Educational Background Research Articles

Perception of Students Towards Tech-enabled Startups: A Case of J&K UT

The research study on Perception of students towards tech-enabled startups in Jammu and Kashmir” has been conducted in Kashmir region of Jammu and Kashmir. The study is based on primary as well as secondary data collection and used descriptive and exploratory research models for conducting the survey among the respondents. This study delves into the nuanced perceptions of students in Jammu and Kashmir regarding tech-enabled startups, shedding light on the factors influencing their perception towards entrepreneurship. The study garnered responses encompassing a diverse age range. Notably, 56.7% of respondents were male, and 43.3% were female. The respondents hailed from various academic institutions, with SK University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, University of Kashmir, and Central University of Kashmir being the prominent contributors. Educational backgrounds varied, with predominantly 74.6% in undergraduate, the research unveils a tech-aware demographic. Awareness levels regarding government initiatives and incubation centres varied, indicating a need for improved information dissemination. The results indicated and depicted a moderate awareness of tech-enabled startups (55.2%), with varied exposure levels. Challenges in accessing information on government initiatives and incubation centres were evident, emphasizing the need for improved information dissemination. The study also revealed that students expressed diverse views on the impact of startups on the local economy and job market. University support for entrepreneurship garnered mixed responses, and 53.7% affirmed the importance of the inclusion of entrepreneurship subject in curriculum. Family and peer influence on entrepreneurial perceptions reflected varied attitudes. While 35.8% believed their parents were positively inclined, 52.2% were uncertain about their friends' views on entrepreneurship as a logical choice. While 46.3% engaged with tech-enabled startups, a majority remained unconnected to incubation centres (83.6%). This concise study offered crucial insights, suggesting areas for targeted support in fostering a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Death awareness and psychological resilience in adults aged 50 plus

This study examines the relationship between death awareness and psychological resilience in adults aged 50 and above, focusing on the roles of religious activity, recent death experiences, and educational background. A total of 52 participants completed surveys measuring death awareness (TBS-5) and resilience (RS-10). Results indicated that religiously active individuals reported significantly lower death anxiety and higher resilience compared to non-religious participants. Additionally, individuals who had experienced the death of a loved one in the past 12 months showed a tendency toward greater openness in discussing death. No significant effects were found for educational background. While the small sample size limits the generalizability of the findings, the study highlights the importance of religious and experiential factors in shaping attitudes toward mortality and offers practical implications for end-of-life care and counseling. The results also suggest that fostering open dialogue about death and enhancing spiritual support may increase psychological resilience among older adults.

ESG risk, CEO education and gender: Evidence from Southeast Asia

AbstractThis study explores the impact of a CEO's educational background from a top university on reducing corporate ESG risk and the potential moderating role of CEO gender. Using the QS World University Rankings (QS WUR) to define reputable universities, the research focuses on companies in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries, known for elevated ESG risks. Through Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression analysis, the results show that CEOs educated at top universities reduce ESG risk, while CEO gender does not moderate this relationship. The findings represent the importance of reputable universities as habitus to support the globalization of business and responsible management education, regardless the gender. The results also highlight the influence of educational background on corporate ESG performance, with significant implications for corporate strategy and CEO appointments.

Women’s Entrepreneurship for Poverty Alleviation: Impact of Mission Shakti in Odisha, India

The study analyzes the impact of women’s entrepreneurial efforts on rural poverty (RP) reduction across two resource-scarce regions of Odisha, India. Its main objectives are creating creative home-based ventures (HBVs) and long-term RP solutions. The analysis assesses how home-based entrepreneurs’ sociocultural, economic and educational backgrounds affect the development of HBVs and the mitigation of RP. A women-led project in Odisha called Mission Shakti uses self-help groups and business ventures to empower women. The original data was gathered from 363 respondents in Odisha who were members of the Mission Shakti group. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was applied to investigate the correlations between the constructs, and AMOS (Analysis of Moment Structures 21.0) and SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 20.0) were used for the analysis. The findings indicate that RP alleviation through Mission Shakti in Odisha and entrepreneurship have a statistically significant and favourable relationship. The additional findings of the study demonstrate that respondents’ sociocultural capabilities, rather than their educational and economic backgrounds, have a considerable and favourable influence on the expansion of their home-based enterprises and that the improvement of RP alleviation is more positively impacted by the qualitative growth of entrepreneurship than by the numeric growth. The study’s concentration on woman entrepreneurs in Mission Shakti’s rural Khordha and Angul areas is one of its limitations. It is possible to carry out comparable research in other Indian areas where the rural populace is significantly deprived. Policymakers in rural Odisha should consider the findings to address targeted RP. Thus, this report recommends that home-based businesses in rural Odisha should actively explore entrepreneurship to reduce poverty. Additionally, the study offers a helpful lesson to different parties involved in programs to reduce poverty in other developing nations. The integration of capacity theory and SEM in the setting of a rising economy such as Odisha, India, contributes to the body of knowledge in this research regarding the relationship linking entrepreneurship and the alleviation of RP.

An Analysis of the Pragmatic Function of English Intonation Based on Speech Act Theory: Taking the Intonation of the Oracle in The Matrix as an Example

Intonation still finds itself one of the most difficult problems for many EFL learners. However, there are few pieces of literature that have explored the relationship between these two elements: illocutionary acts and intonation patterns. Therefore, this study attempts to do so, taking the intonation used in the character Oracle’s lines in the film The Matrix as an experimental database, and then summarizing and categorizing the intentions based on John Searle’s taxonomy of illocutionary acts. After analyzing 265 lines, four candidates were invited to label their own understanding of the illocutionary act of the character by perceiving the characters’ intonation. The chi-square results which show the similarity of their shared understanding turned out to be diverse, from which we concluded several kinds of causes with qualitative analysis: 1) different educational backgrounds; 2) the effectiveness of teaching intonation in China is not up to standard; 3) insufficient understanding of the movie context. Our research studies intonation from a different scope than the traditional top-down model, to provide a theoretical supplement to the intonation function research to some extent, and at the same time to provide English learners with some theoretical help for intonation learning and promote the improvement of their speaking.

Least mastered skills and effective instruction in teaching general mathematics in the Philippines

This study examined the relationship between the profiles of 31 General Mathematics teachers and their engagement in effective instructional practices, focusing on how these factors impact the number of least-mastered skills among students in General Mathematics. The study used questionnaires to gather information about instructors' academic and professional backgrounds, classroom resources, and instructional strategies. The findings revealed varying levels of engagement among General Mathematics teachers in effective instructional practices. Key areas measured included interactions with peers, teachers’ attitudes toward their profession, involvement in the teaching-learning process, limitations in teaching classes, classroom instruction effectiveness, encouraging students to engage in mathematical activities, confidence in teaching Mathematics, and monitoring student progress in Mathematics. Notably, factors affecting the number of least-mastered skills were linked to age, educational background, years of service, and possession of a postgraduate degree. Furthermore, a moderate positive correlation was observed between teachers' engagement in effective instruction, and skill mastery. Keywords: Effective instruction; general mathematics; instructional strategies; least mastered skills

Untangling the Role of Assortative Mating in Educational Reproduction in Twelve European Countries

In this study, we explore how educational differences in demographic behavior – in particular, mating patterns and fertility – mediate the intergenerational reproduction of educational inequality in twelve European countries. Although this research interest itself is not new, we contribute to this debate by adopting a prospective approach and scaling it to include multiple countries and cohorts. To this end, we leverage a series of complementary datasets and the inferential method developed by Song and Mare (2015) and advanced by Skopek and Leopold (2020) to estimate the components of a stylized educational reproduction model. We then employ a simple decomposition analysis to quantify the contributions of different pathways to prospective educational reproduction rates across educational backgrounds and explore the differences across cohorts and countries. We report several findings. Most notably, (1) the intergenerational reproduction of educational inequality persists in all twelve countries and is barely offset by small (and declining) negative educational gradients in fertility, (2) educational differences in selection into partnership are small and do not account for much inequality, and (3) the role of assortative mating, where present, is ambiguous because it both reinforces inequality via its effects on resources within the family and offsets it via its effects on fertility. * This article belongs to a special issue on “Changes in Educational Homogamy and Its Consequences”.

Test Anxiety Among Czech Pupils in Lower-Secondary Education

Test anxiety remains a compelling focus of contemporary research. This attention may be, in part, due to the continued reliance on high-stakes testing, which plays a pivotal role in students' academic trajectories. Our research had several objectives. Given the lack of research on test anxiety in the Czech Republic, our primary aim was to adapt and validate the Children's Test Anxiety Scale (CTAS) on a sample of 740 lower-secondary students (ages 13-15). The results demonstrated adequate construct validity, supporting the three-factor model of the CTAS. Moreover, we investigated the relationship between test anxiety, academic self-concept, and educational outcomes alongside other demographic variables. Our findings revealed a strong negative correlation linking students' academic self-concept and test anxiety. Although no direct correlation emerged between test anxiety and educational outcomes, a linear regression indicated a significant shift: educational outcomes (grades) became significant predictors when considered in conjunction with academic selfconcept. Additionally, our study confirmed a significant impact of gender on test anxiety levels (girls exhibited higher test anxiety than boys) and a modest but significant correlation with parental educational background.

University instructors’ and students’ perceptions of blended learning and perceived determinant factors

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of instructors and students towards blended learning and perceived determinant factors at Jimma University. A concurrent mixed-methods research design was used. Data were collected from 145 students and 70 instructors by using questionnaires and interviews. The findings showed that both instructors and students confirmed the lack of facilities, lack of technological knowledge, and instructors’ lack of technological pedagogical knowledge. On the other hand, both instructors and students believed that the BL approach had a positive impact on students learning. In addition, the major challenges identified were teachers’ increasing workload, lack of access to internet connections, non-compliance of learners’ educational backgrounds to permit effective use of BL, non-suitability of the approach for all learning styles, slow internet connectivity, lack of organization of blended learning materials, and lack of IT knowledge. Based on the findings of the study, it is recommended that the concerned university officials give thoughtful attention to the provision of necessary facilities to implement BL and design appropriate training and capacity-building programs for university instructors and students to increase students' and instructors’ knowledge and skills in technology use. Keywords: Blended learning; challenges; determinant factors; instructors; perceptions

Probing clarity: AI-generated simplified breast imaging reports for enhanced patient comprehension powered by ChatGPT-4o

BackgroundTo assess the reliability and comprehensibility of breast radiology reports simplified by artificial intelligence using the large language model (LLM) ChatGPT-4o.MethodsA radiologist with 20 years’ experience selected 21 anonymized breast radiology reports, 7 mammography, 7 breast ultrasound, and 7 breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), categorized according to breast imaging reporting and data system (BI-RADS). These reports underwent simplification by prompting ChatGPT-4o with “Explain this medical report to a patient using simple language”. Five breast radiologists assessed the quality of these simplified reports for factual accuracy, completeness, and potential harm with a 5-point Likert scale from 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree). Another breast radiologist evaluated the text comprehension of five non-healthcare personnel readers using a 5-point Likert scale from 1 (excellent) to 5 (poor). Descriptive statistics, Cronbach’s α, and the Kruskal–Wallis test were used.ResultsMammography, ultrasound, and MRI showed high factual accuracy (median 2) and completeness (median 2) across radiologists, with low potential harm scores (median 5); no significant group differences (p ≥ 0.780), and high internal consistency (α > 0.80) were observed. Non-healthcare readers showed high comprehension (median 2 for mammography and MRI and 1 for ultrasound); no significant group differences across modalities (p = 0.368), and high internal consistency (α > 0.85) were observed. BI-RADS 0, 1, and 2 reports were accurately explained, while BI-RADS 3–6 reports were challenging.ConclusionThe model demonstrated reliability and clarity, offering promise for patients with diverse backgrounds. LLMs like ChatGPT-4o could simplify breast radiology reports, aid in communication, and enhance patient care.Relevance statementSimplified breast radiology reports generated by ChatGPT-4o show potential in enhancing communication with patients, improving comprehension across varying educational backgrounds, and contributing to patient-centered care in radiology practice.Key PointsAI simplifies complex breast imaging reports, enhancing patient understanding.Simplified reports from AI maintain accuracy, improving patient comprehension significantly.Implementing AI reports enhances patient engagement and communication in breast imaging.Graphical

Factors influencing self-regulated learning ability among Medical undergraduates in China: a cross-sectional study

BackgroundSelf-regulated learning (SRL) is the core purpose of lifelong learning and the precondition for medical staff to continuously adapt to and excel in their current and future positions. Good SRL abilities positively impact the academic performance and clinical skills of medical students. Despite its importance, the factors influencing SRL among medical students in China remain under-explored. This study investigates these factors among Chinese medical undergraduates.MethodsThis cross-sectional survey was conducted among a convenience sample of undergraduate students at all four medical universities in Guangxi, using a questionnaire developed and tailored by Zude Zhu. Responses from 2,179 Chinese medical undergraduate students were included in the analyses. The data were collected using the College Student SRL Questionnaire which consisted of 69 items rated on a 6-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (very inconsistent) to 6 (very consistent), and scored by calculating the mean and standard deviation. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences, version 22.0 (IBM SPSS Corp).ResultsUnivariate analysis showed that registered residence, specialty, educational system, parental educational background, parenting style, annual household income, parental occupation, grade point average (GPA), engagement in SRL activities, and participation in SRL training were significantly associated with SRL scores (p < 0.05 for all). The results of the multiple linear regression analysis revealed that educational system (“5 + 3”-year) (p < 0.001; 95% Confidence Interval (CI), 9.842 to 15.686), mother’s occupation (staff of government agency/institution) (p < 0.001; 95% CI, − 3.798 to − 2.081), GPA (p < 0.001; 95% CI, − 10.009 to − 5.712), engagement in SRL activities (p = 0.001; 95% CI, − 11.903 to − 3.162), and participation in SRL training (p < 0.001; 95% CI, − 15.966 to − 9.972) were positively related to SRL abilities in medical students.ConclusionsFurther studies are necessary to identify additional external (e.g., academic environment, parents’ expectations for their children) and internal factors (e.g., student cadres or not, interest in medicine or not, whether there is a clear career planning) affecting SRL abilities. Initiating relevant training early in the college career could enhance SRL capabilities in medical students.

The Educational Contradiction between Love and Expectation in Family Education under the Background of Exam-Oriented Education: A Case Study of the Movie “Successor”

Based on the background of exam-oriented education in China, this paper probes into the educational contradiction between love and expectation in family education, and the impact of this contradiction on family members’ mental health and family relations. The family education scene embodied in the movie “Successor” provides a typical case study object. From the perspectives of pedagogy, psychology, and sociology, this paper systematically analyzes the effects of family roles on children’s psychological development and academic achievement. This study analyzes parents’ loving support and excessive expectations for their children’s education. The study found that moderate expectations can stimulate the potential of students, but blind and overloaded expectations may cause students to reverse psychology, and even lead to the breakdown of family relations. The comprehensive analysis of love and expectation in family education provides the theoretical basis and practical guidance for alleviating the family education contradiction under the background of exam-oriented education and provides a new perspective for promoting the optimization and development of the family education model.

Educating lifestyle modification to diabetic patients

The burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is steadily increasing, making them a major health concern. Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the major non-communicable diseases that affects the public health and the community. DM is a chronic, complex disease that requires multi-factor risk reduction strategies apart from its maintaining blood glucose level. One of the community-based strategy is to educate diabetic patients about life style modifications. Keeping that as a guideline, a nurse-led intervention was carried out to ring about a change in life style in these patients. About 60 diabetic patients with equal number of control subjects were taken for the pilot study. Data were collected through interviews with a semi-structured questionnaire before (pre-test) and after nurse-led intervention (post-test) The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics; the calculated data were tabulated and graphed. The results of the study show that diabetic patients included in the study have improved their knowledge of life style modification. The community nurse intervention improved their perspective and understood the importance of life style medication (from 16.19 to 24.98%). This was tested using the student paired t test. Outcome of the test before the intervention showed significant change. Pre-test value was (53.97%) and the post-test intervention was 83.27%. The effect of such intervention was influenced the age, gender, education, and family structure. The intervention was found to be more effective in male patients of the age group 30-40 years with educational background and stable family structure having a joint family. The awareness created by nurse led intervention is effective and is significant taking age, sex, education level and the family structure. The pilot study indicates that further studies may be carried out in the community with general population and then specifically in patients with diabetes.

Farmers&amp;apos; Awareness of Land Degradation and Adoption of Soil and Water Conservation Practices in Hidebu Abote, Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, land degradation is a serious problem that affects both overall economic growth and agricultural output. Even while nutrient depletion, soil erosion, and deteriorating soil quality are serious issues, many land conservation initiatives today neglect to consider the expertise of farmers and local requirements. This study&amp;apos;s primary goal was to evaluate farmers&amp;apos; knowledge of land degradation and their practice of soil and water conservation techniques in Ethiopia&amp;apos;s Hidebu Abote. Data were gathered through focus groups, key informant interviews, household surveys, secondary data analysis, and focus groups. According to the findings, over 75% of the participants were aware of the factors that contribute to land degradation, such as poverty, rocky terrain, bad farming techniques, overgrazing, overcultivation, and soil erosion. Farmers used techniques such as contour farming, fallowing, fanyajuu, cut-off drains, soil bunds, and manure application in addition to more modern methods of conserving water and soil. The adoption of soil and water conservation methods by farmers was impacted by several factors such as age, gender, size of family, educational background, NGOs&amp;apos; incentives, farm size, land tenure, and distance from homestead. The study indicates that encouraging farmers to manage and conserve their land should be the priority for any policy or program aiming at land resource management and soil conservation. Policymakers and development professionals can use the findings as guidance to create efficient interventions to alleviate land degradation in the research area and other comparable contexts.

PENYULUHAN DAN EDUKASI PENCEGAHAN STUNTING DI DUSUN CICADAS DAN JAMPANGMANGGUNG DESA MALABAR KECAMATAN WANAREJA

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Stunting, caused by nutritional deficiencies and inhibited infant growth, is a serious issue impacting the health and development of children. The objective of this initiative is to provide counseling and education to the community in Cicadas and Jampangmanggung Hamlets, Malabar Village, Wanareja District, on stunting prevention. The method employed in this activity involves counseling sessions for 34 respondents with varying educational backgrounds (elementary, junior high, high school, undergraduate). Additionally, informative leaflets were distributed to the community, and they were asked to fill out a questionnaire comprising 10 questions related to stunting. The community showed great enthusiasm for this initiative, leading to a paired T-Test analysis yielding a p-value of (0.000), indicating a significant difference in average values before and after the counseling sessions. This demonstrates that the counseling and educational efforts regarding stunting prevention have enhanced the community's understanding of stunting prevention and have the potential to reduce stunting rates&lt;/em&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Trust in the science behind COVID-19 vaccines as a driver of vaccine acceptance in the United States, 2021–2023

ObjectivesTo evaluate changes in public trust in the science behind COVID-19 vaccines in the United States (US) from 2021 to 2023, and to assess how loss of a family member or close friend to COVID-19, influences this trust and vaccine acceptance. MethodsUsing stratified random sampling for key demographic variables, including age, gender, race/ethnicity, region, and education level, the study analyzes data from a series of cross-sectional surveys conducted in 2021, 2022 and 2023. Descriptive statistics were employed to summarize the socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents and their levels of trust in science and vaccine acceptance. Weighted logistic regression models were applied to assess the relationships between trust in science, vaccine acceptance, and socio-demographic factors. These models controlled for potential confounding variables and allowed for the estimation of adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI), highlighting the key predictors of vaccine acceptance and willingness to receive future recommended boosters. ResultsThe results indicate that trust in science remained relatively stable over the study period and continued to be a strong predictor of vaccine acceptance, which was higher among male respondents, those with university degrees, and those with higher than median income. Notably, the experience of personal loss was significantly related to an individual’s trust in science and vaccine acceptance. ConclusionsTrust in the science behind COVID-19 vaccines appears to have been a crucial factor in US vaccine acceptance, with respondents who expressed higher trust being significantly more likely to accept the vaccine and express willingness to take future boosters. To maintain and enhance public trust in vaccination programs, trust in health communication from public sources, particularly the CDC, must be strengthened, as trust in the CDC was also found to be significantly correlated with both vaccine acceptance and future booster uptake. Personal experiences of loss due to COVID-19 were important predictors of trust in science and vaccine acceptance, highlighting the need for public health communications to be sensitive to the emotional impact of loss and grief along with the diverse socio-economic and educational backgrounds of the US population.

Governance quality and sustainability: Uncovering the moderating role of commitment and assessment

Corporate governance reform in Indonesia after the Asian financial crisis and global scandals shows a lag in effectiveness, with the lowest governance rating of 33.6 in 2020. Despite regulatory improvements, weak leadership commitment and failure of governance implementation hinder improvements. In-depth evaluation and reform are needed for significant improvement. Governance quality and commitment are important for sustainability, but the study has limitations. This, raises violations in governance and sustainability, which requires further exploration of external variables and factors. This study integrates RBV to understand the effect of governance assessment and quality on corporate sustainability on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. This study assesses the effect of Commitment (M1) and Governance Quality (X) on Sustainability (Y) to show significant results. This study explanatory uses a survey with a Likert Scale to evaluate commitment, governance, and sustainability involving management with a higher education background, using a questionnaire distributed via email and WhatsApp. This study uses the SEM-PLS procedure with SmartPLS 3.2.9 to test the relationship between variables and construct validity, as well as model evaluation. This study shows that Commitment (M1) and Governance Quality (X) have a significant influence on Sustainability (Y), with T Statistics of 6.494 and 3.431, and p-values of 0.000 and 0.001. In contrast, Assessment (M2) has no significant influence, with T Statistics below 1.96 and p-value greater than 0.05. The blindfolding analysis model shows a Q² for Sustainability (Y) of 0.539, with R² of 0.756 and R² Adjusted of 0.744. Future research should explore additional factors or different methodologies to deepen understanding.

Changes in integration and wellbeing by educational background among migrants in Kristiansand

Abstract Background Integration levels and wellbeing of newly arrived migrants change according to their everyday activities in their new home country. Although migrants have very different educational backgrounds and expectations regarding work in Norway, the compulsory educational activities are the same for all, disregarding their educational background. Aims To examine the changes in integration and wellbeing among newly arrived migrants participating in a compulsory integration program in Norway, according to their educational background. Methods As part of the Integration for Health project (I4H) we collected information from participants in Kristiansand municipality through a self-filled questionnaire in 2023 (N = 102) repeated six months apart, including questions from the Immigrant Policy Lab Index and the WHO-5 Well Being Index. For both screening tools, higher scores indicate better integration and wellbeing. Information on educational background was dichotomized into either health or non-health (natural and technical) sciences, using health sciences as the reference. We used generalized estimating equations to calculate relative risks (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) adjusted for age and gender. Results The mean age was 34 years (SD 8.3) and 59% were women. Mean residency time was 3 years (SD 0.14). In terms of education, 14% had health sciences, and 86% had other educational backgrounds. We did not find change in wellbeing over the six-month period (RR 1.0 (95% CI 0.9-1.1), and this trend was similar for both educational groups (RR 0.9 (95% CI 0.8-1.1). Integration score slightly increased after six months (RR 1.0 (95% CI 1.0-1.1). However, there was no difference by educational background (RR 1.0 (95% CI 0.9-1.0). Conclusions Changes in wellbeing and integration among participants in the compulsory introductory program with short residency time, do not seem to vary by educational background in a six-month period. Key messages • Schools and introductory programs in the host country can be used as a arena to enhance both the integration and wellbeing of newly arrived migrants. • Strengthening migrants’ educational opportunities in the new host country is also of importance.

Accessibility of digital healthcare in 2023: insights from a Dutch national survey study

Abstract Background Digital technology is reshaping healthcare, offering potential improvements in accessibility, efficiency and quality. However, to realize potential benefits, ensuring equal access for all is crucial. We investigated digital healthcare usage and studied differences in use across age groups and educational backgrounds in the Netherlands. Methods Surveys were conducted among general healthcare users (n = 837, any citizen living in the Netherlands with access to healthcare) and healthcare users with chronic conditions (n = 1437). We studied their digital skills (can you independently use a computer, tablet or smartphone; digital applications; email and apps?) and their use of digital selfcare (did you use websites for health-related information or treatment?). Findings are stratified for educational level (low/medium/high) and age (15 -39, 40-64, over 65 years). Data collection occurred between April and August 2023, focusing on the twelve months preceding the survey. Results The majority of respondents use digital devices independently (range: 78-91%), but these percentages vary between subgroups, from 48-65% for users with lower education vs 86-99% for users with higher education. Similar differences exist across age groups: 98-100% of users aged 15-39 use a computer, tablet or smartphone, in contrast with 59-78% in the over 65 years age group. Similarly, the use of websites for health information is 22-31% among lower educated users to 68-70% among higher educated users; and 36-48% among those ≥65 years to 73-75% among respondents aged 15-39. Conclusions Substantial variation exists in the use of digital tools and digital selfcare across ages and educational levels. These findings underscore the urgency of addressing inequalities in access to digital healthcare, serving as a call to action for policymakers, healthcare providers, and developers to collectively strive for an accessible (digital) healthcare system for all. Key messages • Differences in use of digital tools and digital selfcare among people of different ages and educational levels warrants the need for co-creation and tailored development and implementation. • Differences in use of digital tools and digital selfcare among people of different ages and educational levels warrants the need for co-creation and tailored development and implementation.

Exploring the Socio-economic Conditions of Potato Farmers in Farrukhabad District of Uttar Pradesh, India

This study investigates the socio-economic profile of potato growers in Farrukhabad district, Uttar Pradesh, aiming to understand their demographic composition, educational background, caste distribution, marital status, family structure, landholding size, occupation, income levels, social participation, and possession of farming resources. A sample of 100 respondents cultivating potatoes as the main crop was selected from Kamalganj block, Farrukhabad district. Data were collected through personal interviews using a pre-structured schedule and analyzed using percentages. The results reveal that the majority of respondents are middle-aged, literate, and belong to scheduled castes. Most respondents are married and come from joint families with medium-sized households. Marginal and small landholdings dominate, and agriculture is the primary occupation, supplemented by subsidiary activities such as dairying and business. Income levels vary, with a significant proportion falling within the medium-income bracket. Social participation is moderate, with most respondents engaging in multiple organizations. Farm resources such as farm power and implements are moderately possessed. Extension services and information sources play a crucial role, with most respondents exhibiting moderate contact. This study provides valuable insights into the socio-economic landscape influencing agricultural practices among potato growers, which can inform policy formulation and extension activities aimed at fostering agricultural development and rural prosperity.