Demographic Characteristics Of Participants Research Articles

Preliminary evaluation of the What You Do Matters curriculum in community-based settings

Preventive parent education programs are an increasingly popular means to increase parents’ knowledge of child development, improve parenting practices, and foster better social, emotional, and educational outcomes for children. This study examined the extent to which participation in What You Do Matters (WYDM; Parents as Teachers National Center, Inc., 2018) is associated with increases in caregivers' knowledge, improved parenting, and enhanced parental self-efficacy. Naturally occurring site-related differences in implementation were also examined as potential moderators of impact. Ninety-four families attended up to six classes that comprise WYDM. Participants completed caregiver knowledge surveys before and after each class and they completed a caregiver behavior change and self-efficacy survey after completion of the program. Participants demonstrated large increases in knowledge about children’s brain development (t = 8.86, p <.0001, d = 0.97), language development (t = 10.69, p <.0001, d = 0.81), and social-emotional development (t = 6.88, p <.0001, d = 0.95). Caregivers also demonstrated moderate increases in knowledge of children’s motor development (t = 5.80, p= < 0.0001, d = 0.95) and small increases in knowledge about children’s cognitive development (t = 3.45; p = < 0.001; d = 0.24). Most participants reported large increases in effectual parent/child interactions and high parental self-efficacy upon program completion. Significant Time by Site interactions on caregivers’ knowledge of child development (Fs = 7.56 to 19.95, ps = < 0.01) suggest that participants’ learning gains may be moderated by differences in intensity of implementation, parent educator effectiveness, demographic characteristics of participants, and/or the match between language of instruction and language dominance of participants.

Assessing SARS-CoV-2 Testing Adherence in a University Town: Recurrent Event Modeling Analysis.

Healthy Davis Together was a program launched in September 2020 in the city of Davis, California, to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and facilitate the return to normalcy. The program involved multiple interventions, including free saliva-based asymptomatic testing, targeted communication campaigns, education efforts, and distribution of personal protective equipment, community partnerships, and investments in the local economy. This study identified demographic characteristics of individuals that underwent testing and assessed adherence to testing over time in a community pandemic-response program launched in a college town in California, United States. This study outlines overall testing engagement, identifies demographic characteristics of participants, and evaluates testing participation changes over 4 periods of the COVID-19 pandemic, distinguished by the dominant variants Delta and Omicron. Additionally, a recurrent model is employed to explore testing patterns based on the participants' frequency, timing, and demographic characteristics. A total of 770,165 tests were performed between November 18, 2020, and June 30, 2022, among 89,924 (41.1% of total population) residents of Yolo County, with significant participation from racially or ethnically diverse participants and across age groups. Most positive cases (6351 of total) and highest daily participation (895 per 100,000 population) were during the Omicron period. There were some gender and age-related differences in the pattern of recurrent COVID-19 testing. Men were slightly less likely (hazard ratio [HR] 0.969, 95% CI 0.943-0.996) to be retested and more likely (HR 1.104, 95% CI 1.075-1.134) to stop testing altogether than women. People aged between 20 and 34 years were less likely to be retested (HR 0.861, 95% CI 0.828-0.895) and more likely to stop testing altogether (HR 2.617, 95% CI 2.538-2.699). However, older age groups were less likely to stop testing, especially those aged between 65-74 years and 75-84 years, than those aged between 0 and 19 years. The likelihood of stopping testing was lower (HR 0.93, 95% CI 0.889-0.976) for the Asian group and higher for the Hispanic or Latino (HR 1.185, 95% CI 1.148-1.223) and Black or African American (HR 1.198, 95% CI 1.054-1.350) groups than the White group. The unique features of a pandemic response program that supported community-wide access to free asymptomatic testing provide a unique opportunity to evaluate adherence to testing recommendations and testing trends over time. Identification of individual and group-level factors associated with testing behaviors can provide insights for identifying potential areas of improvement in future testing initiatives.

Burden of cardiometabolic risk factors and preclinical target organ damage among adults in Freetown, Sierra Leone: a community-based health-screening survey

ObjectiveTo investigate the prevalence of cardiometabolic risk factors (CMRFs), target organ damage (TOD) and its associated factors among adults in Freetown, Sierra Leone.DesignThis community-based cross-sectional study used a stratified multistage...

Evaluation of clinical assessments of social abilities for use in autism clinical trials by the autism biomarkers consortium for clinical trials.

Clinical trials in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often rely on clinician rating scales and parent surveys to measure autism-related features and social behaviors. To aid in the selection of these assessments for future clinical trials, the Autism Biomarkers Consortium for Clinical Trials (ABC-CT) directly compared eight common instruments with respect to acquisition rates, sensitivity to group differences, equivalence across demographic sub-groups, convergent validity, and stability over a 6-week period. The sample included 280 children diagnosed with ASD (65 girls) and 119 neurotypical children (36 girls) aged from 6 to 11 years. Full scale IQ for ASD ranged from 60 to 150 and for neurotypical ranged from 86 to 150. Instruments measured clinician global assessment and autism-related behaviors, social communication abilities, adaptive function, and social withdrawal behavior. For each instrument, we examined only the scales that measured social or communication functioning. Data acquisition rates were at least 97.5% at T1 and 95.7% at T2. All scales distinguished diagnostic groups. Some scales significantly differed by participant and/or family demographic characteristics. Within the ASD group, most clinical instruments exhibited weak (≥ |0.1|) to moderate (≥ |0.4|) intercorrelations. Short-term stability was moderate (ICC: 0.5-0.75) to excellent (ICC: >0.9) within the ASD group. Variations in the degree of stability may inform viability for different contexts of use, such as identifying clinical subgroups for trials versus serving as a modifiable clinical outcome. All instruments were evaluated in terms of their advantages and potential concerns for use in clinical trials.

Determinants and economic burden of HIV/AIDS in Iran: a prospective study

BackgroundSince the start of the AIDS outbreak, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has infected about 84.2 million people, and approximately 40.1 million people have died due to AIDS-related diseases. So, this study aims to provide a comprehensive population-based description of patient costs and the economic burden of HIV/AIDS in Iran.MethodsThe study population of this cross-sectional cost-of-illness study consisted of HIV-infected patients who were receiving services in Mashhad and were under the supervision of BIDCC. There are four BIDCC centers in Mashhad, we considered all patients referred to these centers. Costs data were evaluated from a social perspective with a bottom-up approach and as a prevalence based. The data from 157 individuals were included in the study. For collecting data on direct and indirect costs belonging to patients and their families, a questionnaire was developed. Also, the Demographic characteristic of participants and the stage of the disease and Transmission category were analyzed.ResultsIn this study, 57.32 of the subjects were Male. The majority of participants in this study were in the age group 30–59 years (n = 124,78.98%). Based on where the patients live, the majority of patients have lived in the urban region (n = 144, 91.72%). The most common way to transmit this disease is through unprotected sex (30.57%) and then Infected spouse (28.03%), and then injecting drugs (21.02%). The highest cost of this disease is attributed to medicine (10339.32 $ for 6 months), after medicine, the cost of tests was 9101.22 $.ConclusionIt seems that to reduce costs for patients with disease HIV/AIDS, the focus should be on diagnostic tests and care. Early diagnosis and rapid initiation of antiviral treatments can be effective in preventing serious and debilitating diseases.

Short-term Effect of Training in Increasing Midwives’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Related to HIV and AIDS Prevention

Introduction: The study aims to analyse the effect of the training intervention program on midwives’ HIV-related knowledge, attitudes, and practices in Central Java. The training focused on HIV epidemiology, transmissions, co-infections, PITC, risk contacts, and prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT). It was designed to improve midwives’ knowledge, positive attitudes, and HIV/AIDS prevention practices, including reducing fear and stigma concerning people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). Material and Methods: This study employed a Quasi-experimental pre-post-test design. The respondents are 50 village midwives equally divided into experimental and control groups. Data were collected using a questionnaire adapted from WHO, and it included questions about participant demographic characteristics, knowledge, attitudes, and practices on HIV and AIDS prevention programs. Furthermore, training consists of lecturing, group discussion, simulation, conversation with PLWHA, and watching a film about HIV including practicum. Results: There was a positive effect on midwife knowledge, attitudes, and practices in the early detection of HIV cases for pregnant women and reproductive age groups and HIV/AIDS prevention programs. The improvement in knowledge, attitudes, and practices occurred significantly in the intervention compared to the control. The adjustment intervention effects were beneficial and statistically significant (p-value &lt;0.05), particularly the magnitude of the treatment effect for the knowledge score, which increased of 7.73% of the baseline mean knowledge. There was a significant association between knowledge and practices with a p-value of 0.002. Conclusion: Training midwives in HIV prevention was a beneficial program and positively impacted knowledge, attitudes, and practices. This study recommended the need for comprehensive training for village midwives, especially those related to their tasks in HIV prevention.

Application of Stress and Anxiety to Viral Epidemics-6 to Measure the Anxiety Response of Cold Chain Practitioners During the COVID-19 Post-Pandemic Era in China.

This study explored the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Stress and Anxiety to Viral Epidemics-6 Items (SAVE-6) scale for cold chain practitioners exposed to moderate-to-high risk of infection. A total of 233 cold chain practitioners participated in an anonymous online survey, conducted from October to November 2021. The questionnaire comprised participant demographic characteristics, the Chinese version of SAVE-6, the Generalized Anxiety Disorders-7 (GAD-7), and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) scales. Based on the results of the parallel analysis, the single-structure model of the Chinese version of SAVE-6 was adopted. The scale showed satisfactory internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha=0.930) and good convergent validity based on Spearman's correlation coefficient with the GAD-7 (rho=0.616, p<0.001) and PHQ-9 (rho=0.540, p<0.001) scale scores. The optimal cutoff score for Chinese Stress and Anxiety to Viral Epidemics-9 Items was identified as ≥12 (area under the curve=0.797, Sensitivity=0.76, Specificity=0.66) for cold chain practitioners. The Chinese version of the SAVE-6 scale has good psychometric properties and can be applied as a reliable and valid rating scale to assess the anxiety response of cold chain practitioners in the post-pandemic era.

Impact of Intimate Partner Violence on Iranian Children's Growth and Development: A Descriptive-analytical Study.

This study aimed to determine the prevalence of different types of intimate partner violence (IPV) experienced by married Iranian women and their impact on the growth and development of their children. For this descriptive-analytical study, we recruited the mothers of one-year-old children attending primary health centers in Gonbad-e-Kavoos city, Iran. The data was collected using a questionnaire comprising the World Health Organization Domestic Violence, Ages and Stages Questionnaire-12; and queries related to the participants' socio-economic, obstetrics, demographic, and anthropometric characteristics. The body mass index z (BMI z) scores of the children were divided into five categories based on the World Health Organization's classification: severely underweight (z < -3), underweight (-3 ≤ z < -2), normal (-2 ≤ z < 1), overweight (1 ≤ z ≤ 2), and obese (z > 2). The data were subjected to descriptive analysis, chi-square test, and regression. A total of 596 of mother-child dyads were included in this study. The prevalence of psychological, physical, and sexual IPV was 29.5%, 7.4%, and 2.4%, respectively. Most children (91.7%) had normal weight while the rest were overweight or obese. Developmental problems were reported in 1.7% of children. The education level of the father was significantly related to IPV (p =0.001) while the type of his occupation was related to delay in child growth (p =0.020). There was no significant difference between BMI z-score and developmental disabilities in the children of women exposed and not exposed to any type of IPV. The prevalence of psychological IPV was high while those of physical and sexual IPV were low. The rates of poor child growth and development were also low. The father's educational and socio-economic status influenced IPV and the children's growth deficits.

Demographic characteristics of participants in graduate college professional and sociocultural development programming

PurposeThe USA’s higher education leaders and professional organizations have called for increased professional development programming at graduate colleges to better prepare US graduate students for their future careers. This study aims to investigate the demographic characteristics of graduate students participating in co-curricular professional development (PD) and sociocultural development (SD) programming at a graduate college at a large, selective and research-intensive public university in the Midwestern USA.Design/methodology/approachUsing institutional data from six semesters, the authors examined the characteristics of students that attended the graduate college’s programs at one university. The authors analyzed which students were most likely to attend PD and SD programs using multinomial logistic regression models.FindingsFemale students, students from US historically marginalized racial groups, and US Pell Grant recipients (low-income students) were found to have a higher likelihood of attending both PD and SD programs at the centralized graduate college.Practical implicationsThe findings will be of interest to graduate deans and educators who support graduate students. Further evaluative research on the usefulness of such programs at other institutions would help graduate colleges better understand the role they play in meeting graduate students’ needs.Originality/valueThe findings contribute to the understanding of the important role of the US graduate college in the development of graduate students. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is the first study to evaluate the backgrounds of graduate students who pursue co-curricular PD and SD opportunities.

Análisis sensorial de panqués elaborados con harina de sorgo, goma xantana y enzima transglutaminasa microbiana

Sorghum is a cereal used as fodder, mainly. Despite being a beneficial product for human health, its consumption is little or null in Mexico. The food industry could be an alternative to diversify this cereal in products compatible with celiac people. The study was focused on the consumer's characterization and the sensory assessment of pancakes elaborated with various proportions of xanthan gum (GX) and the microbial transglutaminase (MTG) enzyme in two cities from the central and northeastern regions of Mexico. A survey, designed and validated previously, was given to 58 consumers where the demographic characteristics of participants and the sensory analysis of nine pancakes (P) were explored. The latter were prepared with the following proportions of GX/MTG: P1 (0/0 %), P2 (0/0.25 %), P3 (0/0.5 %), P4 (0.25/0 %), P5 (0.25/0.25 %), P6 (0.25/0.5 %), P7 (0.5/0 %), P8 (0.5/0.25 %), P9 (0.5/0.5 %) and a commercial pancake (control). The study revealed that the majority of the participants were women (77.5 %). The predominant age was between 20 and 29 years (51.7 %) with a university academic level (30.2 %) and postgraduate degree (38 %), and income ≥ $20,000 MXN (53.6 %). The most preferred and accepted pancakes were P9 and P7 followed by the control, P5 and P8. However, the most accepted pancake was the control followed by P7 and P9. It is concluded that sorghum pancakes represent an alternative with health benefits for people with celiac disease.

Time trends in demographic characteristics of participants and outcome measures in Parkinson’s disease research: A 19-year single-center experience

BackgroundFemales, people with young-onset PD and older individuals, and non-white populations are historically underrepresented in clinical Parkinson’s disease (PD) research. Furthermore, research traditionally focused predominantly on motor symptoms of PD. Including a representative and diverse group of people with PD and also studying non-motor symptoms is warranted to better understand heterogeneity in PD and to generalize research findings. ObjectiveThis project aimed to determine whether, within a consecutive series of PD studies performed within a single center in the Netherlands: (1) the proportion of included females, mean age and proportion of native Dutch people changed over time; and 2) reports of the ethnicity of participants and the proportion of studies with non-motor outcomes changed over time. MethodsCharacteristics of participants and non-motor outcomes were analyzed using a unique dataset of summary statistics of studies with a large number of participants conducted at a single center during a 19-year period (2003–2021). ResultsResults indicate no relationship between calendar time and proportion of females (mean 39 %), mean age (66 years), proportion of studies that reported ethnicity, and proportion of native Dutch people in studies (range 97–100 %). The proportion of participants in whom non-motor symptoms were assessed increased, but this difference was consistent with chance. ConclusionStudy participants in this center reflect the PD population in the Netherlands in terms of sex, but older individuals and non-native Dutch individuals are under-represented. We have still a lot to do in ensuring adequate representation and diversity in PD patients within our research.

Suicide risk communication and intervention preferences for veterans and service members.

Despite the investment of public resources to fight staggering suicide rates among veterans, we know little about how veterans and service members in crisis communicate suicidal ideations, and what interventions they are willing to receive. We aim to identify communication and suicide intervention preferences of veterans and service members in times of crisis. Descriptive statistics were used to explore veterans communication of suicidal ideations. While 89.9% of participants indicated they were willing to speak to someone when having thoughts of suicide, less than 26% of participants indicated they were willing to bring up their thoughts with a crisis line or veterans organization. Rather, they indicate that family members (62.2%) and military friends (51.1%) would be their primary outreach. Logistic regression was used to determine whether or not preferred interventions varied by participant demographic characteristics. While the majority of participants indicated they were willing to allow intervention (88.6%), no one method was accepted by the majority of the population. The most accepted means of communication was to proactively contact a friend or family member about general life struggles (32.6%) or suicide-specific concerns (27.5%). Many participants were open to receiving resources (42.0%), suicide-specific mental health treatment (36.3%), and some sort of lethal means safety intervention (19.1%-26.4%). The age, marital status, and veterans status of participants significantly impacted what interventions they were willing to allow. We discuss the implications of these findings and the need for evidence-based, multimodal interventions in order to assist veterans in need.

Validation of the Stress and Anxiety to Viral Epidemics-9 (SAVE-9) Scale and Relationship With Insomnia or Depression Among Healthcare Workers Who Witnessed Patient’s Death in COVID-19 Pandemic

Background and Objective We tested the psychometric properties of the Stress and Anxiety to Viral Epidemics-9 (SAVE-9) scale among healthcare workers who experienced patients’ deaths.Methods From June 2nd to 10th, 2022, an anonymous, online survey was administered to medical doctors and nursing professionals who witnessed the deaths of patients they cared for during the last two years. Participants demographic characteristics and responses to the SAVE-9, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) were collected.Results A total of 267 responses were collected in this survey. The two-factor model of the SAVE-9 fits well among healthcare workers who witnessed patients’ death (CFI = 1.000, GFI = 0.996, RMSEA = 0.000, RSMR = 0.040). The SAVE-9 scale showed good reliability of internal consistency and convergent validity with the GAD-7 (r = 0.429, p = 0.001), PHQ-9 score (r = 0.414, p = 0.001), and ISI (r = 0.368, p = 0.001).Conclusions We observed that the SAVE-9 and its two subscales were valid and reliable tools for measuring work-related stress and viral anxiety among healthcare workers who witnessed the death of their patients.

Can the Systemic Immune-Inflammation Index Be a Useful Marker for the Prediction of a Missed Abortion in the First Trimester of Pregnancy?

Background: We aimed to predict the efficacy of the systemic immune-inflammatory index (SII) in predicting missed abortions. Methods: In this retrospective study, we analyzed the data of women diagnosed with a missed abortion between gestational weeks 7–12 at our clinic from January 2018 to December 2021. The control group consisted of women in healthy pregnancies who were at the same gestational weeks. The demographic characteristics of participants, SII (neutrophil count x platelet count/lymphocyte count), platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) values were evaluated in both groups. Results: A total of 142 missed abortion group and 142 control group were included. SII was found to be statistically significantly higher in the missed abortion group than in the control group (917.1 ± 549.7 and 557.1 ± 193.7, respectively; p < 0.001). In the logistic regression model, SII was found to be an independent predictor of a missed abortion (odds ratio = 2.85, 95% confidence interval: 1.34–4.15, p < 0.001). We found that the diagnostic value of SII (area under the curve [AUC]: 0.765) was higher than PLR (AUC: 0.711) or NLR (AUC: 0.703) alone in patients with a missed abortion. We determined that an SII value of >709.75 predicted the development of a missed abortion with 64.0% sensitivity and 80.9% specificity. Discussion: In recent years, complete blood count parameters have been increasingly used as an indicator of systemic inflammation. Although there are many studies in the literature investigating the relationship of a missed abortion with PLR and NLR, there is limited research evaluating the relationship of this clinical condition with SII. We determined that SII obtained from the combination of lymphocyte, platelet, and neutrophil counts was more valuable than evaluating these parameters by dividing them separately. Conclusion: Our results show that there is a significant relationship between SII and a missed abortion, and therefore SII can be used as a predictive marker of this clinical condition.

WHAT MOTIVATES PARTICIPATION IN ALZHEIMER’S PREVENTION RESEARCH: A MIXED-METHODS STUDY

Abstract 6.5 million Americans aged 65 and older are currently living with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias (ADRD; Alzheimer’s Association, 2022). By 2060, it is estimated that this number will increase to 13.9 million (Matthews et al., 2018). Therefore, it is imperative to gain insight into participants’ personal motivations and expectations of research to advance community participation. The Preventing Alzheimer’s with Cognitive Training (PACT) study is a National Institute of Health, National Institute on Aging-funded, multi-site clinical trial examining the prevention of mild cognitive impairment and ADRD through computer-based cognitive training. Across 5 locations, data were collected from 2,360 cognitively normal participants (M=73.03 years, range=65–97, SD=5.04). The current project explores individuals’ motivations and expectations of cognitive training (CT) utilizing a mixed-method approach by coding qualitative open-ended questions about motivation to participate and comparing how motivational themes aligned with expectations about CT from the Expectations Assessment Scale (EAS; Rabipour et al., 2018). Six themes for participant motivation emerged: direct experience with the disease (26.9%), concern about brain health and aging (23.9%), general personal interest (17.9%), general interest in research (20.1%), referral to the study (5.8%), and altruism (5.4%). After completing the initial training session, motivation themes did not differentiate satisfaction with (p=.06) or perceived success of (p=.11) the CT program. Understanding participants’ motivations can further expand and optimize recruitment and retention strategies in AD prevention research. Future research will focus on how these themes influence adherence and retention and relate to participant demographic characteristics (i.e., education, gender, race, and ethnicity).

Lung Support Service: Implementation of a Nationwide Text Message Support Program for People with Chronic Respiratory Disease during the COVID-19 Pandemic

COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns led to the closure of most in-person pulmonary rehabilitation programs in Australia. Text message programs are effective for delivering health support to aid the self-management of people with chronic diseases. This study aimed to evaluate the implementation of a six-month pre-post text message support program (Texting for Wellness: Lung Support Service), and the enablers and barriers to its adoption and implementation. This mixed-methods pre-post study used the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework to evaluate the Texting for Wellness: Lung Support Service, which is an automated six-month text message support program that included evidence-based lifestyle, disease-self management and COVID-19-related information. Reach was measured by the proportion of participant enrolments and demographic characteristics. Adoption enablers and barriers were measured using text message response data and a user feedback survey (five-point Likert scale questions and free-text responses). Implementation was evaluated to determine fidelity including text message delivery data, opt-outs, and intervention costs to promote and deliver the program. In total, 707/1940 (36.4%) participants enrolled and provided e-consent, with a mean age (±standard deviation) of 67.9 (±9.2) years old (range: 23-87 years). Of participants who provided feedback, (326/707) most 'agreed' or 'strongly agreed' that the text messages were easy to understand (98.5%), helpful them to feel supported (92.3%) and helped them to manage their health (88.0%). Factors influencing engagement included a feeling of support and reducing loneliness, and its usefulness for health self-management. Messages were delivered as planned (93.7% successfully delivered) with minimal participant dropouts (92.2% retention rate) and low cost ($AUD24.48/participant for six months). A total of 2263 text message replies were received from 496 unique participants. There were no reported adverse events. Texting for Wellness: Lung Support Service was implemented quickly, had a broad reach, with high retention and acceptability among participants. The program was low cost and required minimal staff oversight, which may facilitate future implementation. Further research is needed to evaluate the efficacy of text messaging for the improvement of lung health outcomes and strategies for long-term pulmonary rehabilitation program maintenance.

The Influence of Diet on Tinnitus Severity: Results of a Large-Scale, Online Survey.

Optimization of dietary intake is an essential component in the multidimensional effort to prevent and manage chronic disease. Recently, demand has increased for nutrition-focused management strategies for chronic tinnitus. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate 10 dietary items for their association with changes in subjective tinnitus severity. A secondary aim was to develop an algorithm to better identify those individuals who might benefit from dietary modification strategies. A total of 5017 anonymous users of the TinnitusTalk forum completed an online survey regarding how various dietary items affected the severity of their tinnitus. Results suggest that, while intake of caffeine [positive effect (PE): 0.4%; negative effect (NE): 16.2%], alcohol (PE: 2.7%; NE: 13.3%, and salt (PE: 0.1%; NE: 9.9%) was most likely to influence tinnitus severity, it did so only for a small proportion of participants and reported effects were most commonly mild. Further, though a classification algorithm was able to leverage participant demographic, comorbidity, and tinnitus characteristics to identify those individuals most likely to benefit from dietary modification above chance levels, further efforts are required to achieve significant clinical utility. Taken together, these results do not support dietary modification as a primary treatment strategy for chronic tinnitus in the general population, though clinically meaningful effects might be observable in certain individuals.

Self-reported knowledge and skills related to diagnosis and management of keratoconus among public sector optometrists in the Limpopo province, South Africa

Keratoconus (KC) has been regarded as a rare condition, although recent studies, including those in South Africa, suggest it is common and is increasing in prevalence. Furthermore, South African-based studies have shown that KC is normally detected at advanced or severe stages. Knowledge and skills for examination, diagnosis and management of KC by optometrists are important for the early detection and management of the disease. This study aimed to evaluate self-reported knowledge and skills for examination, diagnosis and management of KC patients among public sector optometrists. Seven public hospitals of the Capricorn district of the Limpopo province, South Africa. A quantitative cross-sectional descriptive study design was used. A self-administered online questionnaire was used to collect data on demographic characteristics of participants and their knowledge, skills and practice for the diagnosis and management of KC. Twenty-four optometrists (n = 24) with a mean age of 39 ± 5.67 years, 18 (75%) of whom were female, participated in the study. Nineteen (79%) reported that their hospitals did not have the appropriate equipment to examine, diagnose and manage KC patients. Lack of equipment, poor knowledge, skills and competencies, hospital's level of services, policy and lack of interest were cited as barriers to contact lens fittings in KC patients. Using a dichotomised summation of self-reported knowledge and skills of KC, 13 (54.2%) of the optometrists were knowledgeable and skilled on risk factors of KC and examining, diagnosing and managing KC patients. A significant proportion of optometrists did not have the appropriate knowledge and skills to examine, diagnose and manage KC patients. Lack of equipment and poor knowledge and skills were the main barriers to contact lens fittings in managing KC.Contribution: This article highlights the need for the district to upskill the optometrists through a structured programme with a theory and practical component and also provide the necessary equipment to enhance patient care.

Knowledge, attitude, and practice of Nepalese residents in the prevention and control of COVID-19: A cross-sectional web-based survey.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused a global public health crisis. Preventive measures to tackle the deadly virus are influenced by people's knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) toward COVID-19. This study aimed to assess the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice toward COVID-19 among Nepalese residents in Nepal. A web-based cross-sectional survey was conducted among 755 Nepalese residents across all seven provinces of Nepal. The questionnaire used to determine the KAP of the participants was derived from a previous study conducted in Nepal. Descriptive analysis was done to identify the distribution of socio-economic and demographic characteristics of participants. Factors associated with residents' KAP regarding COVID-19 were examined using Chi-square tests at the significance level of 0.05. The mean age of the participants was 24.6 years. At the time of data collection, 8.2% of the participants had their families in isolation or quarantine center. In this study, 76.4%, 58.0%, and 63.6% of the participants had a good knowledge level, attitude level, and practice level respectively regarding COVID-19. Occupation and marital status were significantly associated with knowledge, attitude, and practice level. Age was significantly associated with knowledge and attitude level. Those participants who had their family members in quarantine were found to have a good level of preventive practice. The knowledge-attitude (rka= 0.184, p<0.001), attitude-practice (rap=0.125, p<0.001) and knowledge-practice (rkp= 0.07, p<0.05) were positively correlated in this study. This study showed satisfactory awareness regarding COVID-19 among Nepalese residents. Community-based health education programs should be promoted to develop a positive attitude toward healthy practices to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic or any future health crisis.

Focus group study on perceptions and information needs regarding vaccines targeting the older population: a cross-country comparison in four European countries

The increasing life expectancy leads to more older adults suffering from infectious diseases. Vaccines are available against diverse infections such as influenza, pneumococcal disease, herpes zoster and tetanus. However, vaccine acceptance is crucial for optimal preventive effect. The objective of the study is to perform a cross-country analysis of the perceptions and decision-making behaviour of older adults regarding vaccinations and their information needs. Focus groups with older adults were conducted in four countries: France, Hungary, Italy and the Netherlands. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Demographic characteristics of participants were gathered with a questionnaire. Influenza and tetanus vaccines were commonly known, as was the disease influenza. On the contrary, the awareness of the vaccines against pneumococcal disease and herpes zoster were low. Participants also expressed a need for more information on vaccines, such as possible side effects, contra-indications and duration of protection, emphasizing that information is a condition for decision-making on vaccination. General practitioners were found to be the most important in information provision on vaccines. Perceptions on vaccines, such as effectiveness, side effects and safety, as well as perceptions on infectious diseases, such as severity, susceptibility and experiencing an infectious disease, played a role in the decision-making of older adults on vaccines. More awareness of the information needs among older adults with regard to vaccines should be raised among general practitioners and other healthcare providers. This requires appropriate knowledge about the vaccines among healthcare providers as well as communication skills to meet the information needs of older adults.