The aim of the present study was to explore the influence of anxiety and fear of COVID-19 on vaccination hesitancy among Slovenian postsecondary students. A cross-sectional study using a set of ...previously tested instruments and ad hoc questions created by the authors was chosen as the method to gain insight into various health and sociodemographic aspects of Slovenian postsecondary students affected by the COVID-19-induced closures and suspensions of educational activities at tertiary educational institutions (N = 5999). Overall, 39.7% of participating students expressed an intention to get vaccinated at the first possible opportunity, whereas 29.2% expressed no intent to do so. The highest vaccine hesitancy was observed among prospective teachers (50.3%) and the lowest among prospective physicians (5,7%). When examining the role of anxiety and fear of COVID-19 on the Slovenian postsecondary students' intentions to get vaccinated the results of logistic regression showed that only fear of COVID-19 played a mild and significant role.
Students' mental health is recognised as an important public health issue, and the strict measures and many changes resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic may have exacerbated this. The aims of the ...study were thus to explore psychological well-being among university students in Slovenia during the beginning of the second lockdown, and to assess associations among their psychological well-being, demographic characteristics, presence of a chronic health condition, and resilience.
The Slovenian online cross-sectional survey was performed as part of a large-scale international survey led by the COVID-HL Consortium, between the 2nd and 23rd November 2020. The study was carried out on a sample of 3,468 university students (70% female) in Slovenia, aged between 18 to 40 (M=22/SD=3). In addition to sociodemographic data and that on the presence of a chronic health condition, data on subjective social status (SSS), psychological well-being (WHO-5) and resilience (CD-RISC 10) was also gathered.
In our study 52% of university students reported good psychological well-being. Hierarchical binary logistic regression revealed that male, older students, those with higher perceived subjective social status, students without a chronic health condition, and those with higher score on resilience were more likely to have good psychological well-being. Resilience was the strongest predictor of psychological well-being in our study.
Systematic preventive approaches/interventions in the field of mental health should be implemented among students in Slovenia. In this context it is important to develop and deliver programmes for enhancing resilience, which is an important protective factor in times of mental distress.
Communication and information sources can play an important role when addressing drug use. The aim of this study is to assess the association of different levels of trust in information sources ...regarding drug use within different population groups.
Data was gathered using a mixed methods approach, with an online survey and interviews. A structured questionnaire was designed for data collection using the methodology of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, with additional items measuring trust in the information sources.
In total 9,161 inhabitants of Slovenia aged 15-64 years and living in the private households completed the survey as part of this non-experimental quantitative study (response rate: 57%). A total of 20.7% of the participants reported having used cannabis or hashish at least once in their lives, 2.5% cocaine/crack cocaine and 0.4% heroin. Mean age of the first cannabis/hashish use was 19.59 years, cocaine/crack cocaine 22.73 years and heroin 20.63 years. The participants most value and trust the information sources regarding tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs if it comes from healthcare workers or immediate family and other relatives, and put the least trust in the internet and television.
The data show that drug users have less trust in the given information sources compared to the whole sample. The present research serves as evidence for development and implementation of targeted interventions, including communication activities and tools.
Aim
Scepticism and negative attitudes toward vaccination are growing, generating the risk of decreasing vaccination coverage, with potential impact on the individual and community. Our aim was to ...obtain the first reliable national assessment of attitudes regarding the effectiveness, safety, and importance of vaccination among Slovenia’s general population and explore their socio-demographic determinants.
Subject and methods
A cross-sectional survey was performed in a random sample of the general population. We used multivariable logistic regression analysis to identify factors independently associated with positive attitudes toward the effectiveness, safety, and importance of vaccination.
Results
In our survey, 8590 individuals aged 25–74 years participated; the overall response rate was 55%. Approximately two-thirds of participants expressed positive attitudes toward the effectiveness and importance of vaccination (64.9% and 67.6%, respectively). However, almost one-third (31.0%) of them expressed a fear of vaccination because of side effects. Two predictors for positive attitudes toward the effectiveness and importance of vaccination were higher social class and participation in preventive examinations. Factors associated with lower odds for a positive attitude toward the safety of vaccination included female sex, minors in the household, and average assessment of health status.
Conclusion
Our study contributed an important insight into the Slovenian attitude toward vaccination among the general population. It showed that there are some socio-demographic determinants that are related to attitudes regarding the effectiveness, safety, and importance of vaccination. There is a need to address public concerns regarding vaccination in order to increase and maintain optimal coverage rates by implementing comprehensive communication strategies.
Vaccination coverage is dropping in several countries, including Slovenia. More and more people hesitate or even reject vaccinations. As the influence of the internet grows, the question becomes how ...to communicate about vaccination to parents in order to prevent this drop in vaccination coverage among children.
For the first time in Europe, the Situational Theory of Publics (STOP) has been used in the field of vaccination to segment mothers to subpublics, and to prescribe a clearly defined form of communication for each of the segmented groups. In the survey, 1704 mothers participated who gave birth in 2014 and 2015 in Slovenia.
The study showed that mothers react passively to information on vaccination no matter whether they come across it coincidentally or intentionally. Most often, they seek information about vaccination from friends or online. The more concerned they are about the safety of vaccines, the more they search for information about vaccination, and their communication is consequently more active. The mothers that problematize the safety of vaccines more, and are afraid of their adverse events tend to be in favour of alternative options.
Our research demonstrated that the STOP can be applied to the field of vaccination. There is a huge need for intensive professional communication about vaccination on the internet and social media. The improvement of the communicational competences of doctors and healthcare workers is essential to achieve better communication with parents and the media, and needs to be focused on mothers and pregnant women.
The entire world is faced with the COVID-19 pandemic, which is also accompanied by an infodemic. This refers to the rapid spread of (accurate and false) information, mainly through internet usage ...increasing. Digital health literacy (DHL) is therefore important for addressing challenges related to online health information and services, as well as for navigation through the complex information landscape with huge amounts of different (and conflicting) information about COVID-19. The aim of this study is to examine the level of DHL in relation to COVID-19 in Slovenian university students and to determine online information-seeking behaviour in order to plan and prepare effective communication interventions for this sub-population. A cross-sectional survey, administered by an online questionnaire, was conducted to collect data on DHL. A total of 3621 students participated, of whom 70% were female and the average age was 22.65 years (SD = 4.65). Bivariate analyses were performed to assess the association of key characteristics with DHL. Overall, the results show that the level of DHL among students is sufficient. Most difficulties were reported in assessing the reliability of information (n = 1484, 49.3%). Approximately one third of the students (n = 847, 27.9%) reported having problems in finding information of their interest, and somewhat more (n = 900, 29.6%) reported difficulties in making a selection among all the information found. Students with a sufficient level of DHL are more likely to seek information through search engines and websites of official institutions, while students with a limited level of DHL more frequently reported using social media for health information searches. It is necessary to establish interventions for a systematic lift of the DHL and health literacy (HL) of all population groups.
To evaluate the impact of European Antibiotic Awareness Day (EAAD) on antibiotic consumption, improvements in general public awareness and antibiotic resistance in Slovenia.
Outpatient data for the ...period from 2002 to 2016 and hospital antibiotic consumption data for 2004-16 were collected using the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification/DDDs. Outpatient antibiotic consumption data were expressed in DDDs/1000 inhabitants/day (DIDs), number of packages/1000 inhabitant-days and number of prescriptions/1000 inhabitants/year. Hospital consumption data were expressed in DIDs, number of DDDs/100 bed-days and number of DDDs/100 admissions. Segmented regression analysis of interrupted time series was used to estimate the effects of these interventions on antibiotic consumption.
During the 8 year period since establishing EAAD, a 9%-17% decrease in outpatient antibiotic consumption has been observed, depending on the measurement unit, which was a little more than in the 6 years prior to EAAD (7%-12%). The trend change in hospital consumption after EAAD was established remained small, with a highly non-significant P value. Eurobarometer data did not show an increase in knowledge on antibiotic use. Resistance of Streptococcus pneumoniae to penicillin and macrolides decreased during EAAD activities.
EAAD activities were associated with a decreasing trend in community consumption. Owing to many other national activities on the prudent use of antimicrobials in outpatients and inpatients it is difficult to analyse the direct effect of EAAD.
BackgroundWhile several studies have assessed knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of the public, physicians and medical students in a number of EU/EEA countries with respect to antibiotic use and ...antibiotic resistance, there is a paucity of literature for other healthcare workers. This survey aimed to fill this gap.MethodsA 43-item online questionnaire was developed, validated and pilot-tested through a modified Delphi consensus process involving 87 Project Advisory Group (PAG) members, including national representatives and members of European health professional groups. The survey was distributed by the PAG and via social media to healthcare workers in 30 EU/EEA countries.ResultsRespondents (n = 18,365) from 30 EU/EEA countries participated. Knowledge of antibiotics and antibiotic use was higher (97%) than knowledge of development and spread of antibiotic resistance (75%). Sixty percent of respondents stated they had received information on avoiding unnecessary prescribing, administering or dispensing of antibiotics. Among respondents who prescribed, administered or dispensed antibiotics, 55% had provided advice on prudent antibiotic use or management of infections to patients, but only 17% had given resources (leaflets or pamphlets). For community and hospital prescribers, fear of patient deterioration or complications was the most frequent reason (43%) for prescribing antibiotics that were considered unnecessary. Community prescribers were almost twice as likely as hospital prescribers to prescribe antibiotics due to time constraints or to maintain patient relationships.ConclusionIt is important to move from raising awareness about prudent antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance among healthcare workers to designing antimicrobial stewardship interventions aimed at changing relevant behaviours.
Abstract
Background
Building the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance network in Veterinary medicine (EARS-Vet) was proposed to strengthen the European One Health antimicrobial resistance ...(AMR) surveillance approach.
Objectives
To define the combinations of animal species/production types/age categories/bacterial species/specimens/antimicrobials to be monitored in EARS-Vet.
Methods
The EARS-Vet scope was defined by consensus between 26 European experts. Decisions were guided by a survey of the combinations that are relevant and feasible to monitor in diseased animals in 13 European countries (bottom-up approach). Experts also considered the One Health approach and the need for EARS-Vet to complement existing European AMR monitoring systems coordinated by the ECDC and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
Results
EARS-Vet plans to monitor AMR in six animal species cattle, swine, chickens (broilers and laying hens), turkeys, cats and dogs, for 11 bacterial species (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Mannheimia haemolytica, Pasteurella multocida, Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus pseudintermedius, Staphylococcus hyicus, Streptococcus uberis, Streptococcus dysgalactiae and Streptococcus suis). Relevant antimicrobials for their treatment were selected (e.g. tetracyclines) and complemented with antimicrobials of more specific public health interest (e.g. carbapenems). Molecular data detecting the presence of ESBLs, AmpC cephalosporinases and methicillin resistance shall be collected too.
Conclusions
A preliminary EARS-Vet scope was defined, with the potential to fill important AMR monitoring gaps in the animal sector in Europe. It should be reviewed and expanded as the epidemiology of AMR changes, more countries participate and national monitoring capacities improve.
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