Background: University students are the developers of their nations' future and make up a significant number of young people. The number of students is increasing as universities and higher education centers develop. Hence, paying attention to student's physical and mental health is among the most important issues. The aim of the present analytical cross-sectional study was to determine the epidemiological pattern of loneliness and related factors among Maragheh University of Medical Sciences students.

Background:Despite the benefits of the objective structured assessment of technical skills (OSATS) and it appropriateness for evaluating clinical abilities of nursing students , few studies are available on the application of this method in nursing education.Objectives:The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of using OSATS and traditional methods on the students’ learning. We also aimed to signify students’ views about these two methods and their views about the scores they received in these methods in a medical emergency course.Patients and Methods:A quasi-experimental study was performed on 45 first semester students in nursing and medical emergencies passing a course on fundamentals of practice. The students were selected by a census method and evaluated by both the OSATS and traditional methods. Data collection was performed using checklists prepared based on the ‘text book of nursing procedures checklists’ published by Iranian nursing organization and a questionnaire containing learning rate and students’ estimation of their received scores. Descriptive statistics as well as paired t-test and independent samples t-test were used in data analysis.Results:The mean of students’ score in OSATS was significantly higher than their mean score in traditional method (P = 0.01). Moreover, the mean of self-evaluation score after the traditional method was relatively the same as the score the students received in the exam. However, the mean of self-evaluation score after the OSATS was relatively lower than the scores the students received in the OSATS exam. Most students believed that OSATS can evaluate a wide range of students’ knowledge and skills compared to traditional method.Conclusions:Results of this study indicated the better effect of OSATS on learning and its relative superiority in precise assessment of clinical skills compared with the traditional evaluation method. Therefore, we recommend using this method in evaluation of students in practical courses.

Background: Thalassemia is the most common hereditary disease. The presence of many physical and psychological problems can affect the quality of life of patients with thalassemia. The present study aimed at evaluating the effect of educational counseling program on the quality of life of thalassemia patients in city of Neyshabur in 2016. Methods: This semi-experimental study, which was conducted using pretest and posttest method, was done on 20 thalassemia patients, who referred to thalassemia clinic and were treated with educational counseling intervention. The participants were assigned into 5-member groups and received 5 sessions of training. After the sessions, 2 phone consultations were provided to the participants with a one-week gap, and the participants' questions were answered. Sf-36 Quality of Life Questionnaire was completed before and 1 month after the intervention, and data were analyzed by independent t test, Pearson correlation coefficient, Spearman, Mann-Whitney, ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis, and Wilcoxon tests using SPSS software Version 16.

BACKGROUND Quality of Life is a personal interpretation about the life status in the context of culture and value system. The quality of life of midwives working in the health care system requires special attention. The present study was conducted with an aim to investigate the quality of life of midwives working in clinics and maternity hospitals in northwest of Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS This cross-sectional study was conducted with participation of 70 midwives working in health centers and maternity hospitals in Maragheh. The data collection tool in the present study was Quality of Life Quality Questionnaire of the World Health Organization (WHOQOL-BREF-26). The collected data was analysed using software SPSS version 16 and Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney and Pearson correlation descriptive tests. The significance level was considered 0.05. RESULTS The mean age of the subjects was 31.18 years with a standard deviation of 7.74. The mean and standard deviation of the overall quality of life score was 74.54±17.06 from 100. The highest and lowest scores were related to the domain of the physical health (71.34±14.14) and environmental health (61.77±14.87), respectively. A significant difference was found between the mean scores of the domains of the quality of life and employment type. Spearman correlation test showed that a statistically significant correlation was found between the physical health, mental health and total score of quality of life and age. CONCLUSION The results of the present study showed that the average quality of life score of subjects was higher than mean and was moderate. It is suggested that midwives receive training on the factors affecting the quality of life to become empowered to enhance their quality of life and the health of themselves and their clients.

Background & Aims: Feeling of loneliness has a high prevalence among medical students and may affect their physical, mental, and social health. Identifying the factors associated with feeling of loneliness can provide the information needed to design the interventions needed to prevent it. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the relationship between lifestyle and loneliness of the students in Urmia university of medical science. Materials & Methods:The present study was a correlational study in which 510 students of different fields of Urmia University of Medical Sciences were selected by stratified random sampling in 2019. Data were collected using the Demographic Characteristics Questionnaire, the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale (R-UCLA), and the Standard Lifestyle Questionnaire (LSQ). Then the data were analyzed using SPSS software version 20 using descriptive statistics and Spearman correlation coefficient test. Results:The prevalence of moderate and severe loneliness in this study was 33.5% and 40.3%, respectively. The results showed that from 510 people studied in this study, 89% of them had a stronghealthy lifestyle. The result of Spearman correlational test showed that there was a statistically significant relationship between lifestyle and loneliness (r = -26/26, P = 0.001). Conclusion:The results of this study emphasize the need to pay attention to the state of loneliness and lifestyle in the students, identify situations and causes of intensification of this feeling in this age group, and set up intervention programs to reduce it.