title: Assessing study skills among university students: an Iranian survey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Numerous studies have revealed that study skills have a constructive role on the academic performance of students, in addition to educational quality, student' intelligence, and their affective characteristics. This study aims to examine study skills and the factors influencing them among the health sciences students of Urmia University of Medical Sciences in Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a cross-sectional study carried out from May to November 2013. A total of 340 Urmia health sciences students were selected using a simple sampling method. Data were collected using the Study Skills Assessment Questionnaire of Counseling Center of Houston University and analyzed with descriptive and analytical statistics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean and standard deviation of the students' study skills were 172.5±23.2, out of a total score of 240. Around 1.2% of the study skills were weak; 86.8%, moderate; and 12%, good. Among the study skills, the scores of time management, and memory and concentration were better than the others. Also, there was a significant positive correlation between study skills scores and the students' family housing status and academic level (P<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although the majority of the participants had moderate study skills, these were not sufficient and far from good. Improving and promoting the study skills of university students require the designing and implementing of education programs for study strategies. Therefore, decision makers and planners in the educational areas of universities should consider the topic described above.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Education and Promotion, Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Urmia, Iran.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Didarloo
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, Inpatient Safety Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran.
authors.forename: Hamid Reza
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Khalkhali