COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes, and practices among health care workers in Latin America / Conhecimento, atitudes e práticas em relação à COVID-19 entre profissionais de saúde na América Latina

ABSTRACT Objective: To evaluate COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes, and practices among health care workers (HCWs) practicing in Latin American countries during the first surge of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This was a multinational cross-sectional survey study, using an online self-administered questionnaire. The final version of the questionnaire comprised 40 questions, organized in five sections: demographic and professional characteristics; COVID-19 knowledge; attitudes toward COVID-19; COVID-19 practices; and institutional resources. Results: The study involved 251 HCWs from 19 Latin American countries who agreed to participate. In our sample, 77% of HCWs participated in some sort of institutional training on COVID-19, and 43% had a low COVID-19 knowledge score. COVID-19 knowledge was associated with the type of health center (public/private), availability of institutional training, and sources of information about COVID-19. Concerns about not providing adequate care were reported by 60% of the participants. The most commonly used ventilatory strategies were protective mechanical ventilation, alveolar recruitment maneuvers, and prone positioning, and the use of drugs to treat COVID-19 was mainly based on institutional protocols. Conclusions: In this multinational study in Latin America, almost half of HCWs had a low COVID-19 knowledge score, and the level of knowledge was associated with the type of institution, participation in institutional training, and information sources. HCWs considered that COVID-19 was very relevant, and more than half were concerned about not providing adequate care to patients.

RESUMO Objetivo: Avaliar o conhecimento, atitudes e práticas em relação à COVID-19 entre profissionais de saúde atuantes em países da América Latina durante o primeiro surto da pandemia. Métodos: Estudo multinacional transversal com uso de questionário on-line autoaplicável. A versão final do questionário foi composta por 40 perguntas, organizadas em cinco seções: características demográficas e profissionais; conhecimento sobre COVID-19; atitudes em relação à COVID-19; práticas relacionadas à COVID-19; e recursos institucionais. Resultados: O estudo envolveu 251 profissionais de saúde de 19 países da América Latina que aceitaram participar. Em nossa amostra, 77% dos profissionais de saúde participaram de algum tipo de treinamento institucional sobre COVID-19 e 43% tiveram baixa pontuação de conhecimento sobre COVID-19. O conhecimento sobre COVID-19 apresentou associação com o tipo de instituição de saúde (pública/privada), disponibilidade de treinamento institucional e fontes de informação. Receio de não prestar atendimento adequado foi relatado por 60% dos participantes. As estratégias ventilatórias mais utilizadas foram ventilação mecânica protetora, manobras de recrutamento alveolar e posição prona, e o uso de medicamentos para tratar a COVID-19 foi baseado principalmente em protocolos institucionais. Conclusões: Neste estudo multinacional na América Latina, quase metade da amostra teve baixa pontuação de conhecimento sobre COVID-19 e o nível de conhecimento apresentou associação com o tipo de instituição, participação em treinamento institucional e fontes de informação. Os profissionais de saúde consideravam a COVID-19 muito relevante, e mais da metade tinha receio de não prestar atendimento adequado aos pacientes.

Evaluation of intervention effect of different health education on dietary behavior of high school students / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To understand the effects of different health education on dietary behavior of high school students, and to provide support for appropriate and healthy dietary education.@*Methods@#Five high schools were selected in Gulou District, Nanjing. Two classes were randomly selected from each high school for health education intervention. Questionnaire survey was conducted before and after intervention to compare the changes in dietary behaviors.@*Results@#After intervention, the dietary knowledge score for the control group was (9.79±2.28), and (14.66±2.71) for the intervention group, which was statistically significant (P<0.01). For adolescents in the intervention group, no significant differences were found before and after intervention. However, significant differences in dietary knowledge score were found for the control group before and after intervention (P<0.01). Dietary behavior score in the intervention group before intervention was (3.34±1.78) and increased significantly after intervention (5.05±1.79, P<0.01). There was no statistical significance before and after intervention in the control group (P>0.05). After the intervention, dietary knowledge scores increased significantly in the education group, mobile APP intervention group, the lecturebased study group, and the classroom-based study work group after intervention (t=-10.196, -29.222, -5.721, -14.394, P<0.01). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that mobile APP intervention group (OR=2.91), dietary knowledge score ≥13 (OR=4.43), age≥17 years (OR=3.72), classroombased study group (OR=2.35) were positively associated with dietary behavior among high school students.@*Conclusion@#Oneweek intervention can effectively improve dietary knowledge and dietary behavior among high school students. Social media intervention shows promising effect on dietary behavior among high school students.

Investigation on knowledge,attitude and practice status quo about cardiopulmonary resuscitation in primary caregivers for patients with high risk of sudden cardiac death / 重庆医学

Objective To investigate the knowledge,attitude and practice (KAP) status quo of the primary caregivers on cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in the patients with high risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD).Methods The convenience sampling method was used to extract 139 primary caregivers of the inpatients with high risk of SCD in the cardiology department of our hospital from January to June 2015.The self-designed questionnaire was adopted to perform the KAP status quo investigation on CPR and the influence factors were analyzed.Results The scoring rate of knowledge,attitude and practice about CPR in the primary caregivers were 36.85%,64.26% and 29.24%,respectively;the cultural level,residence place,health status,training experience,first-aid experience and sick time of the patients were the influence factors of KAP on CPR (P<0.05).Conclusion The KAP status quo of CPR among primary caregivers are poor.It is necessary to strengthen CPR training in primary caregivers and improve their KAP level.

Oral cancer knowledge and awareness among dental students

AIM: To assess the knowledge and attitude of undergraduate dental students about oral cancer. METHODS: A cross-sectional, quantitative study was conducted based on a questionnaire containing 15 questions about prevention, clinical aspects, and attitudes towards oral cancer. One hundred-thirty-three undergraduate dental students between the second and fifth years were enrolled. The statistical significance was measured by Pearson's chi-square test. RESULTS: There was a predominance of females (58.65%) and most students were between 20 and 30 years of age (75.19%). The risk factors for oral cancer mainly described by the students were smoking (92.48%) and drinking (84.21%). Squamous cell carcinoma was described as the most common type of oral cancer by 48.12% of the students. As much as 53.38% of the participants considered the tongue as the most affected anatomic region, 57.89% reported ulcers as the most frequent clinical aspect, and 44.36% attributed a firm and painless aspect to the regional metastatic lymph nodes. Most students reported regularly conducting a thorough examination of the oral cavity (81.95%). Two of the 15 variables showed differences between the students, according to the school time: previous head and neck carcinoma (Pearson's chi-square, p = 0.03) and guidance on the discontinuation of harmful habits (Pearson's chi-square, p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Students have a good knowledge of the etiology of oral cancer and are apparently alert in their examinations. The clinical aspects of the oral carcinoma, however, are not so clear. The difference regarding knowledge and attitudes towards oral cancer was minimal when different undergraduate years were considered. It is necessary to implement the clinical suspicion of oral cancer throughout the undergraduate course to enable awareness and early diagnosis.

Status of health skills relating to infectious diseases among residents six districts in Beijing / 中华全科医师杂志

To assess the level of health skills relating to infectious diseases among residents in Beijing and develop more effective strategies for controlling infectious diseases.We conducted a multistage sampling,retrospective cross-sectional survey of residents aged 18 and above from 6 districts by selfadministered and anonymous questionnaires in January 2011.The questionnaires consisted of health skills relating to infectious diseases.A total of 13 042 respondents completed the survey.The proportions of people with the skills for acquiring knowledge about infectious diseases,being able to read medicinal package insert,being able to read brochures with regard to basic knowledge about infectious diseases, being able to read laboratory test report andproper use of thermometer were 57.7％,71.0％,70.2％,47.9％ and 76.8％ respectively.The levels of health skills were different among different populations (P ＜0.01).A low level of health skills was observed among the poorly-educated people and elders.Therefore measures such as health education and skills training about infectious diseases should be taken to improve the health skills.