scholarly journals A cross-sectional survey assessing the influence of theoretically informed behavioural factors on hand hygiene across seven countries during the COVID-19 pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
K. A. Schmidtke ◽  
K. G. Drinkwater
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Hand Hygiene ◽  
Behaviour Change ◽  
Surface Cleaning ◽  
Behaviour Change Techniques ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Surface Areas ◽  
The United Kingdom

Abstract Background Human hygiene behaviours influence the transmission of infectious diseases. Changing maladaptive hygiene habits has the potential to improve public health. Parents and teachers can play an important role in disinfecting surface areas and in helping children develop healthful handwashing habits. The current study aims to inform a future intervention that will help parents and teachers take up this role using a theoretically and empirically informed behaviour change model called the Capabilities-Opportunities-Motivations-Behaviour (COM-B) model. Methods A cross-sectional online survey was designed to measure participants’ capabilities, opportunities, and motivations to [1] increase their children’s handwashing with soap and [2] increase their cleaning of surface areas. Additional items captured how often participants believed their children washed their hands. The final survey was administered early in the coronavirus pandemic (May and June 2020) to 3975 participants from Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. Participants self-identified as mums, dads, or teachers of children 5 to 10 years old. ANOVAs analyses were used to compare participant capabilities, opportunities, and motivations across countries for handwashing and surface disinfecting. Multiple regressions analyses were conducted for each country to assess the predictive relationship between the COM-B components and children’s handwashing. Results The ANOVA analyses revealed that India had the lowest levels of capability, opportunity, and motivation, for both hand hygiene and surface cleaning. The regression analyses revealed that for Australia, Indonesia, and South Africa, the capability component was the only significant predictor of children’s handwashing. For India, capability and opportunity were significant. For the United Kingdom, capability and motivation were significant. Lastly, for Saudi Arabia all components were significant. Conclusions The discussion explores how the Behaviour Change Wheel methodology could be used to guide further intervention development with community stakeholders in each country. Of the countries assessed, India offers the greatest room for improvement, and behaviour change techniques that influence people’s capability and opportunities should be prioritised there.

scholarly journals RIC in COVID-19—a Clinical Trial to Investigate Whether Remote Ischemic Conditioning (RIC) Can Prevent Deterioration to Critical Care in Patients with COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean M. Davidson ◽  
Kishal Lukhna ◽  
Diana A. Gorog ◽  
Alan D. Salama ◽  
Alejandro Rosell Castillo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Clinical Trial ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Inflammatory Cytokines ◽  
In Vitro Cytotoxicity ◽  
Cytokine Storm ◽  
Remote Ischemic Conditioning ◽  
Ischemic Conditioning ◽  
The United Kingdom

Abstract Purpose Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) has, to date, been diagnosed in over 130 million persons worldwide and is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Several variants of concern have emerged including those in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Brazil. SARS-CoV-2 can cause a dysregulated inflammatory response known as a cytokine storm, which can progress rapidly to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), multi-organ failure, and death. Suppressing these cytokine elevations may be key to improving outcomes. Remote ischemic conditioning (RIC) is a simple, non-invasive procedure whereby a blood pressure cuff is inflated and deflated on the upper arm for several cycles. “RIC in COVID-19” is a pilot, multi-center, randomized clinical trial, designed to ascertain whether RIC suppresses inflammatory cytokine production. Methods A minimum of 55 adult patients with diagnosed COVID-19, but not of critical status, will be enrolled from centers in the United Kingdom, Brazil, and South Africa. RIC will be administered daily for up to 15 days. The primary outcome is the level of inflammatory cytokines that are involved in the cytokine storm that can occur following SARS-CoV-2 infection. The secondary endpoint is the time between admission and until intensive care admission or death. The in vitro cytotoxicity of patient blood will also be assessed using primary human cardiac endothelial cells. Conclusions The results of this pilot study will provide initial evidence on the ability of RIC to suppress the production of inflammatory cytokines in the setting of COVID-19. Trial Registration NCT04699227, registered January 7th, 2021.

The experience of burnout across different surgical specialties in the United Kingdom: A cross-sectional survey

Surgery ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 151 (4) ◽  
pp. 493-501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominic Upton ◽  
Victoria Mason ◽  
Bethany Doran ◽  
Kazia Solowiej ◽  
Uttam Shiralkar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The United Kingdom

A SURVEY TO ASSESS KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICES TOWARDS COVID-19 AMONGST NHS HEALTHCARE WORKERS AT A TERTIARY HEALTH BOARD IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

2021 ◽  
pp. 81-84
Author(s):  
Poorwa Roy ◽  
Praveen Davuluri ◽  
Nandini Roy
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Knowledge Score ◽  
Health Board ◽  
Attitude Score ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
High Knowledge

Background and aim: The world is currently facing a public health emergency in the form of COVID-19 pandemic. United Kingdom conrmed it's initial cases in February 2020 and since then the NHS (National Health Services) and its healthcare workers have been working diligently to ght this pandemic facing unprecedented challenges. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) survey was conducted using a questionnaire among healthcare professionals belonging to an NHS University Health Board in Wales, UK. The responses were assessed and relevant statistical analyses were performed using SPSS software. Results: Atotal of 208 frontline NHS Workers participated in the study. Mean knowledge score in the study was 87.83%. Majority (67.79%) of the participants had a high knowledge score. Knowledge scores were found to have a positive association with age. The general attitude among the participants was found to be optimistic with a mean attitude score of 69.87%. Practices varied amongst the participants with 77.5% reporting regular use of the mask at work. Conclusion: This study reects that majority of healthcare professionals had a sound knowledge and understanding about the pandemic with an optimistic attitude towards its control. Majority of them have been implementing safe practices at workplace.

The global effectiveness of fact-checking: Evidence from simultaneous experiments in Argentina, Nigeria, South Africa, and the United Kingdom

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (37) ◽  
pp. e2104235118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ethan Porter ◽  
Thomas J. Wood
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
False Beliefs ◽  
Point Scale ◽  
Analytic Procedure ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Fact Checking ◽  
Checking Experiments

The spread of misinformation is a global phenomenon, with implications for elections, state-sanctioned violence, and health outcomes. Yet, even though scholars have investigated the capacity of fact-checking to reduce belief in misinformation, little evidence exists on the global effectiveness of this approach. We describe fact-checking experiments conducted simultaneously in Argentina, Nigeria, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, in which we studied whether fact-checking can durably reduce belief in misinformation. In total, we evaluated 22 fact-checks, including two that were tested in all four countries. Fact-checking reduced belief in misinformation, with most effects still apparent more than 2 wk later. A meta-analytic procedure indicates that fact-checks reduced belief in misinformation by at least 0.59 points on a 5-point scale. Exposure to misinformation, however, only increased false beliefs by less than 0.07 points on the same scale. Across continents, fact-checks reduce belief in misinformation, often durably so.

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