Purpose Emotional intelligence is a factor affecting the health of individuals, and happiness is another factor affecting it. Medical students’ health can greatly affect a community’s health due to the important role of medical students in maintaining and improving it. Accordingly, we aimed to study the relationship between emotional intelligence and happiness among the students of the Shiraz Medical School. Methods This study is an analytical, cross-sectional study. The target population of this study was the medical students who began studying in the medical school and the international branch of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences from September 2014 to September 2017. The sample size was 300 students who were selected by a systematic sampling method. The instruments for collecting information in this study were Oxford Happiness Inventory and Siberia Schering’s Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire. The significance level of the tests was set at 0.05. Results The mean age of 292 responded participants were 20.73 with standard deviation of ±1.81 emotional intelligence (p<0.001), level of stress (p<0.001), and grade (p=0.03) and type of personality (p<0.001) can explain the changes in the happiness level and they were significant effective factors in the regression modeling. Conclusion Emotional intelligence was a predictive factor for happiness in medical students. Students with higher emotional intelligence felt healthier. And happiness in extroverted students was higher than introverted ones. It is suggested that the results of this study should be confirmed with prospective studies.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is a critical world concern, with healthcare workers (HCWs) at a high risk of infection. Thus, a sufficient level of knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) must be ensured. Objectives: We aimed to investigate the KAP toward COVID-19 among HCWs in Shiraz, Iran. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed on a large sample of HCWs dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic in multiple hospitals affiliated to the Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. The survey featured four sections: demographic data, knowledge, attitude, and practice. An expert panel validated the questionnaire, and its reliability was ensured through a pilot study on 20 HCWs (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.9). Results: We found that 72.8% of HCWs had sufficient knowledge, 66.65% indicated correct attitudes, and 67.72% described good practices. However, 24.23% thought adequate protective equipment or facilities are unavailable. The knowledge scores were lowest on prevention and diagnosis, though symptoms were well-recognized. The male gender was correlated with more correct attitudes. Among nurses, 2 - 5 years of work experience was associated with better practice, with a master’s degree being related to more positive attitudes. Conclusions: The KAP of HCWs toward COVID-19 are acceptable in Shiraz, but further education and training is beneficial, especially on disinfectants and prevention; reassurance regarding protective equipment is also vital.

No abstract