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Background: The skill of communicating with the patient is one of the basic clinical skills and part of the necessary competencies for medical doctors. The present study aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and performance (KAP) of medical students, assistants, and professors of Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences regarding clinical communication skills with patients., Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the hospitals of Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences in Iran. The study included a total of 289 participants, consisting of 51 professors, 72 assistants, 90 external staff, and 76 interns who work at these hospitals. The participants were selected through a convenience sampling method. The data-gathering tools used included a questionnaire to collect demographic characteristics, a researcher-made questionnaire to assess knowledge, a communication skills attitude questionnaire, and a communication skills survey questionnaire. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation, and frequency, as well as statistical tests that included one-way ANOVA and Pearson's correlation test. The significance level for the study was considered to be 0.05., Results: The mean scores of knowledge of professors were higher compared to other groups (P = 0.002). All participating groups had a positive attitude toward learning communication skills. There were statistically significant differences between the mean scores of the communication performance of the study groups (P < 0.001). There was a positive relationship between positive attitude and communication performance, and a significant negative relationship was observed between negative attitude and communication performance., Conclusion: The results indicate the relatively favorable attitude and performance of the groups and their low knowledge. It is suggested that the doctor-patient communication skills courses be included as one of the necessary courses in the medical education curriculum., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Introduction: Hepatitis B vaccination has been integrated into National Expanded Program on Immunization in Iran since the year 1993 and young adult national vaccination project was done in 2008. So we have three subpopulations with vaccination coverage for hepatitis B and different antibody levels. Consisting of Subpopulation 1 born after 1993, subpopulation 2 born between 1989 and 1993 and receiving vaccination under adult national project, and subpopulation 3 born prior to the year 1989., Aim: The present study was conducted to investigate community protection by hepatitis B vaccine in adult population in an accessible population in Iran and compare vaccination coverage, HBs Ab level, and its effective titration among the three above-mentioned subpopulations., Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was done on a 3000-individual adult population from all seven counties of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province enrolled by clustering. After obtaining written consent and filling out a questionnaire of demographic data and history of hepatitis B vaccination by trained interviewers, necessary blood sample was taken and HBs Ab titration was checked. The data were analysed by chi-square in SPSS 19. The level of significance was considered as 0.05 and effective Ab titration as ≥ 10., Results: The mean age of the participants was 38.4±16.3 years. Of the participants 48.2% had effective titration. For vaccination coverage, 77.4% were unvaccinated, 20% completely vaccinated, and 2.6% incompletely vaccinated with a significant association with effective titration (p<0.001). Eighty six percent of the subpopulation 1 and 79% of the subpopulation 2 were completely vaccinated, with a significant difference in effective titration between them (p<0.001). Vaccination coverage was higher in men and the single but equal in cities and villages. The effective titration was significantly associated with being married and residence place (p=0.003). There was a significant association between effective titration and the time at vaccination (p<0.001)., Conclusion: Protection provided by hepatitis B vaccine in adult population is relatively suitable especially in the youth population; however, catch-up programs of the groups exposed to risk are recommended.

Introduction: Hepatitis C is the second leading viral infectious disease worldwide. In Iran, hepatitis C is the most important and prevalent reason for chronic hepatitis and liver cirrhosis in the multi transfused population., Aim: This study was conducted to determine seroprevalence and burden of hepatitis C in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province and to plan for controlling it., Materials and Methods: For this analytical, population-based study, 3000 samples were older than 15 years old and were enrolled from urban and rural areas of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, southwest Iran per cluster sampling. Written informed consent was obtained from the participants and the demographic data, transmission route and risk factors were collected after blood sample taking. Hepatitis C virus antibody (HCV Ab) and western blotting were consecutively run., Statistical Analysis: Data analysis was done by SPSS 19 using descriptive statistics, and chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, and logistic regression Ap value of 0.05 was considered as the level of significance., Results: The prevalence of HCV Ab was obtained 1.4% (95% CI, 0.95-1.7) and that of positive hepatitis C by western blotting 0.9% (95% CI, 0.65-1.3). The prevalence in men (1.2%) was obtained two times higher than women. The highest prevalence was obtained in 35 to 44-year-old population (2%). The prevalence was higher in married individuals and less in higher educated. History of hospital stay, first degree relatives infected with HCV, jaundice, history of blood transfusion, tattoo, outpatient surgery, imprisonment, contact with the infected, intravenous (IV) drug abuse, and smoking had significant association with disease prevalence (p<0.05). The highest odds ratio was obtained for history of IV drug abuse (OR=38.2, 95% CI, 14.06-103.9) followed by imprisonment (OR=8.9, 95% CI, 2.97-26.6). However, by logistic regression only history of IV drug abuse was obtained as significant (p<0.05)., Conclusion: Hepatitis C is growing and emerging as the most prevalent chronic, viral hepatic disease, so further consideration of risk factors and routes of transmission is crucial for appropriate planning for, and preventing, treating, and controlling hepatitis C. IV drug abusers as the most important group need special consideration and surveillance in order to cut infection chain and decrease the disease incidence.

Background: Hypertension (HTN) considers as one of the most common risk factors, which potentially raises the risk of cardiovascular disease. Regarding high prevalence of HTN among Iranian population this study designed to examine a range of socio-demographic and clinical variables to determine the association with failure to achieve blood pressure control in a cohort of hypertensive subjects., Methods: This retrospective cohort study is a part of Isfahan cohort study which carried out on adults aged 35 years old or more. Subjects with confirmed HTN entered in this sub-study. For all subjects questionnaire included socio-demographic characteristics, clinical data and lifestyle behavior completed by trained nurses. Uncontrolled HTN was defined as systolic and diastolic blood pressure more than 140/90 in the presence or absent of pharmacological treatment., Results: The prevalence of uncontrolled men was significantly higher than controlled in both 2001 and 2007 (P < 0.001). A significant association was found between sex and control of blood pressure: compared with women, being men [odds ratio (OR) = 2.31; 95 % confidence interval (CI) = 1.64-3.24] was significantly associated with uncontrolled HTN in 2001 and (OR = 2.38; 95% CI = 1.78-3.18). Among lifestyle behaviors, tendency for more consumption of salty foods increased the risk of uncontrolled HTN in 2001 by 1.73 times [OR = 1.73, 95% CI = 1.20-2.50, (P = 0.003)]. Patients who were naive to mono-therapy without considering the type of antihypertensive drug were found to be associated with uncontrolled blood pressure (OR = 0.14; 95 % CI =0.1-0.2)., Conclusion: Uncontrolled HTN was sex, marital status, diabetes, tendency to salty foods and medication adherence. Assessment of them presence of these risk factors is warranted to recommend an aggressive HTN management with the goal of reducing excessive risk of cardiovascular events caused by uncontrolled HTN.

Background: Hepatitis B virus is one of the important viral causes of liver inflammation with high worldwide prevalence and important hepatic and extra hepatic complications., Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of hepatitis B in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, Iran., Patients and Methods: For this descriptive, analytical, population-based study, 3000 participants older than 15 years were enrolled according to the clustering method. After obtaining written informed consent and taking required blood samples, we gathered data on demographic status and probable transmission routes of disease using questionnaire between 2012 and 2013. The data was analyzed using SPSS software (descriptive parameters and chi-square). P value below 0.05 was considered as statistically significant., Results: The mean age of participants was 38.4 ± 16.3. The seroprevalence rate of hepatitis B was found to be 1.3% (95% CI, 0.95%-1.81%). Prevalence of HBeAg among HBsAg positive participants was 2.5% (only 1 of 40). Seroprevalence was higher in male group (2.5 times higher than women), age group of over 55 years, farmers, and non-public occupations. Positive seroprevalence was associated with a history of renal disease, familial transmission, transfusion, surgery in hospital, circumcision, contact with hepatitis B infected individuals, imprisonment, intravenous (IV) drug abuse, and smoking (P < 0.05). Nevertheless, the highest odds ratio (OR) was obtained for history of renal disease (OR = 7.64: 3.01-18.4), followed by imprisonment (OR = 5.4: 1.86 -15.7) and IV drug abuse (OR = 5.68: 1.3-24.7)., Conclusions: Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province could be categorized as a low endemic region for hepatitis B infection, with a seroprevalence similar to that in other provinces of western Iran. Vaccination seems to influence its decrease, especially in adolescents and youth. More surveillance and attention to risk factors are suggested to identify high-risk groups and to implement vaccination.