No abstract

Introduction: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is the most common illness causing neurological inabilities in young adults. The ability of the ill person to use coping skills is an important factor that could help reduce stress and manage the increasing challenges caused by this debilitating illness. The present study focused on comparing the amount of coping skills used by MS sufferers, who were or were not members of a peer support group. Methods: The method of the study was descriptive-analytical. The study was conducted at the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Zanjan City during year 2016. Simple random sampling without replacement was conducted on 30 MS sufferers, who were members and 90, who were not members of the peer support group. The data gathering tool included a demographic questionnaire and Jalowiec coping skills questionnaire. Fisher's exact test and t-test were used to analyze the data. Results: Comparison of the amounts of coping skills used by member and non-member patients in the peer support group revealed that they differed insignificantly (0.735) in terms of excitementoriented skills, and significantly in terms of problem-oriented coping skills. Furthermore, the member patients used more problem-oriented coping skills than the non-member patients (0.009). Conclusions: Peer support has an increasing effect on the use of problem-oriented coping skills. Thus, it will be helpful to encourage patients to become a member of the peer support group.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare problembased learning (PBL) with lecture presentation in education of clinical medical students in Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) workshops. Materials and methods:This crossover interventional study was conducted on clinical medical students in pediatric disease department of Zanjan University of Medical Sciences. Fortyfour students were randomly divided into two groups and two subjects in IMCI courses were chosen. One of the topics was presented as lecture for the first group of students and as PBL for the second group. The second topic was presented as PBL for the first group and as lecture for the second group of students. Results:The students' scores in intervention groups for both topics of "loss of consciousness" and "management of diarrheal diseases" were significantly higher than controls. Each student got significantly higher score in subject presented as PBL. Students preferred PBL compared to lecture for increasing their motivation, a higher quality of education, knowledge retention, and class attractiveness.Discussion: Besides the attractiveness of PBL, it seems that this method is more successful than lecture in increasing student's knowledge. We propose to use this method in workshops and medical education in clinic and hospital wards.