Usage and health perception of cannabidiol-containing products among the population in Germany: a descriptive study conducted in 2020 and 2021.

BACKGROUND: Cannabidiol (CBD), a non-intoxicating substance of Cannabis sativa L., is gaining consumer attention. Yet, legal regulations in the EU are complex and questions of potential health risks remain partly unanswered. In Germany, little is known about people who use CBD products. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to gain insight into the user group of CBD, reasons for consumption and risk perception towards CBD-containing products. METHODS: The study consisted of two parts: In the first part of the study, the prevalence of CBD awareness and usage in Germany was estimated using a telephone survey and a population-representative sample of n = 1,011 respondents. Based on these results, n = 2,000 participants being aware of CBD were surveyed with an online questionnaire in the second part of the study to examine usage and perception of CBD in users and non-users. RESULTS: When the study was conducted at the end of 2020 and beginning of 2021, 40.2% of the German participants had already heard of products containing CBD, and 11.4% had actually used them. 42.1% of the users consumed such products regularly, at least once a week, primarily orally via oils or tinctures, and purchased them mainly online. Besides curiosity - addressed especially in young adults - anticipated health benefits including pain and stress relief were main reasons for use. More than half of the study participants perceived the health benefits of CBD use as high or very high. In contrast, the health risks were rated as low or very low by most respondents. Assumptions about official testing for safety as well as physical effects of CBD-containing products varied between users and non-users. CONCLUSION: About one in nine people in Germany uses CBD-containing products. Given reasons for consumption and perception of potential health risks and benefits suggest that people are insufficiently informed about CBD-containing products. The results of the study indicate that risk communication is needed to raise awareness for the topic and to inform (potential) users.

Mobile Apps Aimed at Preventing and Handling Unintentional Injuries in Children Aged <7 Years: Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Despite various global health crises, the prevention and handling of unintentional childhood injuries remains an important public health objective. Although several systematic reviews have examined the effectiveness of different child injury prevention measures, these reviews did not address the evaluation of mobile communication intervention tools. Whether and how mobile apps were evaluated provides information on the extent to which communication theories, models, and evidence-based knowledge were considered. Previous studies have shown that the effectiveness of mobile apps increases when theories and evidence are considered during their development. OBJECTIVE: This systematic review aimed to identify research on mobile apps dealing with the prevention and handling of unintentional injuries in children and examine the theoretical and methodological approaches thereof. In addition, this review analyzed the different needs of various target groups of the mobile apps described in the articles. METHODS: In total, 8 electronic databases, ranging from interdisciplinary to medical and technical as well as social sciences databases, were searched for original research articles or brief reports in peer-reviewed journals or conference proceedings. Moreover, this review encompassed a systematic scan of articles published in the BMJ journal Injury Prevention. These steps were followed by a snowball search based on the literature references in the articles identified through the initial screening. The articles had to be written in English or German, published between 2008 and 2021, and evaluate mobile apps dealing with the prevention and handling of unintentional child injuries. The identified 5 studies were analyzed by 5 independent researchers using an inductive approach. Furthermore, the quality of the studies was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. RESULTS: A total of 5 articles were included and assessed with regard to overall quality of theoretical and methodological foundations, assessed variables, the focal app's architecture, and the needs of the study participants. The overall study quality was moderate, although part of this classification was due to a lack of details reported in the studies. Each study examined 1 mobile app aimed at parents and other caregivers. Each study assessed at least 1 usability- or user experience-related variable, whereas the needs of the included study participants were detailed in only 20% (1/5) of the cases. However, none of the studies referred to theories such as the Technology Acceptance Model during the development of the apps. CONCLUSIONS: The future development and evaluation of apps dealing with the prevention and handling of child injuries should combine insights into existing models on user experience and usability with established theories on mobile information behavior. This theory-based approach will increase the validity of such evaluation studies.

Digital dashboards visualizing public health data: a systematic review.

Introduction: Public health is not only threatened by diseases, pandemics, or epidemics. It is also challenged by deficits in the communication of health information. The current COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates that impressively. One way to deliver scientific data such as epidemiological findings and forecasts on disease spread are dashboards. Considering the current relevance of dashboards for public risk and crisis communication, this systematic review examines the state of research on dashboards in the context of public health risks and diseases. Method: Nine electronic databases where searched for peer-reviewed journal articles and conference proceedings. Included articles (n = 65) were screened and assessed by three independent reviewers. Through a methodological informed differentiation between descriptive studies and user studies, the review also assessed the quality of included user studies (n = 18) by use of the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT). Results: 65 articles were assessed in regards to the public health issues addressed by the respective dashboards, as well as the data sources, functions and information visualizations employed by the different dashboards. Furthermore, the literature review sheds light on public health challenges and objectives and analyzes the extent to which user needs play a role in the development and evaluation of a dashboard. Overall, the literature review shows that studies that do not only describe the construction of a specific dashboard, but also evaluate its content in terms of different risk communication models or constructs (e.g., risk perception or health literacy) are comparatively rare. Furthermore, while some of the studies evaluate usability and corresponding metrics from the perspective of potential users, many of the studies are limited to a purely functionalistic evaluation of the dashboard by the respective development teams. Conclusion: The results suggest that applied research on public health intervention tools like dashboards would gain in complexity through a theory-based integration of user-specific risk information needs. Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=200178, identifier: CRD42020200178.

Personal Protective Measures during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Germany.

OBJECTIVES: The coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is highly contagious and can only be contained if the majority of the population takes measures to protect themselves against infection. The present study aimed to investigate personal protective measures, their development over the course of the pandemic in Germany, and potential differences in behavior in terms of sex, age, and education. METHODS: Data from 20 waves of the serial cross-sectional study "BfR-Corona-Monitor" were analyzed. The total sample consisted of N = 20,317 respondents (about 1000 per wave). Data were collected through telephone surveys between June 2020 and March 2021. RESULTS: To protect themselves from infection, participants primarily relied on wearing covers for mouth and nose, keeping their distance from other individuals, and washing their hands thoroughly. Analyses over time showed a strong positive correlation between the number of measures taken and the national incidence rate. Sociodemographic differences also emerged, with women and those who are higher educated as well as younger respondents taking a higher number of protective measures. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicated that in times of greater infection risks, individuals adapted accordingly and took more protective measures. However, on the basis of sociodemographic differences, campaigns should especially focus on older individuals, the male sex, and those with lower education to enhance their protective behavior.

Determinants of Physical Activity in Older Adults: Integrating Self-Concordance into the Theory of Planned Behavior.

Based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), augmented by the concept of self-concordance (derived from self-determination theory, SDT), we conducted a study to identify the key determinants of physical activity in older adults. We applied structural equation modeling of telephone survey data from a random sample of adults aged 65 years and older living in Germany (N = 865). Relations of attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control (PBC) with intention strength and self-concordance of intention to be physically active were tested. Habit strength was analyzed as a moderator. Data analysis showed this model to be well-suited for explaining the intention to be physically active-especially for people with a weak habit. The influence of TPB components on intention would have been underestimated if we had investigated intention strength only, without considering the self-concordance of intention. While attitude and PBC had positive relations with a strong and self-determined intention, the subjective norm showed no relation with intention strength but, rather, with non-self-determined regulation forms. We conclude that the combined model provides a better theoretical foundation from which to explain physical activity intentions than does just one of the theories.