Background: Identifying and employing appropriate learning styles could play an important role in selecting teaching styles in order to improve education. Objectives: This study aimed to determine the relationship between learning styles preferences and gender, educational major and status in first year students at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional study employing the visual-aural-read/write-kinesthetic (VARK) learning style’s questionnaire was done on 184 first year students of medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, nursing and health services management at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in 2012. The validity of the questionnaire was assessed through experts’ views and reliability was calculated using Cronbach’s alpha coefficients (α = 0.86). Data were analyzed using the SPSS ver.18 software and x² test. Results: Out of 184 participants who responded to and returned the questionnaire, 122 (66.3%) were female; more than two-thirds (68.5%) of the enrolled students were at the professional doctorate level (medicine, pharmacy, dentistry) and 31.5% at the undergraduate level (nursing and health services management). Eighty-nine (48.4%) students preferred a single-modal learning style. In contrast, the remaining 95 students (51.6%) preferred multi-modal learning styles. A significant relationship between gender and single modal learning styles (P = 0.009) and between status and learning styles (P = 0.04) was observed. Conclusions: According to the results, male students preferred to use the kinesthetic learning style more than females, while, female students preferred the aural learning style. Knowledge about the learning styles of students at educational institutes is valuable and helps solve learning problems among students, and allows students to become better learners. Keywords: Medical Students; Learning Style; VARK; Survey

Objective. Medication errors are the most common types of medical errors which considerably endanger the patient safety. This survey aimed to study the factors influencing not reporting on medication errors from the nurses’ viewpoints in Abbasi Hospital of Miandoab, Iran. Methods. This was a cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study conducted in 2012 in which all nurses () working in different inpatient units were studied using a consensus method. Required data were collected using a questionnaire. Collected data were analyzed through some statistical tests including Independent -test, ANOVA, and chi-square. Results. According to the results, the most important reasons for not reporting on medication errors were related to the managerial factors (), factors related to the process of reporting (), and fear of the consequences of reporting (), respectively. Also, there was a significant relationship between employment status and fear of the Consequences of reporting on medication errors (). Conclusion. This study results showed that managerial factors had the greatest role in the refusal of reporting on medication errors. Therefore, for example, establishing a mechanism to improve quality rather than focus only on finding the culprits and blaming them can result in improving the patient safety.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Measuring and analyzing of provided services times in Emergency Department is the way to improves quality of hospital services. The present study was conducted with aim measuring and analyzing patients waiting time indicators in Emergency Department in a general hospital in Iran. MATERIAL & METHODS: This cross-sectional, observational study was conducted during April to September 2012. The study population consisted of 72 patients admitted to the Emergency Department at Baharlo hospital. Data collection was carried out by workflow forms. Data were analyzed by t. test and ANOVA. RESULTS: The average waiting time for patients from admission to enter the triage 5 minutes, the average time from triage to physician visit 6 minute and the average time between examinations to leave ED was estimated 180 minutes. The total waiting time in the emergency department was estimated at about 210 minutes. The significant correlation between marital status of patients (P=0.03), way of arrive to ED (P=0.02) and type of shift work (P=0.01) with studied time indicators were observed. CONCLUSION: According to results and comparing with similar studies, the average waiting time of patients admitted to the studied hospital is appropriate. Factors such as: Utilizing clinical governance system and attendance of resident Emergency Medicine Specialist have performed an important role in reducing of waiting times in ED.

Background and Objective: Considering the history of frequent, and severe, earthquakes in Iran and the importance of health care service delivery by hospitals in these cases, having a plan to deal with disasters should be considered a priority. The aim of this study was the observance of preparedness prerequisites against earthquake in hospitals affiliated with Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences (SBUMS) and its relationship with demographic and organizational characteristics. Methods: This was a cross- sectional study that was conducted in 15 hospitals affiliated with SBUMS, Iran in 2012. Data were collected using observation of documents and questionnaire consists of 138 questions in 8 dimensions. The content validity and reliability were confirmed. Data analysis was performed with descriptive statistic, t-test and ANOVA. Results: Results showed that 86.7% of hospitals were in good preparedness level, with the average 85.9 ± 15.5. The maximum and minimum level of preparedness was related to mitigation of construction hazards (56.6 ± 35.6) and support of vital services (97.2 ± 6.0) dimensions, respectively. According to the results, there was a significant statistical difference between mean preparedness and safety of equipment and hazardous materials, hospital evacuation and field treatment, hospital environmental health proceedings, hospital curriculum programs and support of services dimensions with management experience (P<0.05). Conclusion: Although results corroborate that preparedness prerequisites against earthquake are in good level but attention to the weaknesses mitigation of construction hazards dimension and strengthening these prerequisites, which have obvious impacts on the structural vulnerability of hospitals and adjacent buildings in earthquakes, have been proposed.

Background: Novel coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) was declared as a global pandemic in 2020. With the spread of the disease, a better understanding of patient outcomes associated with their symptoms in diverse geographic levels is vital. This study aimed to evaluate clinical outcomes of COVID-19 patients by disease symptoms in Ilam province, Iran.Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. Data were collected from integrated health system records for all hospitals affiliated with the Ilam University of Medical Sciences between 26-Jan-2020 and 02-May-2020. All patients with a confirmed positive test were included in this study. Descriptive analyses, chi-square test, and binary logistic regression model were performed by using SPSS version 22.Results: The mean age of participants was 46.47 ± 18.24 years. Of the 3608 patients, 3477 (96.1%) were discharged, and 129 (3.9%) died. 54.2% of the patients were male and were in the age group of 30–40 years. Cough, sore throat, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, and fever or chills were the most common symptoms. Patients with symptoms of shortness of breath, abnormal radiographic findings of the chest, and chest pain and pressure were relatively more likely to die. According to binary logistic regression results, the probability of death in patients with shortness of breath, abnormal chest radiographic findings, and chest pain was 1.34, 1.24, and 1.32 times higher, respectively, than for those without.Conclusion: Our study provides evidence that the presentation of some symptoms significantly impacts outcomes of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. Early detection of symptoms and proper management of outcomes can reduce mortality in patients with COVID-19.

Introduction: Birth weight is a reliable indication of intrauterine growth and determines the child's future physical and intellectual development. The purpose of this study was to use data mining technique in identifying accurate predictors of (low birth weight) LBW. Materials and methods: This study used secondary data from 450 medical records ...