Demographic and prognostic factors of 455 patients with acute leukemia admitted to two referral hospitals in Tehran-Iran during ten years [2001-2011]

Global death toll of Acute Leukemia [AL], as a heterogeneous group of hematopoietic malignancies, is rather high, i.e. almost 74% of 300,000 new cases die every year. This reflects a poor prognosis of this malignancy in most parts of the world, where contemporary and rather complex remedies are not available. There are a few well documented reports about the epidemiologic features of AL at national level in Iran. This retrospective study demonstrates demographic and laboratory features of Acute Myeloid Leukemia [AML] and Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia [ALL] patients admitted to the main referral oncology hospitals in the ex-Iran University of Medical Sciences in Tehran [Firoozgar and Rasoul-Akram hospitals] during the last decade [2001-2011]. Medical records of all patients admitted to the both hospitals diagnosed with AML and ALL were reviewed during the study period for demographic, biological and clinical characteristics at diagnosis. Four-hundred fifty five patients were diagnosed with AML and ALL, who admitted to the both hospitals during ten years, of whom 59.6% [271 patients] were male. Fifty five percent of patients had AML and 44.6% had ALL, both significantly dominated in men [p<0.001]. AML patients died more significantly [p<0.05] and the most deaths occurred in older patients [p<0.001]. Initial WBC count was significantly related to death [p= 0.001], where the least death [13%] occurred in the group with initial WBC between 5-10x103/microL and most of deceased had an initial WBC more than 10x103/microL. Logistic regression showed that age, fever and WBC were significant prognostic factors. Demographic characteristics of AL patients were almost the same as other global reports. Most deaths occurred in older patients, those who had fever, and patients with higher WBC count at first admission, which warrants more investigations accurately and also improvements in hospital records

[Development and psychometrics of an interpersonal communication skills scale [A.S.M.A] among Zanjan health volunteers]

It is crucial to assess communication skills among health workers using valid culture-based instruments. This study aimed to develop and assess psychometric properties of the Interpersonal Communication Skills Scale among Zanjan Health Volunteers. In this study, a total of 191 health volunteers participated in a self-rating assessment of the Communication Skills Scale [CSS]. Moreover, 14 experts were asked to rate each item based on the relevance, clarity, and simplicity. Through a literature review, we developed an instrument with 43 items. The validity of the instrument was determined using the impact item method, content validity ratio [CVR], content validity index [CVI], face validity and exploratory factor analysis. Reliability of the instrument was reported by Alpha Cronbach coefficient. The CSS finally contained 35 items, divided into two categories: general and specific communication skills. Of 43 items, those with impact item index over 1.5, CVR over 0.51, and CVI over 0.79 were considered as valid; while the rest were discarded resulting in a 35-item scale. Factor analysis was carried out to determine the relationship among the items of the CSS. Exploratory factor analysis reduced the list of items to 30, which were divided into seven groups with a minimum eigenvalue of 1 for each factor, capable of predicting 68.8% of the variance. Internal reliability of the scale was determined by alpha Cronbach coefficient [0.91]. The results of this study indicated that the CSS is a valid and reliable instrument for assessment of the communication skills among health volunteers in Zanjan. These findings could be used for developing similar instruments in other health worker groups