Sirisa Karki

Background: Antibiotic resistance in recent years has become a major threat to public health globally. In dental practice, antibiotics and analgesics are commonly used for infection control and management of pain. The knowledge, attitude and practice skills of antibiotic prescription by dental practitioners should be continuously evaluated. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice regarding antibiotic prescription among dental practitioners.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out to determine the knowledge, attitude and practice regarding antibiotic prescription among dental practitioners. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect information which was adopted from previous studies. A briefing was given to the participants about the nature of the study and the procedure of completing the questionnaire was explained. After completion of the questionnaire, data was collected, reviewed, organized and expressed as counts/percentages and statically analyzed using SPSS version 16.Result: The current study showed that majority of the participants had average knowledge (52.7%) regarding antibiotic resistance but despite of that they have been prescribing antibiotic without proper guidelines. In this study, Amoxicillin (69.1%) followed by amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (25.5%) combination were the most commonly prescribed drugs used for the management of oral infections, but were prescribed based on symptoms without taking care of guidelines.Conclusion: Dental practitioners had knowledge of antibiotic prescription and its resistance however they have been prescribing antibiotic without proper guidelines. It is deemed necessary to update the knowledge and enhance the careful use of antibiotics.

Background: Increasing smartphone use among adolescents in todays’ world has made this handy device an indispensable electronic tool, however, it comes at a price of problematic overuse or addiction. We aim to investigate the prevalence of smartphone addiction among undergraduate medical students and explore its association with various demographic and personal factors. Methods: A pool of 250 undergraduate students completed a survey composed of socio-demographics information, smartphone-use related variables and 10-point Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version in February 2019. Results: Smartphone addiction among medical students was estimated at around 36.8% with higher percentage of male smartphone addicts. Phubbing was reported by 37.6% participants with more than 60% reporting overuse. Statistically significant association was observed between smartphone addiction and gender and overuse. Self-acknowledgement of addiction was found to be the biggest predictor of smartphone addiction. Conclusion: This study provides preliminary insights into smartphone use, smartphone addiction and various factors predicting smartphone addiction among early undergraduate medical students from Nepal, which should be extended in future studies. Education policymakers and educators need to develop some strategies encouraging student’s smartphone utilization to enhance academic performance.

Introduction: Increasing smartphone use among adolescents in todays’ world has made this handy device an indispensable electronic tool, however, it comes at a price of problematic overuse or addiction. We aim to investigate the prevalence of smartphone addiction among undergraduate medical students and explore its association with various demographic and personal factors. Methods: A pool of 250 undergraduate students completed a survey composed of socio-demographics information, smartphone-use related variables and 10-point Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version in February 2019. Results: Smartphone addiction among medical students was estimated at around 36.8% with higher percentage of male smartphone addicts. Phubbing was reported by 37.6% participants with more than 60% reporting overuse. Statistically significant association was observed between smartphone addiction and gender and overuse. Self-acknowledgement of addiction was found to be the biggest predictor of smartphone addiction. Conclusion: This study provides preliminary insights into smartphone use, smartphone addiction and various factors predicting smartphone addiction among early undergraduate medical students from Nepal, which should be extended in future studies. Education policymakers and educators need to develop some strategies encouraging student’s smartphone utilization to enhance academic performance. Keywords: smartphone; addiction; undergraduate; medical.

Background and purpose: The success story of a modern-day physician centers substantially on the knowledge of proper communication-skills with patients and their bedside relatives. Therefore, it has become extremely important to start a communication-skills course early on in undergraduate medical study, but to date, this has been given relatively little or no emphasis. In the present study, an attempt was made to assess the attitude of undergraduate medical newbies towards learning communication-skills, and the association between attitude and various student characteristics. Patients and methods: A total of 99 recently admitted undergraduate medical students at Chitwan Medical College were included in the study, and their attitude towards communication-skills training was measured using the Communication Skills Attitude Scale (CSAS). Results: A positive learning attitude was found in over 50% of participants. The idea of a requirement of communication-skills curriculum was associated with a positive learning attitude. Gender, age, and past educational institute were not associated with communication skills learning attitude. Conclusion: This study provides perceptions of newly admitted undergraduate medical students towards communication-skills learning. We suggest the integration of communication-skills curriculum into the undergraduate medical syllabus, with an acceptable, focused, and interesting teaching module.

Introduction Increasing smartphone use among adolescents in todays’ world has made this handy device an indispensable electronic tool, however, it comes at a price of problematic overuse or addiction. We aimed to investigate the prevalence of smartphone addiction among undergraduate medical students and explore its association with various demographic and personal factors.Methods A pool of 250 undergraduate students enrolled at Chitwan Medical College were included in this cross-sectional study conducted between August to November 2018. A preformed demographic porforma along with 10-point Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Version was used to collect participant information.Results Smartphone addiction among medical students was estimated at around 36.8% with higher percentage of male smartphone addicts. Prevalence rates of smartphone related tolerance was reported in 42.8% participants, 37.6% reported phubbing and 60.8% participants reported overuse. Statistically significant association was observed between smartphone addiction and gender, self-acknowledgement of addiction and overuse.Conclusion This study provides preliminary insights into smartphone use, smartphone addiction and various factors predicting smartphone addiction among early undergraduate medical students from Nepal, which should be extended in future studies. Some fruitful programs and strategies to promote students’ knowledge and awareness about using smartphone seems to be the need of the hour.