Guidance for clinical neurophysiology examination throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Latin American chapter of the IFCN task force - COVID-19.

On 31st December 2019, China notified the World Health Organization of an outbreak of atypical pneumonia from patients at a local seafood market in Wuhan, Hubei, China, responsible for a new coronavirus called Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that caused COVID-19 disease, which spread rapidly around the world. WHO declared a state of pandemic (11th March, 2020), which has caused more than 1 million infected and more than 110,000 deaths; it was observed that up to 29% of those infected were health care personnel. The main route of transmission of SARS-CoV2 is through respiratory secretions and direct contact with contaminated surfaces and material. The pandemic induced an international saturation of health care services and a rupture in the supply chain of protective equipment for healthcare personnel, which poses a high occupational risk to all. Based on the different healthcare systems, human resources, infrastructure and medical emergencies that will warrant the conduct of clinical neurophysiology studies and the lack of a guide for the management of the situation, it was decided by an expert task force of the Latin American Chapter of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology to carry out these guidelines for the protection of patient and healthcare professionals conducting clinical neurophysiological studies.

A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Cervical Cancer Education Intervention for Latinas Delivered Through Interactive, Multimedia Kiosks.

US Latina women experience disproportionately high cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates. These health disparities are largely preventable with routine pap tests and human papillomavirus (HPV) screening. This study tested the efficacy of a cervical cancer education intervention to improve risk factor knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy, and self-reported behavior related to cervical cancer screening among low-income Latinas who had not been screened in the past 2 years, compared to a usual care control group. Low-income Latinas who had not had a pap test in the prior 2 years were recruited from three Federally Qualified Health Centers and randomly assigned to intervention and control groups, with in-person assessment at baseline and 6-month follow-up. Women in the intervention group received a one-time low-literacy cervical cancer education program through an interactive, multimedia kiosk in either English or Spanish based on their language preference. Compared to the control group, the intervention group demonstrated greater knowledge (p < 0.0001) and more favorable attitudes at follow-up; fewer intervention group women never thought of getting a pap test (46 vs. 54 %, p = 0.050) or agreed that it is fate whether a woman gets cervical cancer or not (24 vs. 31 %, p = 0.043). The groups did not differ significantly on the proportion who had obtained or made an appointment for a pap test at follow-up (51 vs. 48 %, p = 0.35). Both groups reported high levels of self-efficacy regarding pap screening at post-intervention. A one-time interactive, multimedia educational intervention improved cervical cancer knowledge and attitudes among low-income Latinas but had no effect on cervical cancer-screening behavior. Exposure of the control group to the pre-test conducted on the multimedia kiosk may have influenced their screening behavior.

Design and efficacy of a multilingual, multicultural HPV vaccine education intervention.

BACKGROUND: The human papillomavirus (HPV) is the precursor and the single, most important risk factor for cervical cancer. It is also the most commonly sexually transmitted infection in the United States. An estimated 20 million persons are currently infected with the virus, with an estimated 6 million new infections occurring annually and 12,000 new cervical cancer cases and 4,000 cervical cancer deaths annually. The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine is thus an especially important preventive measure for racial/ethnic groups who bear an unequal burden of cervical cancer mortality. PURPOSE: This study aimed to develop a culturally and linguistically appropriate intervention to educate and empower Latino and Korean Americans to make an informed HPV vaccination decision for their minor children. METHODS: A parent-focused HPV vaccine education DVD was developed through focus groups and cognitive interviews with Latino and Korean Americans parents of children ages 11-17. A randomized controlled efficacy trial was subsequently conducted with 708 Latino and Korean Americans parents to assess knowledge gains, decisional conflict, decision self-efficacy and informed decision-making resulting from viewing the intervention DVD. RESULTS: Differences between treatment and control groups for pre-post changes in knowledge, informed decision-making and decisional conflict were statistically significant among the parents exposed to the education intervention DVD. CONCLUSION: The study demonstrated that a culturally and linguistically appropriate intervention DVD designed to educate parents about the risks and benefits of the HPV vaccine promoted informed decision-making regarding HPV vaccination among at-risk populations.

A multimedia breast cancer education intervention for low-income Latinas.

This paper discusses the results from the field test of a multimedia health education intervention, designed to provide breast cancer education for low income Latinas. The purpose of the field test was to ascertain whether the intervention produced significant changes in breast cancer knowledge and attitude, and screening intentions. A total of 1,197 Latina women participated in the field study at six different sites. The majority of the participants were under 65 years of age, foreign-born with less than eight years of education and a weekly household income that fell in the lowest income quintile for 1998 (<$350.00). Participants were randomly assigned to a control or intervention condition. The control group was interviewed about their breast cancer knowledge, attitude and mammography intentions prior to exposure to the intervention, and served as the baseline group. Women in the intervention group exhibited higher knowledge scores than the pretest group (Chi sq., p < .0001). Never-screened women exhibited the largest differences in knowledge scores relative to the baseline sample. The intervention also increased the likelihood of women seeking information about a mammogram.