Psychobehavioural responses to the 2014 Middle East respiratory syndrome-novel corona virus [MERS CoV] among adults in two shopping malls in Jeddah, western Saudi Arabia

Sporadic cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome caused by a novel corona virus [MERS-CoV] were first detected in Saudi Arabia in June 2012. The number of cases was highest during April and May 2014. To assess determinants of psychobehavioural responses among the general population in Jeddah, western Saudi Arabia, a cross-sectional survey was conducted at the end of June 2014. Data included sociodemographic characteristics, level of anxiety, protective measures and social avoidance responses. A total of 358 participants completed the questionnaire; 58.4% were female, and the age range was 18-72 years. None of the participants was diagnosed with MERS-CoV. More than half [57.7%] recorded a moderate anxiety score using a visual analogue scale. Anxiety level was significantly associated with increased perception of susceptibility to infection and social avoidance behaviours related to travel and being in public places

Evaluation of an educational intervention for farming families to protect their children from pesticide exposure

A culturally appropriate educational intervention was developed and directed towards farming families in Menoufia governorate, Egypt, to improve their knowledge and practices in protecting their children from exposure to pesticides. Parents were randomly assigned to either a lecture or videotape training group. Ability to recall information or improve practices among parents was evaluated in 3 sessions: pretraining and 2 weeks and 1 month after training. Knowledge and practice scores after training of younger and more educated participants were significantly higher than older, less educated participants. Knowledge and practice performance of the videotape group was better than the lecture group and in both groups the improvement of knowledge scores after training was significantly higher than that of practice scores