Performance Evaluation of Passive Defense Committee of Iranian Universities/Colleges of Medical Sciences

Background and Aim: Creating and developing work teams is one of the ways to deal with the challenges of specialization and performance improvement. This study was conducted to evaluate the performance of the passive defense committee of Iranian Medical Universities/Colleges from the viewpoints of affiliated workgroup members. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in winter 2018. The research population consisted of Iranian universities of medical sciences, which were randomly selected from 20 universities. Available members of affiliated workgroups were interviewed at selected universities. The data were collected and evaluated using a researcher-made questionnaire including two parts of individual variables, and function of the committee using 34 open-ended and closed-ended questions. Data were analyzed by SPSS-23 software using Chi-square, Kendalls, Spearman, independent t-test and ANOVA. Results: Of the 210 members studied, 70.9% were male. Average work experience and working time in teamwork were 18.34±7.7 and 2.6±2.1 years. Out of 5 points, the average performance of the Passive Defense Secretariat for the implementation of the approvals was 2.71±0.9, in the creation and development of related infrastructure 2.83±1.0, in the optimal use of existing capacities 2.71±0.9. The average overall performance of the passive defense committee was at least 2.19±0.41 to a maximum of 3.52±0.58 and in a total of 18 universities 3.01±0.7. The average effectiveness of the actions and activities of the passive defense committee was at least 2.17 ± 0.37 to a maximum of 3.48±0.72 and in a total of 18 universities 2.72±0.9. There was no significant relationship between individual and organizational variables of the persons studied and overall functioning of the Secretariat, overall functioning and effectiveness of passive defense committee (P<0.05). Conclusion: This study showed that the function of the passive defense committee of Iranian medical universities was moderate level. Design and implementation of intervention programs are necessary.