The increasing prevalence of distress among students is of global concern. Several factors such as school and family environment and ineffective study skills could influence mental health. The study ...explored the rate of distress symptoms among school students' and its relationship with their study skills, stressors and demographic factors.
In this cross-sectional analytical study, a sample of 215 students from a community school participated in the study. Three questionnaires, demographic questionnaire, Study Skills Inventory and the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, were used for data collection. Data were analyzed using Student's
-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficient and stepwise linear regression.
Response rate was 70% (n = 150). A high proportion of respondents (75%) was distressed (mean 27.28 ± 8.77). Correlation analysis showed that distress (K10 score) was negatively related to study skills (SSI total score) (r = -0.247, p = 0.002). The rate of distress symptoms was higher among female students (79%) compared to their male counterparts (72%). The factors associated with distress included negative association of teachers' level of help to develop competencies (p = 0.000, β = -0.278, R
= 0.249), unfavorable school environment (p = 0.000, β = 0.285, R
= 0.123), inability to cope with studies (p = 0.005, β = 0.205, R
= 0.038), family problems (p = 0.014, β = 0.184, R
= 0.173) and lower study skills (p = 0.031, β = -0.164, R
= 0.270). The overall regression analysis explained 33.6% of the variance (corrected R
= 0.336).
Higher than expected levels of distress (75%) was found in immigrant school students. Poor study skills have a significant relationship with distress. Learning environment and related stress factors were associated with distress among students. Based on the findings, it is recommended that stakeholders in education address the hidden curriculum, as it is usually unacknowledged and might affect students' wellbeing, and move from student centered to an interpersonal relation-centered education.
Alternative medicine (AM) encompasses all forms of therapies that fall outside the mainstream of medical practice. Its popularity is on the increase. Because previous surveys were limited and not ...generalizable, we estimated the prevalence, pattern and factors associated with use of AM in the community.
A multistage cluster cross-sectional household survey was conducted among Saudi residents of the Riyadh region. Data were collected in 2003 by trained interviewers from primary health care centers using a specially designed questionnaire.
Of 1408 individuals participating in the study, 39% were men. The mean (+/-SD) age for the study population was 35.5 (+/-13.9) years. Sixty-eight percent of the respondents had used AM during the last 12 months. The Holy Quran as a therapy was the most frequently used AM (50.3%), followed by honey (40.1%), black seed (39.2%) and myrrh (35.4%). The health belief model was found to be the most important determinant of AM use. Factors independently associated with AM use included perceived failure of medical treatment, the perceived success of AM, a preference for natural materials, and long appointment intervals to see physicians.
There is a high prevalence of AM use in the Riyadh region and the most important determinant of AM use was the perceived failure of medical treatment. The study results call for intensive health education campaigns in the media addressing wrong beliefs regarding AM and modern medicine. The popularity of AM in this community should alert decision makers to look at the difficult accessibility to the health system.
Learning is an interplay between cognition and environmental factors. Any learning environment, that fulfills the intrinsic and extrinsic needs of the students will probably lead to better and more ...promising learning outcomes. This study aimed to investigate the student perceptions of Learning Environment (LE) in four health schools of a large university and compare between schools, years of study, and gender.
Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) questionnaire and a socio-demographic questionnaire were completed by 1185 undergraduate students enrolled in the school of Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing and Applied Medical Sciences (AMS) of a large university during the academic year 2012-2013. Chi-square test was used to compare categorical variables. Independent student t-test or ANOVA (with Tukey post-hoc test) was used for continuous variables at a significance level of p≤0.05.
The mean total DREEM score was 89.23±33.3. The total DREEM mean scores for Dentistry (120.54±23.45) and Medicine (110.72±19.33) were higher compared with AMS (63.48±21.36) and Nursing (57.48±22.80) (p=0.000) (Post hoc Tukey p=0.000). First year students gave significantly higher positive perceptions ratings than the rest of the years (p=0.000). Total scores were significantly higher for male (92.78±33.86) than female students (84.70±32.25) p=0.000.
The LE significantly differed by year and gender. The students from non-integrated curricula (nursing and AMS) perceived the LE less positively than their integrated curriculum counterparts (medicine and dentistry). A qualitative study is needed to investigate the variation in the perception of LE among these groups.
Clinical teachers have high qualifications in their specialty, but some of them do not have training, or proficiency in teaching, and education. Therefore, they may face the challenge of effective ...teaching in their daily practice. The objective of this study is to present some basic guiding principles for novices and expert academic health professionals. An overview from the perspective of the authors on critical fields in education was conducted. Seventeen principles (supported by one or more relevant examples) are discussed. To improve the quality of their teaching practice, academic health professionals need to study the pedagogy of education, and to seek feedback from colleagues who have already studied and practiced the principles of learning and teaching.
Objectives:
Somatization, the tendency to seek treatment for medically unexplained physical symptoms, is an important issue in primary care practice. This study examines the somatoform, depression, ...and anxiety modules of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ), a screening instrument for the identification of somatoform and other mental disorders. We also utilized the PHQ to measure the prevalence of somatization and co-morbid depression in Saudi Arabian primary care patients.
Methods:
This is a cross sectional study of 431 male and female Saudi Arabian primary care patients with a two stage design for purposes of validation of the somatoform, depression and anxiety modules of the PHQ. The self administered Patient Health Questionnaire was given to 431 primary care patients and, of this group, the first, consecutive 173 patients (40 percent) were interviewed by mental health professionals using the Structured Clinical Interview (SCID-R) as the criterion standard for validation of the PHQ in the Saudi population. The PHQ was then used to measure the prevalence of somatization and depression in the remaining 258 patients.
Results:
The somatoform and depression modules of the PHQ were found to be valid in a Saudi population using the criterion standard of SCID based psychiatric interviews. Agreement between the PHQ and psychiatric interviews was (κ = .65) for both somatoform disorders and depression but the anxiety module was weak in terms of sensitivity (.37) and agreement with the criterion standard (k = .37). Clinically significant rates of somatization (19.3 percent) and depression (20 percent) were identified in this population.
Conclusions:
The prevalence of somatization and co-morbid depression in a primary care population in Saudi Arabia is similar to published rates in the U.S. and worldwide. It is possible to screen primary care patients for mental disorders in international settings and the PHQ is a valid instrument for that purpose.
Summary Objectives The present study aims to detect the frequency and types of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies used for children and to explore parental motivating factors for ...using CAM for their children in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Participants and methods This is a cross-sectional study that involved 462 families selected through a multistage cluster-sampling technique covering Riyadh region, Saudi Arabia. The sample was selected from 40 clusters, distributed proportionally according to the size of the population in the catchment area of primary health care centres (PHCCs). A structured questionnaire that contains items fulfilling the research objectives was used to collect data by research assistants. Results The study included 926 parents, comprising 351 fathers and 575 mothers; 37.3% of them reported the use of CAM for their children including reciting the Quran, honey and Ferula asafoetida (26.1%, 21.5% and 18.8%, respectively). CAM was used six times higher for children of parents using CAM for themselves than children of parents who did not use CAM themselves (odds ratio (OR) = 6.03, 3.9–9.37). Multivariate logistic regression showed that parental use of CAM (OR = 3.0, 2.2–4.0), keeping CAM remedies at home (OR = 2.3, 1.8–3.1), perceived success of CAM in practice (OR = 1.8, 1.3–2.4) and preference of use of natural materials (OR = 1.7, 1.2–2.5) were independent predictors of use of CAM for children. Conclusions In this study, around one-third of the parents used CAM for their children. Quran (Muslims’ holy book) was the most common CAM type used for children. Parents’ use of CAM for themselves is the most important predictor of its use for children. An in-depth study to investigate CAM use for specific diseases in children is recommended.
Abstract
Background: Emotional Intelligence (EI) is the ability to deal with your own and others emotions. Medical students are inducted into medical schools on the basis of their academic ...achievement. Professionally, however, their success rate is variable and may depend on their interpersonal relationships. EI is thought to be significant in achieving good interpersonal relationships and success in life and career. Therefore, it is important to measure EI and understand its correlates in an undergraduate medical student population.
Aim: The objective of study was to investigate the relationship between the EI of medical students and their academic achievement (based on cumulative grade point average CGPA), age, gender and year of study.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey design was used. The SSREIS and demographic survey were administered in the three medical schools in Saudi Arabia from April to May 2012.
Results: The response rate was 30%. For the Optimism subscale, the mean score was M = 3.79, SD ± 0.54 (α = 0.82), for Awareness-of-emotion subscale M = 3.94, SD ± 0.57 (α = 0.72) and for Use-of-emotion subscale M = 3.92, SD ± 0.54 (α = 0.63). Multiple regression showed a significant positive correlation between CGPA and the EI of medical students (r = 0.246, p = 0.000) on the Optimism subscale. No correlation was seen between CGPA and Awareness of Emotions and Use of Emotions subscales. No relationship was seen for the other independent variables.
Conclusion: The current study demonstrates that CGPA is the only significant predictor, indicating that Optimism tends to be higher for students with a higher CPGA. None of the other independent variables (age, year of study, gender) showed a significant relationship.
Social media has become ubiquitous and has brought a dramatic change in health services. Little is known about its use by family physicians and residents for personal or professional purpose. The aim ...of the current study was to evaluate the utility of social media among family medicine residents and consultants.
The collection of data was through the use of a five part questionnaire developed by researchers. The questionnaire was delivered to 70 physicians and 100 residents, out of which 132questionnaires were completed, representing a 78 percent response rate.
Our findings demonstrate that there was an overall high use of social media. Females used social media more for general education and professional purposes. Men, by contrast, used it more frequently for personal purposes. The participants in this study appeared to consider social media as having several useful dimensions, such as: enabling them to accomplish job tasks, improve job performance, productivity and more effective patient care when using social media.
To date, limited studies have compared social media use among family physicians and residents. This study may serve as an initial step for future studies explaining the pattern of use among physicians.
Assessment of health workers as students and professionals has a profound impact on their learning and is an essential safety valve before certification. It is used for their training, their ...placement, their certification, and their promotion. The multiple choice question MCQ type of tests represents one of the most important examination tools that is commonly used in this assessment. The MCQs can be reliable, valid, and cost-effective in assessing medical knowledge. This paper portrays the different purposes of assessment in the medical field. The paper discusses in detail the criteria of a good assessment tool. Interpretation of MCQ test results is the final section of the paper.
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