Background
Identifying the key determinants of vaccine uptake in the context of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is critical to increasing vaccination rates, especially for Medicare beneficiaries.
...Objective
We examined how the source of COVID-19 information shapes perceptions of COVID-19 severity and the likelihood of COVID-19 vaccine uptake among Medicare beneficiaries.
Design, Setting, and Participants
We included 6478 Medicare beneficiaries from the Fall 2020 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey COVID-19 Supplement.
Main Measures
Our dependent variables were perception of COVID-19 severity and the likelihood of getting a COVID-19 vaccine. Our key independent variable was the beneficiaries’ primary source of information about COVID-19 and included six mutually exclusive categories: traditional news sources, guidance from government officials, social media, other webpages/Internet, friends or family members, or health care providers.
Key Results
Compared to those relying on traditional news sources or guidance from governmental officials, those relying on other sources had lower perceptions of COVID-19 severity and lower likelihood of getting a COVID-19 vaccine. Those relying on social media had the lowest levels in all measures (65.5% for those who agreed that COVID-19 is more contagious than the flu, 62.1% for those who agreed that COVID-19 is more deadly than the flu, 87.8% for those who agreed that all should take COVID-19 precautions, and 43.3% for those who answered that they would get a COVID-19 vaccine). The likelihood of COVID-19 vaccine uptake was also low among those relying on health care providers (55.5%). These findings remained similar even after adjusting for perceptions of COVID-19 severity in the relationship between the source of COVID-19 information and the likelihood of COVID-19 vaccine uptake.
Conclusions
The primary source of information that Medicare beneficiaries used to learn about COVID-19 may play a critical role in shaping perceptions of COVID-19 severity and attitudes toward getting a COVID-19 vaccine.
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to be a pandemic. This posed challenges to many countries, prominent among which is ...communication with the public to gain their cooperation. Israel faces different challenges from other countries in its management of the COVID-19 crisis because it is in the midst of a deep constitutional crisis.
The objective of this paper was to examine the response of the Israeli public to the government's emergency instructions regarding the pandemic in terms of correlations between overall risk perception and crisis management; overall risk perception and economic threat perception; crisis management and compliance with behavioral guidelines; and crisis management and economic threat perception. We also made comparisons between crisis management and spokesperson credibility and between crisis management and the credibility of information sources.
The sample was established using an online survey that enabled rapid and effective distribution of an online questionnaire during the COVID-19 crisis. The self-selection online survey method of nonprobability sampling was used to recruit participants (N=1056) through social network posts asking the general public (aged ≥18 years) to answer the survey.
Participants aged ≥65 years perceived higher personal risk compared to those aged 18-30 years (mean difference 0.33, 95% CI 0.04-0.61) and those aged 46-64 years (mean difference 0.38, 95% CI 0.12-0.64). Significant correlations were found between overall risk perception and attitudes toward crisis management (r=0.19, P<.001), overall risk perception and economic threat perception (r=0.22, P<.001), attitudes toward crisis management and compliance with behavioral guidelines (r=0.15, P<.001), and attitudes toward crisis management and economic threat perception (r=-0.15, P<.001). Participants who perceived that the prime minister was the most credible spokesperson evaluated the crisis management significantly higher than all other groups. The crisis management was evaluated significantly lower by participants who stated that infectious disease specialists were the most credible spokespersons. Participants for whom the Ministry of Health website was the most credible source of information evaluated the crisis management higher than all other groups. Participants for whom scientific articles were the most credible source of information evaluated the crisis management lower than those who perceived that the WHO/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention websites or Ministry of Health/hospital websites and health care workers were the most credible.
The higher the public trust and evaluation of crisis management, the greater the compliance of the public with guidelines. It was also found that crisis management and information cannot be approached in the same way for the overall public. Furthermore, unlike other epidemics, the COVID-19 crisis has widespread economic and social consequences; therefore, it is impossible to focus only on health risks without communicating economic and social risks as well.
Purpose
Seasonal influenza epidemics accounted for significant morbidity and mortality loads worldwide despite the availability of a safe vaccine as an efficient tool against severity of the disease. ...However, the uptake of the latter was sub-optimal. This study aims to identify predictors and barriers related to seasonal influenza vaccine uptake in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Design/methodology/approach
A cross-sectional study enrolled 502 individuals attending primary healthcare centers in Bahrain for ambulatory care between July and August 2022. The data were collected using an interviews-based questionnaire which included questions on demographic data, knowledge and attitudes and practices toward influenza vaccine. The authors identified the barriers as well as the determinants of the vaccine uptake and its recommendation to others.
Findings
The mean age of participants was 35.07 years (SD = 13.9). Most of the respondents were Bahraini (86.5%) and 53.4 % were females. The results revealed that 34.1% have previous information about the influenza vaccine and 36.9% versus 69.9% are willing to receive the vaccine or advice it to others, respectively. Determinants of vaccine uptake were identified.
Originality/value
This study confirmed a sub-optimal influenza vaccine acceptance in the general community of Bahrain despite a global access in primary care. Health professionals need to be more proactive in mobilizing the community and particularly females toward influenza vaccination.
In many territories, geo-hydrological disasters represent a problem of considerable importance, given that they can cause substantial property damage, above all, life losses. In Italy, the ...geo-hydrological risk is widespread depending on the geomorphological settings, climate conditions and anthropic pressure. Accurate knowledge regarding the spatial and temporal extensions of past events, as well as the associated damages, allows the elaboration of hazard and risk maps. The resulting data are strongly dependent on the accuracy and efficiency of the sources used for data collection. In the framework of a long-term regional project, we compiled a geospatial database of geo-hydrological hazards and damage that occurred in the Apulian region of southern Italy over the last few decades. We used a validated database structure and improved it for practical and scientific purposes, thereby making it compliant with the needs of the stakeholders (i.e., regional civil protection agency) as it considers the regional geo-hydrological peculiarity and, at the same time, it follows the FLOOD and INSPIRE European directives.
Based on the research and analysis of different information sources, we propose a method for quantitatively evaluating the availability, efficiency, and accuracy of each utilized source (i.e., source of information total quality index—SIQI) in an objective and reproducible manner. The SIQI index of the sources used is analyzed and discussed.
We discuss the collected data on geo-hydrological processes and/or damage between 2008 and 2019, analyze their temporal and geographical distribution, and make comparisons with other national catalogues and daily geo-hydrological warning alerts.
Display omitted
•Research of geo-hydrological damaging events, at regional scale, is performed.•A rigorous relational database structure is used and a web interface is designed for viewing and entering information.•The temporal frequency and geographical persistency of the geo-hydrological events is evaluated.•The results demonstrate an increase in frequency of damaging events in the last years.•A “source of information quality index” (SIQI) is designed to evaluate in an objective and reproducible way the quality of the ty of information source used.
Climate change is a public health threat that is aggravated by the food supply chain. A dietary shift to climate-friendly foods is a feasible strategy to mitigate it. This study aimed to investigate ...the associations between knowledge, attitude, perception towards climate change, and barriers to climate-friendly foods with dietary choices of university students in Klang Valley. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 303 Malaysian university students (71.9% Chinese) aged 18 to 30 years in Klang Valley, by using Google form to assess knowledge, attitude, perception towards climate change, barriers to climate-friendly food, and climate-friendly dietary choices. The average climate-friendly diet score (CFDS) was 0.36±2.21, with a significantly higher CFDS among females than males (p=0.012). The majority of them were having good knowledge (76.6%), a good attitude (66.3%), and a moderate level of perception (62.0%) towards climate change. About two-thirds of them reported social media as the main (63.0%) and preferred (63.7%) sources to receive information about climate change. Through multiple linear regression, barriers to climate-friendly food choices (β=-0.084; p<0.001) significantly contributed to climate-friendly dietary choices (F=4.215; p<0.001), whereby 14.9% of the variances were climate-friendly dietary choices of university students. Findings could be incorporated into dietary education to tackle barriers to climate-friendly foods among university students.
Da Xilogravura na matriz à digital Dias, Karcia Lúcia Oliveira; Maria Juvenal Freire de Oliveira, Bernardina; Baltar Carneiro de Albuquerque, Maria Elizabeth
Encontros Bibli,
09/2022, Letnik:
27
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Objetivo: Apresentar o processo de transição da xilogravura na matriz à digital, ou seja, iniciando pelo suporte físico (tradicional) à representação gráfica intermediada pelas mídias digitais.
...Método: Trata-se de uma pesquisa de caráter bibliográfico assentada em livros e artigos científicos, que serviram como norteador na produção do estudo. Diante disso, foi realizada uma revisão da literatura para contextualizar o tema abordado.
Resultado: Verificaram-se as técnicas utilizadas no processo de xilogravura na matriz ao digital. É uma arte popular que contribui de forma significativa para o patrimônio cultural de um grupo social que determina a identidade cultural de um povo.
Conclusões: A transição da xilogravura tradicional para a digital ocasionou tanto a disseminação quanto a produção destas, uma vez que os modelos digitais denotam a variedade de categorias de produção de gravuras inseridas no espectro das representações técnicas, o que viabiliza a preservação e o acesso dessa arte nos acervos online e proporciona o acesso à informação na sociedade do presente.
The present paper aims to detail the profile of the scientific-didactic illustrated journal “Russian Language Abroad”, established by International Association of the Russian Language and Literature ...Teachers and State Russian Language Institute and set in Lomonosov Moscow State University. A new project carried out by Pushkin State Russian Language Institute in Moscow involves a compilation of special issues of “Russian Language Abroad” under the title “Russian Studies Worldwide”.
Self-medication (SM) has significantly increased worldwide in the past decades, which may have detrimental health consequences including antimicrobial resistance, adverse drug reactions, drug-drug ...interaction, and dependency. Although several studies have evaluated the extent of SM, such studies are still limited in Jordan. The aim of this study was to explore sources of SM information, attitudes toward SM and the practice of SM and its associated factors.
The data of this cross-sectional study was collected between February and July 2022. A validated questionnaire was distributed to patients attending pharmacies from different locations in Jordan. The survey evaluated sources of information and attitudes toward SM, extent of SM practice, and attitudes towards SM, symptoms that the participants treat with SM and those that usually requires medical doctor consolation, followed by questions about the classes of medications mostly used for SM and the reasons for SM.
The study enrolled 695 Jordanian adults. The most reported indications for SM included headache (86.9 %), flu (76.4 %), and fever (69.6 %). The most common causes for SM included previous knowledge about the diseases and its treatments (84.2 %), and full knowledge of the medicine to be purchased (55.2 %). Results of the ordinal regression showed that physician counseling frequency was positively and significantly associated with “not being on chronic medication” (p-value = 0.001), and having a positive SM attitude level (p-value = 0.019), while negatively correlated with being in medical field (p-value < 0.001), having no children (p-value = 0.009), and relaying on non-scientific sources to obtain information for SM (p-value = 0.014). The frequency of SM practice was positively associated with being in medical field (p-value < 0.001, having no insurance (p-value < 0.001), and relaying on nonscientific sources (p-value = 0.017). Lastly, having a positive SM attitude level (p-value < 0.001) and not being on chronic medications (p-value = 0.007) were associated with decreased SM practice.
The study participants demonstrated increased SM practice due to the wrong perceptions toward SM and the reliance on non-scientific source of information about SM practice.
Background: The study aimed to assess stroke knowledge among the general population in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and determine the factors associated with stroke awareness among people.
...Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the UAE between September and November 2021. The general population has self-administered an online bilingual survey (Arabic and English) distributed via social media platforms. The questionnaire covered general knowledge about stroke risk factors, consequences of stroke, and responding to somebody with acute stroke attack.
Results: A total of 545 surveys were completed, with more than half of the participants being female (58.5%), married (55.4%) and employed (59.4%). The majority were less than 50 years old (90.5%) and had a university degree (71.0%). Many of the participants (70.8%) had a good general knowledge of stroke; however, around 20% of the participants were able to recognize all symptoms and risk factors of stroke. The most common sources of stroke-related information were the internet/social media (53.6%). Females were better able to correctly identify at least one stroke symptom and outcome than males (p=0.008). University education has significantly affected participants' ability to identify early stroke symptoms (p=0.001) correctly. In addition, diabetic people were more likely to recognize at least one stroke outcome than non-diabetic people (p=0.039).
Conclusions: The knowledge of stroke was good among highly educated people and females. However, the awareness of all stroke risk factors, symptoms, consequences and risk factors was inadequate among the general population of the UAE. Thus, there is still a gap between recognition of the relevant stroke and taking action among people.
To clarify nutrient supplementation usage and primary source of information among pregnant women in China.
This cross-sectional study used information on nutrient supplementation and primary source ...of information collected via face-to-face interviews. Data on the usage of folic acid, Ca/vitamin D, Fe, vitamins, DHA and other dietary supplements were collected. Primary source of information was categorised as family/relatives, friends/co-workers, the Internet, books/magazines, television/radio, doctors, other people and oneself.
Maternal and Child Health Hospital in Chengdu, China.
One thousand eighty-one Chinese pregnant women aged ≥20 years with singleton pregnancies.
In all three trimesters of pregnancy, usage was highest and most stable for folic acid (81·7 %), followed by vitamins (vitamin A, B-group vitamins, vitamin C and multivitamins; 75·0 %), whereas Ca/vitamin D (51·4 %) and Fe (18·1 %) usage was low, potentially indicating a deficiency risk. All supplementation usage percentages increased with pregnancy duration (P < 0·05). Notably, approximately 10 % of the pregnant women in our study did not use any nutrient supplementation, and this was especially common in early pregnancy. More than 50 % of the women reported getting information on nutrient supplementation from family members, and about 30 % reported getting this information from doctors.
Among pregnant women in China, awareness about nutrient supplementation increases as the pregnancy progresses, but some types of nutrient supplementation (such as Ca/vitamin D and Fe) remain at low levels. It is necessary to pay more attention to the health education of pregnant women in China, and the influence of family members should be emphasised.
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