Background:Hospital’s success depends on patients’ expectations, perceptions, and judgment on the quality of services provided by hospitals. This study was conducted to assess the patients’ perceptions and expectations from the quality of inpatient health care in Vali-Asr hospital, Ghaemshahr, and Imam Khomeini and Shafa Hospitals, Sari.Materials and Methods:This study is applied regarding the objective of the study. Considering the research methodology, it is a descriptive – analytical study. The sample of this study consists of 600 patients with at least 24 hours of being hospitalized in internal, surgery, women, and children sectors of Vali-Asr, Ghaemshahr, Imam Khomeini, and Shafa Hospitals. Using random sampling method, the classifications relevant to the size of each class were selected. The data required was collected through the standard SERVQUAL questionnaire and then it was analyzed using the SPSS software.Results:The overall mean value and standard deviation of expectations were equal to 10.4 and 28, respectively. The mean value for the field of perception was 69.2 and the relevant standard deviation was 26. In terms of patients and hospital visits in concrete cases, the highest priority is related to empathy. The second priority is related to physical appearance, the third priority is related to responsiveness, the fourth priority is related to assurance, and the lowest priority is related to the reliability of the SERVQUAL approach. Examining the gap between patients’ perceptions and expectations, the widest gap was observed in the Vali-Asr Hospital with the mean and SD (-92.0±39.0) and the lowest gap was observed in Shafa Hospital with the mean value of (-39.9±44.0). According to The Kruskal–Wallis test, the difference observed in these three hospitals were significant.Conclusion:The results showed that patients’ expectations had not been met in any of the examined dimensions and their consent has not been achieved. It seemed that necessary for managers and relevant authorities to plan and pay special attention to this important issue.
Background:Various epidemiological studies have shown that exposure to environmental pollutants including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) might increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and their risk factors. This study aims to systematically review the association of PAH exposure with metabolic impairment.Methods:Data were collected by searching for relevant studies in international databases using the following keywords: “polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon” + “cardiovascular disease,” PAH + CVD, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon and “air pollutant” + “CVD,” and the desired data were extracted and included in the study according to the systematic review process.Results:From the 14 articles included in the present systematic review, eight articles were conducted on the relationship between PAH and CVDs, four articles were conducted to examine the association of PAH exposure with blood pressure (BP), and two articles investigated the link between PAH and obesity.Conclusions:Most studies included in this systematic review reported a significant positive association of PAH exposure with increased risk of CVDs and its major risk factors including elevated BP and obesity. These findings should be confirmed by longitudinal studies with long-term follow-up.
Background and purpose:This study aimed to manage medical errors before and after the implementation of accreditation in public, private, and social security hospitals of Mazandaran, Iran.
Materials and Methods:This descriptive study has been done in 38 hospitals. Data were collected through documents reviewed relating to 2013 and 2014. The paired t-test and Friedman test were used by statistical software SPSS.
Results:Results showed that the most and the least percent of reported errors, before accreditation, in sequence, were related to public clinical unit (55.9%) and operating rooms (0.6%), and after accreditation in public clinical unit (46.6%) and operating rooms (2.3%) in teaching centers. The most errors (before accreditation) occurred in the morning (62%) and the least, in the evening (8.3%) in teaching centers. Furthermore, after accreditation, the most errors occurred in the morning (64.8%) and the least, in the night (17.3%) in therapeutic hospitals. Paired t-test showed that there is no significant difference between medical errors before and after accreditation. Friedman test showed that structural/systemic errors reported were the most important medical errors in teaching centers after accreditation and therapeutic hospitals before accreditation (P < 0.05).
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