Assessing knowledge and self-report intention from COVID-19 symptoms based on the Health Belief Model among international students in Heilongjiang, China: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: A COVID-19 outbreak has been contained in China through effective prevention measures with the collaboration of the citizens. However, there is resistance to self-reported symptoms as required in the international student community. This study explored knowledge level and symptoms reporting behaviours toward COVID-19 among international students. METHODS: An online cross-sectional investigation was conducted among 119 international students across Heilongjiang province and questionnaires implemented through WeChat between 1 and 25 March 2020. The results were explained using descriptive Χ2 test and binary logistic regression analysis using SPSS V.20. RESULTS: In total, 119 international students participated, with a response rate of 90.16%. Of the 119 respondents, 96 (80.7%) knew COVID-19 symptoms, 109 (91.6%) took cognisance of questions on the importance of the maintenance of wearing masks and 113 (95%) on questions regarding hand hygiene in the prevention of disease transmission. However, results show that there were still large gaps in knowledge about questions regarding the virus and the treatment methods (many participants incorrectly believed that the virus could be kill by drinking alcohol or smoking). In addition, more than half of the participants declared compliance with positive health behaviours, however 27.7% did not agree with vaccination (if any), and 31.1% did not agree to be quarantined after being diagnosed with COVID-19. Furthermore, 20 participants (16, 80%) expressed an inclination to deliberately withhold symptoms. Variables in the Health Belief Model showed a significant association with behavioural change. CONCLUSION: From our study, we found that there is evident knowledge about COVID-19 among international students, although orientation and sensitisation are still required. Those who were aware of the benefits of reporting, the severity of COVID-19 and the legal consequences of deliberately concealing information showed a greater willingness to report; conversely, those who believed reporting is very inconvenient and feared being quarantined after reporting showed less willingness to report. A study focusing on international students' knowledge and behaviour amid the pandemic will provide information for countries to cut off the chain of disease transmission of all variants of COVID-19.

What is the impact of restricted access policy on workplace violence in general hospital? A before-after study in a CHINESE tertiary hospital.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the impact of a restricted access policy on workplace violence in a healthcare setting. METHODS: We surveyed healthcare workers before and after the implementation of a restricted-access policy at a tertiary hospital in north-eastern China. Data were collected in April 2017 and January 2019. Fisher's exact test were used to compare the difference in workplace violence prevalence between responses to two surveys. Survey 1 (S1) collected data from 345 healthcare professionals who had worked in the inpatient ward for at least 12 months. Survey 2 (S2) included 338 healthcare workers from the same ward who had been employed for more than two years. The effective response rates for the two studies was 79.31 and 83.25%, respectively. All 18 female security guards were included in the investigation in S2. RESULTS: The prevalence of psychological violence was 62.03% in S1 and 34.62% in S2, the difference in prevalence showing statistical significance (P = 0.000), while the prevalence of physical violence was 3.77 and 4.73% respectively, showing no statistical significance (P = 0.573). The change in the rate of injury caused by physical violence was also statistically significant at 76.92 and 31.25% (P = 0.025), respectively. Security guards were at high risk of workplace violence under the policy. Most healthcare professionals thought this policy ameliorated treatment order, the sense of security, anxiety about workplace violence, and so forth, but one-third of the respondents thought that it caused patient dissatisfaction. CONCLUSION: While the restricted access policy may be effective for healthcare professionals in avoiding or dealing with violence, such policy could contribute to new problems regarding the safety of security guards and the potential dissatisfaction of patients. The policy should be further developed to alleviate this phenomenon.

Workplace violence against healthcare professionals in a multiethnic area: a cross-sectional study in southwest China.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to examine workplace violence (WPV) towards healthcare professionals in a multiethnic area in China, including prevalence, influencing factors, healthcare professionals' response to WPV, expected antiviolence training measures and content, and evaluation of WPV interventions. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. SETTING: A grade III, class A hospital in the capital of Yunnan Province, which is the province with the most diverse ethnic minority groups in China. PARTICIPANTS: In total, 2036 healthcare professionals participated, with a response rate of 83.79%. RESULTS: The prevalence of physical and psychological violence was 5.5% and 43.7%, respectively. Healthcare professionals of ethnic minority were more likely to experience psychological violence (OR=1.54, 95% CI 1.16 to 2.05). Stratified by gender, male healthcare professionals of ethnic minority suffered from more physical violence (OR=3.31, 95% CI 1.12 to 9.79), while female healthcare professionals suffered from psychological violence (OR=1.71, 95% CI 1.24 to 2.36). We also found a unique work situation in China: overtime duty on-call work (18:00-07:00) was a risk factor for psychological violence (OR=1.40, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.93). Healthcare professionals of ethnic minority are less likely to order perpetrators to stop or to report to superiors when faced with psychological violence. They are also more interested in receiving training in force skills and self-defence. Both Han and ethnic minority participants considered security measures as the most useful intervention, while changing the time of shift the most useless one. CONCLUSION: Our study comprehensively described WPV towards healthcare professionals in a multiethnic minority area. More research on WPV conducted in multiethnic areas is needed.

Effectiveness of en masse versus two-step retraction: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: This review aims to compare the effectiveness of en masse and two-step retraction methods during orthodontic space closure regarding anchorage preservation and anterior segment retraction and to assess their effect on the duration of treatment and root resorption. METHODS: An electronic search for potentially eligible randomized controlled trials and prospective controlled trials was performed in five electronic databases up to July 2017. The process of study selection, data extraction, and quality assessment was performed by two reviewers independently. A narrative review is presented in addition to a quantitative synthesis of the pooled results where possible. The Cochrane risk of bias tool and the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale were used for the methodological quality assessment of the included studies. RESULTS: Eight studies were included in the qualitative synthesis in this review. Four studies were included in the quantitative synthesis. En masse/miniscrew combination showed a statistically significant standard mean difference regarding anchorage preservation - 2.55 mm (95% CI - 2.99 to - 2.11) and the amount of upper incisor retraction - 0.38 mm (95% CI - 0.70 to - 0.06) when compared to a two-step/conventional anchorage combination. Qualitative synthesis suggested that en masse retraction requires less time than two-step retraction with no difference in the amount of root resorption. CONCLUSIONS: Both en masse and two-step retraction methods are effective during the space closure phase. The en masse/miniscrew combination is superior to the two-step/conventional anchorage combination with regard to anchorage preservation and amount of retraction. Limited evidence suggests that anchorage reinforcement with a headgear produces similar results with both retraction methods. Limited evidence also suggests that en masse retraction may require less time and that no significant differences exist in the amount of root resorption between the two methods.