Health Technology Assessment in Action
Year:2021 | Volume:5 | Issue:2|Papers Count:8

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the satisfaction of professors with the short-term course of medical education at Birjand University of Medical Sciences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Initially, needs assessment was conducted for the content of the course; after determining the content, the course was held online through Adobe Connect system and offline through Navid system. Following completing the course, evaluation was performed, and finally, satisfaction with the course was assessed based on a 34-item questionnaire whose validity and reliability were established. In total, 44 participants in the course answered the questionnaire. The data were analyzed using t-test and correlation coefficient by SPSS, version 18. Results: The mean age of the participants was 36. 34 ± 5. 64 years, and 56. 8% (25 people) were female. In terms of academic rank, 75% were assistant professors. The average score of satisfaction was equal to 140. 48, which indicates a high score of satisfaction with the course. In general, the score of satisfaction was higher than average in all fields. The average score of satisfaction in men was significantly lower than in women (P < 0. 001). There was no significant relationship between satisfaction and degree, academic rank, age, and working experience (P > 0. 05). Conclusions: Professors’ satisfaction with the online and offline medical education courses in the relevant systems is at a high level. Thus, it is suggested that combined in-person and online empowerment courses should be held in the post-COVID-19 era.

Background: Medical equipment plays a key role in diagnosis, treatment, and medical education. Outsourcing is delegating a part or all activities of an organization to a party (e. g., individuals or organizations) outside the organization, which has an important role in the organization’ s productivity. Objectives: The current study aimed to investigate the effect of outsourcing the department of medical equipment of a university hospital in Tehran, Iran, by emphasizing costs, profits, and performance. Methods: This was a descriptive-analytical and cross-sectional study. This study investigated the documents and financial records of the Financial Office to calculate costs and revenues. Additionally, a researcher-developed questionnaire was used to evaluate the effect of outsourcing on employees’ performance and financial performance. A total of 36 subjects were randomly selected, following the sampling formula (the response rate: 72%). The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was applied to test for a normal distribution. As the data were not normally distributed, the Wilcoxon test was used. Furthermore, the t-test and analysis of variance were used to study the difference in the effect of outsourcing and age, gender, and educational level. The data were analyzed using SPSS software (version 19). Results: According to the findings, there was a significant difference before and after outsourcing in the costs and revenues of the Medical Equipment Department. Concerning the effect of outsourcing on the performance, the “ human resources” factor obtained the highest mean (3. 37), which indicated the poor perspective of the staff in this aspect. Moreover, the lowest score was related to the “ cost-effectiveness” (2. 96), which was an average score. There were weak scores concerning the dimensions of management (3. 28) and quality of services (3. 36). Conclusions: Considering the importance of staff in the hospital, it is necessary to pay serious attention to the impact of different types of reforms intended to increase the revenues and reduce the costs of hospitals on the staff of the organization by emphasizing managerial and human resources dimensions, which not only will increase the efficiency of the organization and satisfaction of the staff but also translated into better quality.

Background: The needs and demands of patients as one of the pillars of marketing in the health field require the right tools to identify consumers’ requests. Objectives: This study was conducted to develop a tool to evaluate services utilization behavior by type 2 diabetics in health centers based on a social marketing model (ie, 7 Ps). Methods: This study was conducted in two main stages. The first stage was performed with the aim of the initial design of the tool (ie, a questionnaire) through a literature review and professionals’ opinions. The second stage was performed to confirm the validity and reliability of the prepared questionnaire in the previous stage through calculating the impact score, content validity index (CVI), content validity ratio (CVR), and Cronbach’ s alpha coefficient. The study participants included 8 academic and executive experts in the field of health and diabetes, 30 diabetic patients to calculate the impact score, and 50 patients with diabetes to calculate the Cronbach’ s alpha through test-retest. The data were analyzed using SPSS software (version 18). Results: According to the results of the first stage of the study, a questionnaire with 46 items was designed. After determining the formal and content validity quantitatively and qualitatively, 8 items were deleted, and a questionnaire with 38 items was provided. Finally, the validity and reliability of the instrument were confirmed (CVI = 0. 91; CVR = 0. 92; intraclass correlation coefficient = 0. 89; Cronbach’ s alpha = 0. 92). Conclusions: This questionnaire with confirmed validity and reliability helps analyze the diabetics’ behavior and specifies the reasons for the acceptance or rejection of the services of the diabetes unit by patients. Therefore, it can be used in health centers providing services for diabetics.

Context: Lung cancer is the most important cause of cancer mortality. Given the incidence and mortality of this disease, the implementation of preventive interventions is necessary. Objectives: The present study investigated the effectiveness of one of the most important interventions of lung cancer screening with low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) in high-risk individuals. Evidence Acquisition: The present study was an applied study performed as a comprehensive review. For the assessment of safety, studies on the technical specifications of computed tomography scans and issues related to the safety of applying this device were searched using keywords in medical databases. For the evaluation of clinical effectiveness, a comprehensive review of health technology assessment studies, systematic review studies, and screening guidelines was performed. Results: Based on 15 studies extracted for the safety issue, the diagnosis of harmless tumors, false positives cases and Unnecessary invasive complementary interventions, and possible negative effects of radiation exposure are discussable safety issues. Based on the synthesis of 16 studies on effectiveness, lung cancer screening intervention using LDCT was determined to reduce lung cancer mortality by 15-20% and mortality from other causes by 0-6%. Additionally, the incidence of this disease in its upper stages decreases significantly. Conclusions: Lung cancer screening using LDCT does not threaten the health of individuals seriously and, in comparison to non-intervention is more clinically effective and will lead to a statistically significant reduction in lung cancer mortality and increase in the timely diagnosis of this disease.

Background: Performance evaluation in facilitating organizational effectiveness is considered an essential task of human resource management that depends on nurses’ employment status. Objectives: The present study aimed to investigate the relationship of organizational performance with employment status and shift work in nurses at the Shahid Rahnemoun Hospital, Yazd, Iran. Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was conducted in 2018. The sample consisted of 151 nurses who were included using census. The instrument was a standard questionnaire whose content validity was confirmed by three experts, and its reliability was approved by Cronbach’ s alpha coefficient. Data analysis was performed using SPSS. 22 software through independent t-test, one-way analysis of variance, and one-sample t-test. Results: Among the four components surveyed in the study, the highest and lowest means and standard deviations were related to “ participation and cooperation” (4. 35 ± 0. 48) and “ infection control and prevention” (4. 21 ± 0. 60), respectively. There was a significant relationship between total performance and the two dimensions of “ care and treatment” and “ participation and cooperation” with employment status (P < 0. 05). Conclusions: The results showed that the type of employment of nurses would affect the organizational performance. In an organization where employees feel job security, they will be committed to that organization and perform their duties more competently, with more motivation and satisfaction.

Epilepsy is one of the problems and diseases that accompanies a person for the rest of his/her life after diagnosis. This disease can severely affect a person’ s physical condition and lead to psychological problems. Many patients with epilepsy suffer from psychological problems and are under the supervision of a psychiatrist, and they take medications to control the mental state. However, many patients are reluctant to take other medications, including psychiatric medications, due to long-term use of the drug. Therefore, in this study, we examined non-pharmacological treatments for psychological problems caused by epilepsy. In addition to developing epilepsy and receiving medications for the disease, these patients develop mental illnesses such as stress, depression, anxiety, and cognitive processes that require treatment. After searching for texts published in various English language databases, the required items were obtained. First, some of the psychosocial consequences of epilepsy, including negative attitude towards epilepsy, social stigma, family factors, quality of life, and sexual activity, were evaluated. Furthermore, the concurrency of psychological disorders (stress, depression, anxiety, cognitive processes, and theory of mind) along with non-pharmacological treatments were investigated.

Background: Fire is one of the potential dangers that threatens human activities more and more. Given that, this study sought to introduce the factors preventing the spread of fire in hospitals to policymakers through prioritization based on the techniques of applied mathematics (multi-attribute decision-making technique). Methods: This study consisted of two stages. In the first stage, through a comprehensive review of studies, factors preventing the spread of fire were identified, and then in the second stage, based on the experts’ opinions, the attributes affecting the prioritization and their weights were determined. Finally, based on the Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) model, the final prioritization was done for five types of hospital buildings. Results: Based on the literature review and experts’ opinions, seven factors and four attributes were identified. The most important factors were “ the use of safety architecture and equipping with appropriate emergency exit accesses according to the standard” in high-rise hospitals, “ continuous firefighting training of the personnel” in wide hospitals, “ use of fire extinguishing systems (automatic and manual)” in subsurface hospitals, “ use of fire extinguishing systems (automatic and manual)” in combined hospitals, and “ continuous firefighting training of the personnel” in portable hospitals. Conclusions: Fire safety is not limited to the installation of a manual fire extinguisher, but for fire safety, especially in hospitals, all aspects should be considered, including the architectural form of the building, how the materials and equipment in the building caught fire, fire behavior in terms of heat transfer, the firefighting training of the personnel, recognition, and application of modern and ready-made equipment for smoke ventilation systems and fire products, automatic and manual fire alarm systems, and extinguishing systems to prevent the spread of fire.

Background: Skin and wound injuries are important health problems with great mortality rates. While there are different alternative therapies, there is no agreement on the best therapy for burn wounds and wound complications. Stem cell therapy has an optimistic prospect in many preclinical studies of burn wounds and diabetic wounds. Objectives: In this study, we performed a rapid review to evaluate the efficacy and safety of stem cell therapy in wound treatment. Methods: This rapid review of the evidence aimed to evaluate the potential effects of stem cells on wound healing to create a policy guide for policymakers in the health care system. We searched such databases as PubMed and Scopus on March 13, 2021 using keywords, including “ stem cells and wound healing” , “ safety” , and “ efficacy” . The references of retrieved studies were also checked to ensure the capture of the literature. Studies evaluating the safety and efficacy of stem cells on wound healing published in Persian and English were included. Generally, we used the PICO (population, intervention, control, and outcomes) model for search strategy. Results: Out of a total of 92 retrieved papers, 22 studies were eligible for inclusion. The overall review showed that stem cell therapy improved wounds. Also, studies showed that using stem cell technology in a non-invasive way could be a good alternative. However, the limitations of this technology consisted of the need to improve cell delivery methods, cell sustainability, heterogeneity in the research of mesenchymal stem cells, and wound substrate. Further studies are needed to determine its safety and efficacy. Conclusions: Although the evidence on the safety and efficacy of using stem cells for wound healing was limited, studies showed that stem cell technology is a good alternative to traditional therapies. Future clinical studies should consider the differences in the studies to achieve maximum effectiveness.