Strengthening capacity to research the social determinants of health in low- and middle-income countries: lessons from the INTREC programme
Nicholas HenschkeAnna I. MirnyJoke HaafkensHeribert RamrothSiwi PadmawatiMartin BanghaLisa BerkmanLaksono TrisnantoroYulia BlomstedtHeiko BecherOsman SankohPeter ByassJohn Kinsman
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The INDEPTH Training & Research Centres of Excellence (INTREC) collaboration developed a training programme to strengthen social determinants of health (SDH) research in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). It was piloted among health- and demographic researchers from 9 countries in Africa and Asia. The programme followed a blended learning approach and was split into three consecutive teaching blocks over a 12-month period: 1) an online course of 7 video lectures and assignments on the theory of SDH research; 2) a 2-week qualitative and quantitative methods workshop; and 3) a 1-week data analysis workshop. This report aims to summarise the student evaluations of the pilot and to suggest key lessons for future approaches to strengthen SDH research capacity in LMICs. Semi-structured interviews and questionnaires with 24 students from 9 countries in Africa and Asia were used to evaluate each teaching block. Information was collected about the students’ motivation and interest in studying SDH, any challenges they faced during the consecutive teaching blocks, and suggestions they had for future courses on SDH. Of the 24 students who began the programme, 13 (54%) completed all training activities. The students recognised the need for such a course and its potential to improve their skills as health researchers. The main challenges with the online course were time management, prior knowledge and skills required to participate in the course, and the need to get feedback from teaching staff throughout the learning process. All students found the face-to-face workshops to be of high quality and value for their work, because they offered an opportunity to clarify SDH concepts taught during the online course and to gain practical research skills. After the final teaching block, students felt they had improved their data analysis skills and were better able to develop research proposals, scientific manuscripts, and policy briefs. The INTREC programme has trained a promising cadre of health researchers who live and work in LMICs, which is an essential component of efforts to identify and reduce national and local level health inequities. Time management and technological issues were the greatest challenges, which can inform future attempts to strengthen research capacity on SDH.Keywords:
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MSc Student in Biostatistics, Department of Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran. Professor in Biostatistics, Department of Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran. Assistant Professor in Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine, Ardabil University of Medical Science, Ardabil, Iran. ___________________________________________________________________________ Abstract
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The aim of this study was to assess the level of importance, adequacy and need of biostatistics and biostatistics education regarding health sciences in Turkey.Within the scope of the study a survey (questionnaire) was applied to a total of 237 academicians (academicians holding various titles employed by different departments) officiating at medical, veterinary medicine and health sciences faculties of six universities (Afyon Kocatepe, Gazi, Ankara, Hacettepe, Marmara ve Düzce) in Turkey. With this survey were taken views of academics on the status of the training they had received regarding biostatistics, their need for biostatistics education, the importance of biostatistics education and its level of adequacy, the source and adequacy of current information on biostatistics, the solutions to meet biostatistics needs and the statistical techniques which were required.According to the results, 27.8% of the participants have not received biostatistics education. It was determined that the importance of biostatistics education was emphasized as "very and exactly important" by 88.19% of the participants. 14.35% of the participants reported that biostatistics education was far from adequate for post graduate. They needed biostatistics knowledge mainly in the analysis of researches data (χ̄=4.01). On the other hand, they met biostatistics knowledge needs mostly by "help from friends".The study revealed that most of the academicians found biostatistics education important but claimed it had been inadequate. They emphasized the need for the organization of courses, seminars, etc. regarding biostatistics at sufficient intervals. As a consequence of that, this study reveals the importance of biostatistics and biostatistics education once again in the data analysis process in health sciences.
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Abstract A survey of medical schools in the United States and Canada was undertaken to learn the topics in biostatistics that are being taught to medical students and how the biostatistics instruction is organized. Results indicate that more schools are requiring course work in biostatistics than were doing so 10 years ago and that instruction is integrated within courses in epidemiology or public health/community medicine at half of the schools. Although some basic concepts are taught at 90% of the responding schools, there is wide variation in the topics being covered and in the number of hours devoted to the instruction. The results of the survey are followed by descriptions of the biostatistics curriculum at three medical schools.
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Introduction: Biostatistics is a discipline concerned with how we ought to make decisions when analysing biomedical data. As statistics is desirable at every stage of research to obtain scientifically important information and reliable results, the importance of biostatistics should definitely be informed to the researchers in health sciences. Aim: To evaluate the knowledge, attitude and perception of dental professionals towards biostatistics. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitude and perception regarding biostatistics among 721 postgraduate students in dental institutions of Andhra Pradesh. All the participants were provided with a pre-structured questionnaire comprising 21 questions, and answering was completely self-paced. Results: Among the respondents, 86% were aware of the importance of biostatistics in research. Forty-five percent of the respondents attempted to perform statistical analysis on their own. Of all the students, 53% were unable to identify the commonly used parametric tests in clinical trials. Conclusion: Majority of the participants were aware of the importance of biostatistics, but only a few of them attempted to perform statistical analysis. Therefore, dental institutions should take initiatives in organising workshops and training programmes for learning and application of biostatistics, concomitantly encourage research activity to conduct valuable research and add up evidence to literature.
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Iris Publishers, open access journals of biostatistics, open access journal of biostatistics and biometrics applications, Peer reviewed journal of biostatistics and biometrics, open access journal of applied biostatistics, open access journal of biostatistics & biometrics, international journal of biostatistics & computational biology, international journal of clinical biostatistics and biometrics, journal of biostatistics impact factor, journals on biostatistics.
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There is great need for intentional investment in capacity building for thoracic surgical conditions. This article provides a brief overview of thoracic surgical capacity building for low- and middle-income countries using the Lancet framework of infrastructure, workforce, financing, and information management. The authors highlight the needs, opportunities, and challenges that are relevant for the thoracic surgical community, as it aims to increase care for patients with these conditions globally.
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Objectives:
To assess the knowledge and attitudes of resident physicians toward biostatistics and research methodology concepts.Methods:
We conducted a cross-sectional study between November 2014 and October 2014 at King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to all participants. The response rate was 90%.Results:
One hundred sixty-two resident completed the questionnaire. Most residents were well-informed in basic concepts, such as, "P" values, study power, and case control studies; more than half had confidence in interpreting the results of scientific papers. Conversely, more than 67% of the residents were not knowledgeable on more sophisticated terms in biostatistics. Residents with previous training in evidence-based medicine (EBM) (p=0.05) and non-specialist residents (p=0.003) were more likely to have better knowledge scores. Females (p=0.003), and those with previous training in biostatistics and epidemiology had positive attitude toward biostatistics (p<0.001 in both cases). Residents who read medical journals scored lower than those who never read journals (p=0.001).Conclusion:
Prior courses in EBM, as well as male gender were associated with knowledge scores. Reinforcing training after graduation from medical school with special focus on integrating biostatistics with epidemiology and research methods is needed.Biostatistics
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Biostatistics classes can cause many medical students to feel frustrated and frantic. Why is biostatistics part of the body of knowledge that is deemed essential and fundamental for the medical student and eventual practitioner? This is a question that many perplexed (because of trying to comprehend biostatistics) medical students ask. To reiterate, not perceiving the practical role (not just the test-taking role) of biostatistics may didn’t better motivate medical students to learn–and avoid want to learn–the language, purpose and practicality of biostatistics.
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