Factors influencing doctors' knowledge and prescribing habit concerning antimicrobial drugs: issues emerging from a pilot study - abstract

Although many antimicrobial drugs are available in Jamaica, hitherto no surveys have been done to assess doctors' knowledge and usage of these drugs. The authors report on a pilot study of this kind carried out at the Spanish Town Hospital. Thirty-three of 39 doctors on staff were available and completed a questionnaire which enquired about knowledge of certain older and newer antimicrobials, sources from which doctors were first introduced to the drugs

Factors in the home environment which influence sexual knowledge and sexual activity among pre-adolescents in Kingston and St. Andrew, Jamaica - implications for prevention of HIV infection - abstract

Children and adolescents are an important target group for primary prevention of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, but information about their sexual knowledge and behaviour is sketchy. We therefore undertook a study of 518 school children, aged 8 to 12 years, in 15 schools, using a multi-stage sampling method. We used a structured questionnaire to enquire about living arrangements, relationships with parents and guardians, knowledge about sex and sexually transmitted diseases, and sexual experiences. We analysed correlations between the variables. There was a higher level of reported sexual activity among children when: (a) a sibling (instead of the other parent or another adult) was the substitute care-giver while the parent(s) travelled away from home (relative risk (RR) = 3.98; p<0.001); (b) the children were not occupied with home-work or household chores after school (RR=2.0, p=0.01); (c) they shared sleeping facilities instead of sleeping in their own bed (RR=1.86, p=0.01); (d) they could visit neighbours or friends without requiring parents' or guardians' permission (RR = 2.40, 2.75, respectively; p=<0.001, 0.0001, respectively). Travelling patterns of parents per se did not influence level of sexual activity of their children (RR = 0.83 (95 percent confidence interval 0.51 - 1.75, p = 0.45). One hundred and fifty-seven children (31 percent) said that they had first learnt about sex through television, while 62 (12 percent) had learnt first from a parent. Four hundred and thirty-nine children (86 percent) had heard about AIDs from some source, although the information was not always clear or accurate in their minds. Two hundred and eight-five children (56 percent) said they would like their parents to teach them about sex, while 220 (43 percent) suggested that parents teach them about Sexually Transmitted Diseases. This study is part of an on-going project aimed at designing an educational intervention programme for parents and children (AU)