Health Science Professionals Research Articles

Scale of concern about COVID-19 infection in Peruvian Health Care Workers

IntroductionThe global SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has generated concern about contagion, especially among healthcare workers who are on the front line. ObjectiveTo design and analyse the evidence of content validity, internal structure and reliability of a measure of concern about the spread of COVID-19 among Peruvian healthcare workers. Material and methodsQuantitative study and instrumental design. The scale was administered to 321 health science professionals (78 males and 243 females), whose ages ranged from 22 to 64 years (38.12 ± 9.61). ResultsAiken’s V-coefficient values were statistically significant. An exploratory factor analysis was performed which indicated the existence of a single factor, and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) confirmed a satisfactory six-factor model. The CFA solution obtained adequate fit indices (RMSEA = 0.079; P = .05; TLI = 0.967; IFC = 0.980; GFI = 0.971, and AGFI = 0.931), and showed good internal consistency based on Cronbach's alpha coefficient (α = 0.865; CI 95%, 0.83−0.89). ConclusionsThe scale of concern for COVID-19 infection is a valid and reliable brief measure that can be used for research and professional purposes.

Modelling the international demand of US receptive tourism in Mexico

Bringing together the efforts of large amounts of individuals to collect funds and transfer them to their claimants is an activation key of the Fintech Crowdfunding Platforms (FCP). Consequently, the business model presence inside the potential investment mind is essential for its growth and consolidation. In this way, the concern to investigate the level of knowledge on the subject in Potential Retail Investors (PRI), is born. In addition to detecting whether this knowledge is related to the perception of the model as an investment option, as well as, intending to invest in the future. Thus, a quantitative investigation is carried out through the application of a self-perception response instrument, this in a sample of 384 PRI. The results showed that the participants recognized themselves with a low level of knowledge about: the existence of the model, the difference between authorized and unauthorized platforms, and its operation, among others. These results are accentuated in Biological and Health Sciences professionals, women, and people with no investment background. A positive but weak correlation is also detected between knowledge about PFCF and perception, as well as, the intention to invest. In contrast, a medium correlation was obtained between perception and the investment intent in the modality.

Management of Staphylococcus aureus Health Risk Factors in Algeria

One Health is defined as the collaborative effort of multiple health science professions and their related disciplines and institutions to attain optimal health for people, domestic animals, wildlife, plants, and the environment. This study aimed to present different strategies of Algerian Veterinary Services to manage Staphylococcusaureus (S. aureus) health risk factors. Staphylococcus aureus is an animal and human opportunistic bacterium that causes a wide range of severe diseases. Its danger lies in its potential for transmission from animals to humans and conversely. This zoonotic potential is now well recognized, with the consideration that contact with animals is one of the most important factors influencing colonization and infection in human populations. Given the importance and interdependence of human and animal health linked to S. aureus health risk factors, it is logical to take a One Health approach when addressing this problem. It can be concluded some measures are necessary for the management of S. aureus in food hygiene. These may include launching a control and monitoring plan for residues in food of animal origin and animal feed, as well as a PASCRA plan for the detection of contaminants, such as antibiotic residues, or monitoring of contamination levels in live animals and food products of animal origin at different stages of the production chain.

PubMed literacy: Developing skills for effective literature search

Health science professionals need exhaustive and up-to-date information for patient care and research. They depend much on electronic resources for meeting their information needs. PubMed is a premier open access health science database of US National Library of Medicine (NLM). PubMed indexes more than 5600 health science related journals. PubMed literacy is the information literacy on PubMed database. It helps the health science professionals and researchers in understanding various features of the PubMed database and accessing the required health science information more efficiently and effectively. PubMed literacy means to how to use PubMed for conducting literature search and includes having training in literature search skills and techniques which are essential for searching in PubMed. The present article helps to get familiarity with search features and functionality of PubMed database and to know the importance of PubMed literacy in conducting health science literature search.

What do adolescents value most and is this affected by HIV status? Aspirations and self-perceptions from a large cohort study in South Africa

ABSTRACT Hundreds of millions of adolescents across Africa face challenges in many areas of their lives, including elevated risk of HIV exposure and acquisition. Understanding the aspirations and self-perceptions of adolescents could play an important role in better targeting effective investments to break the cycle of adversity for adolescents and into their adulthood. Aiming to understand what adolescents value most for themselves and their future, we analysed and summarised cross-sectional data on the aspirations and self-perceptions of 1519 adolescents living in South Africa, overall and by HIV status. Outcomes were coded from participant responses to two open-ended questions: ‘What job do you want to do when you grow up?’ and ‘What are you most proud of about yourself?’. Associations with HIV status were then evaluated using multivariable logistic regression adjusting for six sociodemographic factors measured from the same cohort. The sample had a mean age of 14 years, 55% were female, and 70% were living with HIV. The five most common job aspirations were: ‘Health and Medical Science Professionals’ (28%), ‘Law Enforcement and Public Safety Professionals’ (14%), ‘Social Work Associate Professionals’ (12%), ‘Legal Professionals’ (9%), and ‘Education Institutions Teaching Professionals’ (6%). The top five themes for what adolescents were most proud of about themselves were ‘School performance’ (22%), ‘Outward appearance’ (15%), ‘Sports skills’ (12%), ‘Personality’ (11%), and ‘Behaviour at home/with elders’ (7%). Adjusted analysis showed no evidence that HIV status was associated with important differences in aspirations or self-perceptions. In conclusion, adolescents facing high levels of adversity in South Africa hold high value for their education and aspirations for their futures. Policies and initiatives should focus on meeting these aspirations as vehicles for development, independent of their HIV status. Therefore, more needs to be done to not just help adolescents survive but thrive into adulthood.

Web-Based Educational Intervention to Improve Knowledge of Systematic Reviews Among Health Science Professionals: Randomized Controlled Trial.

BackgroundLack of knowledge of systematic reviews (SRs) could prevent individual health care professionals from using SRs as a source of information in their clinical practice or discourage them from participating in such research.ObjectiveIn this randomized controlled trial, we evaluated the effect of a short web-based educational intervention on short-term knowledge of SRs.MethodsEligible participants were 871 Master’s students of university health sciences studies in Croatia; 589 (67.6%) students who agreed to participate in the trial were randomized using a computer program into 2 groups. Intervention group A (294/589, 49.9%) received a short web-based educational intervention about SR methodology, and intervention group B (295/589, 50.1%) was presented with the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) checklist. The participants’ knowledge of SRs was assessed before and after the intervention. The participants could not be blinded because of the nature of the intervention. The primary outcome was the difference in the percentage of correct answers about SR methodology per participant between the groups after the intervention, expressed as relative risk and 95% CI.ResultsResults from 162 and 165 participants in the educational intervention and PRISMA checklist groups, respectively, were available for analysis. Most of them (educational intervention group: 130/162, 80.2%; PRISMA checklist group: 131/165, 79.4%) were employed as health care professionals in addition to being health sciences students. After the intervention, the educational intervention group had 23% (relative risk percentage) more correct answers in the postintervention questionnaire than the PRISMA checklist group (relative risk=1.23, 95% CI 1.17-1.29).ConclusionsA short web-based educational intervention about SRs is an effective tool for short-term improvement of knowledge of SRs among health care studies students, most of whom were also employed as health care professionals. Further studies are needed to explore the long-term effects of the tested education.Trial RegistrationOSF Registries 10.17605/OSF.IO/RYMVC; https://osf.io/rymvc

Assessment of Knowledge and Awareness about Basics of Radiation and Safety Measures among Allied Health Science Professionals Including Radiographers and Students of Radiology and Imaging Technology: University Based Study

Aim & Objective-This study has been undertaken to assess the knowledge and awareness about basics of radiation and safety measures in diagnostic radiology among allied health professionals including, Radiographers, and students of Radiology and imaging technology. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire based survey was performed to collect data of knowledge about the radiation awareness and safety measures using in diagnostic radiology, among allied health professionals including radiographers, and students of Radiology and imaging technology. Result- Knowledge about principle of radiation protection was very disappointing, because 30.60% of the participants know the basic principle of radiation protection (Justification, Optimization, and Dose Limit). 43.40% participants said that, ALARA is the basic principle of radiation protection while 26% participants said that, TDS (Time, Distance and Shielding) is the basic principle of radiation protection. Discussion-Majority of participants needs to improve their knowledge about the radiation awareness and safety measure. Keywords: Radiation, Safety, Protection, Radiation awareness.

Rational Use of Antibiotics: An Area of Concern

Published on:June 2022Journal of Young Pharmacists, 2022; 14(2):165-168Review Article | doi:10.5530/jyp.2022.14.31 Authors: Sougata Sarkar,1 Vartika Srivastava,2,*Shambo Samrat Samajhdar,1 Chaitali Pattanayak,2 Santanu Tripathi3 1Department of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology, School of Tropical Medicine, Kolkata, West Bengal, INDIA. 2Department of Pharmacology, Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhubaneswar, Odisha INDIA.3Department of Pharmacology, Netaji Subhas Medical College and Hospital, Patna, Bihar, INDIA. Abstract: Most of the IPD (Inpatient department) and OPD (Outpatient department) patients receive a course of antibiotics either for treatment or prevention of infection or during discharge. The therapeutic outcome with an antibiotic depends mostly on choice of appropriate agent. The selection of antibiotic depends on causative agent, patient factors, clinical pharmacology of antibiotics and its cost effectiveness. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when microbes like bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi become resistant to antimicrobial drugs that are used for treatment of various diseases leading to decreased effectiveness, difficulty in treatment of disease and hence requiring multiple therapeutic options. Antimicrobial stewardship is a coordinated intervention, designed to improve and measure the appropriate use of antimicrobial agents, by promoting the selection of optimal antimicrobial drug regimen including dosing, duration of therapy and route of administration. To strengthen the implementation of rational antibiotic use and reduction of antimicrobial resistance, WHO (World Health Organisation) in 2019 introduced “AWaRe” classification of antibiotics that includes details of 180 antibiotics classified as Access, Watch or Reserve, their pharmacological classes, Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) codes and WHO Essential Medicines List status. One health approach is the collaborative effort of multiple health science professions to attain optimal health for people, domestic animals, wildlife, plants, and environment. Recently, WHO issued new guidelines regarding the use of antimicrobials in animals producing food, recommending the restricted use of such medicines in growth promotion or prevention of disease in healthy animals. Hence rational use of antibiotics is important for successful treatment outcome and prevention of emerging drug resistance for broader community.Key words: Antibiotics, Antibiotic resistance, Antibiotic stewardship, AWaRe Classification, One health approach.

The Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Clinical Application of Evidence-Based Practice in Health Science Professionals.

(1) Background: Evidence-based practice (EBP) informs daily clinical interventions with the purpose of seeking changes to traditional practice through scientific evidence that justifies the reasons for our actions. The objectives were to describe the barriers, beliefs, and attitudes in the application of EBP among university health professionals (not doctors) and to evaluate the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic among them. (2) Methods: This prospective study is both descriptive and observational. The individuals under study were university health professionals (not doctors) from various autonomous regions within Spain, in both public and private spheres. Sociodemographic and labor-related variables linked to the research and its completion were studied. Likewise, the survey instrument Health Sciences Evidence-Based Practice questionnaire (HS-EBP) was administered to evaluate the barriers to, beliefs in, and attitudes towards evidence-based practice. (3) Results: A total of 716 responses were gathered, of which 387 were collected during the period of confinement, and 343 in the COVID-19 post-confinement period. Possible associations that might help respond to the objectives were explored through a correlational study between the sociodemographic variables and each sub-scale of the HS-EBP 30 questionnaire (n = 716). (4) Conclusions: Barriers to, beliefs in, and attitudes towards evidence-based practice are described. There is a leadership gap where line management provides insufficient motivation to follow work routines. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused immense stress among health professionals. The post-confinement group showed a significant change in the variables “beliefs and attitudes”, and likewise in the “evaluation” block, justified by the need to update knowledge and to apply evidence.

Excellence, access, and the public good: Building socially responsive admissions practices for health science programs

The health sciences have a public calling to provide socially responsive health care for all of society, particularly those most in need. This call is reverberating in universities and has particular relevance for health science professions. Despite universities’ public mission, admissions practices in the health sciences exhibit a fundamental tension between excellence and access, with excellence defined by rankings and research productivity, and access defined by broader public access both to universities themselves and to the knowledge created there. Health science programs’ popularity among students intensifies the exclusivity of admissions processes, at the expense of access. This paper presents both a psychometric and social justice critique of existing admissions criteria and processes. A psychometric perspective demonstrates that admissions processes have inherent bias and fairness issues not limited to reliance on standardized test scores, but extending to measures such as interviews, grade point averages, personal statements, recommendation letters, and CVs. Evaluating admissions criteria using a social justice lens focuses attention on procedural, background, and stake fairness, as well as practices that tend to exclude underrepresented groups. Potential improvements to admissions include applying promising practices from holistic approaches, reducing applicants’ financial burden, instituting admissions criteria that more broadly represent all groups, involving underrepresented groups in adjudicating candidate applications, implementing equitable educational strategies, and evaluating the degree to which programs’ climate and theoretical underpinnings are conducive to recruiting from underrepresented groups. Finally, to fulfill our public call for social responsiveness, it is essential to frame admissions to health science programs in terms of serving the public good by training candidates from underrepresented groups and by positioning excellence as access.

Tennessee Academy of Science Executive Committee Meeting Minutes, May 2020

Tennessee Academy of Science Executive Committee Meeting Minutes, May 2020

Illuminating the transitional habitus of the early career health science professional as postgraduate supervisor.

BackgroundEarly career health science professionals often find themselves in a transitional space when moving from a health science professional role to academia. The role of a postgraduate supervisor is especially troublesome. Transitional spaces often bring uncertainty and perceived or real threats, fear, worry, anxiety and stress. Without support, the result could be detrimental to the mental health of the early career as postgraduate supervisors, thereby impacting their professional identity formation.AimTo understand the underlying elements that shaped the early career health science professional as postgraduate supervisors’ habitus and how these features play out in their postgraduate supervision practice.SettingThe research study was carried out at an Open and Distance e-Learning University (ODeL) and a residential university.MethodsVisual elicitation methods in the form of seven drawings were used as data. Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus and hexis were used as a theoretical lens, and structural analysis with analytical memoing was used to interrogate the drawings.ResultsEarly career health science professional as postgraduate supervisors’ bodily habitus presented as fragmented or yet to be formed along with other entanglements, such as emotions, language, power and material arrangements.ConclusionThese features enable policymakers, employee assistance practitioners, educational developers and experienced academics to consider the changes and structural forces that need to be addressed to support early career health science professional as postgraduate supervisors.ContributionA creative means of exploring the inner world of the early career health science professional as postgraduate supervisors is undertaken. In doing so, the research article potentially illuminates what has up to now been ‘unsaid’.

The Double-Edged Sword of Moral Distress and Burnout Among Health Science Clinical Educators

Abstract Date Presented Accepted for AOTA INSPIRE 2021 but unable to be presented due to online event limitations. This poster explores the prevalence of moral distress and burnout among health science professionals who serve as clinical educators, as well as the correlation to number of students per year. This is vital to understand while there is a heightened need for skilled clinical educators as education programs grow in size and number in addition to the current increased demand for clinical placements after suspensions and delays as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Primary Author and Speaker: Patricia Higgins Contributing Authors: Allison Kellish, Dana Fleming, Sarah Gotthold, and Marvelyn Tiziani

Exercise Addiction and Muscle Dysmorphia: The Role of Emotional Dependence and Attachment

Background: Both exercise addiction (EA) and muscle dysmorphia (MD) primarily involve the compulsive practice of physical exercise and are classified as behavioral addictions in different lines of research. These types of addictions are frequently comorbid with other addictive pathologies, such as emotional dependence (ED), which is closely related to childhood attachment. This study is presented to address the scarcity of research relating EA and MD with other behavioral addictions. The aims are to analyze the sex differences found in emotional dependence, attachment dimensions, EA and MD; to analyze the association between EA and MD and other behavioral addictions, such as emotional dependence and attachment dimensions; and to analyze the possible role that childhood attachment plays in mediating the interaction between emotional dependence and EA and MD.Method: The sample comprised 366 participants (54.6% women) aged 17–31 (M = 23.53; SD = 6.48).Results: There are sex differences, with men scoring higher in EA, MD, and ED. The positive relationship between EA and ED (values between 0.16 and 0.28), MD (presenting values between 0.42 and 0.70), and attachment styles based on preoccupation, interference, permissiveness, and value of parental authority (values between 0.11 and 0.14) is highlighted. On the other hand, MD was positively related to ED (values ranging from 0.24 to 0.36) and attachment styles based on the value of parental authority, self-sufficiency, and resentment toward parents (between 0.17 and 0.18), and negatively related to secure attachment (values between −0.13 and −0.18). Likewise, the predictive role of ED and attachment styles in EA and MD was tested. And it was observed how attachment styles mediated the relationship between EA and ED, as well as the relationship between MD and ED. Thus, it has been shown that people with EA and MD present attachment styles that may influence negatively the decision-making process when choosing inappropriate strategies to achieve adequate emotional regulation, even selecting inappropriate goals for physical exercise with negative consequences.Conclusions: The dissemination of the findings among mental health and sports science professionals is necessary to develop prevention and intervention strategies for people affected by EA and MD.

Social Responsibility for Health during COVID-19 Pandemic

Health is a fundamental right for which concerned sides should bear the responsibility at the individual, societal, state, and international level. Not only curative but preventive, promotive, and rehabilitative services should also be availed in accessible, affordable, and acceptable form. The quest for health becomes more intense during adverse periods like a pandemic. The whole world has witnessed the COVID-19 pandemic, the unprecedented pandemic of this century. This quest is more dismal in developing nations like Nepal when even resource-rich countries are laid down by it. The quest of health demands, hence more during this pandemic, for the bearing of the responsibility by all. Here, we have made an attempt to draw together the general and some specific responsibilities of various direct stakeholders in this pandemic with multifaceted mayhem. We have incorporated here, the responsibilities of the public, COVID and non-COVID patients, media personnel, health science students, professionals, institutions, state, and media to ensure or safeguard the health of self and others in this pandemic.

"Just Engage in It or Not, You Get Out What You Put In": Student and Staff Experiences of Feedback and Feedforward in Workplace-Based Learning Environments.

Feedback is central to student learning in the veterinary workplace. Feedforward, a related concept, is used to describe the way information about a student's performance may be used to improve their future performance. Feedback and feedforward practices are diverse, with varied student and staff understandings of the nature and purpose of feedback (feedback literacy). This study compared the practices of feedback and feedforward in a range of programs in one institution during student transitions from the classroom to workplace-based learning environments. The study adopted a broad inter-professional approach to include health care programs and social work and theater and performance studies. Profession-specific focus groups were conducted with contribution from 28 students and 31 staff from five different professions. Thematic analysis revealed that students and staff shared an understanding of the feedback and feedforward concepts, and both groups recognized the importance of emotional and relational aspects of the process. Students and staff across all professions recognized the impact of time constraints on the feedback process, although this was particularly highlighted in the health science professions. Social work and theater and performance studies students demonstrated a more nuanced understanding of the emotional and relational aspects of feedback and feedforward. Overall, the approach highlights similarities and differences in practices and experiences in different workplace contexts, creating opportunities for cross-disciplinary learning, which may have relevance more widely in higher education programs with workplace-based elements. The study underpinned the development of the LeapForward feedback training resource (https://bilt.online/the-leapforward-project/).

Escala de preocupación por el contagio de la COVID-19 en personal de la salud peruano

IntroductionThe global SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has generated concern about contagion, especially among healthcare workers who are on the front line. ObjectiveTo design and analyse the evidence of content validity, internal structure and reliability of a measure of concern about the spread of COVID-19 among Peruvian healthcare workers. Material and methodsQuantitative study and instrumental design. The scale was administered to 321 health science professionals (78 males and 243 females), whose ages ranged from 22 to 64 years (38.12±9.61). ResultsAiken's V-coefficient values were statistically significant. An exploratory factor analysis was performed which indicated the existence of a single factor, and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) confirmed a satisfactory six-factor model. The CFA solution obtained adequate fit indices (RMSEA=0.079; p=0.05; TLI=0.967; IFC=0.980; GFI=0.971, and AGFI=0.931), and showed good internal consistency based on Cronbach's alpha coefficient (α=0.865; CI 95%, 0.83-0.89). ConclusionsThe scale of concern for COVID-19 infection is a valid and reliable brief measure that can be used for research and professional purposes.

Research competencies for undergraduate rehabilitation students: A scoping review

Background. Research training is important for all health science professions and interlinks with evidence-based practice (EBP). Previous studies that investigated research competencies for undergraduates predominantly focused on medical and nursing professions. However, specific competencies may be more relevant to certain professions than others. A set of minimum core research competencies has not been defined for research methods (RM) training in the undergraduate rehabilitation curriculum. Objectives. To review available evidence and identify a set of research competencies for undergraduate rehabilitation students. Method. A scoping review was done of studies published between January 2009 and December 2018. Five databases were searched (November - December 2018). Articles were included if they contained statements referring to knowledge, skills, attitudes and tasks related to research or research-related EBP for rehabilitation undergraduates. Competencies were categorised into 6 research domains using thematic analysis. Results. Forty-five competencies were identified from research-related statements in 26 studies. No studies explicitly investigated the most important research competencies for rehabilitation. Research competencies were often derived directly from the EBP framework ( n =19 studies), resulting in poor representation of competencies related to conducting research. Overall, domains related to research methodology and inquiry were best represented, while soft skills, dissemination, professional attitudes and ethics were poorly represented. Conclusion. We identified a set of research competencies that may be important for rehabilitation undergraduates. It remains unclear which of these should be prioritised in the rehabilitation curriculum. However, this preliminary set may guide future consensus statements and allow educators to identify and address gaps in current curricula.

Safely Returning America to Work Part II: Industry-Specific Guidance.

Safely Returning America to Work Part II: Industry-Specific Guidance.

Gross Anatomy for Physical Therapy course

The study of anatomy supported with human dissection is foundational to training of health science professionals. For a student, cadaver dissection offers an active learning experience. For the training of physical therapists, we created a manual that efficiently instructs the dissection of the whole body over the course of 30 laboratory periods. In the spirit of academic collegiality, this letter provides health science educators a direct download link (https://hdl.handle.net/11299/218174) to the dissection manual hosted by the University of Minnesota (USA) Digital Conservancy. No registration is required, the download is free, and the PDF file of the dissection manual can be reproduced or adapted for any educational use.