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Background: Pre-hospital emergency technicians are crucial in managing patients with acute psychiatric symptoms. They must quickly assess the condition, make a primary diagnosis, and refer the patient to the appropriate treatment center. Insufficient skills in these situations can cause serious harm. Educating technicians on dealing with these patients may enhance their knowledge and skills; however, we do not know the extent and longevity of this improvement and which areas are affected. This study investigates the impact of training on pre-hospital emergency technicians' knowledge and skills., Methods: This quasi-experimental study involved pre-hospital emergency technicians in Robat Karim and Nasim Shahr counties from December 2022 to January 2022. The technicians received workshops on interacting with psychiatric patients. The training topics included the basic principles of coping with a psychiatric patient. They also covered a step-by-step approach to dealing with an aggressive patient, dealing with a patient threatening suicide, managing agitation, managing a patient suffering from panic attacks, and finally dealing with a delirious patient. A pre-test assessed their baseline knowledge and skills, followed by a post-test after training and another test three months later. The test results were analyzed., Results: This study involved forty male participants ranging in age from 25 to 44 and with work experience ranging from five to twenty years. As a result of training in dealing with acute psychiatric patients, technicians developed significant skills and knowledge immediately after training, and these improvements remained significant three months after training. Nevertheless, the correct answers decreased during the three-month follow-up compared to the pre-test. Education was less effective at managing panic, delirium, and agitation., Conclusion: In conclusion, technicians' knowledge and skills can be effectively enhanced through training; however, the impact diminishes with time. Theories and practical methods, periodic repetition, and real-world internships are the best ways to maximize training effectiveness., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Human papilloma virus (HPV) causes the most common sexually-transmitted infection especially among sexually-active individuals. The aim of study was to characterize the molecular characterization of HPV genotypes between 5176 female and male patients., Methods: HPV DNA was extracted from genital swabs of the study participants and amplified by Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). Genotyping was performed for 2525 cases using REALQUALITY RQ-Multi HPV Detection Kit for the identification of 14 high risk (HR) and 2 low risk (LR) HPV genotypes. Demographic figures were analyzed in correlation with virological data statistically., Results: Out of 5176 cases from 7 laboratories, 2727 (53%) were positive for HPV, of which. 2372(87%) women and 355 (13%) men were HPV positive. However, in an intra-gender analysis, positive rate was higher in men (355/637, 55.7%) than in women (2372/4539, 52%; P value 0.007). HPV positive patients were younger than negative individuals. Positive rate was higher among age categories 20-40. Genotyping was performed for 2525 cases. Out of 1219 (48%) patients who contained single genotypes, 566 (22%) and 653 (26%) harboured HR and LR genotypes, respectively. In females and males, 1189 (54%) and 117 (37%) contained multiple genotypes. No substantial associations were found between different age categories and HR/LR and multiple genotypes distribution., Conclusion: The prevalence of HPV infection in both genders was high. However, men had a higher rate of infection. These observations highlighted the necessity for a plan for targeted education to younger population in the society as well as application of infection control measures against HPV infection, especially in terms of general population mass HPV vaccination., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Background: Cesarean delivery on maternal request (CDMR) is one of the main reasons for cesarean delivery in Iran, and women often need help in making a decision about the delivery options available to them. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of a computerized decision aid (CDA) system on empowering pregnant women in choosing an appropriate mode of delivery. This CDA contrasts the advantages and disadvantages of vaginal versus cesarean section delivery in terms of their value to the individual woman., Methods/design: The protocol concerns a randomized trial study that will be performed among Iranian women. Four hundred pregnant women will be recruited from two private and two public prenatal centers in Mashhad, Iran. They will be randomly assigned to either an intervention or a control group. The designed CDA will be provided to the intervention group, whereas the control group will only receive routine care. The CDA provides educational contents as well as some recommendations. The CDA's knowledge base is obtained from the results of studies on predictors of cesarean delivery. The CDA's software will be installed on women's computers for use at home. The two primary outcomes for the study are O'Connor's Decisional Conflict Scale and knowledge as measured by true/false questions. Actual mode of delivery (vaginal versus cesarean) will be compared in the two groups., Discussion: We investigate the effect of a CDA on empowering pregnant women in terms of reducing their decisional conflict as well as on improving their clinical knowledge pertaining to mode of delivery., Trial Registration: This trial is registered with the Iran Trial Registrar under registration number IRCT2015093010777N4 and registration date 26 October 2015.