Evaluation of Iranian Universities of Medical Sciences in Terms of Information and Preventive Health Education in the Field of Coronavirus by Evaluating the Websites in 2020: A Short Report

Background and Objectives: Informing about the coronavirus can prevent the disease and reduce the economic burden on the people and the Ministry of Health, and websites are one of the means of informing. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the performance of medical universities in terms of health information and education regarding COVID-19 by surveying the websites of Iranian medical universities. Materials and Methods: This descriptive study was conducted in 2020 on the websites of Iranian universities of medical sciences in three categories (type 1, type 2, and type 3 universities) in Babol. Data were collected according to a checklist about the general information of the universities websites, the information and news related to the coronavirus, and the content of personal health education and environmental health for preventing and controlling coronavirus. Data were analyzed using chi-square test. Results: In the present study, the websites of 48 Iranian medical universities were examined; including 19 type 1 universities, 21 type 2, and 8 type 3. The mean and standard deviation of websites scores in terms of information and news of the coronavirus was 8.54±1.75, and the personal and environmental health educational materials of the coronavirus was 10.96±1.148, which indicates a favorable situation. Chi-square test showed that the information status and news related to the coronavirus had a significant relationship with the type of medical universities (p=0.006), and the information situation at type 1 universities was better. Conclusion: The present study showed that all type 1 and type 2 universities and more than a half of type 3 medical universities were in an acceptable position in terms of total scores in the two areas of information and health education about the coronavirus. Key words: Medical university, Website, Health education, Prevention, Coronavirus Funding: This study was funded by the Deputy of Research and Technology of the Babol University of Medical Sciences. Conflict of interest: None declared. Ethical approval: The Ethics Committee of Babol University of Medical Sciences approved the study (IR.MUBABOL.HRI.REC.1399.100). How to cite this article: Aghalari Z, Dahms HU, Jafarian S, Gholinia Ahangar H. Evaluation of Iranian Universities of Medical Sciences in Terms of Information and Preventive Health Education in the Field of Coronavirus by Evaluating the Websites in 2020: A Short Report. J Rafsanjan Univ Med Sci 2021; 20 (9): 1049-58. [Farsi]