assessment costructs.

 cardiovascular diseases as the most important diseases in the elderly are progressing conditions which start in childhood and show their clinical manifestations mostly during adulthood and midlife. Early diagnosis of these illnesses improves their prognosis and leads to their timely treatment; therefore, increasing the knowledge of medical personnel regarding their early diagnosis seems to me essential. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of virtual education on the knowledge of general practitioners (GPs) about cardiovascular risk factors.

 This was a before and after interventional study. The study sample consisted of 40 general practitioners who worked in General Service Centers of Bandar Abbas. Subject were recruited by a census method. The required data were gathered by means of a questionnaire in two phases: once before the intervention, an educational file about cardiovascular risk factors which was given to the subjects via multimedia methods including booklets, CD, and social networks (Telegram, Whatsapp, and etc.), and once after the intervention after a one-month interval. The questionnaires were filled out in the presence of the researcher. The acquired data was entered into the SPSS software version 19 and analyzed by appropriate statistical tests.

The results of this study showed that the knowledge of GPs about diabetes and hypertension significantly increased after the intervention (P-Value=0.02 and P-Value=0.000 respectively). Their knowledge of physical activities, obesity, smoking, the role of gender, and dyslipidemia also increased after the intervention; however, the increase was not statistically significant (P-Value=0.973, P-Value=0.167, P-Value=0.211, P-Value=0.211, and P-Value=0.236 respectively). GPs were also asked about the preferred method for education (booklets, CDs, and social networks) in the post-test questionnaire. 80% had chosed booklets and 20% had chosen social networks as their preferred method. None of the GPs preferred CDs.

According to the results of our study, seemingly GPs prefer educational booklets over CDs or social networks as a means of their scientific education and this method of education without the need to literally attend any programs can be useful to increase the knowledge of GPs in different scientific fields.

Malaria Elimination Program Has Launched with the Technical Support from The World Health Organization Since 2007 in Iran. In Order to Achieve The Elimination of Malaria, All Positive Cases Should Be Diagnosed and Treated Promptly, Especially Asymptomatic and Low Parasitic cases. This Study Was Conducted to Determine The Effectiveness of The Molecular Method in The Detection of Asymptomatic Malaria Cases towards the successful Malaria Elimination Program in Iran.

In This Descriptive-analytical Study, 210 Samples Were Randomly Collected from Residents of High Risk malarious Areas of Hormozgan Province. The Rate of Asymptomatic Plasmodium Infection Was Evaluated Using Microscopic, RDT, and Nested-PCR Techniques (using18 ssrRNA).

According to The Results, No Positive Asymptomatic Cases Were Observed with The Microscopic and RDT Methods, But by Using The Molecular Method, Three Positive Cases (1.4%) Were Detected.

The Results of This Study Showed That The sensitivity of molecular methods to detect asymptomatic parasitic reserviors is higher than other diagnostic methods and Nested-PCR is a good technique for detecting asymptomatic cases of malaria, therefore Use of a Sensitive Molecular Techniques With Wicroscopic and RDT Methods Is Necessary for The Detection of Asymptomatic Malaria Cases.