Factors influencing health professions students’ use of computers for data analysis at three Ugandan public medical schools: a cross-sectional survey

BMC Research Notes

Erisa S Mwaka¹  John Quinn⁴  Celestino Obua⁶  Kawungezi Peter⁵  Ruberwa Joseph⁵  David Lagoro Kitara²  Francis Bajunirwe³  William Buwembo¹  Ian G Munabi¹ 

[1] Department of Human Anatomy, School of Biomedical Sciences, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Kampala, Uganda;Department of Surgery, Gulu University, Gulu, Uganda;Department of Community Health, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Kampala, Uganda;Department of Computer Science, College of Computing and Information Sciences Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda;Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Kampala, Uganda;Department of Pharmacology, School of Biomedical Sciences, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Kampala, Uganda

关键词: Health profession students;    Undergraduate;    Research;    Data analysis;    Computer;   

Others  :  1131666
DOI  :  10.1186/s13104-015-1013-3

 received in 2014-11-04, accepted in 2015-02-12,  发布年份 2015

【 摘 要 】

Background

Effective utilization of computers and their applications in medical education and research is of paramount importance to students. The objective of this study was to determine the association between owning a computer and use of computers for research data analysis and the other factors influencing health professions students’ computer use for data analysis.

Methods

We conducted a cross sectional study among undergraduate health professions students at three public universities in Uganda using a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire was composed of questions on participant demographics, students’ participation in research, computer ownership, and use of computers for data analysis. Descriptive and inferential statistics (uni-variable and multi- level logistic regression analysis) were used to analyse data. The level of significance was set at 0.05.

Results

Six hundred (600) of 668 questionnaires were completed and returned (response rate 89.8%). A majority of respondents were male (68.8%) and 75.3% reported owning computers. Overall, 63.7% of respondents reported that they had ever done computer based data analysis. The following factors were significant predictors of having ever done computer based data analysis: ownership of a computer (adj. OR 1.80, p = 0.02), recently completed course in statistics (Adj. OR 1.48, p =0.04), and participation in research (Adj. OR 2.64, p <0.01).

Conclusions

Owning a computer, participation in research and undertaking courses in research methods influence undergraduate students’ use of computers for research data analysis. Students are increasingly participating in research, and thus need to have competencies for the successful conduct of research. Medical training institutions should encourage both curricular and extra-curricular efforts to enhance research capacity in line with the modern theories of adult learning.

【 授权许可】

   
2015 Munabi et al.; licensee BioMed Central.

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