Statistics for undergraduate medical students in Sudan: associated factors for using statistical analysis software and attitude toward statistics among undergraduate medical students in Sudan.

INTRODUCTION: Statistics helps medical students understand research. Without understanding statistics, students can't choose the proper analysis in their research. We aimed to assess the attitude toward statistics, usage of statical software and associated factors for using statistical analysis software in Sudan. METHOD: A cross-sectional online survey was distributed among undergraduate medical students across ten Sudanese universities. The study aimed to measure their attitude towards statistics using Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics (SATS-36) scale. RESULTS: In total, 489 students were participated with a mean age of 21.94 ± 1.61 and a slight female preponderance (52%, n = 256). The overall attitude towards statistics was 4.64 ± 0.91. The mean attitude scores for the components of SATS-36 scale was higher for students who were using statistical analysis software demonstrating significant difference in affect (p = 0.002), cognitive competence (p = 0.002), value (p = 0.002), Interest (p = 0.004) and Effort (p = 0.029). Almost half of the students (47%) had attended a biostatistics workshop with only 26% of them reported using statistical analysis software. Of the latter group, 72% (n = 91) used SPSS while 50% (n = 64) used excel. Univariate logistic regression showed students who had previously used an statistical software were more likely to be studying in their sixth year compared with second year (OR: 12.652, CI 95% 4.803- 33.332; p < 0.001), older age (OR: 1.224, CI 95% 1.079- 1.388; p = 0.002), attended a course in research methodology (OR: 3.383, CI 95% 2.120- 5.398; p < 0.001) or biostatistics (OR: 1.886, CI 95% 1.252- 2.841; p = 0.002), initiated or participated in a research project (OR:4.349, CI 95% 2.839 - 6.661;p < 0.001) or published a paper (OR: 8.271, CI 95% 3.542 - 19.312; p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The study showed an average attitude towards statistics among medical students. Being at higher years, participating or publishing research and attending research workshop are associated with the usage of statistical software. Also, few students were using statistical software.

Interaction of nimesulide, a cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor, with cisplatin in normotensive and spontaneously hypertensive rats.

We investigated the effect of administration of nimesulide, a selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor, on cisplatin (CP)-induced nephrotoxicity in rats. WKY rats and SHRs were divided into four groups, each. The first and second groups received saline and oral nimesulide (20mg/kg/day for 6 days), respectively, whereas the third and fourth groups received a single intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of CP (5mg/kg) and CP (5mg/kg) and nimesulide (20mg/kg/day for 5 days), respectively. At the end of the experiment, rats were anesthetized and blood pressure and renal blood flow (RBF) were monitored, followed by intravenous (i.v.) injection of norepinephrine (NE). Nephrotoxicity was evaluated histopathologically and biochemically. CP caused a reduction in baseline RBF in both WKY and SHRs. It increased the concentrations of urea and creatinine and kidney relative weight, and decreased body weight in both WKY and SHRs. Histopathologically, CP caused remarkable renal damage in both WKY rats and SHRs. Treatment with nimesulide alone did not produce any significant change in any of the above measurements. However, nimesulide aggravated CP-induced renal tissue damage in SHRs, but not in WKY rats. The results show that administration nimesulide augmented the histopathological indices of nephrotoxicity in SHRs, but not in WKY rats.