Assessment of Pharmacy Students' Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices About Covid-19 Pandemic and Vaccines

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the knowledge, attitude, and practice towards the Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and its vaccines among pharmacy students in Turkey. Material(s) and Method(s): A cross-sectional study was conducted among pharmacy students aged 18 years and older. Data collected from April 27 to June 27, 2022, via an online self-reporting questionnaire developed and validated by the investigators. Descriptive statistics were performed to determine potentially associated factors with knowledge, attitudes, and practices scores of the students. Result and Discussion: Among the pharmacy students, the majority was female (72.6%) and mean +/- standard deviation of age was 23.17 +/- 3.27 years. The mean +/- standard deviation of knowledge, attitude and practice scores were 8.25 +/- 1.27, 7.47 +/- 2.95., and 7.20 +/- 2.14, respectively. A statistically significant association was found between students who received higher knowledge scores and being a senior student or a students from governmental universities. In general, students had good knowledge and practices about COVID-19 pandemic and vaccines. However, their attitudes towards COVID-19 pandemic and vaccines was poor. These findinds were found to be similar to those health care students from other countriesCopyright © 2023 Authors. All rights reserved.

National survey of telehealth neuropsychology practices: current attitudes, practices, and relevance of tele-neuropsychology three years after the onset of Covid-19.

Objective: Examination of current tele-neuropsychology (teleNP) practices and attitudes within the clinical neuropsychology community, conducted September - November 2022. Method: Clinical neuropsychologists in U.S. and U.S. territories were invited to participate in an online survey of teleNP practices. The final sample consisted of 326 neuropsychologists. Results: Forty-six percent of the sample indicated they currently practice teleNP. Fourteen percent of the sample not currently practicing teleNP were considering practicing teleNP. The remainder was not practicing teleNP and had no plans to (41%). Most respondents agreed that teleNP where the patient is located in clinic is generally feasible and acceptable (71%); to a lesser extent, teleNP to home was viewed as feasible and acceptable (45% agreed, while 16% rated feasibility and acceptability as neutral). Only 11% agreed that teleNP is a feasible and acceptable part of forensic neuropsychology practice. Most respondents (74%) currently engaged in teleNP either agreed or strongly agreed that teleNP enabled them to provide similar quality of care as face-to-face neuropsychology. Current practice of teleNP was positively correlated with career phase, with greater adoption among early career neuropsychologists. Current teleNP providers anticipated teleNP to permanently comprise 31-40% of their overall practice on average. Conclusions: There is variability in teleNP acceptance by setting and career phase. While hesitancy around teleNP was expressed by some, results show that the adoption of teleNP has increased over time and remains a permanent feature of practice for a substantial number of respondents three years following onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Use of Methotrexate in the Treatment of Moderate to Severe Plaque Psoriasis in France: A Practice Survey.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the modalities of methotrexate prescription for moderate to severe psoriasis by dermatologists in France. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We performed a national online practice survey between October and December 2020. RESULTS: A total of 254 dermatologists responded, 237 reported prescribing methotrexate for moderate to severe psoriasis in adults, of which 57% as a first line systemic treatment. Nineteen percent reported performing a test dose at the initiation of treatment. Methotrexate was prescribed orally in 54.7% of cases, subcutaneously in 44.8% of cases and intramuscularly in 0.4% of cases. The initial weekly dose of methotrexate was <15 mg for 30% of the dermatologists and ≥15 mg for 70% of them. Two hundred and three dermatologists had already change the route of administration for methotrexate from the oral to injectable form due to poor tolerance (48.3%), lack of efficacy (35%) or lack of compliance (16.7%). Two hundred thirty-four dermatologists (98.7%) reported prescribing folic acid with methotrexate, and 79.3% reported prescribing tests evaluating the risk of hepatic fibrosis. Forty-three percent of dermatologists have not initiated or have reduced their prescriptions since the beginning of the pandemic of COVID-19. Prescribing patterns were different according to the type of practice (private practice versus hospital/mixed practice). CONCLUSION: Methotrexate is used by the majority of dermatologists interviewed for moderate to severe psoriasis in adults, with heterogeneity of practices.

Initial changes in neuropsychologists clinical practice during the COVID-19 pandemic: A survey study.

Objective: In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, a majority of clinicians have had to quickly and dramatically alter their clinical practices. Two surveys were administered on 3/26/2020 and 3/30/2020, respectively, to document immediate changes and challenges in clinical practice.Method: Two surveys were administered between 3/26/2020 and 3/30/2020, via SurveyMonkey and Google Forms, asking clinicians questions pertaining to practice issues during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Quantitative responses from the second survey were stratified by clinical setting (Medical Hospital vs. Private Practice) prior to analysis. Qualitative, free-response items were coded by the authors to better understand immediate changes in practice and other concerns.Results: 266 neuropsychologists completed Survey 1 and 230 completed Survey 2. Results suggest that practices immediately moved towards remote service provision. A meaningful proportion of clinicians and their staff were immediately affected economically by the pandemic, with clinicians in private practice differentially affected. Furthermore, a small but significant minority of respondents faced ethical dilemmas related to service provision and expressed concerns with initial communication from their employment organizations. Respondents requested clear best-practice guidelines from neuropsychological practice organizations.Conclusions: It is clear that field of neuropsychology has drastically shifted clinical practices in response to COVID-19 and is likely to continue to evolve. While these responses were collected in the early stages of stay-at-home orders, policy changes continue to occur and it is paramount that practice organizations consider the initial challenges expressed by clinicians when formulating practice recommendations and evaluating the clinical utility of telehealth services.