Experiences of Australian podiatrists working through the 2020 coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic: an online survey

Abstract Background On the 19th of January, 2020, the Chief Medical Officer of Australia issued a statement about a novel coronavirus, or SARS-CoV-2. Since this date, there have been variable jurisdictional responses, including lockdowns, and restrictions on podiatry practice. This study aimed to describe impacts of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on the podiatry profession in Australia. Methods This was a cross sectional study of Australian podiatrists using demographic data collected between 2017 and 2020, and pandemic-related question responses collected between 30th March and 31st August, 2020. Data were collected online and participants described their work settings, patient funding types, business decisions and impacts, and information sources used to guide practice decisions during this time-period. Inductive thematic analysis was used to analyse open-ended questions about their practice impact of SARS-CoV-2. Results There were 732 survey responses, with 465 Australian podiatrists or podiatric surgeons providing responses describing pandemic impact. From these responses, 223 (49% of 453) podiatrists reported no supply issues, or having adequate supplies for the foreseeable future with personal protective equipment (PPE) or consumables to support effective infection prevention and control. The most frequent responses about employment, or hours of work, impact were reported in the various categories of “business as usual” (n = 312, 67%). Participants described most frequently using the local state and territory Department of Health websites (n = 347, 75%), and the Australian Podiatry Association (n = 334, 72%) to make decisions about their business. Overarching themes which resounded through open-ended comments was that working through the pandemic was likened to a marathon, and not a sprint. Themes were: (i) commitment to do this, (ii) it’s all in the plan, but not everything goes to plan, (iii) my support team must be part of getting through it, (iv) road blocks happen, and (v) nothing is easy, what’s next? Conclusion Podiatrists in Australia reported variable pandemic impact on their business decisions, PPE stores, and their valued sources of information. Podiatrists also described their “marathon” journey through the pandemic to date, with quotes describing their challenges and highlights. Describing these experiences should provide key learnings for future workforce challenges, should further restrictions come into place.

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Assessment of Community Psycho-behavioral Responses during the outbreak of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV): A cross sectional study

10.21203/rs.3.rs-25146/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Doaa Mohamed Magdy ◽

Ahmed Metwally ◽

Omar Magdy

Keyword(s):

Online Survey ◽

Demographic Data ◽

Psychological Impact ◽

Psychological Needs ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

General Anxiety Disorder ◽

General Anxiety ◽

Precautionary Measures ◽

Novel Coronavirus

Abstract Background: The novel coronavirus 2019 (2019-nCoV) is a public health emergency of international concern resulting in adverse psychological impacts during the epidemic.The aim of this study: To examine the public’s knowledge and psychological impact during the outbreak of (2019-nCoV) and the extent to which various precautionary measures have been adopted.Materials & Methods: From 1 to 10 April 2020, we conducted an online survey. The online survey collected information on demographic data, precautionary measures against (2019-nCoV), self-health evaluation, knowledge and concerns about (2019-nCoV) and appraisal of crisis management. Psychological impact was assessed by General Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) scale. The designed questionnaire was answered by participants, and the collected data were statistically analyzed.Results: This study included 1200 respondents. In total, 80% of respondents rated the psychological impact; 18% reported minimal anxiety; 34% reported mild anxiety and (48%) with moderate anxiety symptoms. A large proportion (74%) believed that they were very or somewhat likely to contract (2019-nCoV) while only 35% believed they were unlikely to survive if they contracted the disease. (58%) of the respondents, practiced the precautionary measures directed against person to person droplet spread.Respondents with moderate level of anxiety were most likely to take comprehensive precautionary measures against the infection. In addition, older, female, more educated people as well as those who are more likely to contract infection.Conclusions: During the outbreak, more than half of the respondents rated the psychological impact as moderate anxiety. Thus, the psychological needs during the outbreak should be addressed appropriately. Our results highlight the need to promote protective personal health practices to interrupt the transmission of the (2019-nCoV) in the community must take into account. Therefore, educational public programs about preventive measures should be targeted at the identified groups with low current uptake of precautions.

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Assessment of community psycho-behavioral responses during the outbreak of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV): a cross-sectional study

AIMS Public Health ◽

10.3934/publichealth.2022003 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 26-40

Author(s):

Doaa M Magdy ◽

◽

Ahmed Metwally ◽

Omar Magdy ◽

Keyword(s):

Online Survey ◽

Demographic Data ◽

Psychological Impact ◽

Psychological Needs ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

General Anxiety Disorder ◽

General Anxiety ◽

Precautionary Measures ◽

Novel Coronavirus

<abstract> The novel coronavirus 2019 (2019-nCoV) is a public health emergency of international concern resulting in adverse psychological impacts during the epidemic. <sec> <title>Methods</title> From 1 to 10 April 2020, we conducted an online survey. The online survey collected information on demographic data, precautionary measures against (2019-nCoV), self-health evaluation, knowledge, and concerns about (2019-nCoV), and appraisal of crisis management. The psychological impact was assessed by the General Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) scale. The designed questionnaire was answered by participants, and collected data were statistically analyzed. </sec><sec> <title>Results</title> This study included 1200 respondents. In total, 80% of respondents rated the psychological impact; 18% reported minimal anxiety; 34% reported mild anxiety, and 48% with moderate anxiety symptoms. A large proportion (74%) believed that they were very or somewhat likely to contract (2019-nCoV) while only (35%) believed they were unlikely to survive if they contracted the disease. (58%) of the respondents, practiced the precautionary measures directed against person-to-person droplet spread. Respondents with a moderate level of anxiety were most likely to take comprehensive precautionary measures against the infection. Also, older, female, more educated people as well as those who are more likely to contract the infection. </sec><sec> <title>Conclusions</title> During the outbreak, more than half of the respondents rated the psychological impact as moderate anxiety. Thus, the psychological needs during the outbreak should be addressed appropriately. Our results highlight the need to promote protective personal health practices to interrupt the transmission of the (2019-nCoV) in the community. Therefore, educational public programs about preventive measures should be targeted at the identified groups with low current uptake of precautions. </sec></abstract>

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Knowledge, Attitude, and Behavior of Egyptian Medical Students Toward the Novel Coronavirus Disease-19: A Cross-Sectional Study

Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences ◽

10.3889/oamjms.2020.5279 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (T1) ◽

pp. 443-450

Author(s):

Shaimaa A. M. Abd El Fatah ◽

Marwa Salem ◽

Ahmed Abdel Hakim ◽

Eman D. El Desouky

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Medical School ◽

Online Survey ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

The Novel ◽

Sources Of Information ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Novel Coronavirus ◽

And Behavior

BACKGROUND: People in times of pandemics, crave after any medical field member (including medical students) to gain their knowledge and correct their behaviors. AIM: We aimed to assess medical students’ coronavirus disease (COVID)-19 related knowledge, attitude, and behavior (KAB). METHODS: The study is an exploratory cross-sectional study, conducted among medical students using an online survey. Medical students were classified according to their current academic year into either early year’s group (first 3 years in the medical school) or final year’s group (past 3 years in the medical school). RESULTS: A total of 2255 students completed the questionnaire. Regarding their COVID-19 related knowledge; 63.4% gave unsatisfactory responses (answered <75% of the questionnaire items correctly). Most of males (62.9%) and females (64.1%) gave unsatisfactory responses. CONCLUSION: Most of students had unsatisfactory responses of the current pandemic; however, the final year’s group had a significantly higher score in nearly all questionnaire (KAB) subsections than the early year’s group. The majority of both groups significantly believed that there are undeclared numbers in Egypt. Facebook and other platforms were the most common sources of information.

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Infrastructural and Human Factors Affecting Safety Outcomes of Cyclists

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su10020299 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 299 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

Sergio Useche ◽

Luis Montoro ◽

Francisco Alonso ◽

Oscar Oviedo-Trespalacios

Keyword(s):

Human Factors ◽

Online Survey ◽

Demographic Data ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

User Characteristics ◽

Severe Injuries ◽

Related Factors ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Road Crashes ◽

Safety Outcomes

The increasing number of registered road crashes involving cyclists during the last decade and the high proportion of road crashes resulting in severe injuries and fatalities among cyclists constitutes a global issue for community health, urban development and sustainability. Nowadays, the incidence of many risk factors for road crashes of cyclists remains largely unexplained. Given the importance of this issue, the present study has been conducted with the aim of determining relationships between infrastructural, human factors and safety outcomes of cyclists. Objectives: This study aimed, first, to examine the relationship between key infrastructural and human factors present in cycling, bicycle-user characteristics and their self-reported experience with road crashes. And second, to determine whether a set of key infrastructural and human factors may predict their self-reported road crashes. Methods: For this cross-sectional study, a total of 1064 cyclists (38.8% women, 61.2% men; M = 32.8 years of age) from 20 different countries across Europe, South America and North America, participated in an online survey composed of four sections: demographic data and cycling-related factors, human factors, perceptions on infrastructural factors and road crashes suffered. Results: The results of this study showed significant associations between human factors, infrastructural conditions and self-reported road crashes. Also, a logistic regression model found that self-reported road crashes of cyclists could be predicted through variables such as age, riding intensity, risky behaviours and problematic user/infrastructure interactions. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that self-reported road crashes of cyclists are influenced by features related to the user and their interaction with infrastructural characteristics of the road.

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Pharmacists’ Perception of the Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19) in Jordan: A Cross-Sectional Study

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph182111541 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (21) ◽

pp. 11541

Author(s):

Tamara Al-Daghastani ◽

Odate Tadros ◽

Shereen Arabiyat ◽

Deema Jaber ◽

Husam AlSalamat

Keyword(s):

Online Survey ◽

Vaccine Development ◽

Primary Source ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Survey Study ◽

Sources Of Information ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Protection Measures ◽

Second Wave

Objectives: To analyze the role of pharmacists during the COVID-19 pandemic, to measure pharmacists’ attitude toward COVID-19 safety measures (wearing masks, wearing gloves, isolation shield, good hygiene, etc.), and explore their perspectives regarding a second wave of the virus. Methods: This cross-sectional online survey study was conducted in Jordan during the COVID-19 outbreak in July 2020 to discuss Jordanian pharmacists’ awareness of safety at their workplace during the COVID-19 outbreak, their sources of information, and their predictions for COVID-19 vaccination. Results: The participants (n = 311) were all pharmacists mostly aged between 23–30 years old (45%) and female (83%). The primary source of information about COVID-19 was social networking (38.9%). Pharmacists were committed to social distancing (86.5%) and wearing masks (76.2%). They expressed levels of agreement to their role in decreasing COVID-19 spread (94.2%) and correcting false information (94.5%); they expressed levels of expectation toward concern about a second COVID-19 wave (83%) that would be more severe than the previous one (43.4%). Pharmacists expected that an influenza vaccine might be helpful in decreasing severity and spread of the COVID-19 pandemic (56.9%). Pharmacists expected COVID-19 vaccine development within 6 months of administering our study survey (84.9%) and that vaccination might be effective in preventing COVID-19 (93%) infection. Conclusion: Pharmacists expressed positive roles on COVID-19 spread through exemplary actions, self-commitment to protection measures, and public health awareness. Social media as a source of health information should be cautiously investigated, and pharmacists should always refer to evidence-based sources. The role of pharmacists is particularly important for the upcoming era of COVID-19 vaccination administration and awareness.

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Contraceptive knowledge, practices among women in Garhwal region

International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health ◽

10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20190209 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 793 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ruchita Dixit ◽

Aaradhana Bandhani

Keyword(s):

Family Planning ◽

Demographic Data ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Economic Life ◽

World Health ◽

Sources Of Information ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Modern Development ◽

Planning Methods ◽

Family Planning Methods

Background: Family planning is defined by World Health Organization (WHO) as, “a way of thinking and living that is adopted voluntarily, upon the basis of knowledge, attitudes and responsible decisions by individuals and couples, in order to promote the health and welfare of family groups and thus contribute effectively to the social development of a country”. The extensive acceptance of family planning, in a society, is an integral component of modern development and is essential for the incorporation of women into social and economic life. Therefore the present study as well focused on the women knowledge and participation in family planning. Objectives: This study projected to evaluate the knowledge of the women about various family planning methods and its sources of information.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 200 married women between 15-60 years of age group selected by multistage random sampling. The women were asked to complete the 20 questions including demographic data. Self structured questionnaire was used to evaluate their knowledge about Family planning methods. Subsequently, the data analyzed by using SPSS version 1.2.Results: In this present study knowledge of family planning methods were higher. Female sterilization and use of condom is the most widely known and practiced method of all contraceptive methods followed by oral Pills and IUDs. Health functionaries were found to the more informative as compared to media and others sources of information regarding family planning methods.Conclusions: From the results found in this study it can be accomplish that women’s awareness regarding family planning was higher and found satisfactory.

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Factors Associated with Perceived Trust of False Abortion Websites: A Cross-Sectional Online Survey (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.25323 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Sarina Rebecca Chaiken ◽

Lisa Han ◽

Blair G Darney ◽

Leo Han

Keyword(s):

Online Survey ◽

Demographic Data ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Correlation Matrices ◽

Individual Level ◽

Perceived Trust ◽

Neutral Site ◽

Design Characteristics ◽

The Individual

BACKGROUND The majority of patients use the internet to search for health information. While there is a vast repository of searchable information online, much of the content is unregulated and therefore potentially incorrect, conflicting, or confusing. Abortion information online is particularly prone to being inaccurate as anti-choice websites publish purposefully misleading information in formats that appear as neutral resources. To understand how anti-choice websites appear neutral, we need to understand the specific website features of anti-choice features that impart trust to viewers. OBJECTIVE We sought to identify characteristics of false or misleading abortion websites that make these websites appear trustworthy to the public. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional study using Amazon.com Inc’s Mechanical Turk platform. We used validated questionnaires to ask participants to rate eleven anti-choice sites and one neutral site identified by experts, focusing on site content, creators, and design. We collected socio-demographic data and participant views on abortion. We used a composite measure of “mean overall trust” as our primary outcome. Using correlation matrices, we determined which website characteristics were most associated with overall trust. Finally, we used linear regression to identify participant characteristics associated with overall trust. RESULTS Our analytic sample included 498 participants ranging from ages 22 to 70, 50.1% of whom identified as female. Across eleven anti-choice sites, creator trust (“I believe that the creators of this site are honest and trustworthy”) had the highest correlation coefficient with overall trust (0.70). Professional appearance (0.59), look and feel (0.59), perception that the information is created by experts (0.59), association with a trustworthy organization (0.58), valued features and functionalities (0.54), and interactive capabilities (0.52) all demonstrated strong relationships with overall trust. At the individual level, pro-choice leaning was associated with higher overall trust of the neutral site (B: -0.43, CI: -0.87, 0.01) and lower overall trust of the anti-choice sites (B: 0.52, CI: 0.05, .99). CONCLUSIONS The overall trustworthiness of anti-choice websites is most associated with design characteristics and perceived trustworthiness of the site creator. Those who believe that access to abortion should be limited are more likely to trust anti-choice websites.

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IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH STATUS DURING LOCKDOWN PERIOD: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Romanian Journal of Neurology ◽

10.37897/rjn.2021.2.14 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 20 (2) ◽

pp. 217-223

Author(s):

Sonu Punia ◽

◽

Mohini Mohini ◽

Shailja Sharma ◽

Varun Singh ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Status ◽

Rural Community ◽

Psychological Health ◽

Online Survey ◽

Demographic Data ◽

Psychosocial Health ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Online Questionnaire ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Prevention Measure

Objective. The aim of this research was access the effect of lockdown on the psychological health status of people. Methods. This was an online questionnaire survey developed and circulated among people using snow-ball sampling techniques from April to mid of June 2020. The online survey collected information on demographic data and psychosocial health elements. Results. This study included 604 peoples (59.1% were female and 40.8% were females) of Haryana. Of the total respondents, 57.6% were in age group of 18-30 years, 40.8% were in 31-45 years and 1.5% was in 45-60 years group. 90% of people have normal self- reported BMI, 6.5% were overweight, 3% were underweight and 0.5% people have obesity. 74% respondents were graduate, 11.5% postgraduate, 3.2% were PhD, and 9.2% were 12th pass. 31.8% were unemployed, 35.9% were student, 15.8% regular government employee, 4.7% were self- employed and 2.5% were adhoc/contract employee. 79.5% people reside in urban community and 16% in rural community and 4.5% in semi-urban area. Most of the respondents have agree with the statement that lockdown induced constant sense of insecurity (72.9%); anxiety (58.7%),psychological stress (66.4%); work & financial stress (52.4%), phobia of infection (50.9%); stigma towards symptomatic people, which might be because of simple flu (55.2%); stress from watching & listening COVID-19 news (38.6%); stress from practice of prevention measure (31.9%). Most of people also agree with that behavior-change modification (follow preventive regulations) can improve mental stress (53.2%). Conclusion. Majority of people has realized the lockdown have significant impact on psychological health status of people.

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The role of Science Literacy, Trust, and Impulsivity on Adherence to COVID-19 Recommendations: Cross-sectional Study (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.27665 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Perla Amalia Vargas ◽

Nicole M Lee ◽

Scott Barclay

Keyword(s):

Online Survey ◽

Science Literacy ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Health Campaigns ◽

Sources Of Information ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Fox News ◽

Positive Attitudes ◽

Public Health Campaigns ◽

Perfect Adherence

BACKGROUND To slow down transmission and prevent deaths in the face of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (COVID-19) pandemic, the public needs to adhere to recommendations to limit exposure and the spread of the disease. There is emerging evidence that television viewership choices and partisanship are associated to adherence to COVID-19 -related preventive recommendations. On the other hand, some suggest that believing fake news may be due to impulsivity or a lack of thinking rather than partisanship. OBJECTIVE To test whether 1) individuals with high levels of impulsivity will be less likely to adhere to COVID-19 recommendations; and 2) if the odds of adhering to the recommendations will be higher for those with positive attitudes toward science, higher levels of science literacy, and COVID-19 knowledge, who get their news from scientific/reliable sources. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional online survey administered via Qualtrics (Provo, UT). COVID-related survey items were extracted from recent COVID-19 studies. Respondents completed assessments on impulsiveness, perception of scientists and science literacy. selected their common sources of information including conservative and liberal media (e.g., Fox News or One America News Network – OANN and MSNBC or CNN). The sample was recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk) and from the student population of a large university in the southwestern U.S. After removing incomplete responses, the final sample included 1223 cases. RESULTS Consistent with previous reports, compared to respondents who got their News from sources other than Fox News or OANN, those who reported Fox News or OANN as their main source of information had significantly lower scores of COVID-19 knowledge. Consistent with our hypotheses, we found that impulsivity was associated with adherence: high scores was associated to adherence failure while low scores were associated to perfect adherence. COVID-19 knowledge and trust in scientists showed the same significant associations: high knowledge scores were associated to perfect adherence and low to failure. Contrary to our hypothesis, Science Literacy did not predict adherence. Finally, race was also significantly associated with adherence: being white was associated to adherence failure while being non-white predicted perfect adherence. CONCLUSIONS To increase voluntary adherence to COVID-19 measures, it is critical to implement public health campaigns that foster trust in authorities –Republican and Democrat-- and leverage trustworthy individuals in the community to disseminate information. For individuals with high levels of impulsivity, environmental restructuring, and/or nudging may be necessary to increase adherence to preventive recommendations.

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Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices of Healthcare Professionals on COVID-19 and Risk Assessment to Prevent the Epidemic Spread: A Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study from Punjab, Pakistan

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17176395 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (17) ◽

pp. 6395 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Usman Rashid Malik ◽

Naveel Atif ◽

Furqan Khurshid Hashmi ◽

Fahad Saleem ◽

Hamid Saeed ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Risk Assessment ◽

Online Survey ◽

Healthcare Professionals ◽

Assessment Tool ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

World Health ◽

Primary Role ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Attitudes And Practices ◽

Novel Coronavirus

In the current outbreak of novel coronavirus (COVID-19), healthcare professionals (HCPs) have a primary role in combating the epidemic threat. HCPs are at high risk of not only contracting the infection but also spreading it unknowingly. It is of utmost importance to evaluate their knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) and the ability to assess the risks associated with the outbreak. A cross-sectional online survey involving physicians, pharmacists, and nurses was conducted. A 39-itemed questionnaire based on the World Health Organization (WHO)COVID-19 risk assessment tool was shared with healthcare professionals in three purposively selected key divisions of Punjab province. Out of 500 healthcare professionals, 385 responded to the survey. The majority (70%) were aged 22–29 years; 144 (37.4%) physicians, 113 (29.4%) nurses, and 128 (33.2%) pharmacists completed the survey. Overall, 94.8% of healthcare professionals scored adequately (>14) for COVID-19-related knowledge; 97.9% displayed an optimistic attitude (>42) and 94.5% had an adequate practice score (>28). Kruskal–Wallis and Jonckheere–Terpstra tests showed significant differences (p < 0.05) in KAP and risk assessment scores among groups; physicians and nurses scored higher as compared to pharmacists. Further research and follow-up investigations on disaster management and risk assessment can help policy-makers better tackle future epidemics.

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