Higher Rate Of Correct Answers Research Articles

Better characterizing sleep beliefs for personalized sleep health promotion: the French sleep beliefs scale validation study.

The Sleep Beliefs Scale (SBS) is a well-known tool to design and monitor personalized sleep health promotion at an individual and population level. The lack of an established French version limits the development of effective interventions targeting these populations. Thus, the aim of this study was to validate the French version of the SBS in a representative sample of the general population. Quota sampling was used to recruit 1,004 participants (18-65 years, mean age: 43 years, 54% of female) who underwent an online survey to complete the SBS, and to assess sleep schedules, sleep quality and disorders, and mental health. Cronbach's α coefficient, confirmatory factor analysis, item-internal consistency (IIC), and item discriminant validity (IDV) of the SBS were computed to assess internal validity while bivariate associations with sleep schedules, sleep quality and disorders, and mental health were used to assess external convergent and discriminant validity. The mean score on the SBS was 12.3 ± 4.9. Item 19 ("Quiet & Dark") showed the highest rate of correct answers (n = 801, 79.8%), while item 20 ("Recovering sleep") showed the lowest rate of correct answers (n = 246, 24.5%). Overall, the SBS showed satisfactory internal consistency (α = 0.87) and confirmed the three-factor structure proposed by the original study. All items were found consistent (IIC > 0.4) and discriminant (IIC > IDV) except for item 20 ("recovering lost sleep by sleeping for a long time"). Females, older participants, and subjects with short time-in-bed, poor sleep quality, insomnia, and circadian rhythm disorder had higher SBS scores while participants with depressive symptoms had lower SBS scores. We successfully translated and validated the French version of the SBS in a representative sample, making it a reliable instrument for researchers and clinicians to assess and target sleep beliefs. Correct answers vary from 25 to 80% which underlines the importance of continuing sleep health promotion campaigns by targeting poorly understood behaviors. Our findings also shed light on the fickleness of beliefs that are prone to vary within individuals across time, in step with societal changes. Several associated factors were identified, thus contributing to our understanding of sleep beliefs and offering insights for personalized approaches to enhance sleep health and overall well-being.

Front-of-package label in Brazil: Comparison of guideline daily amounts, traffic-light and warning systems

Chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are considered a global public health problem related to dietary factors. In this sense, front-of-package (FOP) labeling is a valuable tool to help consumers assess food products’ composition and make healthier choices. The mandatory FOP labeling adoption process in Brazil was initiated in 2014 and ended in 2020. This work aims to evaluate consumer’s perception and preference towards three different FOP label systems (Guideline Daily Amounts (GDA), Traffic-Light (TL), and Triangular Warnings (TW)) and identify which one is more effective in improving consumer’s understanding. An online survey with 1671 participants was conducted with a nutrient quiz, a healthiest product quiz, and questions about perception and preference. Data were analyzed using chi-square tests, analysis of variance, and logistic regression. TL performed better on the nutrient quiz than GDA. On the healthiest product quiz, TL and TW had a higher rate of correct answers. GDA was considered helpful in deciding which product to buy. TL was considered easy and quick to understand. TW was considered incomplete but helpful in deciding which product to buy. TL was the preferred label, followed by GDA and TW. The evidence from the present study highlights TL and TW’s potential to help consumers understand the products’ nutritional profile. However, any FOP label implementation must be accompanied by educational campaigns to ensure the population can understand and use it effectively.

Awareness of Ischemic Stroke among Physicians in Primary Care and Emergency Departments

Objective: In particular, ischemic stroke is the primary cause of disability and loss of work force. With intravenous thrombolytic therapy and/or mechanical thrombectomy, stroke is a curable disease. In this study, we evaluated the ischemic stroke awareness of physicians who had first contact with stroke patients. Material and Methods: An online questionnaire of 20 items was applied to collect data. Participation was voluntary, resulting in 66 family physicians and 87 general practitioners. Results: 92.4% of family physicians and 90.8% of general practitioners responded correctly to the item that deals with ischemic stroke symptoms. In the item related to the duration of thrombolytic therapy, the rate of correct response of general practitioners was significantly higher than that of family physicians (p< 0.05). Physicians who worked in the profession for less than 5 years had a significantly higher rate of correct answers than those who worked in the profession for more than 5 years. Conclusion: Today, awareness of family physicians working in primary care and physicians working in emergency services who are in first contact with paralyzed patients should be increased. In addition, patient diagnosis and referral should be focused on. For this purpose, primary care physicians' knowledge on ischemic stroke should be increased. Training should be expanded to raise the awareness of physicians about new developments in stroke prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

Assessment of Awareness and Opinion: Grape Seed Extract’s Health Benefits

Objective To determine pharmacy students’ opinion and knowledge of the role and overall health benefits of dietary and herbal supplements such as grape seed extract. Methods Forty-two pharmacy school students were asked to complete an online survey to assess their opinion and knowledge of the overall health benefits of grape seed extract using Likert-scale type questions. Results Respondents were given an optional survey which received a 100% response rate. The students were asked nine-demographic questions, four-general lifestyle opinion questions, and five-opinion questions on grape seed extract and its overall health benefits. When investigating students’ responses, there was a significant variation between those that agreed to feeling comfortable enough to recommend grape seed extract to a patient with high blood pressure and agreeing to not looking in research evidence to make themselves aware of the benefit of grape seed extract in lowering blood pressure (p value=0.021). The scores of the five knowledge questions asked to the participants averaged 63.3%, with most of the students scoring below average (n=22, 52.4%). The question that received the highest rate of correct answers was question #2 that states that grape seed extract can improve blood flow (n=29, 69%). When investigating significance in response to blood-related questions (Q# 1,2,5) vs other organ-related questions (Q# 3,4), the results were significant (p value<0.001). Conclusion Our results indicated that pharmacy students have a split general lifestyle opinion (n=22, 50%) when believing that grape seed extract had many benefits in lowering blood pressure. This study also indicated that first-year pharmacy students have limited knowledge of the application of grape seed extract in hypertension with an average passing score of 63.3% and over half (52.4%) of the students scoring below average. Results from this study additionally showed that demographic factors such as age, residence prior to attending pharmacy school and number of years worked prior to pharmacy school were significant in predicting the knowledge and opinion of grape seed extract. This supports the need to integrate more herbal product education within our pharmacy school modules. As patients become more interested in natural product therapies, it is the job of pharmacy students and pharmacists to educate themselves so they can aid in optimal care of all patients.

A Mixed-Methods Exploration of Implementation of a Healthy School Canteen Program after a Year Intervention

Background: Previous studies have shown that adolescents prefer less healthy food and their eating habits will affect their nutritional status in adulthood and old age. School canteen is a part of food retailing and provisioning that influence the diet quality of the adolescents. Healthy school canteen intervention is recommended as one of the public health strategies in supporting the development of healthy diet behavior. 
 Objectives: To evaluate the effects of a healthy school canteen intervention program among middle school children. 
 Methods: A mixed-methods research design including focus group interviews for teachers and principal, observation on school canteen, a survey for food handlers and food testing for hazardous chemicals. Thematic analysis of focus group data and descriptive analyses of survey data were conducted. Four schools were selected as intervention groups and four schools as positive control groups. Data collection phase took place between April 22 and May 2, 2019. 
 Results: Only one school out of eight schools that had written commitment and a food safety team. In intervention school 50% of food handlers use personal protective equipment and 25% of food handlers received training. In the positive control group, none of the food handlers used personal protective equipment and they had not received any training. Food handlers in the positive control group have a higher rate of correct answers. Only 2 out of 4 schools in the intervention group had nutritious foods available in the canteen and 3 out of 4 schools in the positive control group. None of the school canteens were found positive for metanil yellow. Higher positive findings for Rhodamin B, Formaldehyde and Borax (33.3%, 60.0%, 33.3%, respectively) in the control group compared to the control group (28.6%, 27.3%, and 28.6%, respectively). 
 Conclusions: Intervention groups have been slightly more successful in creating healthy school canteens, as they had a slightly better total score in the observation sheet compared to the schools from the positive control group. Collaboration with another stakeholder such as Primary Health Center (PHC) can be thought of as a solution to train food handlers about healthy practice while handling the food.

Users’ Content Memorization in Multi-User Interactive Public Displays

ABSTRACT In this study, we investigate users’ content memorization in interactive public displays that can be simultaneously used by multiple persons. We designed a system in which interaction would enhance users’ content memorization, and that allows multiple users to collaborate on interaction. We installed the system in a university campus and conducted a field study on passersby. We interviewed the users who continued interacting with the system to reach or pass a certain phase, and evaluated users’ content memorization from the accuracy of displayed information that was unconsciously memorized. As a result, the users who interacted with the display had a significantly higher correct answer rate for detailed questions about the displayed information than those who only watched a video on the display, which suggests that our interactive public display resulted in better content memorization. It is also shown that displayed information was efficiently delivered to many users by enabling multiple persons to interact with the display.

Analysis of pediatricians’ knowledge about autism

Background/Aim: In autism spectrum disorders (ASD), early diagnosis is important for treatment, and pediatricians are health professionals who are likely to encounter ASD at the earliest stages. In this study, we aimed to examine the information sources of pediatricians, their current knowledge about autism and the affecting factors. Methods: The study was conducted as an online cross-sectional self-report questionnaire and the data of 145 pediatricians were analyzed. The sociodemographic information form created by the researchers and the Healthcare Professionals' Knowledge of Childhood Autism Questionnaire-Turkish Version were filled by the participants. Correct response rates were divided into quantile values and under 3rd Quartile (Q3) was considered “insufficient information.” Logistic regression analysis was used for descriptive data and factors affecting the level of knowledge. Results: Of 145 participants, 59.3% completed Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (CAP) internship during their medical education, 60.7% completed CAP rotation, and 49.7% attended training or meetings related to autism. The highest rate of correct answers in autism knowledge evaluation questionnaire was on "Information on social interaction," while the lowest rate of correct answers was on "Information on neurodevelopmental diseases." For the total correct answer rates, the Q3 and Q1 values were 68.1% and 89.5%, respectively. According to the logistic regression model, being single (Mean: 3.60) and not having an MCS rotation (Mean: 8.49) predicted a score below Q3. Conclusions: Our research shows that in this disorder, where early diagnosis is of foremost importance, pediatricians who regularly monitor children have a high level of knowledge about recognizing autistic symptoms; however, there are some deficiencies in answering questions that will resolve the concerns of families about autism. For this reason, pediatricians who examine a child at least 3-4 times a year need pediatric psychiatry training that will give them specific skills in diagnosing and making recommendations, as well as initiating interventions. Another option is being more involved in departments that will enable them to gain experience in autism.

Awareness and perception of dentistry students studying in Cyprus regarding COVID-19: A cross-sectional study

COVID-19 has been recognized at the end of 2019 and has been recognized in more than 215 countries with more than 24 million reported cases. Dental practitioners were regarded under high risk of getting COVID-19 due to their working environment and the mode of transmission of the virus. Present study aimed to evaluate the awareness and assessing the knowledge of dental students and dentists on COVID-19.
 The study population consisted of undergraduate students who are currently studying dentistry in Cyprus. Students were sent an onlinesurvey and data were collected on 16th of April. Survey was comprised of questions about the demography, education level of the participants, their infection control knowledge, conditions that require treatment during pandemic.
 A total of 594 students with equal gender distribution joined the survey. The age group of the participants were mostly between 18-25 age (94%) with 63% pre-clinical and 37% clinical students. The majority of participants were aware that dentists were at high risk group in terms of COVID-19 (98.5%). When clinical questions were asked, data indicatedstrong relationship between participants’ responses with their level of study. Upon asking COVID-19 specific questions, participants that have taken microbiology course were reported to have higher correct answer rate.
 Dental students studying in Cyprus demonstrated high awareness of COVID-19 and the higher risks of COVID-19 exposure that dental professionals face. Study demonstrated the importance of microbiology courses, as it significantly affected the answers to the questions on diagnosis methods and immune response to COVID-19.

A Study on the Perception of Korean orthography by Korean and Foreign Learners

이 글은 한국인과 외국인 학습자의 한글맞춤법 지식 정도의 차이를 알아보고 외국인 학습자가 특별히 더욱 어려워하는 한글맞춤법 및 표준어 규정이 무엇인지에 대해 밝히는 논문이다. 연구 결과, 한국이 집단이 표준어 규정을 제외한 모든 문항에서 더 높은 정답률을 보였다. 하지만 초급 수준에서부터 명시적인 교육을 받고 사용빈도가 높은 항목의 경우 외국인 학습자들이 더 높은 정답률을 보이는 세부 항목도 있었다. 즉, 모어로써 습득하는 것보다 명시적인 교육을 받을수록 한글맞춤법에 알맞게 한국어를 사용하게 된다는 사실을 알 수 있었다. 세부적으로 한국인들은 ‘소리의 관한 것’ 항목에서 어려움을 느꼈던 반면 외국인 학습자의 경우 ‘형태의 관한 것’ 항목에서 더욱 어려움을 느꼈던 것으로 나타나 집단의 한글맞춤법 지식 정도에 분명한 차이가 있었다.In this study, a paper that examines the status of Korean and foreign learners perception of Hangeul spelling and reveals what are the Korean orthography and standard language rules that foreign learners find particularly difficult. The study found that Korean had a higher correct answer rate in all questions except for standard language regulations. However, there were other details where foreign learners had higher correct answers for items that received explicit training from beginner level and were more frequently used. In other words, through explicit education, the Korean language can be used accordingly. In detail, Koreans found themselves more difficult in the ‘Following the sound’ category, while foreign learners found themselves more difficult in the ‘according to the word-rule’ category, indicating a clear difference in the group s perception of Hangeul spelling.

Conhecimento sobre as medidas preventivas para o desenvolvimento do pé diabético

Objetivo: analisar o conhecimento de pessoas com diabetes mellitus acerca das medidas preventivas para o desenvolvimento do pé diabético. Métodos: estudo transversal, realizado com 171 pessoas diabéticas atendidas na Estratégia Saúde da Família. Aplicou-se formulário para obtenção das variáveis sociodemográficas e clínicas e escala para avaliar o nível de conhecimento. Para análise, utilizou-se das estatísticas descritiva e inferencial. Resultados: 65,5% apresentaram pouco nível de conhecimento. A questão que obteve maior índice de acertos foi o não uso de bolsa de água quente nos pés (92,3%), todavia, a questão com maior índice de erros foi: utilizar calçado aberto em casa e para sair, (66,8%). O escore da pontuação total do instrumento foi influenciado pelo sexo (p≤0,001). Conclusão: os participantes apresentaram baixo nível de conhecimento acerca das medidas preventivas e desconheciam hábitos importantes de autocuidado, como uso de calçado adequado e não hidratação entre os dedos dos pés.

Gap between Perceived eHealth Literacy and Ability to Use Online Cancer-Related Information.

BackgroundThe effective evaluation of health information available online is an important skill. However, consumers' self-perceptions of their eHealth literacy levels do not reflect their actual capabilities. The goal of this experimental study of online search behavior is to identify differences between self-perceived eHealth literacy and actual ability to use the accuracy of cancer information available online.MethodsThirty-one adults participated in the study conducted on July 15 and 16, 2017. We first measured perceived eHealth literacy and then asked participants 5 questions concerning cancer. Bandicam (v3.3.0) and BrowsingHistoryView were used to record search behavior and uniform resource locators, respectively. A Mann-Whitney U test and Fisher's exact test were performed.ResultsThe results showed that participants most frequently searched for cancer information on blogs and café websites. Regarding search behavior, those who perceived higher knowledge in available resources tended to solve the given problem with significantly smaller number of webpages to answer a weight management question. Participants who perceived higher knowledge in helpfulness of information tended to use significantly smaller number of webpages to answer questions on red ginseng's preventive effects on caner and weight management. However, there was no proof that the high eHealth literacy group had significantly higher rates of correct answers than the low eHealth literacy group. Further, regarding cancer screening, the rates of correct answers were low for groups who considered their ability higher to find helpful resources and perceived higher knowledge in helpfulness of information.ConclusionThere is a gap between perceived eHealth literacy and the actual ability to use online cancer-related information. To fundamentally improve eHealth literacy, it is important to evaluate the actual abilities concerning each eHealth literacy component and to provide customized education.

Conhecimento sobre ética médica e resolução de conflitos na graduação

Resumo Estudo quantitativo transversal descritivo que tem o objetivo de avaliar a percepção do graduando em medicina sobre a importância do ensino da ética médica e mensurar seu conhecimento sobre a temática em universidade pública do Nordeste brasileiro. Por meio de questionário aplicado a 230 estudantes foi possível avaliar deficiências provocadas pela ausência do ensino formal da ética médica e discutir a necessidade de abordagens diversificadas do tema durante a graduação. Resultados mostram maior taxa de acertos entre graduandos que cursaram ao menos uma disciplina sobre ética médica, mas índice insatisfatório em ambos os grupos. Um terço dos discentes que não tiveram contato com a temática revelaram não se sentir prejudicados por essa lacuna e 25,6% da amostra sequer valorizou a importância do tema em relação a outras disciplinas da graduação. Assim, torna-se necessário rever as estratégias do ensino médico para garantir melhores profissionais no futuro.

What is the most useful tool in HPV vaccine promotion? Results from an experimental study

ABSTRACT Introduction: Human papillomavirus infection (HPV) affects 70–80% of female population throughout the lifetime, exposing them to the risk of developing genital warts and cervical cancer. Despite these correlated risks and the demonstrated efficacy of the vaccine, coverage rates for two-three doses are around 70% in Italy and 67% in Piemonte (below the expected 95%). Aim of the study is to investigate whether this situation is due to a lack of information and awareness among young adults. Results: Students showed increased knowledge after the intervention and more than 90% found the 3 informative materials as sources of useful information. After the intervention students would strongly recommend HPV vaccination (OR = 3.45; p < 0.001). Discussion: Higher rates of correct answers after the distribution of informative material underline the importance of knowledge delivery. Differences among the kind of material were reported; it appears that a combination of leaflet’s positive features, such as clarity and intelligibility, and article’s completeness of information represents the best solution to reach communication goals in vaccination campaigns targeted on educated populations. Methods: Researchers conducted an experimental study on a large population of undergraduate students from University of Turin. Participants’ knowledge about HPV was assessed with questionnaires before and after the examination of 3 different kinds of informative material (journal article describing HPV infection, gynecologist video-interview and institutional leaflet about HPV prevention) on HPV and vaccine. Differences among groups were explored by using univariate tests, differences in pre- post- knowledge were assessed with McNemar tests. Relevant associations were searched with logistic regression models.

Enabling effective tree exploration using visual cues

This article presents a new interactive visualization for exploring large hierarchical structures by providing visual cues on a node link tree visualization. Our technique provides topological previews of hidden substructures with three types of visual cues including simple cues, tree cues and treemap cues. We demonstrate the visual cues on Degree-of-Interest Tree (DOITree) due to its familiar mapping, its capability of providing multiple focused nodes, and its dynamic rescaling of substructures to fit the available space. We conducted a usability study with 28 participants that measured completion time and accuracy across five different topology search tasks. The simple cues had the fastest completion time across three of the node identification tasks. The treemap cues had the highest rate of correct answers on four of the five tasks, although only reaching statistical significance for two of these. As predicted, user ratings demonstrated a preference for the easy to understand tree cues followed by the simple cue, despite this not consistently reflected in performance results.

Pre-service teachers’ knowledge and teaching efficacy about ADHD

본 연구에서는 충청, 전라권 소재 대학교 유아교육과에 재학 중인 예비 유아교사 341명을 대상으로 ADHD에 대한 지식 정도 및 교사의 ADHD 유아 교수 효능감에 대해 알아보았다. 조사는 설문지를 통해 이루어졌으며 분석에는 t-test, ANOVA 등의 통계방법이 사용되었다. 조사 결과 ‘ADHD 행동특성에 대한 지식’에서 가장 높은 응답률을 보였고, ‘ADHD 원인에 대한 지식’에서 가장 낮은 응답률을 보였다. ADHD에 대한 지식정도는 학년과 ADHD 관련 교과목 수강여부에 따라 집단 간에 차이가 있는 것으로 나타났다. 또한 예비 유아교사의 ADHD 유아 지도에 대한 교수 효능감은 전체 평균 2.22로 ‘그렇지 않은 편이다’ 수준으로 나타났다. ADHD 유아에 대한 교수 효능감은 학년, ADHD 관심여부, ADHD 유아 접촉 경험 여부, ADHD 관련 교과목 수강여부에 따라 집단 간에 차이가 있는 것으로 나타났다. 본 연구 결과를 바탕으로 향후 예비 유아교사들을 위한 ADHD 관련 지식 습득에 대한 필요성과 ADHD 유아 교수 효능감 향상을 위한 방안에 대해 논의하였다.The purpose of this study was to investigate the knowledge level and teaching efficacy about ADHD in 341 pre - service early childhood teachers attending early childhood education departments in Chungcheong and Jeolla provinces. Data were gathered by using survey method. To analyze data, statistical methods such as t-test and ANOVA were used. The results showed the highest rate of correct answers in ‘Knowledge of ADHD behavioral characteristics’ and the lowest rate of ‘ADHD knowledge’. The level of knowledge about ADHD was found to be different among the groups according to the grade and the experience taking ADHD related courses. In addition, the teaching efficacy of pre-service teachers on ADHD instruction was relatively low. Preservice teachers’ teaching efficacy for ADHD children was found to be different according to grade, ADHD interest, experience with ADHD children, and experience taking ADHD related courses. Based on the results of this study, we discussed the necessity of acquiring knowledge about ADHD for pre-service early childhood teachers and how to improve their teaching efficacy for ADHD children.

Segurança infantil dos 1 aos 5 anos: o que sabem os cuidadores?

Introduction: Accidents in the early years of childhood are the leading cause of morbidity and premature mortality. This study aimed to assess preschool children caregivers’ knowledge about child safety.Methods: Cross-sectional study, using a structured selfadministered questionnaire to caregivers in a Family Healthcare Unit, between September and December 2014.Results: Fifty-six caregivers agreed to participate, 80% females, median age (minimum-maximum) of 34 (22-63) years, caregivers of 99 children, with a mean 1.7 child/family. Eightynine percent routinely search about child safety and 37% states that it is topic discussed in all child healthcare visits. Only 14% answered all road safety questions correctly and despite 95% use a child-restraint system, only 18% applies it properly. In drowning prevention, only 31% promotes the use of inflatable swimming armbands and 11% of caregivers allows unsupervised play in the bathtub. In relation to falls prevention, we highlight that baby walkers are handled by 41% and only 29% of caregivers perform all appropriate preventive measures. Burn avoidance was the subject with greater shortcomings, with a total of 27% correct attitudes, and none of the caregivers answered accurately to all questions. On the other hand, choking and poisoning were the areas with higher rates of correct answers (54% and 41% respectively).Conclusions: Child safety proved to be a caregivers’ concern. However, daily incorrect behaviors are still common. Health care professionals have the responsibility to promote more effective awareness programs and approach this topic to caregivers more regularly in their practice.

A Comparison of Fourth-Year Health Sciences Students’ Knowledge of Gross Lower and Upper Limb Anatomy: A Cross-Sectional Study

ObjectiveThe aim of the study was to assess and compare the knowledge of fourth-year medicine, physiotherapy (PT), nursing, and podiatry students in carpal and tarsal bone anatomy. MethodsA cross-sectional study was carried out. Based on a nonprobability convenience sampling, 177 fourth-year students (117 women and 60 men, mean age of 23.16 ± 3.82 years) from the podiatry (n = 39), nursing (n = 26), PT (n = 73), and medicine (n = 39) schools at a large Spanish university were included. Measurements were taken of their gross anatomy knowledge by means of the carpal and the tarsal bone tests. Students were asked to identify all carpal and tarsal bones in an illustration of the bony skeleton of both regions and were given a maximum of 5 minutes per test. ResultsOf a total of 15 bones to be labeled, the PT (11.07 ± 3.30) and podiatry (9.36 ± 2.93) students had the highest rate of correct answers compared with the medicine (6.13 ± 3.27) and nursing (4.04 ± 3.72) undergraduates. When assessing academic degrees and test scores, significant differences were observed between PT and podiatry participants vs those from the medicine and nursing schools (P < .001). ConclusionFourth-year students from the PT and podiatry programs correctly identified a higher number of carpal and tarsal bones than students from the nursing and medicine schools.

Measurements of cognitive skill by survey mode: Marginal differences and scaling similarities

This paper addresses how measurements of cognitive skill differ based on survey mode, from a face-to-face interview to a self-completed survey, using the Wordsum vocabulary test found in the General Social Survey. The Wordsum acts as a proxy for general cognitive skill, and it has been used to predict a variety of political variables. Therefore, knowing differences in cognitive skill by mode are important for political science research because of the proliferation of self-completed Internet surveys. I leverage a large-scale mode experiment that randomizes a general population sample into a face-to-face or self-completed interview. Results show that historically easy questions are more likely to yield correct answers in the face-to-face treatment, but modest-to-difficult test questions have a higher rate of correct answers in the self-completed treatment (marginal distributions). A cognitive skill scale using item response theory, however, does not differ by mode because the ordering of ideal points does not change from a face-to-face interview to a self-completed survey. When applying the scale to a well-established model of party identification, I show no difference by mode, suggesting that a transition from face-to-face interviews to self-completed surveys may not alter conclusion drawn from models that use the Wordsum test.

Gençlik Cinsel Sağlığı: Türkiye’deki Bir Üniversitede Öğrenciler Arasında Cinsel Bilgi, Tutumlar ve Davranışlar

To determine sexual attitudes, behavior, and knowledge of Namik Kemal University (NKU) students about sexual health and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). A sample representing 10% of the undergraduate population of NKU in 2009-2010, was studied. Of 1,500 questionnaires distributed, 1,314 (87.6%) were filled out. The mean age of the respondents (52.9% male) was 20.07±1.75 years. The rate of students who had received sexual health education was 32.0%, and 15.3% had previously used a sexual health service. Eleven percent of the female students and 50.3% of the male students had had sexual intercourse. The average age of initial sexual intercourse was 16.83±2.07 years. Of the students who had had sexual intercourse, 46.6% reported that they did not use any contraception method. The most preferred method was condoms (37.6%). The rate of contraceptive use was 58.7% in sexually educated students and 43.9% in those not educated (p=.004). The most well-known STI was AIDS (96.5%), with sexually educated students giving higher rates of correct answers about STIs (p<.05). The students who had received sexual health education were more knowledgeable about vital consequences of STI's, even though it is not sufficient, than sexually active students. Awareness of safe sexual practices and changes in behavior, in particular, promoting condom use should be established in higher risk youths. Deficiencies in knowledge could be addressed by adding a sexual healthtraining component to the university curriculum, and unmet requirements could be met by reorganizing medico-social centers in universities.

Ionising radiation awareness among resident doctors, interns, and radiographers in a university hospital emergency department

In emergency medicine practice, radiological investigations relying on ionising radiation are increasingly used to diagnose a wide range of diseases and injuries. The aim of this study was to investigate the knowledge of radiation exposure doses and risks among interns, resident doctors, and radiographers. A questionnaire, consisting of 14 questions in multiple choice format, was distributed to 300 participants (100 interns, 100 radiographers, 100 resident doctors) working in the emergency department. The participants were asked to estimate the radiation dose that patients received during the different radiological procedures. The questionnaire was designed to determine the participants' knowledge about radiation-related hazards. None of the radiation doses delivered by the imaging modalities was 100% correctly estimated. A total of 41.4% of all participants and 46.3% of resident doctors underestimated the radiation doses. The frequency of answers underestimating doses was found to be significantly higher (p < 0.001). Resident doctors, with a 39.4% correct answer rate, were found to be significantly less knowledgeable when compared with the interns and radiographers (p = 0.003). Emergency resident doctors had a statistically significantly higher rate of correct answers for the lowest and highest radiation sources for a foetus when compared with other groups (p = 0.001, p = 0.008). Our study showed that the resident doctors', interns', and radiographers' knowledge of radiation exposure from radiological investigations and the associated risks was poor. This result could imply that we are not aware of the radiation risks, and we are inattentive in informing our patients about the radiation exposure related to the different imaging modalities.