Preparedness for the smoking cessation role among health sciences students in Kuwait

Our aim was to assess students' preparedness for the smoking cessation role after a teaching module on tobacco cessation and to assess the relationship between smoking status and preparedness. Pharmacy students attended a 4-hour module on the role of health professionals in smoking cessation based on the rx for change training program. Two years after the first introduction of the module, a questionnaire on preparedness and smoking status was filled in by 64 pharmacy students who had attended the module and 243 students from other health sciences that had not been exposed to the module. Preparedness scores for the smoking cessation role for pharmacy students were significantly higher [mean = 19.5, n = 63] for the nonsmoking pharmacy students compared to other nonsmoking students in medicine [mean = 16.2, n = 149], dentistry [mean = 16.1, n = 40] and physical therapy [mean = 14.9, n = 16] [p = 0.009]. The smoking prevalence was 3% among all females and 31% among all males. Smoking students were significantly less likely [p = 0.031] to agree that it is their professional responsibility to help patients quit smoking. Significant and long-lasting differences in students' perception of preparedness for the smoking cessation role based on exposure to a short teaching module were demonstrated. Furthermore, our results support previous findings that smoking compromises attitude towards helping smokers to quit

Suicidal ideation among students enrolled in healthcare training programs: a cross-sectional study / Ideação suicida entre estudantes da área da saúde: um estudo transversal

Objective: We aimed to assess the presence of suicidal ideation, depressive symptoms and symptoms of hopelessness in three healthcare training programs. Method: The study's population comprised all students enrolled at the Medical School of the Fundação do ABC, Brazil, from 2006 to 2007 compared to students enrolled in nursing and pharmacy programs. We applied the Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation, the Beck Depression Inventory and the Beck Hopeless Scale to assess psychiatric symptomatology. The general response rates of the medical, nursing, and pharmacy students were 56 percent, 56 percent and 61 percent, respectively. Results: There was no difference regarding the presence of suicidal ideation among medical, nursing and pharmacy students. There was also no difference regarding the presence of either depression or hopelessness in medical students in comparison to nursing and pharmacy students. In comparison to nursing and pharmacy students, significantly higher severity rates in terms of hopelessness were observed only among medical students. Conclusion: Although we did not observe significant differences regarding suicidal ideation and depression among the three healthcare programs, our findings suggest that the presence of suicidal ideation is indeed a source of concern. Early identification of these symptoms is crucial in order to offer appropriate support and treatment and prevent deaths by suicide.

Objetivo: Objetivou-se avaliar a presença de ideação suicida, sintomas depressivos e sintomas de desesperança entre três cursos da área da saúde. Método: A população do estudo consistiu de todos os estudantes de medicina matriculados na Faculdade de Medicina da Fundação do ABC, Brasil, durante 2006 e 2007, comparados com os alunos matriculados nos cursos de enfermagem e farmácia. Aplicamos a Escala de Ideação Suicida de Beck, o Inventário de Depressão de Beck e a Escala de Desesperança de Beck para avaliar sintomatologia psiquiátrica. A taxa de resposta entre os estudantes de medicina, enfermagem e farmácia foi de 56 por cento, 56 por cento e 61 por cento, respectivamente. Resultados: Não houve diferença em relação à presença de ideação suicida entre os estudantes de medicina, enfermagem e farmácia. Também não houve diferença em relação à presença de depressão ou desesperança nos estudantes de medicina em comparação com os alunos de enfermagem e farmácia. Taxas de gravidade significativamente mais elevadas foram observadas apenas em desesperança entre os estudantes de medicina em comparação com os alunos de enfermagem e farmácia. Conclusão: Embora não tenhamos observado diferenças significativas entre os três cursos da área da saúde com relação à ideação suicida e depressão, a presença de ideação suicida é um achado preocupante. A identificação precoce destes sintomas é fundamental, de modo a se oferecer apoio e tratamento adequados e prevenir mortes por suicídio.