scholarly journals Tobacco Smoking among Medical Students in the Middle East

Author(s):  
Salman Alzayani ◽  
Randah R Hamadeh

A cross sectional study was conducted on medical students enrolled in the Arabian Gulf University in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The objective was to describe medical students’ tobacco smoking behavior and to provide recommendations for promoting a healthy lifestyle among them. A self administered anonymous questionnaire was used, which included questions on demography and tobacco smoking behavior. The study showed that 10.8% only of the medical students were current smokers, either on daily or occasional basis. However, 27.0% of the males were current smokers compared to 4.2% of the females (p<0.001). The mean and median ages of starting to smoke were 17.43±2.3 and 18 years, respectively. The prevalence of smoking was higher among students of years 3 and 4 than in years 1 and 2.Tobacco smoking behaviors cluster among students according to gender and medical year. Urgent interventions are needed to promote smoking cessation among medical students.

Author(s):  
AA Toubasi ◽  
BR Khraisat ◽  
RB AbuAnzeh ◽  
HM Kalbouneh

Objective Medicine is considered one if not the most stressful educational field. Thus, the aim of this study is to investigate the prevalence of stress and poor sleeping quality among medical students and the association between them. Method This cross-sectional study was conducted at the University of Jordan on second- and third-year medical students. The questionnaire consisted of: 1) Demographics; 2) The assessment tools which were Pittsburgh Quality of Sleep Index (PSQI) and Kessler Psychological Distress Status (K10). Binary logistic regression, chi-square and linear regression were used to investigate the association between PSQI, K10, and their determinants. Results The mean for PSQI score was 6.76 ± 3.32. PSQI scores interpretation revealed that 61.7% of the 282 participants of this study were poor sleepers. Logistic regression results showed that only the category of not napping at all from the napping hours variable was significantly associated with sleeping quality. Furthermore, the mean of K10 scores was 24.5 ± 8.5. K10 scores revealed that 66.3% of the participants were stressed. Logistic regression results showed that gender and regular exercise were significantly associated with psychological distress. Additionally, chi-square test, logistic regression and linear regression showed that PSQI was significantly associated with K10 (P <0.01). Conclusions Stress and poor sleeping quality in medical students at the University of Jordan were highly prevalent and strongly associated. What determined PSQI was daytime napping, and for K10 were regular exercise and gender. Further investigations into stress and sleep quality in the Arabian region are needed.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neda Dolatkhah ◽  
Seyed Kazem Shakouri ◽  
Azizeh Farshbaf Khalili ◽  
Majid Hajifaraji ◽  
Maryam Hashemian ◽  
...  

Abstract Objectives : In this cross-sectional study among 220 medical students we aimed to determine the nutritional knowledge and attitude of medical students through clinical training courses (externship and internship) of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Iran. A nutritional knowledge questionnaire included 51 questions was used to determine the correct, perceived and accuracy of knowledge of the participant in different aspects of nutrition sciences. Nutritional knowledge was calculated as percentage of correct responses. The nutrition attitude questionnaire included 30 questions. Both questionnaires were confirmed in terms of the validity and reliability for assessing nutritional knowledge and attitude in this sample of Iranian medical students. Results: The mean score of correct knowledge was not significantly different among externs and interns (68.20±7.50% and 67.87±6.04% respectively, p=0.729). Results showed that most of the participants (49.61% of externs and 57.14% of inters) had a poor nutritional knowledge, significantly varied by age (p=0.035). The mean attitude index of the subjects was not significantly different among externs and interns (106.37±13.66 and 108.16±13.35 out of 145 respectively, p=0.337). Most students (92.7%) had a very appropriate attitude toward nutrition, significantly varied by sex (p=0.010). These findings indicate that there are multiple deficiencies in nutrition knowledge of medical students.


Author(s):  
Ghaida Aziz, Ghaida jabri, Ghaida Al-Ahmadi, Mona Ehab, Marw

Breast feeding (BF) is known to have many advantages but our Arab region has a pattern similar to western countries; where exclusive breastfeeding less than 35%. Knowledge given to women during her antenatal visits plays an important influential role in her attitude and practice of BF later on.  Objective: To explore knowledge and attitude of female medical students at Taibah University about breastfeeding.  Methods: A Cross sectional study was carried out from October to November 2012. It included female medical students. Stratified sampling allocation technique was used; with a total sample of 149 students. A specialty designed self-administrated questionnaire in Arabic form was used. It included socio-demographic data, obstetric history, data about the knowledge and attitude of female medical students towards breastfeeding value and guidelines. Mean percent knowledge score for value of BF, mean percent score for BF guidelines and mean percent score for attitude were calculated. Appropriate statistical tests for qualitative and quantitative data were used accordingly. Results: Majority (91.9%) (of the studied sample) was never married and 37.6% got their knowledge about BF via books. Regarding ever married women, 58.3% only were gravid (mean =2.2±1.94). Only 25.0% were family planning users; 66.7% of them used hormonal contraceptives. Only 20% breast fed their infants with a mean duration for exclusive BF of 3.8 ± 2.87 months and mean age of weaning of 2.3 ±0.63 months. The mean knowledge percent score for guidelines of BF was 64.7±8.45. The mean attitude percent score for concepts related to BF was 76.9±7.91. Conclusion: Media and internet have minor roles in getting knowledge about BF. The mean knowledge score about advantages of BF, guidelines of BF and attitude towards BF of all female medical students; especially academic years were unsatisfactory.


Author(s):  
Krutarth R. Brahmbhatt ◽  
Amul B. Patel

Background: Antimicrobial-resistant organisms are spreading worldwide, and the pipeline for new antimicrobials remains meager. The next generation of doctors must be better prepared to use antimicrobials more sparingly and appropriately.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate medical students of GMERS Medical College Junagadh from January to May 2017. Self-administered structured close ended questionnaire in English was used. Pearson’s correlation co-efficient, t test and ANOVA were used as tests of significance.Results: Total 130 students participated in the study. Participation of females (48.5%) and males (51.5%) was almost equal. Almost 60% participants had adequate knowledge about antimicrobial resistance. The mean antimicrobial resistance knowledge score of participants was 22.7 (SD: ±5.27, min: 8, max: 37).Conclusions:Important finding of the study was that just one forth of the participants agreed that information they have received so far in medical course regarding antimicrobial resistance is adequate. The budding doctors should receive correct, adequate information regarding antimicrobial resistance.  


10.2196/18155 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. e18155
Author(s):  
Saki Tsukahara ◽  
Satoshi Yamaguchi ◽  
Futaba Igarashi ◽  
Reiko Uruma ◽  
Naomi Ikuina ◽  
...  

Background Maintenance of good health and a healthy lifestyle have significant impacts on the lives of university students. However, university students are prone to engage in risky health behaviors, resulting in impaired health status. Electronic health (eHealth) literacy is an important factor in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. However, no studies have assessed the eHealth literacy levels and the associated lifestyle behaviors among university students in Japan. Objective The purposes of this study were to clarify the eHealth literacy level, the participant characteristics associated with eHealth literacy, and the association of eHealth literacy with lifestyle behaviors of students in a Japanese university. Methods A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study of 3183 students at a national university in Japan was conducted. eHealth literacy was quantified using the Japanese version of the eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS). The association between participant characteristics (gender, school year, department of study, and living status) and eHEALS score was assessed using t tests. Additionally, the associations of eHealth literacy with lifestyle behaviors (exercise, smoking, alcohol consumption, etc.) were evaluated using logistic regression analyses. Results The mean eHEALS score was 23.6/40 points. The mean eHEALS score for students in medical departments was 27.0/40 points, which was 2.9 points higher than that of nonmedical students (P<.001). Similarly, the graduate school participants had higher scores than the undergraduate students. The proportion of participants who exercised regularly was higher in the high eHEALS score group than in the low score group, with an adjusted odds ratio of 1.39 (P<.001). Conclusions The eHealth literacy level of university students in Japan was comparable to that of the general Japanese population. Graduate students, as well as those in medical departments, had higher eHealth literacy. Furthermore, students with higher eHealth literacy had better exercise routines.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 12-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Fernandez ◽  
Kailash C. Kharkwal ◽  
Tahmina Afrose ◽  
Nasrin Habib ◽  
Supraya Das

Background: Healthy lifestyle practices play a key role in disease prevention and control of any chronic illness and disability. This study aims to identify the role of individual’s awareness towards a healthy life and well-being in a rural community Material and methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted by using structured questionnaire at a village, Kedah state, Malaysia on 2018. Results: The study revealed that among 120 respondents the mean ±SD age of respondents was 24±16.32 years. All the respondents were Muslim. The mean±SD weight of respondents was 66.07±14.353 kilogram. Study revealed that no participant reported drinking alcohol within the last month. 91 (76.6%) of the respondents were non-smoker. 42(35%) respondents reported daily consumption of fruits. 86 (71.67 %) respondents reported moderate to vigorous physical activities for 30 minutes per day. Regarding co-morbidity status, 60 (49.9%) was not suffering from any form of illness during the study period. This study found the significant association between the BMI and smoking habit with co-morbidity (p<0.000). Conclusion: Majority of the participants of this study was health conscious and had positive health-related behaviour. The effective behavioral changes less likely to happen unless the individual’s awareness and motivation towards a healthy life is decreased.


2010 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mevlüde Karadağ ◽  
Nurcan Yıldırım

The purpose of this descriptive and cross-sectional study was to find out how healthy students' lifestyles were and 320 students (85.33%) formed the sample. Instruments used were: a questionnaire prepared by the researchers, the Health Promoting Lifestyles Profile (HPLP; Walker, Sechrist, & Pender, 1987), the Ways of Coping with Stressful Life Events List (WCCL; Aysan, 1988, 1994), and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI; Hisli, 1988; Sahin, 1989; Teğin, 1980). SPSS was used for data analysis. The students' HPLP mean total score was averaged with the highest subscale score for self-actualization and the lowest for exercise. Mean scores on the WCLL for the problem focused and seeks social support subscales were lower than blamed self, wishful thinking, and avoidance mean scores. The mean score gained on the Beck Depression Inventory was 14.31 (SD = 11.06). Results suggest that these students do not have enough information about maintaining a healthy lifestyle and were not using effective methods for coping with stress; and 40% of them were depressed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Haifa Mohammed Saleh Al Gahtani ◽  
Haitham Ali Jahrami ◽  
Henry J. Silverman

Abstract Background To enhance the development of a curriculum in professionalism for medical students, the aim of this research was to evaluate medical students’ responses regarding professionalism teaching and behaviors in their clinical experience at the Arabian Gulf University (AGU). Methods A retrospective cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study involving Year 5 medical students at the AGU. We used a “climate of professionalism” survey that consisted of two parts. The first part asked students to rate their perceptions of the frequency of professionalism practices of their peers (medical students), residents, and faculty. The response choices included: “mostly”, “sometimes”, and “rarely”. The second part asked the students to assess their perceptions of the professionalism teaching and behaviors of the faculty. The response choices included: “mostly”, “sometimes”, and “rarely”. We calculated an overall score for the responses in both parts of the questionnaire by assigning 3, 2, and 1 points to the response choices, respectively. We also calculated subscale scores reflecting different professionalism constructs. We used descriptive statistics and a one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) followed by multiple testing comparisons with Bonferroni correction to examine pairwise comparisons. A p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results The mean total scores of participants’ ratings of professional behaviors of medical students, residents, and faculty for each academic year were approximately 60% of the total maximum score. The mean total scores of participants’ rating of faculty’s teaching and modeling behaviors concerning professionalism were approximately 58% of the maximum score. Compared with similar studies performed in the Arab Region, ratings regarding professional teaching and modeling of professionalism were lower. Conclusion We recommend the further evaluation of professionalism teaching and behaviors at the AGU and further discussions regarding curriculum reform.


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