scholarly journals Japanese newspaper advertisements for dietary supplements before and after COVID-19: a content analysis

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. e050898
Author(s):  
Tsuyoshi Okuhara ◽  
Rie Yokota ◽  
Ritsuko Shirabe ◽  
Reina Iye ◽  
Hiroko Okada ◽  
...  

ObjectivesPublic health institutions have alerted consumers about advertising for dietary supplements with false claims of preventing or treating COVID-19. We quantitatively and qualitatively examined newspaper advertisements for dietary supplements before and after the COVID-19 spread.DesignContent analysis.ParticipantsWe analysed advertisements for dietary supplements in two major Japanese newspapers in February–July 2019 and February–July 2020. Our analysis covered 2167 advertisements.ResultsThe number of advertisements for dietary supplements that claimed to be effective in infection prevention (p=0.009) and improving joint (p=0.002) and digestive functions (p=0.002) significantly increased after the spread of COVID-19 compared with before. Dietary supplements that claimed to be effective in preventing infection were advertised in combination with recommendations for gargling and handwashing. Such terms as ‘defence’ and ‘prevent’ were used to promote the preventive effect.ConclusionsFalse and misleading claims in advertising for dietary supplements may result in consumer harm, such as overdosing and failure to take preventive behaviour. While the pandemic continues, there will be an increasing need for disseminating accessible information about the appropriate use of dietary supplements, consumer education and warnings to manufacturers.

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. e0251815
Author(s):  
Solomon Shitu ◽  
Getachew Adugna ◽  
Haimanot Abebe

Background Blood/body fluid splash are hazards to health care professionals in their working area. Around twenty bloodborne pathogens are known to be transmitted through these occupational injuries. This problem alters the health status of health care professionals in different ways, including physically, mentally, and psychologically. Even though health professionals especially midwives who are working in delivery rooms are highly affected, little is known about the exposure. So, this study was aimed to assess the prevalence of exposure to blood/body fluid splash and its predictors among midwives working in public health institutions of Addis Ababa city. Methods Institution based cross-sectional study was conducted among 438 study participants in public health institutions in Addis Ababa. Data was collected from March 1–20, 2020 by a self-administered questionnaire. The data were entered into Epi data version 3.1 and then exported to SPSS version 24 for analysis. All variables with P<0.25 in the bivariate analysis were included in a final model and statistical significance was declared at P< 0.05. Results In this study, a total of 424 respondents respond yielding a response rate of 97%. The prevalence of blood and body fluid splashes (BBFs) was 198 (46.7%). Not training on infection prevention, working in two shifts (> 12 hours), not regularly apply universal precautions, job-related stress, an average monthly salary of 5001–8000 were independent predictors of blood and body fluid splashes. Conclusion The study revealed that nearly half of midwives were exposed to BBFS. This highlights the need for key stakeholders such as policymakers and service providers to design appropriate policies to avert this magnitude and making the environment enabling to comply with standard precautions. We recommend that this study may be done by including rural setting institutions and by including other health professionals that are susceptible to BBFS at work. Formal training on infection prevention and safety practice to apply universal precautions will be needed from the concerned bodies to prevent exposures to blood/body fluid splash.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei-Ling Wu ◽  
◽  
Zealyn Shi-Lin Heng ◽  
Samuel Ken-En Gan ◽  
◽  
...  

Handwashing is a basic infection control practice that needs to be performed correctly to be effective. In the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, its correct practice is emphasized by public health institutions. However, turning a practice into a habit requires acceptance for adoption of the twenty-second proper procedure to which difficulty remains. To promote and convince the average user, we developed the “APD Handwash app” as a home-use demonstration/education tool to the pitfalls and need of proper handwashing practices through the detection of assigned clean or dirty areas on the hand in a quantitative manner to provide a gauge to the effectiveness of washing when used before and after washing.


Author(s):  
Tamar Sharon

AbstractThe datafication and digitalization of health and medicine has engendered a proliferation of new collaborations between public health institutions and data corporations like Google, Apple, Microsoft and Amazon. Critical perspectives on these new partnerships tend to frame them as an instance of market transgressions by tech giants into the sphere of health and medicine, in line with a “hostile worlds” doctrine that upholds that the borders between market and non-market spheres should be carefully policed. This article seeks to outline the limitations of this common framing for critically understanding the phenomenon of the Googlization of health. In particular, the mobilization of a diversity of non-market value statements in the justification work carried out by actors involved in the Googlization of health indicates the co-presence of additional worlds or spheres in this context, which are not captured by the market vs. non-market dichotomy. It then advances an alternative framework, based on a multiple-sphere ontology that draws on Boltanski and Thevenot’s orders of worth and Michael Walzer’s theory of justice, which I call a normative pragmatics of justice. This framework addresses both the normative deficit in Boltanski and Thevenot’s work and provides an important emphasis on the empirical workings of justice. Finally, I discuss why this framework is better equipped to identify and to address the many risks raised by the Googlization of health and possibly other dimensions of the digitalization and datafication of society.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maurizio Nicola D’Alterio ◽  
Stefania Saponara ◽  
Mirian Agus ◽  
Antonio Simone Laganà ◽  
Marco Noventa ◽  
...  

AbstractEndometriosis impairs the quality of life (QoL) of many women, including their social relationships, daily activity, productivity at work, and family planning. The aim of this review was to determine the instruments used to examine QoL in previous clinical studies of endometriosis and to evaluate the effect of medical and surgical interventions for endometriosis on QoL. We conducted a systematic search and review of studies published between January 2010 and December 2020 using MEDLINE. Search terms included “endometriosis” and “quality of life.” We only selected studies that used a standardized questionnaire to evaluate QoL before and after medical or surgical interventions. Only articles in the English language were examined. The initial search identified 720 results. After excluding duplicates and applying inclusion criteria, 37 studies were selected for analysis. We found that the two scales most frequently used to measure QoL were the Short Form-36 health survey questionnaire (SF-36) and the Endometriosis Health Profile-30 (EHP-30). Many medical and surgical treatments demonstrated comparable benefits in pain control and QoL improvement. There is no clear answer as to what is the best treatment for improving QoL because each therapy must be personalized for the patient and depends on the woman’s goals. In conclusion, women must be informed about endometriosis and given easily accessible information to improve treatment adherence and their QoL.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
S Rubinelli

Abstract The paternalistic approach to health professional-patient communication is often no longer successful. The main reasons for this include the fact that trust in medicine and health professionals is no longer taken for granted. In many domains, the concepts of 'expert' and 'science' are in shadow. Moreover, patients can access all sorts of health information, including information that is or seems inconsistent with the advice given by their health professionals. This talk aims to illustrate some basic approaches to communication that can enhance health professional-patient interaction. First, health professionals should consider their communication with patients as a form of persuasion. Persuasion, that does not equal manipulation, is a way to communicate that takes into consideration the knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes of interlocutors. By adopting a person-centered style, health professionals should present their advice by contextualizing it into the emotional and cognitive setting of the patients. Second, communication should consider the lived experience of patients, that is the impact that a health condition or a preventive behavior has on their quality of life and their experience of pleasure. Indeed, managing health conditions is not just applying health advice: it often demands a change in lifestyles that can negatively impact how patients live their lives. Third, health professionals should develop clear strategies to engage with information that patients find from other sources. Health professionals must ask patients if they disagree with them, and to clarify any eventual difference of opinion. The information age has positively favored a democratization of health information. Yet, it imposes that health systems care for their communication. This talk concludes by presenting main evidence from on how to reinforce hospitals, public health institutions, and health services in communication so that patients want to listen.


2021 ◽  
pp. 101504
Author(s):  
Sophia V. Hua ◽  
Brigitte Granger ◽  
Kelly Bauer ◽  
Christina A. Roberto

Author(s):  
Elad Keren ◽  
Abraham Borer ◽  
Lior Nesher ◽  
Tali Shafat ◽  
Rivka Yosipovich ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective: To determine whether a multifaceted approach effectively influenced antibiotic use in an orthopedics department. Design: Retrospective cohort study comparing the readmission rate and antibiotic use before and after an intervention. Setting: A 1,000-bed, tertiary-care, university hospital. Patients: Adult patients admitted to the orthopedics department between January 2015 and December 2018. Methods: During the preintervention period (2015–2016), 1 general orthopedic department was in operation. In the postintervention period (2017–2018), 2 separate departments were created: one designated for elective “clean” surgeries and another that included a “complicated wound” unit. A multifaceted strategy including infection prevention measures and introducing antibiotic stewardship practices was implemented. Admission rates, hand hygiene practice compliance, surgical site infections, and antibiotic treatment before versus after the intervention were analyzed. Results: The number of admissions and hospitalization days in the 2 periods did not change. Seven-day readmissions per annual quarter decreased significantly from the preintervention period (median, 7 days; interquartile range [IQR], 6–9) to the postintervention period (median, 4 days; IQR, 2–7; P = .038). Hand hygiene compliance increased and surgical site infections decreased in the postintervention period. Although total antibiotic use was not reduced, there was a significant change in the breakdown of the different antibiotic classes used before and after the intervention: increased use of narrow-spectrum β-lactams (P < .001) and decreased use of β-lactamase inhibitors (P < .001), third-generation cephalosporins (P = .044), and clindamycin (P < .001). Conclusions: Restructuring the orthopedics department facilitated better infection prevention measures accompanied by antibiotic stewardship implementation, resulting in a decreased use of broad-spectrum antibiotics and a significant reduction in readmission rates.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Junya Kusumoto ◽  
Atsushi Uda ◽  
Takeshi Kimura ◽  
Shungo Furudoi ◽  
Ryosuke Yoshii ◽  
...  

Abstract Background In Japan, oral third-generation cephalosporins with broad-spectrum activity are commonly prescribed in the practices of dentistry and oral surgery. However, there are few reports on the appropriate use of antibiotics in the field of oral surgery. This study aimed to evaluate the appropriateness of antibiotic use before and after an educational intervention in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Kobe University Hospital. Methods The use of oral antibiotics was investigated among inpatients and outpatients before and after an educational intervention conducted by the antimicrobial stewardship team. Additionally, the frequency of surgical site infection after the surgical removal of an impacted third mandibular molar under general anesthesia and the prevalence of adverse effects of the prescribed antibiotics were comparatively evaluated between 2013 and 2018. Results After the educational intervention, a remarkable reduction was noted in the prescription of oral third-generation cephalosporins, but increased use of penicillins was noted among outpatients. There was reduced use of macrolides and quinolones in outpatients. Although a similar trend was seen for inpatients, the use of quinolones increased in this population. Despite the change in the pattern of antibiotic prescription, inpatients who underwent mandibular third molar extraction between 2013 and 2018 did not show a significant increase in the prevalence of surgical site infections (6.2% vs. 1.8%, p = .336) and adverse effects of drugs (2.1% vs. 0%, p = .466). Conclusions This study suggests that the judicious use of oral antibiotics is possible through conscious and habitual practice of appropriate antibiotic use. However, further investigation is required to develop measures for appropriate use of oral antibiotics.


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