Significant Differences In Knowledge Research Articles

Are informal healthcare providers knowledgeable in tuberculosis care? A cross-sectional survey using vignettes in West Bengal, India.

India accounts for one-quarter of the world's TB cases. Despite efforts to engage the private sector in India's National TB Elimination Program, informal healthcare providers (IPs), who serve as the first contact for a significant TB patients, remain grossly underutilised. However, considering the substantial evidence establishing IPs' role in patients' care pathway, it is essential to expand the evidence base regarding their knowledge in TB care. We conducted a cross-sectional study in the Birbhum district of West Bengal, India. The data were collected using the TB vignette among 331 IPs (165 trained and 166 untrained). The correct case management was defined following India's Technical and Operational Guidelines for TB Control. Overall, IPs demonstrated a suboptimal level of knowledge in TB care. IPs exhibited the lowest knowledge in asking essential history questions (all four: 5.4% and at least two: 21.7%) compared with ordering sputum test (76.1%), making a correct diagnosis (83.3%) and appropriate referrals (100%). Nonetheless, a statistically significant difference in knowledge (in most domains of TB care) was observed between trained and untrained IPs. This study identifies gaps in IPs' knowledge in TB care. However, the observed significant difference between the trained and untrained groups indicates a positive impact of training in improving IPs' knowledge in TB care.

Effectiveness of high- and low-fidelity simulation-based medical education in teaching cardiac auscultation: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Simulation-based medical education (SBME) is an evolving method of teaching cardiac examination skills to healthcare learners. It has been deliberated how effective this teaching modality is and whether high-fidelity methods are more effective than low-fidelity methods. This systematic review aimed to assess the effectiveness of high-fidelity SBME in teaching cardiac auscultation compared with no intervention or another active teaching intervention (low-fidelity SBME) using evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs).Literature searches were performed on Medline, Embase, PsychInfo and Cinahl. RCTs that compared the effectiveness of high-fidelity simulation against no intervention or high-fidelity simulation against low-fidelity simulation in teaching cardiac auscultation to healthcare learners were included. Outcomes were knowledge, skills and satisfaction relating to cardiac auscultation education. Data were analyzed using Review Manager 5.3 software.Seventeen RCTs (n = 1055) were included. Twelve RCTs (n = 692) compared high-fidelity simulation with no intervention. The pooled effect sizes for knowledge and skills were 1.39 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.39–2.38;This review’s findings suggest that high-fidelity SBME is an effective teaching method for cardiac auscultation education. Interestingly, there was no significant difference in knowledge or skills among learners when comparing high-fidelity simulation with low-fidelity simulation. Further research is needed to establish the effectiveness of different forms of SBME as educational interventions.

Effects of teach-back health education (TBHE) based on WeChat mini-programs in preventing falls at home for urban older adults in China: a randomized controlled trial

BackgroundFalls are common among adults aged 60 years and older because of physiological changes. Most falls in older adults occur most often at home. Coupled with the lack of awareness and knowledge of preventing falls, the proportion of injuries and deaths among older adults due to falls is increasing yearly. Our study developed a WeChat mini-program for urban elderly to implement teach-back health education (TBHE) that a repeated cycle process of health education, assessment, and re-education in preventing falls at home.ObjectivesThis study aimed to evaluate the application effect of the TBHE-based WeChat mini-program on health education knowledge for fall prevention at home for urban older adults.DesignA single-blinded, two-arm parallel-group, randomized controlled trial was conducted.SettingThree residential communities, named Hot Spring Apartment, Hualinyuan, and Dongtang Community in Gulou District, Fuzhou, China.ParticipantsParticipants were older adults recruited from communities in Fuzhou from January to March 2021.MethodsFifty-nine participants agreed to participate and were assigned randomly to the intervention group (n = 29) or the control group receiving traditional health education (n = 30). Each participant in the intervention group received twice a week for a total of 8 weeks of health education interventions performed by the first author that she is intervenor according to specific themes. The trial statistician, recruiters, and participants were blinded to group allocation. The intervenor (first author) was blinded to the study hypotheses. To evaluate the effects of the intervention, we assessed participants’ knowledge total score and scores of physiology and disease; drug application; mental, cognitive, and spiritual well-being; lifestyle; and house environment at baseline and 1-week post-intervention and compared scores between two groups. A two-way repeated-measures analysis of variance was conducted to examine the effects of time, group, and their interaction.ResultsThere was a significant difference in knowledge of house environment (p = 0.003) between the two groups. Within groups, total and five dimensions knowledge scores had a significant difference (p < 0.001). Moreover, interaction effects were significant on drug application (p = 0.012) and mental, cognitive, and spiritual well-being (p = 0.015).ConclusionsThe TBHE can improve knowledge on fall prevention at home among urban older adults. The TBHE based on the WeChat mini-program could enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of being educated among urban older adults.Trial registrationChinese Clinical Trial Register: ChiCTR2100052946; reg date: 06/11/2021.

Evaluating pharmacists' knowledge, attitude, and practices toward amiodarone cross-reactivity with iodine: a cross-sectional pilot study.

IntroductionIodine is a vital mineral of the human body that acts by maintaining the health of the thyroid gland. Research has shown that iodine-rich food allergy (i.e., seafood allergy) is not caused by iodine itself; instead, it is caused by other proteins including tropomyosin and parvalbumin in shellfish and fish, respectively. Amiodarone is a commonly used antiarrhythmic agent containing a significant amount of iodine.ObjectiveThis study’s objective was to assess pharmacists’ knowledge, attitude, and practices toward the misconception of iodine allergy and the cross-reactivity with amiodarone.MethodsIn February 2020, a cross-sectional study was conducted by sending out an online survey to three pharmaceutical organizations (Saudi Pharmaceutical Society, Kuwait Pharmaceutical Association, and Oman Pharmaceutical Society). Additionally, an electronic questionnaire was administered to pharmacists attending the Dubai International Pharmaceuticals and Technologies Conference and Exhibition 2020 (DUPHAT). Chi-square or Fisher’s exact test, when appropriate, were used to compare categorical variables. The statistical analyses were carried out using SPSS software.ResultsData were collected from 66 respondents. However, only 61 (92.4%) were included in the final analysis following the exclusion of incomplete responses. The mean age of participants was 35 ± 8.48 years. The majority of participants did not have the Board of Pharmacy Specialties Certification (54.1%). Moreover, (41%) of participants licensed as pharmacists with more than 10 years of initial pharmacy licensure. Forty-three (70.5%) of participants had the misconception that iodine allergy should be considered before amiodarone administration, 20/32 (62.5%) of whom considered iodine allergy alone thought that premedication with corticosteroids and/or antihistamines is necessary. Concerning iodine allergy and amiodarone use, there was no significant difference in knowledge between the pharmacists who have board certification and those who did not.ConclusionPharmacists’ misconception concerning iodine allergy and cross-reactivity with amiodarone was evident. Implementation of educational programs targeting pharmacists is necessary to correct these misconceptions.

Breast Cancer Awareness among Medical Students in Georgia

Background: As awareness is the key tool for better prognosis, it is important for every kind of population. Being one of the most common cancers, also being associated with the high mortality rates, breast cancer awareness should be prevalent. As future doctors, medical students have the responsibility of educating the general population. To carry out such duties, they should possess enough knowledge about the subject. This study probes the extent of their knowledge.Methodology: An online questionnaire containing 15 questions of various formats was made and distributed to the students of Tbilisi State Medical University via E-mails. The collected data were processed in Microsoft Excel sheets. Answers from pre-clinical and clinical year students were analyzed separately.Results: A total of 225 responses were collected. More females (n=167) participated in the survey than males (n=56). A very low number of students selected correct answers to the epidemiological questions regarding the most common cancer among men, women, and the overall Georgian population. Despite attending awareness programs and having close contact with cancer patients, students showed a lack of awareness.Conclusion: There was no significant difference in knowledge or awareness noticed between pre-clinical and clinical students. Lack of knowledge despite having attended previous awareness programs and having close contact with cancer patients shows the lack of cognizance in students and their inability to retain information. This strongly indicates the need for more intensive activities on cancer awareness not only for students but also for the general population

Effectiveness of Digital Flipped Learning Evidence-Based Practice on Nurses' Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice: A Quasi-Experimental Trial.

Background: Evidence-based care has become critical in raising the quality of medical facilities. The implementation of evidence-based practice helps medical practitioners make better clinical decisions. Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate whether the innovative flipped teaching model could be as effective as the conventional teaching model in terms of knowledge, attitude, and practice and to confirm the continuous effect. Design: A quasi-experimental design using the flipped and conventional learning groups concurrently with repeat measurements was used. Setting: The setting was a 475-bed regional teaching hospital in Taiwan, from March to July 2020. Participants: The study included 114 licensed nurses who had worked longer than three months, with 57 participants each in two groups. Methods: The participants were assigned to two groups using a block randomization method. All participants completed questionnaires related to knowledge, attitude, and practice of EBP at four-time points: pre-test (T0) and immediately after intervention (T1), at month 1 (T2), and at month 3 (T3). Analysis of repeated generalized estimating equations was used. Results: The flipped and conventional learning groups had significant differences in knowledge, attitude, and practice at the T0 and T1 (p < 0.05). The flipped group was higher than the conventional group at T3 in the knowledge score (p = 0.001) and lower than the conventional group at T2 in the attitude score (p = 0.010). There were no significant differences between the two groups’ practice scores at different time points. There were no significantly different score changes for knowledge, attitude, and practice (p > 0.05). The interaction term only at T3 vs. T0 in the knowledge score was slightly different (p = 0.049) in primary outcome. Conclusion: The intervention methods of both groups were effective. Flipped learning is more flexible and has more time for discussion, which nurses favor. Under the policy promoted in the hospital, EBP combined with the nursing advancement system was standardized, and conventional learning also improved the learning effect.

Current public perception of, and barriers to, palliative care in China: a mixed-methods study

Cancer is a major cause of death in China, accounting for 2·56 million deaths in the country in 2018 alone. Yet, on that year, only 28 600 patients (1·1%) at the end of life received palliative care. Existing studies in palliative care have mainly been done in medical environments. The aim of this study was to focus instead on the general public and to identify the public's perceptions of, and demand for, various palliative care services, as well as barriers to palliative care in China. A convergent mixed-methods design was used to facilitate an understanding of the Chinese public's knowledge of palliative care services and the demand for palliative care. An interdisciplinary team of scholars and practitioners worked collaboratively to develop a contextually and culturally relevant questionnaire for the public in China (named KNPCP-1) to explore these issues. Quantitative and qualitative evaluation phases in the development of KNPCP-1 ensured its high validity. We did cross-over comparison analyses of the findings from the quantitative survey (conducted using KNPCP-1). Stata version 17.2 and NVivo version 12.6.1 were used for data analysis. 6120 people completed the qualitative surveys, and 19 survey respondents and 20 medical staff were also interviewed. No significant difference in knowledge of palliative care and general need for various palliative care services was found between men and women. A greater demand for palliative care services was found among rural respondents than among their urban counterparts. Convergent analysis indicates that factors or mechanisms associated with the low availability of palliative care services include scarce knowledge about palliative care, a cultural taboo around death, factors related to patient-clinician conflict, and the pressure on adult children to fulfil their filial duty of care for elderly parents. Several factors contribute to the low availability of palliative care services in China despite recent governmental awareness campaigns. Innovative and culturally sensitive approaches are needed to promote palliative care services in relation to the factors synthesised from the analysis. Ministry of Education of China, Youth Project of Humanities and Social Sciences (project number 20XJC840001); China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (project number 2021M691521); and 2020 Young Teacher Development Project of the Chinese Universities Scientific Fund (project number 230600001002020030).

노인요양시설 요양보호사를 위한 시뮬레이션 기반 환자 안전수행능력 향상 교육프로그램 개발 및 효과 검증

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the effect of a simulation-based patient safety performance improvement education program on caregivers’ knowledge, attitude, and performance toward safety. Methods: This study adopted a quasi-experimental design that applied before-and-after designs for the test and control groups. It was configured focusing on “infectious disease,” “fires,” “falls,” and “drug abuse.” Results: There was a significant difference in knowledge and patient safety performance between the experimental group and the control group. However, there was no significant difference in attitudes toward safety. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the simulation-based patient safety performance improvement education program is effective in improving patient safety performance. Therefore, it is necessary to continuously apply and evaluate the simulation-based patient safety performance training program to enable caregivers to develop professional prevention and management capabilities within elderly care facilities

Analyzing &amp; Evaluating the Effects of Public Service Messages about Dengue in Punjab-Pakistan

This research aimed to evaluate the impact of public service messages about Dengue in Punjab, Pakistan. The aim was to measure the perceived effectiveness of public service messages, knowledge, attitudes, and practices in the context of Health Belief Model constructs. The pre-constructed questionnaire was used to collect data from 540 respondents through the survey method. The findings indicated a significant difference in the perceived effectiveness of the PSM between normal and diseased. Among normal people. There was a significant difference in knowledge about Dengue among people belonging to different socioeconomic backgrounds. A positive and significant relationship between knowledge and attitudes toward dengue was discovered, with a linear regression model indicating a 54.7% positive impact on attitudes. In addition, perceived susceptibility to dengue had a significant impact on dengue prevention measures (p-value&gt;0.05). But the impact of perceived severity on the preventive measures was not noteworthy (p-value =.144 &gt; 0.05). Moreover, the perceived benefits of Dengue had a significant impact on the self-efficacy but Perceived barriers were negatively correlated with self-efficacy, although the correlation was very weak (r = -16). Furthermore, exposure to the media and participation in health-related awareness had a significant impact on knowledge. TV, newspapers, and health clinics/hospitals were rated the most effective and leading sources of Dengue awareness.

The Effect of Teaching Fundamentals of Geriatric Life on Nurses' Knowledge and Attitudes toward Aging

Introduction: Nurses are always involved with caring for elderly patients. They need to increase their knowledge and skills in the field of aging to provide effective care to elderly patients. Moreover, attitudes of nurses affect the quality of care for elderly people. Some interventions such as education are effective tools for improving nurses' knowledge and attitudes to better understand the problems of the elderly. The present study aims at determining the effect of teaching fundamentals of geriatric life on nurses' knowledge and attitudes toward aging.&#x0D; &#x0D; Methods: This was a quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest with control group study. It was performed on 91 nurses working in Meybod (44 nurses) and Ardakan Hospitals (47 nurses). Training sessions on fundamentals of geriatric life were conducted for the experimental group. The training program consisted of five training sessions in the field of geriatrics . Data collection instruments included: Palmore's Facts on Aging Quiz, and Kogan's Attitude Toward Older People Scale, which were completed three times before, immediately after, and two months after the intervention for both groups.&#x0D; &#x0D; Results: There was no significant difference in knowledge between the two groups before the intervention (p = 0.792). Yet, the knowledge score immediately and two months after the intervention showed a significant difference between the experimental and control groups (p &lt; 0.01). The mean score of attitude before intervention was no significant difference between groups (p = 0.069). However, there was a significant difference in attitude score immediately and two months after the intervention between the experimental and control groups (p &lt; 0.01).&#x0D; &#x0D; Conclusion: Teaching fundamentals of geriatric nursing to nurses improved their knowledge and attitudes toward the problems and needs of the elderls. Using retraining courses in the field of aging is recommended for nurses.&#x0D;

Pre-service Teachers' Perspectives on Transition to Kindergarten Practices for Autistic Children.

Autistic children present with unique challenges that may be associated with challenges during the kindergarten transition process. While teachers endorse transition to kindergarten practices as important, implementation of effective transition practices is inconsistent. One possible reason is limited training during pre-service education; however, research about this is scarce. This study examined pre-service teachers’ knowledge of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and transitions to kindergarten. Findings indicate a lack of knowledge regarding both autism and transition, as well as significant differences in knowledge of autism, wherein those seeking special education certification reported higher levels of knowledge. These results highlight training opportunities for preparing pre-service teachers to better serve young autistic children.

Congenital Cytomegalovirus Awareness and Knowledge among Health Professionals and Pregnant Women: An Action towards Prevention

Introduction: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a major cause of childhood disabilities, and consensus recommendations emphasize the importance of hygienic measures to reduce perinatal infection. Our study aimed to evaluate the level of awareness about CMV among health professionals and pregnant women. Methods: We submitted a 20-item online survey regarding CMV perinatal infection to all obstetricians and midwives in Catalonia (Spain) and a 7-item lay version of the questionnaire to 700 pregnant women. Levels of knowledge were compared among groups. Results: Of the 1,449 health professionals approached, 338 surveys were answered. 72% of professionals considered CMV a relevant problem. 47% of obstetricians and 28% of midwives (p ≤ 0.001) routinely informed pregnant women, and less than half knew the risk of fetal transmission. We observed significant differences in knowledge between obstetricians and midwives concerning the risks of recurrent infections, risk of transmission, and risk of severe infection (60.7% vs. 45.6%, p = 0.006 and 50.6% vs. 22.5%, p ≤ 0.001); and regarding maternal and neonatal symptoms and newborn sequelae (23% vs. 8.8%, p ≤ 0.001). Of the 700 women approached, we obtained a response rate of 72%. Only 23% had previously heard about CMV, 22% identified transmission routes, and 15% preventive measures. Compared to women without risk factors for CMV infection, women at greater risk had heard more about CMV (mothers of children <3 years: 36% vs. 20%, p < 0.001; occupational exposure: 43% vs. 20%, p ≤ 0.001) and had received more information (mothers of children <3 years: 18% vs. 9.5%, p ≤ 0.001; occupational exposure: 23% vs. 9.3%, p = 0.001). Conclusion: Health care professionals have limited knowledge about CMV and may fail to enforce preventive measures. While pregnant women have limited awareness about CMV infection, they recognize the need for information. Health campaigns should be promoted to enhance awareness about this perinatal infection.

Knowledge and apprehension score correlation among healthcare workers in COVID-19 block of tertiary care hospital

COVID-19 was first detected in Wuhan (China), in December 2019. Mode of transmission was by respiratory droplets)or by surface transmission. Changing symptoms, treatment guidelines, and increased transmissibility of the virus were a concern among the healthcare workers. During the pandemic, the anxiety and stress levels were high among HCWs as they were disturbed by the increased caseload with colleagues testing positive. The present study aimed to find a correlation between knowledge and fear among health care workers working in COVID-19 areas of a tertiary care government hospital. This was a hospital-based study conducted at a tertiary care hospital, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand. It was an observational study with a cross-sectional study design. The study was conducted in OPD and IPD of COVID-19 for a period of three months. Study participants were consultants, residents, nurses, hospital attendants, and paramedical staff. Pre-structured questionnaires for knowledgeand fear assessment were utilized. A total of 358 study participants were enrolled. The mean age of study participants was 29± 6.17. The mean knowledge and fear score of all study participants was 9.85 ± 1 and 19.86 ± 5.2 respectively. A negative correlation (r= - 0.04) was found between the knowledge and fear scores. There was a significant difference in knowledge among different groups of HCWs, but the level of fear was not significantly different It was established that the negative correlation between the knowledge and fear score among health care workers working in COVID-19 situation in tertiary health care hospitalRegular training and dissemination of the new updates regarding the pandemic can help in allaying the fear. Making appropriate personal protective equipment available at the healthcare center will boost the confidence of the health workers.

The effect of nutrition education for cancer prevention based on health belief model on nutrition knowledge, attitude, and practice of Iranian women

BackgroundIn recent years, nutrition has received an increasingly important role in the etiology of cancer. Thus, public education about dietary factors associated with cancer risk or prevention could be an important intervention for cancer prevention, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where the burden of cancer is increasing rapidly and the access to care is limited. The age-standardized incidence of breast cancer was 35.8 among Iranian women in 2020. We aimed to study the effect of nutrition education on the knowledge, attitude, and practice of Iranian women towards dietary factors related to cancer.MethodsIn this interventional study, 229 women from public health centers were recruited and underwent three 75-min sessions of education based on the Health Belief Model (HBM). Participants were interviewed by trained interviewers using a validated and reproducible nutrition-related cancer prevention knowledge, attitude, and practice questionnaire (NUTCANKAP) questionnaire designed based on the HBM. Nutritional knowledge, attitude, and practice of participants were assessed through this questionnaire. Three 24-h dietary recalls (one weekend and two nonconsecutive weekdays) were also collected before and one month after the intervention.ResultsThe mean age of the participants was 45.14 years, and the mean BMI was 27.2 kg/m2. After the intervention, the participants had a higher intake of whole grain (p = 0.03) and a lower fat dairy (p = 0.009) and nuts (p = 0.04). However, the intake of high-fat dairy (p = 0.001) decreased after the intervention. We indicated significant differences in knowledge (p < 0.001) and nutritional practice scores (p = 0.01) after education. In addition, after the intervention, there were significant differences in the mean score of the HBM components, except for the perceived self-efficacy.ConclusionParticipation in a nutrition education program positively impacted the knowledge and nutritional practices linked to cancer prevention.

The Effect of Mentoring and Communication Through Social Media on Knowledge and Skills in Handling Dismenorhoe in Young Woman

In Indonesia, the incidence of dysmenorrhea is quite large, showing that people with dysmenorrhea reach 60-70% of women in Indonesia. The incidence of primary type dysmenorrhea in Indonesia is 54.89%, while the remaining 45.11% are secondary types. This research aims to knowing the effect of mentoring and communication trhough social media on knowledge and skills in handling dysmenorhoe in adolescent girls. The design of this research is the quasi-experiment with a post-test with the control group on 44 persons that are determined by purposive sampling. The research samples were divided into 2 groups. The results showed a significant differences in knowledge and skill to handling dysmenorhoe by mentoring and communication through social media (Wilcoxon signed test p &lt;0.05 and also mann whitney test p&lt; 0,05). From the results of this study, it can be concluded that the mentoring and communication on social media can increase the knowledge and skill on handling dysmenorhoe.

The Diabetes Knowledge Assessment in Type 2 Diabetic Patients: A Survey in West Coast Division of Sabah

The main concern in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) management is to control the glycaemic level and thus prevent complications by behavioural modifications as a part of the government’s national strategic plan. The patient should know about the disease for behavioural modification to be implemented. Thus, this study evaluated the level of knowledge among T2DM patients in primary healthcare in the West Coast Division of Sabah. This is a cross-sectional study conducted in 2015 involving 15 primary healthcare clinics. A validated Malaysian version of the Michigan Diabetes Knowledge Test (MDKT) questionnaire was used to assess patients’ diabetes knowledge. The mean age of 369 patients is 54.9 years old (SD = 11.04). The means of knowledge scores were significantly different among the age group, education level, and employment status. No significant differences in knowledge were found in the group regarding the duration of diabetes and glycaemic control. Of 369 diabetic patients, 26.3% had poor knowledge, 65.0% had adequate knowledge, and only 8.7% had good knowledge. Overall, patients with T2DM in primary healthcare clinics have adequate knowledge regarding diabetes. Our study’s findings indicate that patients’ knowledge is associated with age group, level of education, and employment status. Healthcare providers should plan a good strategy to educate their patients based on these differences.

0376 Evaluation of healthcare delivery disparities among the Native American population: Knowledge and Attitudes of obstructive sleep apnea among the Indian Health Services primary care physicians

Abstract Introduction The burden of racial disparities in diagnosis and treatment of Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) remains underrecognized among the Native American population. This study intends to assess the knowledge and attitudes towards diagnosis and management of obstructive sleep apnea among the primary care physicians caring for the Native American population. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted at an Indian Health Services (IHS) primary care clinic. A validated OSA Knowledge (18 questions) and Attitudes (5 questions) (OSAKA) questionnaire was used, in addition to one question to address referrals to a sleep specialist. Results A total of 20 primary care providers were invited to participate in the survey with a response rate of 45% (9 participants, 2 males and 7 females). The median (IQR) knowledge score was 14 (13-16). The mean (±SD) percentage of correct response (proportion of correctly answered questions) was 79% (±9.5), which was similar to previously reported scores among primary care physicians in other studies. There was no significant knowledge difference between males and females and no difference based on age. All participants felt it was very or extremely important to identify patients with OSA and that OSA is important as a clinical disorder. There was a significant positive correlation between knowledge and recognizing the importance of OSA as clinical disorder, and between knowledge and confidence in identification of OSA. There was a negative correlation between confidence in OSA identification and referral to a sleep specialist but was not statistically significant. Only one participant (11%) felt comfortable managing patients on CPAP therapy, but there was no significant correlation with referrals to a sleep specialist. Conclusion Obstructive sleep apnea knowledge in IHS primary care providers is comparable to their peers. However, the lack of comfort in managing patients with OSA on CPAP did not increase referrals to a sleep specialist. This highlights a possible disparity and resource gap in treating Native Americans within the IHS health system with sleep apnea and further studies are needed. Support (If Any)

Knowledge and Attitude about Infant Oral Health: A Paradox among Pregnant Women

To assess the knowledge and attitude of pregnant women about infant oral healthcare. A cross-sectional questionnaire study. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 350 primigravida women aged between 20 and 40 years visiting the DY Patil Medical Hospital for their antenatal examination. A multiple-choice questionnaire with 12 questions in addition to demographic information and socioeconomic status was designed in three languages. Based on the level of education of the pregnant women, there was a statistically significant difference in knowledge and attitude toward infant oral healthcare (p = 0.001). The occupational status resounded significant differences between employed vs housewives and unemployed women (p = 0.000). Socioeconomic status also showed significant differences between the upper strata and lower strata groups (p = 0.000). Data normality was tested using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and Shapiro-Wilk test. Since the data were not normally distributed, we used nonparametric tests for analysis. The total scores for different domains were compared between the different subgroups based on age, occupation, education, trimester, and socioeconomic status using nonparametric one-way ANOVA (Kruskal-Wallis test). Post-hoc pairwise comparisons were done using Bonferroni's method. All testing was done using two-sided tests with alpha = 0.05 (95% confidence level). This study gives us an insight into the inadequacies existing in our society amongst expectant women in relation to oral health-promoting factors for infants. Educating pregnant women about maintaining their own oral health and care for their offspring will potentially help to curb early childhood dental diseases in future generations.

Online Health Education Program to Prevent Tobacco Use for Student Teachers during COVID-19 Pandemic in Thailand: Design, Challenges, and Outcomes

This study developed an online health education program by applying the Health Belief Model with social support to prevent tobacco use by student teachers and evaluated the effectiveness of the program during the COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand. This involved mixed method research divided into 2 phases, with phase 1 combining an online focus group discussion (n=8) and a literature review to develop an online health education program to prevent tobacco use, while phase 2 involved evaluating the effectiveness of the program. Phase 2 used a randomized pretest-posttest control group design consisting of an intervention group (n=30) and a control group (n=30) selected by simple random sampling for both groups from student teachers in academic years 1&amp;ndash;5 in the Faculty of Education, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand. The result from phase 1 for the proposed program for the intervention group involved 8 weeks of online activities, including exercise, meditation, music, games and lectures by experts in public health, health education, and experiences shared by ex-smokers. Leaflets were provided to all participants in both the intervention and control groups. The results from phase 2 showed significant differences in knowledge (p &amp;lt; 0.000; p &amp;lt; 0.007), attitude (p &amp;lt; 0.000; p &amp;lt; 0.034) and risk behavior to tobacco use (p &amp;lt; 0.004; p &amp;lt; 0.025) for both the intervention and control groups at 8 weeks post-intervention compared to pre-intervention, respectively. The program could support, guidance, and contributions of the many individuals and organizations that have been involved in the online process.

Speech-language therapist and teacher knowledge of early literacy skills

Purpose: The purposes of this study were: (a) to compare speech-language therapists’ (SLTs’) and general education teachers’ perceived skill for providing early reading and writing instruction and (b) to compare SLTs’ and teachers’ knowledge of early reading and writing skills. Method: SLTs (n = 28) and general education teachers (n = 25) participated in this study. Participants completed a self-assessment of their own skill level for providing early reading and writing instruction and an objective measure of their knowledge of early reading and writing skills. Results: There was a significant difference between groups in self-assessment of current skill for delivering early reading and writing instruction; SLTs rated their own current skill as lower than teachers rated their own current skill. There was not a significant difference in knowledge of early reading and writing skills between SLTs and teachers. Conclusions: SLTs and teachers can benefit from continued professional development related to providing evidence-based reading and writing instruction. Because of their different perceptions of their own skills, professional development may need to be approached differently for SLTs and teachers. Future research will examine specific areas of knowledge strength and weakness for SLTs and teachers.