scholarly journals Perception and preventive behavior during COVID-19 pandemic among urban residents in Banda Aceh, Indonesia: a cross-sectional study

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 290-6
Author(s):  
Husnah ◽  
Liza Salawati ◽  
Sakdiah ◽  
Nurul Nazira ◽  
Sarah Firdausa ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND It is critical to evaluate the perception and preventive behavior of COVID-19 to formulate the optimal public health strategies for tackling the ongoing pandemic. This study aimed to enhance knowledge on the perception and preventive behavior toward COVID-19 among urban residents in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. METHODS A cross-sectional population-based survey was conducted from September to October 2020 using a structured questionnaire for the attendants of the six public health centers in Banda Aceh. Information about sociodemographic, perception, and preventive behavior toward COVID-19 were collected. The data were analyzed to find the association between the level of preventive behavior and covariates. RESULTS Among 1,067 respondents, 71.1% were female, 52.5% were aged between 40 and 60 years, 31.2% were university graduates, and >60% were unemployed with underlying diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and cardiopulmonary diseases. The responses of each statement toward COVID-19 were varied. The multivariable model of covariates showed that females had good preventive behavior toward COVID-19 (adjusted OR: 1.849, 95% CI: 1.359–2.515). Urban residents in Banda Aceh with the underlying diseases had poor preventive behavior, while those with higher educational level and perception scores were more inclined to engage in good preventive behavior. CONCLUSIONS Most urban residents in Banda Aceh showed positive perception and propensity for adopting preventive measures. Health education is necessary for susceptible residents, such as males, less educated people, and people with underlying diseases. It should be stressed on specific practices and knowledge.

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-31
Author(s):  
Jun Zhao ◽  
Xiaoyue Zhu ◽  
Qiaoyun Dai ◽  
Xiang Hong ◽  
Hongguang Zhang ◽  
...  

Abstract Anemia is a global public health problem affecting women worldwide, and reproductive-age women are at increased risk. We conducted a population-based cross-sectional study analyzing the prevalence of overall anemia and anemia according to severity in Chinese pre-pregnant women to update current knowledge on anemia epidemiology. Based on the National Free Preconception Check-up Projects supported by the Chinese government, 5,679,782 women participating in this project in 2017 were included in this study. The cyanmethemoglobin method was applied to assess hemoglobin concentrations. Univariate and multivariate logistic regressions were applied for associated factors. The prevalence of anemia among Chinese pre-pregnant women was 21.64% (mild anemia: 14.10%, moderate anemia: 7.17%, severe anemia: 0.37%). The prevalence of overall and severe anemia was the highest in Tibet and the lowest in Beijing among 31 provinces. Women’s age, region, ethnic origin, educational level, occupation, and pregnancy history were all correlated with anemia. Women with B blood type (aOR=0.89), higher BMIs (overweight: aOR=0.84; obesity: aOR=0.70), and alcohol consumption (aOR=0.69) were less likely to have anemia, while those with rhesus negative blood type (aOR=1.10), history of anemia (aOR=2.60), older age at menarche (aOR=1.19), heavy menstrual blood loss (aOR=1.39), longer menstrual period (aOR=1.09) and shorter menstrual cycle (aOR=1.08) were more likely to suffer from anemia. Meat or egg eaters were not significantly associated with severe anemia. Anemia is of moderate public health significance among Chinese pre-pregnant women. Interventions should be considered to prevent anemia to the greatest extent possible to avoid potential harm in this population.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 325-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Umesh Ghimire ◽  
Nipun Shrestha ◽  
Bishal Gyawali ◽  
Pranil Man Singh Pradhan ◽  
Shiva Raj Mishra

Abstract Background The ever-increasing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is posing a serious health challenge for Nepal. This study examines the status of ideal cardiovascular health (ICH) and its associated determinants in Nepal using the American Heart Association (AHA) definition of ICH metrics. Methods The AHA has defined ICH as having five to seven of the ideal health metrics. A representative sample from the NCD risk factors STEPS survey 2013 were drawn to analyse the prevalence and sociodemographic determinants of ideal, intermediate and poor cardiovascular health in Nepal. Multivariable logistic regression was used to measure the determinants of ICH. Results More than half of the participants had ICH metrics (51.6%), with the 45–69 y age group having the lowest prevalence of ICH (28%) and females having better cardiovascular health compared with their male counterparts (60.6% vs 41.7%). The prevalence of low intake of fruit and vegetables, tobacco smoking and elevated blood pressure were quite high (99%, 18.8% and 31.4%, respectively). The status of ICH declined with age: individuals 15–29 y of age had 6 times (95% confidence interval [CI] 4.80–8.60) higher odds of having ICH compared with those who were 45–69 y, and it was low among urban residents (referent: rural; adjusted odds ratio 0.77 [95% CI 0.58–1.01]). Conclusions Nearly half of the participants had ICH, which declined with ageing. Further, urban residents had poor cardiovascular health. This highlights the need for a comprehensive population-based intervention targeting elderly and urban residents to improve overall cardiovascular health.


2005 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 662-668 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Vinholes Siqueira ◽  
Luiz Augusto Facchini ◽  
Pedro Curi Hallal

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the prevalence of physiotherapy utilization and to explore the variables associated to its utilization. METHODS: A population-based cross-sectional study, including 3,100 subjects aged 20 years or more living in the urban area of Pelotas, southern Brazil, was carried out. The sample was selected following a multiple-stage protocol; the census tracts delimited by the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) were the primary sample units. Following descriptive and crude analyses, Poisson regression models taking the clustering of the sample into account were carried out. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews using a standardized and pre-tested questionnaire. RESULTS: The lifetime utilization of physiotherapy was 30.2%; and physiotherapy utilization in the 12 months prior to the interview was reported by 4.9%. Women, elderly subjects, and those from higher socioeconomic levels were more likely to use physiotherapy. Restricting analysis to subjects who attended physiotherapy, 66% used public health services, 25% used insurance health services and 9% had private sessions. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first population-based study on physiotherapy utilization carried out in Brazil. Utilization of physio therapy was lower than reported in both developed and developing countries. The study findings might help public health authorities to organize healthcare service in terms of this important demand.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatemeh Sadeghi ◽  
Bahman Cheraghian ◽  
Zahra Mohammadi ◽  
Sadaf G Sepanlou ◽  
Sahar Masoudi ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: In 2017, the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) provided a new guideline for hypertension prevention and management. We aimed to update the prevalence, awareness, control and risk factors of hypertension based on this guideline and to estimate the number of people who are eligible for non-pharmacologic and pharmacologic intervention. Methods: This population-based, cross-sectional study was conducted in Khuzestan, a large province in the southwest of Iran. Comprehensive information about the potential risk factors of hypertension was collected and blood pressure, blood biomarkers, and anthropometric were measured. Moreover, the dietary pattern was evaluated in 10% of the participants, using a qualitative food frequency questionnaire.Results: A total number of 30,506 individuals aged 20-65 years was included in this study. In comparison to previous guideline (JNC8), the prevalence of hypertension in Khuzestan dramatically increased by 27.04% after implementation of ACC/AHA (15.81% vs 42.85%), which was more dominant in the male population and the 50-59 age group. The sex and age adjustment of the hypertension prevalence was estimated to be 39.40%. The number of individuals required antihypertensive treatment was slightly increased from 15.53% to 21.18%; however, the level of awareness and control dramatically dropped by 23.17% & 31.78%, respectively. All hypertension-related risk factors remained significant after applying the new guideline; however, the strength of the association was reduced in the risk factors like age, waist-hip ratio, body mass index, alcohol consumption, water pipe usage, and physical activity. Similarity, the association between hypertension and history of diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases were decreased by 38%, and 62%, respectively.Conclusions: In the ACC/AHA guideline, a higher number of individuals with the pre-hypertension condition had been shifted into the hypertension category and the level of awareness, treatment, and control was dramatically fallen, which highlight a great need to expand the public health infrastructure for further managing the substantial increase in the public health burden of hypertension.


Nutrients ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 819 ◽  
Author(s):  
Desiree Lopez-Gonzalez ◽  
Armando Partida-Gaytán ◽  
Jonathan C. Wells ◽  
Pamela Reyes-Delpech ◽  
Fatima Avila-Rosano ◽  
...  

Overweight (OW) and obesity (OB) during childhood/adolescence are major public health problems in Mexico. Several obesogenic lifestyle (OL) risk factors have been identified, but the burden and consequences of them in Mexican children/adolescents remain unclear. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of OL components and describe their relationships with adiposity, and OW/OB. A population-based cross-sectional study of Mexican children/adolescents with nutritional assessment, data collection on daily habits and adiposity as fat-mass index (FMI) by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry was performed. Individual OL-components: “inactivity,” “excessive screen time,” “insufficient sleep,” “unhealthy-diet”, were defined according to non-adherence to previously published healthy recommendations. Results: 1449 subjects were assessed between March 2015 to April 2018. Sixteen percent of subjects had all four OL-components, 40% had three, 35% had two, 9% had one, and 0.5% had none. A cumulative OL score showed a significant dose–response effect with FMI. The combination of inactivity, excessive screen time, and insufficient sleep showed the highest risk association to OW/OB and higher values of FMI. Conclusions: The prevalence of OL-components was extremely high and associated with increased adiposity and OW/OB. Several interventions are needed to revert this major public health threat.


2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (48) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Heavey ◽  
Patricia Garvey ◽  
Aoife M Colgan ◽  
Lelia Thornton ◽  
Jeff Connell ◽  
...  

Background Robust data on SARS-CoV-2 population seroprevalence supplement surveillance data in providing evidence for public health action. Aim To conduct a SARS-CoV-2 population-based seroprevalence survey in Ireland. Methods Using a cross-sectional study design, we selected population samples from individuals aged 12–69 years in counties Dublin and Sligo using the Health Service Executive Primary Care Reimbursement Service database as a sampling frame. Samples were selected with probability proportional to the general population age–sex distribution, and by simple random sampling within age–sex strata. Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 were detected using the Abbott Architect SARS-CoV-2 IgG Assay and confirmed using the Wantai Assay. We estimated the population SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence weighted for age, sex and geographic area. Results Participation rates were 30% (913/3,043) and 44% (820/1,863) in Dublin and Sligo. Thirty-three specimens had detectable SARS-CoV-2 antibodies (1.9%). We estimated weighted seroprevalences of 3.12% (95% confidence interval (CI): 2.05–4.53) and 0.58% (95% CI: 0.18–1.38) for Dublin and Sligo, and 1.69% (95% CI: 1.13–2.41) nationally. This equates to an estimated 59,482 (95% CI: 39,772–85,176) people aged 12–69 years nationally having had infection with SARS-CoV-2, 3.0 (95% CI: 2.0–4.3) times higher than confirmed notifications. Ten participants reported a previous laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 -infection; eight of these were antibody-positive. Twenty-five antibody-positive participants had not reported previous laboratory-confirmed infection. Conclusion The majority of people in Ireland are unlikely to have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 by June–July 2020. Non-pharmaceutical public health measures remained key pending widespread availability of vaccination, and effective treatments.


2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryosuke Fujii ◽  
Kensuke Suzuki ◽  
Junichiro Niimi

Abstract Background Public perceptions and personal characteristics are heterogeneous between countries and subgroups, which may have different impacts on health-protective behaviors during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. To assess whether self-reported perceptions of COVID-19 and personal characteristics are associated with protective behaviors among general adults and to compare patterns in six different countries. Methods This cross-sectional study uses the secondary data collected through an online survey between 15 and 23 April 2020 across six countries (China, Italy, Japan, Korea, the UK, and the USA). A total of 5945 adults aged 18 years or older were eligible for our analysis. A logistic regression model was used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) of three recommended behaviors (wearing a mask, handwashing, and avoiding social gatherings). Results In most countries except for China, the participants who perceived wearing a mask as being extremely effective to curtail the pandemic were more likely to wear a mask (OR, 95%CI: Italy: 4.14, 2.08–8.02; Japan: 3.59, 1.75–7.30; Korea: 7.89, 1.91–31.63: UK: 9.23, 5.14–17.31; USA: 4.81, 2.61–8.92). Those who perceived that handwashing was extremely effective had higher ORs of this preventive behavior (OR, 95%CI: Italy: 16.39, 3.56–70.18; Japan: 12.24, 4.03–37.35; Korea: 12.41, 2.02–76.39; UK: 18.04, 2.60–152.78; USA: 10.56, 2.21–44.32). The participants who perceived avoiding social gathering as being extremely effective to curtail the pandemic were more likely to take this type of preventive behavior (OR, 95%CI: China: 3.79, 1.28–10.23; Korea: 6.18, 1.77–20.60; UK: 4.45, 1.63–11.63; USA: 4.34, 1.84–9.95). The associations between personal characteristics, living environment, psychological status, and preventive behaviors varied across different countries. Individuals who changed their behavior because of recommendations from doctors/public health officials were more likely to take preventive behaviors in many countries. Conclusions These findings suggest that higher perceived effectiveness may be a common factor to encourage preventive behaviors in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These results may provide a better understanding of the homogeneity and heterogeneity of factors related to preventive behaviors and improve public health policies in various countries and groups.


2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Koju ◽  
K Manandhar ◽  
A Risal ◽  
TJ Steiner ◽  
A Holen ◽  
...  

Background Hypertension (HTN), a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), is a substantial global public health problem. Occasional studies indicate a high prevalence of HTN in the Nepalese population, but no nationwide population-based data exist so far. We opportunistically used a survey of major disorders of the brain in Nepal to measure blood pressure (BP) in participants selected randomly from the adult general population.Objective To establish the prevalence of elevated BP (eBP), and factors associated with it, regardless of any antihypertensive therapy being taken. We took this to be indicative of unmet health-care need.Method This was a cross-sectional study, conducted by unannounced household visits, employing multistage random cluster sampling. To achieve representativeness, 15 districts out of 75 in the country were investigated: one district from each of the three physiographic divisions in each of the five development regions of Nepal. One adult aged 18-65 years was selected from each household and interviewed by structured questionnaire. BP was recorded in a standardised manner by digital device (Microlife 3BM1-3®).Result From 2,109 eligible households, 2,100 adults (99.6%) participated. The prevalence of eBP (>140/90 mmHg on ?2 readings) was found to be 15.1%. Multivariate logistic regression showed significant and independent associations with demographic variables (higher age, male gender), with life-style factors (daily alcohol consumption, BMI ?25), and with living at high altitude (?2000 m).Conclusion In the context of the survey we could not collect data on antihypertensive therapy being taken but, clearly, whatever this might have been, it was failing to meet treatment needs. Almost one in six adults met criteria for hypertension, carrying risk implications for CVDs and their substantial public-health consequences. Two remediable associated factors were identified, although in a cross-sectional survey we could not prove causation.Kathmandu University Medical Journal Vol.13(1) 2015; 3-7


2015 ◽  
Vol 85 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 129-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zahra Heidari ◽  
Awat Feizi ◽  
Leila Azadbakht ◽  
Nizal Sarrafzadegan

Abstract. Background: Minerals are required for the body’s normal function. Aim: The current study assessed the intake distribution of minerals and estimated the prevalence of inadequacy and excess among a representative sample of healthy middle aged and elderly Iranian people. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the second follow up to the Isfahan Cohort Study (ICS), 1922 generally healthy people aged 40 and older were investigated. Dietary intakes were collected using 24 hour recalls and two or more consecutive food records. Distribution of minerals intake was estimated using traditional (averaging dietary intake days) and National Cancer Institute (NCI) methods, and the results obtained from the two methods, were compared. The prevalence of minerals intake inadequacy or excess was estimated using the estimated average requirement (EAR) cut-point method, the probability approach and the tolerable upper intake levels (UL). Results: There were remarkable differences between values obtained using traditional and NCI methods, particularly in the lower and upper percentiles of the estimated intake distributions. A high prevalence of inadequacy of magnesium (50 - 100 %), calcium (21 - 93 %) and zinc (30 - 55 % for males > 50 years) was observed. Significant gender differences were found regarding inadequate intakes of calcium (21 - 76 % for males vs. 45 - 93 % for females), magnesium (92 % vs. 100 %), iron (0 vs. 15 % for age group 40 - 50 years) and zinc (29 - 55 % vs. 0 %) (all; p < 0.05). Conclusion: Severely imbalanced intakes of magnesium, calcium and zinc were observed among the middle-aged and elderly Iranian population. Nutritional interventions and population-based education to improve healthy diets among the studied population at risk are needed.


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