Awareness of Breastfeeding Laws and Provisions of Students and Employees of Institutions of Higher Learning in Georgia

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 323-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Kojo Anderson ◽  
Evan Johnson ◽  
Nicole Motoyasu ◽  
Whitney E. Bignell

Background: Over the past 2 decades, southern states in the United States have recorded the lowest breastfeeding rates. It is not known whether awareness of breastfeeding laws and provision of resources play any role in their breastfeeding practices. Research aims: The aims were (a) to describe awareness of breastfeeding laws and provisions by students and employees of institutions of higher learning in the state of Georgia, (b) to describe awareness by race and ethnicity, and (c) to determine factors associated with awareness of breastfeeding laws and provisions among students and employees within Georgia institutions of higher learning. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey of students ( n = 1,923) and employees ( n = 1,311) associated with five institutions within the University System of Georgia ( N = 3,271) was completed. Convenience sampling was used. Data were collected through Qualtrics. Chi-square test was used to examine differences between groups, while logistic regression was used to examine associations. Results: Participants included 33.3% undergraduate, 26.2% graduate students, 24.6% staff, 14.2% faculty, and 1.7% administrators. Over two thirds were female and white. Almost one third reported having a child or children. Awareness of breastfeeding laws and provisions was very low among respondents, with 26.6 and 9.6% aware of federal and state provisions, respectively. While less than 10% were familiar with the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative program, 52.6% reported their institution provides a supportive environment for breastfeeding. Being a student and being a minority were negatively associated with awareness of laws and provisions that support breastfeeding. Conclusion: The need for focused efforts on increasing awareness of legislative and institutional provisions and support for breastfeeding exists.

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 846-856
Author(s):  
Sujay Madduri ◽  
Raju Chowdhary ◽  
S. Sethu Reddy

Objective: Telehealth is a timely solution for delivering health care during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The practice of endocrinology is suited to provide virtual care to patients with a variety of endocrine disorders. In this survey, we aimed to gauge the adoption of telehealth practices during the COVID-19 pandemic among endocrinologists in the United States (U.S.). Methods: This was a cross-sectional, online survey-based study. Members of the Facebook group “Endocrinologists” were invited to participate in the survey. Characteristics of respondents and their rates of adoption of telehealth were described and analyzed for statistically significant associations using the Pearson chi-square test. Results: A total of 181 physicians responded to the survey. The majority of respondents were females (75%), younger than or equal to 40 years of age (51%), employed (72%) either by a private group/hospital or by an academic setting, worked in an urban area (88.4%), and were adult endocrinologists (93%). With the COVID-19 outbreak, more than two-fifths (44.2%) of participants switched to completely virtual visits, and an additional 44.2% switched to a majority of virtual visits, with some in-person visits in the outpatient setting. Additionally, there was a significantly higher adoption rate of telehealth among endocrinologists younger than or equal to 40 years of age ( P = .02) and among those who practiced in northeastern, midwestern, and the western geographic regions of the U.S. ( P = .04). Conclusion: The majority of the responding endocrinologists from the U.S. appeared to have swiftly adapted by using telehealth within a few weeks of COVID-19 being declared a national emergency. Abbreviations: CMS = Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; COVID-19 = coronavirus disease 2019; PPE = personal protective equipment; U.S. = United States


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeb Jones ◽  
Patrick S Sullivan ◽  
Travis H Sanchez ◽  
Jodie L Guest ◽  
Eric W Hall ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Existing health disparities based on race and ethnicity in the United States are contributing to disparities in morbidity and mortality during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. We conducted an online survey of American adults to assess similarities and differences by race and ethnicity with respect to COVID-19 symptoms, estimates of the extent of the pandemic, knowledge of control measures, and stigma. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to describe similarities and differences in COVID-19 symptoms, knowledge, and beliefs by race and ethnicity among adults in the United States. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional survey from March 27, 2020 through April 1, 2020. Participants were recruited on social media platforms and completed the survey on a secure web-based survey platform. We used chi-square tests to compare characteristics related to COVID-19 by race and ethnicity. Statistical tests were corrected using the Holm Bonferroni correction to account for multiple comparisons. RESULTS A total of 1435 participants completed the survey; 52 (3.6%) were Asian, 158 (11.0%) were non-Hispanic Black, 548 (38.2%) were Hispanic, 587 (40.9%) were non-Hispanic White, and 90 (6.3%) identified as other or multiple races. Only one symptom (sore throat) was found to be different based on race and ethnicity (<i>P</i>=.003); this symptom was less frequently reported by Asian (3/52, 5.8%), non-Hispanic Black (9/158, 5.7%), and other/multiple race (8/90, 8.9%) participants compared to those who were Hispanic (99/548, 18.1%) or non-Hispanic White (95/587, 16.2%). Non-Hispanic White and Asian participants were more likely to estimate that the number of current cases was at least 100,000 (<i>P</i>=.004) and were more likely to answer all 14 COVID-19 knowledge scale questions correctly (Asian participants, 13/52, 25.0%; non-Hispanic White participants, 180/587, 30.7%) compared to Hispanic (108/548, 19.7%) and non-Hispanic Black (25/158, 15.8%) participants. CONCLUSIONS We observed differences with respect to knowledge of appropriate methods to prevent infection by the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Deficits in knowledge of proper control methods may further exacerbate existing race/ethnicity disparities. Additional research is needed to identify trusted sources of information in Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black communities and create effective messaging to disseminate correct COVID-19 prevention and treatment information.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 232596712110556
Author(s):  
Tobias Wörner ◽  
Ryan J. Frayne ◽  
Thomas Magnusson ◽  
Frida Eek

Background: Many ice hockey goaltending techniques force hip joints and groin muscles into extreme ranges of motion, which may increase the risk of hip and groin problems. Purpose: To explore how elite goaltenders and goaltending coaches perceive the demands of common goaltending techniques on the hip and groin region. We further explored differences in perception between goaltenders and their coaches as well as between junior (age <20 years) and senior (age ≥20 years) goaltenders. Study Design: Cross-sectional survey. Methods: We developed a model to categorize common ice hockey goaltending techniques into quantifiable units and invited elite goaltenders and coaches in Sweden to complete an online survey. Participants were asked to rate the perceived demands of each technique on the hip and groin using a Likert scale (not at all, slightly, somewhat, very, or extremely demanding). Using the chi-square test, the proportion of participants perceiving each technique as very or extremely demanding were compared between goaltenders and coaches as well as between senior and junior goaltenders. Results: We received responses from 132 goaltenders and 43 coaches. The stances most frequently perceived as very or extremely demanding were the reverse vertical horizontal post-play (40%) and the butterfly save (25%). Among transitions, movements into the post were most frequently rated as very or extremely demanding (11%–40%). Several techniques were perceived as demanding by a larger share of coaches than goaltenders (difference, 13%–46%; P < .001–.028) and a larger share of senior versus junior goaltenders (difference, 12%–20%; P = .13–.18). Conclusion: The post-play and the butterfly were the goaltending techniques most frequently perceived as demanding, and more coaches than goaltenders percieved these techniques demanding. The results of this study may inform injury prevention efforts for ice hockey goaltending.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. e0249727
Author(s):  
Masita Mandasari ◽  
Febrina Rahmayanti ◽  
Hajer Derbi ◽  
Yuniardini S. Wimardhani

Special Care Dentistry (SCD) or Special Needs Dentistry is a branch of dentistry concerned with the oral health of people with a variety of medical conditions or limitations that require more than routine delivery of care. There were reports on oral status of special care patients and special interest group for SCD dentists in Indonesia has existed. However, there was not perception report on SCD amongst dentists in Jakarta. This paper will describe the perception of dentists in Jakarta towards SCD. A cross-sectional questionnaire, translated and cross adapted to Indonesian, was distributed online through Whatsapp to dentists registered in Jakarta late 2019. Quantitative data was analyzed using statistical software for proportion and correlation using Chi-Square test. The questionnaire explored dentists’ perception towards SCD. A total of 250 dentists participated in this study, of them 173 general practitioners and 77 specialist dentists. Most respondents reported that they did not have SCD component during undergraduate dental school and did not provide treatment to patients with special needs in their clinical practice. Most respondents have poor perception of SCD, however, most of the respondents showed motivation and interest towards SCD training. Dentists in Jakarta involved in this study had poor perception of SCD. More efforts should be performed to improve SCD education and awareness.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanjeev Kumar ◽  
Susmita Saxena ◽  
Mansi Atri ◽  
Sunil Kumar Chamola

India started its vaccination program at the beginning of 2021, the main beneficiaries being health workers and frontline workers including police, paramilitary forces, sanitation workers, and disaster management volunteers in the first phase. By the time, the second wave of Covid-19 impacted India, approximately 14 million healthcare and frontline workers, including dentists had been vaccinated. Aim: To study the effectiveness of vaccination on a subset of high-risk healthcare workers i.e. dentists in preventing Covid-19 during the second wave of the pandemic. Study design: A questionnaire based pan-India online survey was carried out to record the Covid-related experiences of dentists prior to and after vaccination. Result: During the second wave, 9.18% (n=364) respondents became positive in spite of the vaccine, while 14.69%(n=78) became positive in the unvaccinated group. A chi-square test of independence was performed to examine the relation between vaccination and the Covid positivity rate in all age groups. The relation between these variables was highly significant, [X2 (1, N = 4493) = 15.9809, p=.000064]. Conclusion: Our pan-India online survey inferred that vaccination has a definitive role to play in reducing the positivity rate amongst dentists during the second wave of the pandemic across all age groups.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-28
Author(s):  
David M. Kanze

Abstract The purpose of this study was twofold: 1) to evaluate the education of osteopathic physicians who integrate osteopathic manipulative medicine in practice and attempt to find key factors that might be viewed as best practices to be adopted by colleges of osteopathic medicine (COMs), Departments of Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM), and postgraduate training programs; and 2) to evaluate if gross human anatomy was seen as valuable in OMM training. A 31-question, online survey was distributed to English-speaking members of the American Academy of Osteopathy (AAO) in the United States from July through October of 2016. Of the 438 respondents, 325 (74.3%) reported having a mentor in osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM) or osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) while in school. In addition, 270 (61.6%) had dedicated time to practice OMT while in school, with 186 (42.5%) practicing supervised in a school clinic, 340 (77.6%) practicing during an undergraduate rotation, and 244 (55.7%) practicing after school hours. Many of the mentees participated in several of the above activities. Chi square test was applied to participants who are Fellows of the American Academy of Osteopathy (FAAOs). This test revealed that 24 of 26 (92.3%) of FAAOs, who responded, had a mentor, a statistically significant relationship between having an OMT/OMM mentor and becoming an FAAO (P=.03). Almost all survey participants (438 [99.5%]) had some type of gross anatomy while in medical school. The majority of respondents (321 [73.8%]) performed dissections, 81 (18.6%) had both prosection and dissections, 33 (7.6%) only had prosection, and 321 (73.8%) found that it was extremely helpful in their OMM training. In comparison, 341 respondents (78.2%) reported that gross anatomy was important to their specialty. The survey clearly demonstrated that early exposure to an OMM mentor leads to increased use of OMT and OMM and that a strong foundation in gross human anatomy was found to be useful for physicians across specialty training, including OMM.


Author(s):  
Md Salahuddin Ansari ◽  
Faisal Al-Otaibi

The adherences to protective actions are subjective to knowledge, perception, attitude, practice and barriers towards COVID-19 by Saudi residents. The self-design questionnaires were used as a cross-sectional online survey for assessed their social and behavioral parameters during the agonizing time. The cross-sectional study used data collected via an online self-reported questionnaire from 2216 Saudi residents. SPSS software and chi-square test were applied to analyze and categorize significant differences among sectional variables of the parameters. More than 95% of responders were well aware about the main clinical symptoms of COVID-19 infection and had sufficient knowledge about the protocols of five steps to stop the spread of coronavirus. Apositive perception towards COVID-19 was observed, about 55% participants strongly agreed that the coronavirus outbreak could impact the global economy and infection could be successfully controlled by imposing lockdown and by staying at home. The majority of respondents had good practices regarding COVID-19 infection. A high percentage of participants favored wearing masks, cleaning hands and frequently using hand sanitizer. A large number of participant (83.2%; n=1844) agreed that misinformation and rumors are spreading more quickly than the current outbreak of the new coronavirus. The findings suggested that Saudi residents are possessed good knowledge, optimistic attitudes, and appropriate practices towards COVID-19 during the rapid rise of the COVID-19 outbreak. Hopefully, under the combined efforts of WHO, Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia, all Saudi residents surely will win the battle against COVID-19 very soon.


2022 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 72-78
Author(s):  
Tarun Suvvari ◽  
Venkataramana Kandi ◽  
Divya Bala A M R Salibindla ◽  
Simhachalam Kutikuppala ◽  
Christos Tsagkaris ◽  
...  

Abstract Background COVID-19 vaccines provide concrete hope of mitigating the spread of the virus and enabling countries worldwide to resume financial and social activities disrupted by the pandemic. Several COVID 19 vaccines have already received approval from regulatory bodies across the world, the vaccine roll out has started and many countries are implementing mass vaccination campaigns. This study aims to evaluate the acceptability of COVID-19 vaccines and its predictors, along with the attitudes towards the vaccines among the general population of South India. Materials and Methods This study was conducted as an online survey during December 2020 and January 2021. A Self-administered pre-tested questionnaire was used for the survey. Excel 2019 and SPPS 24 were used for statistical analysis. Descriptive statistics were used, and a Chi-square test was performed. Results A total of 686 people have participated in this study, with a mean age of 30.4 years. 30.9% of study participants have already been infected with COVID-19. 76.2% responded 'yes' for accepting the COVID-19 vaccine, 69% responded to prefer 'routine' administration of the vaccine, and 50.1% were likely to take the COVID-19 vaccine 'as soon as possible' once available. Conclusion Public health authorities and policymakers need to streamline systematic interventions and awareness campaigns to improve the acceptance of COVID 19 vaccines and reduce vaccine hesitancy levels. Vaccination strategy should be targeted at the specific needs and attitudes of the concerned population. Reviving the trust in the vaccination procedures and outcomes and offering transparent information regarding the vaccines' efficacy and safety seem to be particularly importance for the population of our study.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asnarulkhadi Abu Samah ◽  
mahazan muhammad ◽  
Abdul Hadi Sulaiman ◽  
Siti Rahah Harun

Abstract Background: The rapid acceleration in the number of hospitalizations and deaths of COVID-19 has attracted global attention and caused worldwide fear. In mid-March 2020, Malaysia has recorded the highest COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia. As an immediate response, the Malaysian government has imposed Movement Control Order (MCO) to break the chain of infection and slow down the pandemic widespread. By mid-May 2020, R naught in Malaysia is at 0.3 as compared to 3.55 in mid-March 2020. Understanding the public’s knowledge, awareness, and reaction toward COVID-19 during the outbreak in the general population is paramount to give a real picture of the public’s responses in curbing the COVID-19 widespread. This study aims to determine the knowledge, attitude, and practice of social distancing among Malaysians during the COVID-19 outbreak. Methods: This cross-sectional study presents results from 3211 respondents by answering questionnaires through an online survey from 24 - 26 March 2020, one week after MCO was imposed. Responses were summarized using descriptive statistics and Chi-square test (χ²) statistic ware used to test whether the data from two or more groups of categories are associated with social distance practice.Results: Almost half of the respondents have an excellent level of knowledge (47.6%) and a positive attitude (47.4%) towards the COVID-19. Interestingly, more than half of the respondents (67.5%) performed good social distancing practice, while 30% exercised strict social distancing practice. A chi-square test shows that there is a significant association between knowledge and social distancing practice and no significant association between attitudes and social distancing practice. Conclusions: There is no COVID-19 vaccine nor herd immunity obtained yet, therefore the social distancing practice is the effective mechanism adopted to reduce the COVID-19 widespread, and Malaysia has proven it.


Author(s):  
Amanual Getnet Mersha ◽  
Michelle Kennedy ◽  
Parivash Eftekhari ◽  
Gillian Sandra Gould

Background: Adherence to smoking cessation medications (SCMs) improve the rate of successful quitting. This study aimed to evaluate the level of adherence to SCMs and associated factors among smokers and ex-smokers in Australia. Method: A cross-sectional study using an online survey was conducted in Australia. Descriptive statistics were used to present the overall characteristics of participants. Cross-tabulation with Pearson’s chi-square test was performed to evaluate the possible associations between factors. To explore barriers and facilitators of adherence to SCMs, logistic regressions were conducted. Results: Among 201 participants, 57 (28.4%) were found to be adherent to SCMs. The odds of being adherent were found to be higher among participants with good social support (AOR = 3.28, 95% CI of 2.30–6.27). Participants who did not experience anxiety symptoms had higher odds of being adherent to SCMs as compared to smokers who had anxiety symptoms (AOR = 4.41, 95% CI of 3.64–14.68). Having previous experience of using SCMs improved adherence four-fold (AOR = 3.87, 95% CI of 1.11–13.44). Level of nicotine dependence showed a direct association with adherence (AOR = 3.53, 95% CI of 1.40–8.95). Not relapsing while on the medications improved adherence (AOR = 2.88, 95% CI of 1.21–6.88). Conclusion: In a study of smokers and ex-smokers in Australia, the self-reported level of adherence to SCMs was found to be low. Adherence was associated with social, psychological, and medication-related factors. Smoking cessation interventions are recommended to include strategies that can address medication adherence.


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