scholarly journals The use of electronic cigarettes in Thailand: a cross-sectional national survey

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
P Baiya ◽  
T Chankeaw ◽  
D Chinwong ◽  
S Chinwong

Abstract Background An electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) is an electronic nicotine delivering system that may be widely used by smokers in Thailand for some reasons, although e-cigarette is an embargo good in Thailand and their benefits are not clear. Moreover, the behaviors of Thai e-cigarettes users remain insufficient and ambiguous. This study aimed to survey behaviors of using e-cigarettes and rationales among Thai e-cigarette users. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study from December 2019 to February 2020 throughout Thailand. The participants were Thais with at least 18 years old and currently using e-cigarette, and they were invited to voluntary participate in the study using an online questionnaire posting on social media. Results Of 1,050 participants, most of participants were men (89.1%); the average age was 31.2±8.4 years old. They were from all regions of Thailand, but most of them (64.5%), were from the central part of Thailand. Of currently Thai e-cigarette users, 43.2%, 23.1%, and 14.9% were private employees, business owners/ freelancers, and students, respectively. Most of the users were graduated with a bachelor's degree (53.8%), and Senior high school or Vocational certificate (25.0%). E-cigarette users reported the top 3 rationales for using e-cigarette were the belief of less harmful of e-cigarette than a conventional cigarette (81.0%), using as a smoking quitting aid (80.6%), and lacking attaching normal cigarette odor (58.2%). Conclusions This study shows that most of the e-cigarette users were males with an average age of 31 years old. Smokers used e-cigarette because of the belief of less harmful of e-cigarette than a conventional cigarette and being a quitting aid. The public health organizations and health care providers should provide accurate information and raise awareness of users about the harm of e-cigarettes and inconclusive evidence of using e-cigarettes as a quitting aid. Key messages The public health organizations should provide accurate information and raise awareness of users about the harm of e-cigarettes and inconclusive evidence of using e-cigarettes as a quitting aid. Most of Thai e-cigarette users were men, at the average age of 31 years old, from the central part of Thailand, work as private company employees and bachelor’s degree graduated.

2010 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 695-698 ◽  
Author(s):  
KATHERINE TUMLINSON ◽  
DAVID HUBACHER ◽  
JENNIFER WESSON ◽  
CHRISTINE LASWAY

SummaryA job aid is a tool, such as a flowchart or checklist, that makes it easier for staff to carry out tasks by providing quick access to needed information. Many public health organizations are engaged in the production of job aids intended to improve adherence to important medical guidelines and protocols, particularly in resource-constrained countries. However, some evidence suggests that actual use of job aids remains low. One strategy for improving utilization is the introduction of job aids in training workshops. This paper summarizes the results of two separate evaluations conducted in Uganda and the Dominican Republic (DR) which measured the usefulness of a series of four family planning checklists 7–24 months after distribution in training workshops. While more than half of the health care providers used the checklists at least once, utilization rates were sub-optimal. However, the vast majority of those providers who utilized the checklists found them to be very useful in their work.


2021 ◽  
Vol 66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura S. Rozek ◽  
Pauline Jones ◽  
Anil Menon ◽  
Allen Hicken ◽  
Samantha Apsley ◽  
...  

Objectives: An effective vaccine to SARS-CoV-2 cannot be successfully deployed if a significant number of people worldwide are unwilling to accept it. We investigated the relationship between trust in scientists and medical professionals and perceptions of vaccine safety and effectiveness. We also build on past studies by exploring the relationship between confidence in global health organizations and vaccine hesitancy.Methods: We conducted an online survey in seventeen countries/territories across five world regions between May -June 2020. We assessed the relationship between COVID19 vaccine hesitancy, confidence in public health organizations, and trust in key experts and leaders.Results: Our findings strongly suggest that confidence in the World Health Organization combined with trust in domestic scientists and healthcare professionals is a strong driver of vaccine acceptance across multiple countries/territories.Conclusion: We find that hesitancy is widespread, and uptake would be insufficient to achieve herd immunity. There is widespread confidence in how public health organizations have responded to the current pandemic and this is related to vaccine acceptance. Our results also highlight the important role of trust in health care providers and scientists in reducing COVID19 vaccine hesitancy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 111 (S3) ◽  
pp. S224-S231
Author(s):  
Lan N. Đoàn ◽  
Stella K. Chong ◽  
Supriya Misra ◽  
Simona C. Kwon ◽  
Stella S. Yi

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the many broken fragments of US health care and social service systems, reinforcing extant health and socioeconomic inequities faced by structurally marginalized immigrant communities. Throughout the pandemic, even during the most critical period of rising cases in different epicenters, immigrants continued to work in high-risk-exposure environments while simultaneously having less access to health care and economic relief and facing discrimination. We describe systemic factors that have adversely affected low-income immigrants, including limiting their work opportunities to essential jobs, living in substandard housing conditions that do not allow for social distancing or space to safely isolate from others in the household, and policies that discourage access to public resources that are available to them or that make resources completely inaccessible. We demonstrate that the current public health infrastructure has not improved health care access or linkages to necessary services, treatments, or culturally competent health care providers, and we provide suggestions for how the Public Health 3.0 framework could advance this. We recommend the following strategies to improve the Public Health 3.0 public health infrastructure and mitigate widening disparities: (1) address the social determinants of health, (2) broaden engagement with stakeholders across multiple sectors, and (3) develop appropriate tools and technologies. (Am J Public Health. 2021;111(S3):S224–S231. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306433 )


2021 ◽  
pp. e1-e4
Author(s):  
Chelsea L. Ratcliff ◽  
Melinda Krakow ◽  
Alexandra Greenberg-Worisek ◽  
Bradford W. Hesse

Objectives. To examine prevalence and predictors of digital health engagement among the US population. Methods. We analyzed nationally representative cross-sectional data on 7 digital health engagement behaviors, as well as demographic and socioeconomic predictors, from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS 5, cycle 2, collected in 2018; n = 2698–3504). We fitted multivariable logistic regression models using weighted survey responses to generate population estimates. Results. Digitally seeking health information (70.14%) was relatively common, whereas using health apps (39.53%) and using a digital device to track health metrics (35.37%) or health goal progress (38.99%) were less common. Digitally communicating with one’s health care providers (35.58%) was moderate, whereas sharing health data with providers (17.20%) and sharing health information on social media (14.02%) were uncommon. Being female, younger than 65 years, a college graduate, and a smart device owner positively predicted several digital health engagement behaviors (odds ratio range = 0.09–4.21; P value range < .001–.03). Conclusions. Many public health goals depend on a digitally engaged populace. These data highlight potential barriers to 7 key digital engagement behaviors that could be targeted for intervention. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print May 20, 2021: e1–e4. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306282 )


2011 ◽  
Vol 18 (03) ◽  
pp. 518-524
Author(s):  
GHULAM SARWAR ◽  
FARIDA MANZUR ◽  
IMTIAZ HAMID

Objectives: (1) To determine the mode of services being rendered and practices done by the health care providers of the study area. (2) To identify various socio-demographic factors about the health care providers. A health care provider provides preventive, curative, rehabilitative and spiritual health services to the community. Health care is being provided by not only the registered and qualified doctors, but also by non-qualified non-registered and inexperienced persons in Pakistan. Methodology: A total of 57 health care providers from the union council 42 area in district Faisalabad were included. A pre-tested questionnaire to know about the services and practices of the individuals was served upon them to collect the relevant data. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Union council 42 area in district Faisalabad. Period: 2008. Results: Out of 57, 30 (52.63%) were males and 27 (47.37%) were females. Most of them, 18 (31.6%) were above 49 years of age. 51 (89.47%) were practicing in the private; whereas, only 2(3.51%) in the public sector. Most of the individuals, 21 (36.8%) were LHW and only 2(3.5%) were doctors or medical assistants; 3(5.3%) were dispensers, 9(15.8%) were hakeems and 7 (12.3%) homeopaths. Most of them, 40(70.2%) were matriculates and 14(24.6%) graduates. Only 20 (35.1%) were having certificates and 11(19.3%) were diploma holders. Further, only 2(11.76%) out of 57 were registered with PM&DC and Punjab Medical Faculty. 30 (52.6%) individuals were rendering curative and only 5 (8.8%) preventive services. None of the health care providers was rendering laboratory, x-ray or ultrasound services. Most of the individuals, 36 (63.2%) were practicing allopathy and 7(12.3%) homeopathy way of treatment. Further, most of the professionals, 45 (78.95%) were not doing any surgery. As regards sterilization, the most 8(66.7%) were practicing boiling of instruments. Most of them 47 (82.45%) were giving injections to the patients, however, using disposable syringes, and 27(57.4%) were disposing of the syringes by cutting the needles to dump. 20 (42.55%) were referring their patients to DHQ Hospital and 47 (82.46%) were keeping the record. Conclusions: Qualified medical professionals were scarce in the locality. However, allopathic system of medicine was being widely practiced. Only LHWs were providing curative services with proper training to deliver first aid services.


2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 929-948 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jodyn Platt ◽  
Minakshi Raj ◽  
Sharon L.R. Kardia

Purpose Nations such as the USA are investing in technologies such as electronic health records in order to collect, store and transfer information across boundaries of health care, public health and research. Health information brokers such as health care providers, public health departments and university researchers function as “access points” to manage relationships between the public and the health system. The relationship between the public and health information brokers is influenced by trust; and this relationship may predict the trust that the public has in the health system as a whole, which has implications for public trust in the system, and consequently, legitimacy of involved institutions, under circumstances of health information data sharing in the future. This paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach In this study, the authors aimed to examine characteristics of trustors (i.e. the public) that predict trust in health information brokers; and further, to identify the factors that influence trust in brokers that also predict system trust. The authors developed a survey that was administered to US respondents in 2014 using GfK’s nationally representative sample, with a final sample of 1,011 participants and conducted ordinary least squares regression for data analyses. Findings Results suggest that health care providers are the most trusted information brokers of those examined. Beliefs about medical deceptive behavior were negatively associated with trust in each of the information brokers examined; however, psychosocial factors were significantly associated with trust in brokers, suggesting that individual attitudes and beliefs are influential on trust in brokers. Positive views of information sharing and the expectation of benefits of information sharing for health outcomes and health care quality are associated with system trust. Originality/value This study suggests that demonstrating the benefits and value of information sharing could be beneficial for building public trust in the health system; however, trust in brokers of information are variable across the public; that is, knowledge, attitudes and beliefs are associated with the level of trust different individuals have in various health information brokers – suggesting that the need for a personalized approach to building trust.


Author(s):  
Melinda R. Weathers ◽  
Edward Maibach ◽  
Matthew Nisbet

Effective public communication and engagement have played important roles in ameliorating and managing a wide range of public health problems including tobacco and substance use, cardiovascular disease, HIV/AIDS, vaccine preventable diseases, sudden infant death syndrome, and automobile injuries and fatalities. The public health community must harness what has been learned about effective public communication to alert and engage the public and policy makers about the health threats of climate change. This need is driven by three main factors. First, people’s health is already being harmed by climate change, and the magnitude of this harm is almost certain to get much worse if effective actions are not soon taken to limit climate change and to help communities successfully adapt to unavoidable changes in their climate. Therefore, public health organizations and professionals have a responsibility to inform communities about these risks and how they can be averted. Second, historically, climate change public engagement efforts have focused primarily on the environmental dimensions of the threat. These efforts have mobilized an important but still relatively narrow range of the public and policy makers. In contrast, the public health community holds the potential to engage a broader range of people, thereby enhancing climate change understanding and decision-making capacity among members of the public, the business community, and government officials. Third, many of the actions that slow or prevent climate change, and that protect human health from the harms associated with climate change, also benefit health and well-being in ways unrelated to climate change. These “cobenefits” to societal action on climate change include reduced air and water pollution, increased physical activity and decreased obesity, reduced motor-vehicle–related injuries and death, increased social capital in and connections across communities, and reduced levels of depression. Therefore, from a public health perspective, actions taken to address climate change are a “win-win” in that in addition to responsibly addressing climate change, they can help improve public health and well-being in other ways as well. Over the past half decade, U.S.-based researchers have been investigating the factors that shape public views about the health risks associated with climate change, the communication strategies that motivate support for actions to reduce these risks, and the practical implications for public health organizations and professionals who seek to effectively engage individuals and their communities. This research serves as a model for similar work that can be conducted across country settings and international publics. Until only recently, the voices of public health experts have been largely absent from the public dialogue on climate change, a dialogue that is often erroneously framed as an “economy versus the environment” debate. Introducing the public health voice into the public dialogue can help communities see the issue in a new light, motivating and promoting more thoughtful decision making.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 112
Author(s):  
Eshagh Ildarabadi ◽  
Hamed Mortazavi ◽  
Ali Talebi ◽  
Toktam Kianian ◽  
Saman Saber

<p><strong>INTRODUCTION: </strong>Health care providers (Behvarzan) are the primary health care givers and their educational skills are an important factor to offer safe health care and promote the public health. So that this study was conducted to evaluate the educational skills among health care providers in educating the referrals to health homes.</p><p><strong>METHODS: </strong>This cross-sectional was conducted in health homes of Esfarayen health care network in 2015. By the method of enumeration 81 health care providers were included to the study. Data was collected by the questionnaire of evaluating the educational skills of Behvarz(s) designed by the researcher. Data were analyzed through descriptive statistics and analytical tests such as Pearson's correlation, independent T-test and ANOVA by the SPSS v.20.</p><p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>The results of this study had shown that 45.7% of subjects had good educational skills. Also the statistical calculation showed a significant difference between some variables such as internet usage (p=0.008) and internet usage in workplace (p=0.001) with Behvarz(s) educational skills.</p><p><strong>CONCLUSION: </strong>The educational skills of Behvarz(s) working in health homes was satisfactory. A significant relation was found between educational skills and some other factors. So then planning for upgrading the educational skills of Behvarz(s) and conducting much more studies to find effective factors on educational skills is recommended.</p>


2002 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 267-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucie Richard ◽  
Lise Gauvin ◽  
Louise Potvin ◽  
Jean-Louis Denis ◽  
Natalie Kishchuk

Purpose. To identify the organizational and professional correlates of the integration of the ecological approach in Canadian public health organizations' tobacco control programs for youth. Design. Cross-sectional survey. Setting. Canadian public health organizations. Subjects. One hundred and ten tobacco control programs implemented in 90 organizations. The response rate for the organizations was 87%. Measures. Descriptions of programs were obtained by telephone interviews. An analytical procedure was applied to the program data to identify intervention settings, targets and strategies for each program. Using this information, a summary score of the integration of the ecological approach was estimated for each program. Organizational and professional variables were assessed by self-administered questionnaires to managers and professionals involved in these programs. Results. The level of integration of the ecological approach in programs was related to organizational (frequency of contacts and collaborations with external partners, team composition) and extraorganizational factors (size of the city in which the public health unit is located). Cognitive attributes of the practitioners (knowledge and beliefs) also emerged as significant predictors. Finally, positive associations were observed between practitioners' personal characteristics (educational achievement, working status in health promotion [full vs. part-time], previous experience, gender, and disciplinary/professional background) and cognitive predictors. Conclusions. Organizational environment and staff preparation play a critical role in the adoption of the ecological approach in tobacco control programs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 128-135
Author(s):  
Agnes Pude Lepuen ◽  
Cicilia Nony Ayuningsih Bratajaya ◽  
Sada Rasmada

Tuberculosis (TB) is a difficult health problem to overcome. Active case finding is an important step in managing this infectious disease. However, the prevalence of TB case finding among cadres at the community level is low because of the stigma attached to TB, difficulty in geographical coverage, low public awareness, and social economic barriers. In addition, the empowerment and intention of cadres to perform community-based TB case finding are not optimal yet. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the intention of TB case finding among 162 public health cadres at one district. Convenient sampling technique was employed in this study. Relationship analyses were performed using Chi-Square test. Results suggested that three factors, namely, attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavior control influenced the intention to practice TB case finding among cadres. Public health care providers must encourage cadres to practice active TB case finding and understand the benefits and burdens encountered by cadres during TB case finding. Abstrak Praktik Penemuan Kasus Tuberkulosis: Niat Kader. Tuberkulosis (TB) masih menjadi masalah kesehatan yang sulit diatasi. Penemuan kasus TB secara aktif merupakan langkah awal yang menjadi kunci keberhasilan dalam penanganan kasus TB, namun angka penemuan kasus TB masih rendah. Kader belum dapat melakukan pendeteksian dini kasus TB secara optimal. Selain itu sebagai penemu kasus TB di masyarakat, kader memiliki berbagai tantangan dalam upaya menemukan kasus TB, salah satunya adalah niat untuk menemukan kasus TB mengingat banyak stigma yang muncul terkait penyakit TB, keadaan geografi yang sulit dijangkau, rendahnya kesadaran masyarakat, dan kendala biaya. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui intensi atau niat kader dalam menemukan kasus TB. Penelitian ini menggunakan desain cross sectional dengan melibatkan 162 kader kesehatan di sebuah kecamatan. Metode pengambilan sampel menggunakan convenient sampling. Analisa hubungan menggunakan uji statistik Chi Square. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan ketiga faktor yaitu sikap, norma subjektif, dan kendali perilaku yang dirasakan memiliki hubungan dengan intensi dalam menemukan kasus TB. Maka dapat disimpulkan, dukungan tenaga kesehatan sangat penting dalam meningkatkan praktik penemuan kasus TB dan penting untuk memperhatikan manfaat dan tantangan yang ditemui oleh kader dalam menemukan kasus TB. Kata Kunci: kader kesehatan, kontrol kendali yang dirasakan, niat, norma subjektif, sikap, penemuan kasus Tuberkulosis


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