Exploring the knowledge levels, attitudes and beliefs towards organ donation among patients' relatives in the intensive care units of two major hospitals in Trinidad

Objective: To ascertain the knowledge levels, attitudes and beliefs towards organ donation by relatives of patients in the Intensive Care Unit at two tertiary care hospitals in Trinidad. Design and Methodology: A descriptive study in which researchers'-designed and pretested self-administered questionnaire was used on a sample of 133 randomly selected patients' relatives from two main intensive care hospital units in Trinidad. The respondents were requested to give their consent after necessary ethical approval was received. Data entry was done manually but the analysis was done with the SPSS version 12 programme. Results were presented as frequencies. Results: Demographic characteristics indicated that most were females, of African ethnicity, and Christianity as their main religion. The majority of participants had a high level of knowledge (69.2%) while 57.9% of them had unfavourable attitude towards organ donation. Most (86.5%) had positive belief. It also showed that the respondents' knowledge towards organ donation is significantly related to their age and religion, (P≤, 0.05) while their attitudes are significantly related to their gender and ethnicity (p≤0.05). Their belief was only significantly associated with their marital status. Conclusion: The study has shown that although patients' relatives in Trinidad have general knowledge of organ donation, as well positive belief towards the practice, their attitudes are mostly unfavourable. We believe that their attitude more than their knowledge and beliefs account more for their actions towards organ donation.

Knowledge levels, attitude and beliefs of men towards the Digital Rectal Examinations (DRE): A study in Trinidad

Objective: To determine knowledge levels, attitudes and beliefs of men 40 years and over regarding Digital Rectal Examination (DRE). The investigators considered this crucial following the scourge of prostate cancer in Trinidad and Tobago, and seeming lack of the use of the DRE, a noted method of screening for the condition for early detection. Design and Methodology: A cross-sectional descriptive study was undertaken using all men totaling 216, who were 40 years and over, and who gave their informed consent, attending a central mall in Trinidad in the month of April 2018. Data was collected using researchers'- designed self-administered questionnaire. Data was collected and collated manually but analysed with the aid of the SPSS version 20. Result: Results indicate that the men (a) were knowledgeable (95.8%) about DRE, (b) had positive belief (96.3%) about DRE and its medical significance, and (c) had good attitudes (73.6%) towards DRE. Further, men's knowledge levels and beliefs were not significantly associated with their selected demography, namely age, religion, educational level, marital status and ethnicity (p>0.05. However, their attitudes were associated with their ethnicity only (p<0.03). Conclusion: Results suggest that perhaps the attitudes and beliefs are better predictors of intentions than knowledge. This needs to be explored further given the need to curb the prevalence of prostate cancer among men in Trinidad and Tobago.

Factors that influence health risk behaviours among teenagers

Objective: To identify the factors that influence health risk behaviours among teenagers in Trinidad and Tobago. Design and Methodology: A quantitative, descriptive research study was carried out among teenagers attending four public secondary schools in the St. George East Educational District in Trinidad. A self administered questionnaire which was modified by the researchers was distributed to 148 study participants to determine how the factors: Sociodemographic characteristics, peer-pressure, social environment/community, media and gender influenced their health risk behaviour. Results:The study found that 31% of the participants were influenced by peer-pressure to engage in bullying while 20% drank alcohol, 15% engaged in illicit sex while 10% of the participants were influenced to smoke and 24% revealed that peer pressure had no influence on their behaviour. The study also determined that the media influenced 41% of the participants to engage in bullying. Participants also reported that their social environment/community had an influence on their health risk behaviours; the most prevalent behaviour was drug use (36%) while bullying accounted for 34%, followed by alcohol consumption (17%), then smoking (10%), and illicit sex (3%). Conclusion: While this study only investigated the factors that influence health risk behaviour among a small sample of teenagers in one school district and a generalization cannot be made to include all teenagers there is sufficient evidence to recommend further research and for school health programmes that promote health education and awareness of health risk behaviours to reduce the likelihood of teenagers engaging in health risk behaviours.

Knowledge of Zika and Its Implications: A Study Of Women Attending the Antenatal Clinic at the Sangre Grande Health Center, Trinidad

Background and Aim: The ZIKV is a major public health concern and has the potential to cause a pandemic. Health knowledge is a critical factor in the prevention of the ZIKV. This study aims to ascertain the knowledge levels of the antenatal women attending the antenatal clinic at the Sangre Grande Health Center Trinidad, regarding the ZIKV and its implications as well as to determine the socio-demographic factors that influence their knowledge. Material and Methods: A descriptive study was conducted. 69 pregnant women were randomly selected from registers of attendance at the clinic on days of data collection. The researchers-designed and pre-tested questionnaire was utilized for data collection. Using the SPSS version 20, results were presented as frequencies. Results: Most of the participants (98.6%) were of the reproductive age, 18 to 40 years and mainly of mixed ethnicity. The majority of the population had secondary school education and mostly married or in common law relationships. Knowledge of the ZIKV was mostly adjudged moderate; the majority had low knowledge on the implications of the ZIKV. A weak positive correlation (p≤ 0.05) was noted between the educational levels of the participants and their knowledge of the ZIKV as well as between ages of the participants and their levels of knowledge of the implications of ZIKV (p≤ 0.050). Conclusion: The study showed that the pregnant women had moderate knowledge levels of Zika but not a corresponding knowledge on the implications of the conditions. Healthcare geared at increasing the knowledge level of ZIKV and its implications among the populace is recommended. The development of health education and health promotion programs that target disease prevention and control are principal components necessary for success against the ZIKV and its implications.

Knowledge and Practice of Self-Care Management of Persons with Type II Diabetes At a Health Centre in East Trinidad

Aim: The study was to determine the levels of knowledge and practice of self-care management of patients with type11 diabetes at Manzanilla Clinic in East Trinidad. Methods: A quantitative descriptive study was undertaken, using all attendees to the health center on a 5-week period. A researchers'-structured Likert-like questionnaire was developed and pretested for the study. Although 88 attendees were targeted, only 66 consented and therefore were recruited for the study. Data was analyzed with SPSS programme version 20. It was presented as frequencies in tables. Result: Results show that the clinic attendees are mostly literate, of Hindi and Christian faiths, with moderate to high level of knowledge on glucose monitoring test, medication compliance, and foot care. This knowledge is however not commensurate with the proficiency of self-care among the participants. Discussion: The result was discussed in relation to literature. The implication of the result was also presented particularly on the focus of health education strategies. Conclusion: Although the respondents showed sufficient knowledge (moderate to high levels), this seeming high knowledge does not reflect in the expected expert level proficiency of practice.

Is diabetes patients' knowledge of laboratory tests for monitoring blood glucose levels associated with better glycaemic control?

AIM: To determine if there is any difference in indices of glycaemic control between type-2 diabetes patients who knew the laboratory tests for monitoring blood glucose and their peers who did not know. METHODS: Eighty-nine type-2 diabetes patients were studied after an overnight fast. The patients' bio-data, blood pressure, anthropometric indices and baseline biochemical parameters and glycated haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) were measured. After a breakfast of stewed boiled rice, a 2-hour postprandial blood glucose was measured and a questionnaire administered. RESULTS: The patients' mean ± SD HbA1c level was 8.6 ± 2.4% and none of the patients knew about HbA1c test for monitoring glycaemic control. Interestingly, patients who knew about fasting blood glucose test had significantly lower HbA1c values than their counterparts who did not know (8.1 ± 2.2 vs. 9.1 ± 2.5%, p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Diabetes self-management education incorporating laboratory-based information may assist to prevent poor glycaemic control in developing countries with increasing reports of hyperglycaemic emergencies.

Perceptions of Caribbean type 2 diabetes patients on self-monitoring of blood glucose.

CONTEXT: The views of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) patients have not been considered in the debate on the role of self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) in the management of T2DM. OBJECTIVE: To assess the views of T2DM patients on SMBG. METHODS: Two previously trained research assistants used a structured pre-tested questionnaire to interview 416 T2DM patients practising SMBG in out-patient clinics in the privacy of the patients after they have consented to be interviewed. RESULTS: 79% of patients were unemployed with mean duration of diabetes of 11.8 ± 0.5 year. 94% of patients did not have health insurance policies while 86% did not belong to any diabetes support group. Although 70% of the patients identified SMBG as expensive, 94% believed it assists glycaemic control, while 89% thought it was worth the expense. CONCLUSION: Caribbean T2DM patients believe SMBG was beneficial for the management of their diabetes and empowering them may reduce diabetes complications.

Continuing education experiences of district level health staff in Nigeria.

Primary health care (PHC) implementation has stimulated the need and interest in developing continuing education (CE) programs in Nigeria. A population study of 144 government (69%) and private (31%) health workers in the Ibarapa District of Oyo State in Nigeria documented their CE opportunities. Only 39 percent had attended an in-service training (IST) program in the past five years. Fewer (32%) had received a supervisory visit within the previous month, and most of these visits contained little of educational relevance according to respondents. Slightly over half (54%) reported attending a staff meeting in the previous month, but 72 percent had attended at least one in the past six months. Like supervisory visits, these meetings were not primarily educational in nature. Only 58 percent engaged in self-study through reading in the past six months, but quality reading materials were scarce, forcing health workers to rely on old texts and popular health magazines. Local government staff and workers with formal health training were most likely to have taken advantage of an IST. Trained workers and males were more likely to have engaged in self-study. New PHC management structures have the potential filling CE gaps and redressing imbalances in CE opportunities in this and other rural districts throughout the country.