scholarly journals Knowledge and attitudes towards stem cells and the significance of their medical application among healthcare sciences students of Jouf University

PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e10661
Author(s):  
Abdulrahman Almaeen ◽  
Farooq Ahmed Wani ◽  
Ashokkumar Thirunavukkarasu

Background Adequate knowledge and positive attitude of the medical and dental students towards the stem cells and their utilization in medical science is extremely important keeping in view the ever-increasing potential of stem cells in the medical field. The present study was planned to assess the knowledge and attitude of the medical and dental students towards stem cells and their applications in medical science. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted among 217 medical and dental college students of the Jouf University. The systematic random sampling method was used to select students based on gender and year of study. After obtaining written informed consent, a self-administered questionnaire consisting of three parts was administered to the students. The first part collected the socio-demographic details; part 2 contains 15 questions regarding knowledge and part 3 contains 10 questions regarding attitude towards stem cells. Results Majority of the participants were males (54.4%) in the age group of 21–22 years. Awareness regarding Saudi stem cell donor registry was observed in 50.7% of the students . A total of 72.4% of the students possessed medium knowledge while 70% of the students possessed high attitude score towards stem cell research and its medical significance. A significant relationship was observed between the Saudi Stem Cell Donor Registry awareness and knowledge score with p-value of 0.04. Relationship between the knowledge and attitude scores was significant with p-value of 0.001 and with a Pearson correlation score of r = 0.334. Conclusion Medium to high level of knowledge was noted among majority of the participants and a high attitude score was also noted towards stem cells and their relevance. A significant positive correlation was observed between the knowledge and attitude scores. It is recommended to include various interventional educational programs for the medical and dental students on the significance of stem cells in the medical field.

Author(s):  
Tehreem Aftab ◽  
Ehtisham Khyzer

Introduction: The use of stem cell has opened new avenues in the management and cure of diseases in modern era. They have enabled us to achieve remissions and cure in malignancies. They have enormous ability of stimulating the repair process in diseased and damaged tissue. As the medical specialists are a reliable source of information, so their knowledge and approach are vital in counselling the patients regarding the use of stem cells as an advanced treatment option. Aim: To assess the knowledge and attitude level about stem cells and their therapeutic applications among medical undergraduates. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out for a period of six months from January 2021 to June 2021. It included 150 MBBS students (2nd to final year) of Northern Border University (NBU), Arar, Saudi Arabia. A well-structured questionnaire was used to collect data after obtaining informed consent. It included 15 statements to assess knowledge and 10 statements about attitude. The total knowledge and attitude scores were calculated for each student and classified as poor, moderate or high score. The knowledge and attitude scores were correlated using Pearson’s correlation. Results: Majority of the participating students were males (63.3%) with mean age of 23.62±1.5. Adequate knowledge about stem cells was observed in 65.3% of students while 10% had excellent knowledge. An overall positive attitude was reported with a mean score of 36.9±3.71. There was a low positive relationship between knowledge and attitude scores with p-value <0.001 and Pearson’s score(r) of 0.396. Conclusion: The study indicates an overall good knowledge and positive approach towards stem cell use in medicine among medical undergraduates. It is suggested to organise comprehensive training sessions and update the curriculum regarding recent developments in stem cell research to further enhance students’ awareness and attitude.


Author(s):  
Fareya Usmani ◽  
Saba Arshad ◽  
Nasima Iqbal ◽  
Zakia Saleem ◽  
Hira Mehmood ◽  
...  

Aim: To assess and compare the knowledge and attitude of medical and dental undergraduates towards COVID-19 in current setup Study Design: Cross-sectional Place and Duration of Study: Study was done at Ziauddin university Karachi during the period of October 2020 to December 2020 Methodology: Medical and dental students from 1st year to final year were enrolled in the study. Cronbach’s alpha was 0.71. The questionnaire was consisting of demographic variables, questions regarding the knowledge towards COVID-19 and the attitude of medical and dental students. Analysis was done by using SPSS version-20. Frequency and percentages was used to present the categorical data. Comparison between demographic variables and knowledge score was done by using the independent t-test and one-way ANOVA test as appropriate. p-value less than 0.05 was considered as significant. Results: About 56% of participants were female and from 3rd year (25.2%). Comparing with socioeconomic status, the upper class of medical students were having higher score. As the year of study upgraded the students reported higher knowledge score with significant p-values among both medical and dental students. Medical students were having higher knowledge about COVID-19 than the dental students but dental students were having more knowledge about the safety measures. Looking over the attitude, majority of medical students were interested in gaining information about COVID-19. Conclusion: It can be concluded that medical students are having more knowledge about the COVID-19 but the dental students were more aware of the protective measure which should be taken. Both groups of medical and dental students having positive attitude towards limiting the spread of COVID-19.


Medicina ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 55 (6) ◽  
pp. 244
Author(s):  
Fatima A. Saleh

Background: Umbilical cord blood (UCB) used to be considered waste material and was discarded at birth. However, cord blood is now considered a rich source of adult stem cells that can be used to treat many conditions and diseases. This study was performed to determine pregnant women’s knowledge and attitudes toward cord blood stem cell banking and donation in Lebanon. Methods: A descriptive study was conducted in antenatal clinics in Beirut and data were collected using a questionnaire distributed to pregnant women after provision of informed consent. A total of 244 women responded. Results: Less than half of the women (46%) reported knowledge about cord blood banking. However, participants with university and secondary education had significantly higher odds of considering UCB storage compared to those with primary education (odds ratio (OR) 8.62, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.74–27.15 and OR 21.23,95% CI 6.55–68.86, respectively). Older pregnant women were less likely to think about UCB stem cells storage (OR 0.92, 95% CI 0.85–0.98). Conclusion: Respondents who had an existing knowledge about UCB stem cells banking in general were more likely to consider storing UCB in blood banks if affordable (45.9%). Therefore, it is necessary to inform pregnant women about stem cell banking so that they can make the appropriate decisions for themselves.


Blood ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 106 (11) ◽  
pp. 1070-1070
Author(s):  
Simon Mantha ◽  
David G. Savage ◽  
Gwen L. Nichols ◽  
Donna Skerrett ◽  
Charles S. Hesdorffer

Abstract Autologous stem cell transplant has been used with variable success rates in the treatment of different malignancies. One of the potential causes of relapse is contamination of the stem cell collection by neoplastic cells. Purging the stem cells by CD34+ selection has been used to reduce such contamination. In this study two different devices were compared in their efficiency to achieve CD34+ selection of peripheral blood stem cells collected in individuals undergoing autologous transplant for breast cancer, neuroblastoma, plasma cell dyscrasia, lymphoma (both Hodgkin and non Hodgkin), rhabdomyosarcoma and amyloidosis. A total of 28 patients were randomized to CD34 selection on the Nexell Isolex 300i® system (NIS) or the Miltenyi Biotec CliniMACS® (MCMS) system. The prevalence of plasma cell dyscrasia was higher in the MCMS group (57%) than in the NIS group (22%). On the other hand, there were 2 cases of Hodgkin lymphoma and 2 cases of breast cancer in the NIS group, in comparison to none in the MCMS group. Average values for parameters of selection efficacy for the 19 patients transplanted are shown in table 1 (recovery = number of cells post / number of cells pre-selection X 100, viability measured with the trypan blue exclusion test). Transplant was done as per local protocols according to the type of malignancy. CD34+ cell dose was determined by institutional guidelines. Average values for engraftment are shown in table 2 (two patients who died before engraftment in the MCMS group were excluded from calculation of the mean values). One patient died of graft failure in the MCMS group in contrast to none in the NIS group. Although the numbers of patients are relatively low, this is the first randomized study in which the selection efficiency of the NIS and MCMS devices have been compared in patients receiving CD34-selected autografts. CFU-GM recovery and cell viability were lower, while neutrophil engraftment was slower in the MCMS group, but these differences were not statistically significant. Our data do not show any clinically significant advantage for either the NIS or MCMS selection device. Table 1 Device CD34+ recovery (%,range) CFU-GEMM recovery (%,range) CFU-GM recovery (%,range) Viability pre (%,range) Viability post (%,range) P-value calculated with Student’s t-Test. NIS 52 (16–76) 5 (1–14) 9 (0–42) 95 (91–99) 95 (90–99) MCMS 66 (48–75) 4 (1–5) 5 (0–9) 94 (80–99) 88 (60–100) P 0.17 0.71 0.57 0.69 0.16 Table 2 Device CD34+ infused (X 106/kg, range) Time to ANC ≥500 (days, range) Time to plt ≥20 (days, range) # Units plt P-value calculated with Student’s t-Test. NIS 3.6 (2.0–5.2) 12.2 (9–20) 15.9 (11–38) 19.4 (0–30) MCMS 3.6 (1.5–5.1) 15.1 (11- ∞) 16.8 (9-∞) 40.2 (6–150) P - 0.22 0.79 0.23


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shervin Shafiei ◽  
Ahmad Sofi-Mahmudi ◽  
Mohammad Behnaz ◽  
Hannaneh Safiaghdam ◽  
Soroush Sadr

Introduction: Obstructive sleep apnea is a relatively common sleep disorder, which leads to multiple sleep arousal and hypoxemia. It also has a significant socioeconomic impact. Dentists can have a role in screening as well as treating apnea by orthodontic devices. No study has evaluated the knowledge and attitude of dental health professionals about obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in Iran. We aimed to measure knowledge and attitude among students and faculty members of Shahid Beheshti Dental School, Tehran, Iran about OSA. Materials and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey among residents and professors in oral and maxillofacial surgery, orthodontics, and oral medicine specialties and dental students. The Obstructive Sleep Apnea Knowledge and Attitude (OSAKA) questionnaire was used to obtain the information regarding knowledge and attitude. We used Chi-square, Kruskall Wallis, Mann-Whitney U test for statistical analysis. The data were analyzed by SPSS 22.0 and a p-value lower than 0.05 considered to be significant. Results: One hundred ninety-seven participants, including 43 dental students, 68 dental residents, and 64 dental professors filled the survey. Mean knowledge score among all participants was 10.69 (SD=3.133). Overall, oral medicine and oral and maxillofacial surgery professors had significantly higher correct answer ratios in the knowledge section than fifth and sixth-year dental students (p<0.001). There was no significant difference among other groups (p>0.05). About attitude, 91% of respondents reported that OSA is an important or extremely important disorder. However, only 10.2% and 16.9% felt confident about the ability to manage patients with OSA and identifying patients at risk for OSA, respectively. Conclusion: All of the participants had poor knowledge but a positive attitude towards OSA. This shows the necessity of better education about OSA.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 317-323
Author(s):  
Farnaz Salahizadeh Baghmisheh ◽  
◽  
Amaneh Mohammadi Roushandeh ◽  
Sajjad Rezaei ◽  
Alia Sabari ◽  
...  

Background. Medical students have a significant role in improving new perspective about stem cell application in treatment of incurable diseases; such as degenerative neurologic disorders. Methods. In this descriptive cross-sectional study conducted in 2019-2020, 424 medical students at Guilan University of Medical Sciences responded to a questionnaire. The questionnaire was included the questions about knowledge of medical students about application of stem cells in neurologic disorders and stem cells donation and their attitude as well. Exclusion criteria were reluctance to participate in study and less than 20% response to questionnaire. The convenience sampling method was used. Inclusion criteria were being a medical student and willingness to participate in the project. Data were analyzed using SPSS 20 by Pearson correlation, independent student t, one-way ANOVA, U-Mann-Whitney. Results. 49.5% and 43.2% of participants had very low and low knowledge about using the stem cell. The higher score of knowledge was related to higher education periods. 70.3% of medical students had moderate attitude toward using stem cell. Only 17% of them had known the state agencies and private centers of donation. 70.5% had moderate knowledge and 55.2% had moderate attitude toward the stem cell donation. There was a correlation between the knowledge and attitude toward its donation (p = 0.004, r = 0.14). Knowledge about stem cells donation had correlation with the knowledge about its application (p = 0.001, r = 0.161). Conclusion. Although the majority of medical students have very low knowledge about stem cell application in treatment of neurologic disorders, but their attitude toward using stem cell was moderate.


Author(s):  
Asma Munir Khan ◽  
Shazia Nawabi ◽  
Muhammad Qasim Javed

Abstract Background: Present study aimed to explore the knowledge and attitude of dental faculty at Qassim University, regarding novel COVID 19 disease. Methods: The cross-sectional survey was conducted on the faculty at undergraduate dental school. The self-designed e-survey was administered to 78 faculty members to assess their knowledge and attitudes towards the COVID-19 disease. Data analysis was conducted by using SPSS version 23. Descriptive statistics were reported as frequency and percentages. Chi-square test was utilized to identify the correlation between the independent and dependent variables. The inferential statistics (Kruskal-Wallis tests and Mann-Whitney U test) were utilized for assessing the significance between study variables. The association between knowledge and attitude was evaluated by using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. Results: A total of 55 faculty members (70.5%) responded. Mean knowledge score was 10± 2.71. 37 (67.3%) respondents showed positive attitude towards COVID-19 while 18(32.7%) displayed negative attitude. The mean attitude score was 4.08±0.50. Significant difference was found in knowledge (p-value=0.04) and attitude (p-value=0.015) of dental faculty based on designation.Conclusions: Qassim University dentists were mindful of the COVID-19 symptoms, means of transmission, Cross-infection control and operative protocols practiced within dental clinics. However, dentists exhibited inadequate knowledge about the specific dental procedures that safeguard the dental staff and patients from COVID-19 in context of current outbreak.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pujan Acharya ◽  
Ratna Baral ◽  
Sajeev Shrestha ◽  
Dharanidhar Baral

Abstract Background: In academic institutes, dental students are not only involved in academic activities, but also in the management of patients’ care. This calls for inculcation of adequate knowledge and positive attitude among them so that a good clinical practice is implemented in the dental setting, thereby creating a safe working environment for students as well as patients. Thus, the study was conducted to assess knowledge and attitude regarding infection control among undergraduate dental students of B.P.Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal.Methods: An online descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at BPKIHS from February till March 2021. Undergraduate students from third year, fourth year and internship were included in the study. A self-administered questionnaire comprised of demographic characteristics, knowledge and attitude regarding infection control was used to collect the data via a Google form. Descriptive and inferential statistics was used to analyze the data. The p value <0.05 was considered statistically significant at 95% confidence interval.Results: A total of 136 undergraduate dental students participated out of which 65.0% were females and 35.0% were males. Out of the total participants, 78.7% were found to have adequate knowledge while 74.3% participants showed ‘positive’ attitude. Mean age of the participants with adequate knowledge was significantly higher than participants with inadequate knowledge (p=0.047). The difference in knowledge among participants was statistically significant (p=0.001) in academic years. The majority (90.4%) of interns showed adequate knowledge followed by fourth year (83.7%) and third year (58.7%) students. The difference in attitude, was also statistically significant (p= 0.011) in academic years, but it was mostly (90.4%) of positive attitude in fourth year participants followed by third year (68.3%) and Interns (65.4 %).Conclusion: The present study reports adequate knowledge and positive attitude regarding infection control among undergraduate dental students in BPKIHS. Further studies are encouraged to be conducted among students from different academic institutes all over the country to ascertain their level of attitude and knowledge regarding infection control in dental care services.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pujan Acharya ◽  
Ratna Baral ◽  
Sajeev Shrestha ◽  
Dharanidhar Baral

Abstract Background In academic institutes, dental students are not only involved in academic activities, but also in the management of patients’ care. This calls for inculcation of adequate knowledge and positive attitude among them so that a good clinical practice is implemented in the dental setting, thereby creating a safe working environment for students as well as patients. Thus, the study was conducted to assess knowledge and attitude regarding infection control among undergraduate dental students of B.P.Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal. Methods and materials: An online descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at BPKIHS from February till March 2021. Undergraduate students from third year, fourth year and internship were included in the study. A self-administered questionnaire comprised of demographic, knowledge and attitude regarding infection control was used to collect the data via a Google form. Descriptive and inferential statistics was used to analyze the data. The p value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant at 95% confidence interval. Result A total of 136 undergraduate dental students participated out of which 65.0% were females and 35.0% were males. Out of the total participants, 78.7% were found to have adequate knowledge while 74.3% participants showed ‘positive’ attitude. Mean age of the participants with adequate knowledge was significantly higher than participants with inadequate knowledge (p = 0.047). The difference in knowledge among participants was statistically significant (p = 0.001) in academic years. The majority (90.4%) of interns showed adequate knowledge followed by fourth year (83.7%) and third year (58.7%) students. The difference in attitude, was also statistically significant (p = 0.011) in academic years, but it was mostly (90.4%) of positive attitude in fourth year participants followed by third year (68.3%) and Interns (65.4 %). Conclusion The present study reports adequate knowledge and positive attitude regarding infection control among undergraduate dental students in BPKIHS. Further studies are encouraged to be conducted among students from different academic institutes all over the country to ascertain their level of attitude and knowledge regarding infection control in dental care services.


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