ABSTRACT
Iran is one of the endemic regions with high prevalence of brucellosis. Several serological markers for diagnosis and response to treatment are available. Serum level of Soluble Interleukin-2 Receptor alpha [SIL-2R alpha] is a new marker to assess response to therapy and clinical relapse of brucellosis. This study intends to investigate the serum levels of SIL-2R alpha before and after treatment, to evaluate this marker for patients responding to treatment of brucellosis. This study is an analytical cross-sectional study. Forty patients who had clinical signs of brucellosis and serological tests confirmed the disease have been treated with standard antibiotics for 6 weeks. 2ME and SIL-2R alpha levels were measured before and after treatment and these values were compared. Among the 40 patients, 27 patients [67.5%] had improvement in symptoms and 13 patients [32.5%] had no symptoms after treatment. In Comparing serum levels of SIL-2R alpha and 2ME before and after treatment, decreasing of both markers after treatment was significant [p<0.001]. In patients with false positive for 2ME, SIL-2R alpha in 57% of patients had a reduction, but in patients with false negative for 2ME, SIL-2R alpha in only 28% of patients increased. Not only is Serum level of SIL-2R alpha useful for predicting response to treatment of brucellosis, but also in cases of false positive of 2ME can be helpful.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Using Standardized Patient [SP] in teaching history taking provides medical students with an opportunity to learn how to communicate with patients. A Standardized Patient is a person who has been carefully coached to simulate an actual patient so accurately. This study was performed to assess the effect of using SP on improving history taking skill of third year medical students
Methods: In a quasi-experimental study, 95 students of "Introduction to Clinical Medicine" were divided into two experiment and control groups in 2007-2008. The control group received instruction on history taking skills through usual method of lecture. The experiment group was instructed using SP. At the end of the course, the students' history taking skills were evaluated through an Objective Structured Clinical Examination [OSCE] and the mean scores of the two groups were compared. Also the students' viewpoints were investigated using a researcher-made reliable and valid questionnaire
Results: Although no significant difference was observed between the scores of individual items of checklist in the two groups, the total mean score of the experiment group [7.03 +/- 1.349] was significantly higher than that of the control group [5.8 +/- 1.473] [P<0.004]. Most students [86.5%] preferred using SP for their instruction compared to lecture method
Conclusion: Standardized patient provides an appropriate opportunity for new medical students to experience and learn history taking and communication skills. It is highly recommended to use SP not only in teaching history taking and communication skills but also in physical examination course