Background: The prevalence of smoking among students is a growing concern, particularly among medical students. Being associated with stress, competitiveness, and various social influences, smoking can have detrimental effects on self-esteem and self-efficacy and may create a vicious cycle that may contribute to student’s well-being and academic performance outcomes. We aimed to investigate the relationship between self-esteem, self-efficacy, and smoking habits among medical students and their sociodemographic correlates. Methods: A cross-sectional study on 456 medical students was conducted via an online survey using structured questionnaires on socio-demographic characteristics, smoking habits, nicotine dependence, self-esteem, and self-efficacy. Results: The prevalence of smoking was 31.1% The scores of self-esteem and self-efficacy were positively correlated with smoking habits (W1=0.957, W2=0.975, P<0.05). Students presented rather low smoking addiction with male students having slightly higher scores than female students on self-esteem and self-efficacy, military students had higher self-esteem scores than civilians with physical activity having a positive correlation with non-smoking behavior. Conclusion: According to our results, self- esteem and self-efficacy were slightly positively correlated with smoking habits. Furthermore, there was no statistically significant association between other social factors and smoking. Our results may develop a theoretical basis for medical students’ psychological variables studying for further implementation of university educational programs and preventive interventions empowering students towards an overall better quality of life, addressing, among others, smoking behaviors.
Background: Self-care behaviors are very important to control type 2 diabetes. The current study was conducted aiming at determining the effect of the educational intervention based on mobile short message service on the self-care behaviors in patients with type 2 diabetes in Khorram Abad. Methods: This study was a semi-experimental study on 191 patients with type 2 diabetes (45 cases and 45 control). Data collection tools included a demographic information form, International Physical Activity Questionnaire, Self-Care Scale, and Self-Efficacy Scale. Three to four educational messages were sent daily through mobile phones as an educational intervention. Data were analyzed with SPSS V24 at a significance level of 0.05. Results: The data analysis indicated that the average score of self-care, self-efficacy, and blood sugar was significantly higher in the case group than in the control group before and after the intervention (P<0.001). However, in terms of the physical activity variable, this relationship was not statistically significant in the case and control groups. Conclusion: Educational interventions to empower diabetic patients by strengthening their self-care can be an effective way to improve the health of diabetic patients. Therefore, it is suggested to use patient empowerment programs, especially with a self-care approach, to improve the health of patients.
Background: The deficit of medical staff in various health care systems points out the need for a more detailed strategic management toward sustainability in human resources. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationships linking self-esteem, self-efficacy, general attitudes, and career preferences among medical students, aiming to provide insights that could support sustainable career development. Methods: We performed a monocentric observational study that included 157 students. The participants completed four standardized questionnaires evaluating the self-efficacy, the self-esteem, the general attitudes and beliefs, and the perception of medical career specialty. We assessed the relationships between the psychological variables and career preferences. Results: Significant correlations emerged between the students' year of study and the need for achievement, the importance of mentorship, and career decision-making. Clinical students, in particular, placed greater emphasis on gaining practical experience in their chosen field. Conclusions: Our results reaffirm the impact of occupational psychology in the health care system, providing more sustainability in career decisions. Further research involving larger and more diverse samples is recommended to gain a more comprehensive understanding of how the study of various psychological factors could impact human resources management in the field.
