scholarly journals Tobacco use and friendship networks: a cross-sectional study among Brazilian adolescents

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 1415-1424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly Oliva Jorge ◽  
Luís Otavio Cota ◽  
Efigênia Ferreira e Ferreira ◽  
Miriam Pimenta do Vale ◽  
Ichiro Kawachi ◽  
...  

Aim: To determine the prevalence of tobacco use and its association with types of friendship networks, socioeconomic status and gender among Brazilian adolescents.Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out with a representative sample of 905 students aged 15 to 19 years. Information on social networks and tobacco use was collected by the self-administered questionnaire 'Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test" and the question "What is your most important group of close friends?'. Socioeconomic status was assessed using an area-based social vulnerability index and type of school. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was employed to test associations between tobacco use and the independent variables.Results: The overall prevalence of tobacco use was 18.9%. Female adolescents had 3.80-fold greater odds of reporting weekly to daily tobacco use compared to male adolescents. Participants who reported that their most important groups of close friends were from church had a lower risk of reporting weekly to daily tobacco use in comparison to those who reported that their best friends were from school.Conclusions: The prevalence of tobacco use was high and was associated with school-based (as compared to church-based) friendship networks, female gender and higher area-level socioeconomic status.

Author(s):  
Rosa M Sánchez-Casas ◽  
Ildefonso Fernández-Salas ◽  
Maricela Laguna-Aguilar ◽  
Jorge J Rodríguez-Rojas ◽  
Marcia L Medina-Ponce ◽  
...  

SUMMARY The prevalence of pediculosis in Mexican children was studied in San Nicolas and Tapachula, Mexico. A cross-sectional study included 888 students between six and 12 years old from two urban communities with an unequal socioeconomic status between September 2015 and March 2016. A Pearson χ2 and multivariate logistic analysis were carried out to associate risk factors to pediculosis. The overall prevalence of pediculosis from both localities was 23.9%. The female gender; long and medium hair; living with someone infested; previously infested by head lice and curling hair were variables linked to a significantly higher prevalence of pediculosis (p < 0.01). Nevertheless, no significant differences were observed in the age groups, localities and socioeconomic status for human lice infection. Socioeconomic variables such as numbers of inhabitants, floors of house, beds and rooms; and parents’ qualification did not show a significative association for pediculosis. Health education in schools is needed for pediculosis prevention and remove the stigmatization of this disease related to poverty.


Vaccines ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Lorini ◽  
Francesca Collini ◽  
Francesca Gasparini ◽  
Diana Paolini ◽  
Maddalena Grazzini ◽  
...  

The aim of this cross-sectional study is to address whether health literacy (HL) and vaccine confidence are related with influenza vaccination uptake among staff of nursing homes (NHs). It was conducted in Tuscany (Italy) in autumn 2018, including the staff of 28 NHs. A questionnaire was used to collect individual data regarding influenza vaccination in 2016–2017 and 2017–2018 seasons; the intention to be vaccinated in 2018–2019; as well as demographic, educational, and health information. It included also the Italian Medical Term Recognition (IMETER) test to measure HL and eight Likert-type statements to calculate a Vaccine Confidence Index (VCI). The number of employees that fulfilled the questionnaire was 710. The percentage of influenza vaccination uptake was low: only 9.6% got vaccinated in 2016–2017 and 2017–2018 and intended to vaccinate in 2018–2019. The VCI score and the IMETER-adjusted scores were weakly correlated (Rho = 0.156). At the multinomial logistic regression analysis, the VCI was a positive predictor of vaccination uptake. In conclusion, vaccine confidence is the strongest predictor of influenza vaccination uptake among the staff of NHs. The development of an adequate vaccine literacy measurement tool could be useful to understand whether skills could be related to vaccine confidence.


Author(s):  
Syed Fareed Mohsin ◽  
Muhammad Atif Agwan ◽  
Sameer Shaikh ◽  
Ziyad Ahmad Alsuwaydani ◽  
Saleh Ahmad AlSuwaydani

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is an extremely contagious respiratory disease. It poses a serious threat to healthcare workers which may cause substantial degree of psychological distress. This study aimed to evaluate the level of fear and anxiety among healthcare workers. A cross sectional study was designed to collect data from healthcare workers in Saudi Arabia using an online questionnaire. A non-probability convenient sampling technique was used to collect the data from 1st August to 10th August 2020 with the exclusion of non-healthcare worker and general public. A 5-point Likert scale was used to evaluate the level of fear and anxiety. The data was analyzed by using Spss version 23 .The descriptive data were represented as frequencies and percentage. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was applied to control the confounding factors and assess the relationship between variables. Data analyzed 737 participants revealed that 10.7%, 73.5%, and 15.7% of HCWs had a mild, moderate, and severe degree of fear and anxiety respectively. The multinomial logistic regression analysis revealed that gender and specialty of the participants were significantly associated with moderate and severe anxiety level. This study demonstrates that two-third of the healthcare workers had a moderate risk of fear and anxiety. However, females participants found to have elevated fear and anxiety level. Social distancing has a major impact on social well-being therefore its important to address social support through a policy. Further studies are needed to explore the mental health condition of healthcare workers in order to develop evidence based strategies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Caminati ◽  
L. Cegolon ◽  
M. Bacchini ◽  
N. Segala ◽  
A. Dama ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Asthma control and monitoring still represents a challenge worldwide. Although the international guidelines suggest the interplay between secondary and primary care services as an effective strategy to control the disease, community pharmacies’ are seldom involved in asthma control assessment. The present cross-sectional study aimed at providing a picture of the relationship between asthma severity and control in community pharmacies within the health district of the city of Verona (Veneto Region, North-Eastern Italy). Methods A call for participation was launched through the Pharmacists’ Association of Verona. Patients referring to the participating pharmacies with an anti-asthmatic drug medical prescription and an asthma exemption code were asked to complete the Asthma Control Test (ACT) and a brief questionnaire collecting information on their age, sex, smoking status, aerobic physical exercise and usual asthma therapy, which also defined asthma severity. A multinomial logistic regression model was fitted to investigate the risk of uncontrolled as well as poorly controlled vs. controlled asthma (base). Results were expressed as relative risk ratios (RRR) with 95% confidence interval (95%CI). Results Fifty-seven community pharmacies accepted to participate and 584 asthmatic patients (54% females; mean-age: 51 ± 19 years) were consecutively recruited from 1st January to 30th June 2018 (6 months). Based upon ACT score 50.5% patients had a controlled asthma, 22.3% a poorly controlled and 27.2% uncontrolled. A variable proportion of patients with uncontrolled asthma were observed for every level of severity, although more frequently with mild persistent form of asthma. Most patients (92%) self-reported regular compliance with therapy. At multinomial regression analysis, patients under regular asthma treatment course (RRR = 0.33; 95%CI: 0.15; 0.77) were less likely to have an ACT< 16 compared to those not taking medications regularly. Conclusions Overall, our findings highlighted an unsatisfactory asthma control in the general population, independently of the severity level of the disease. Community pharmacies could be a useful frontline interface between patients and the health care services, supporting an effective asthma management plan, from disease assessment and monitoring treatment compliance to referral of patients to specialist medical consultancies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenji Fujimoto ◽  
Tomohiro Ishimaru ◽  
Seiichiro Tateishi ◽  
Tomohisa Nagata ◽  
Mayumi Tsuji ◽  
...  

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. e042908
Author(s):  
Tingting Zhang ◽  
Jialan Hong ◽  
Xueting Yu ◽  
Qiulin Liu ◽  
Andi Li ◽  
...  

ObjectivesSocioeconomic inequalities in oral health are often neglected in oral health promotion. This cross-sectional study assessed the association between dental caries and socioeconomic status (SES) among preschool children in China.DesignCross-sectional study.SettingData from the Fourth National Oral Health Survey of China (2015), comprising of 40 360 children aged 3–5 years was used.MethodsDental caries indicators including prevalence of dental caries, dental pain experience and number of decayed, missing and filling teeth (dmft). SES indicators included parental education and household income. The associations between SES and dental caries were analysed by using negative binomial regression or Poisson regression models according to data distribution. Relative and absolute inequalities in dental caries were quantified by using the Relative Index of Inequality (RII) and Slope Index of Inequality (SII), respectively.ResultsThere were significant associations between SES and prevalence of dental caries and dmft (p<0.001). Children from lower educated (RII 1.36, 95% CI 1.3 to 1.43; SII 0.97, 95% CI 0.81 to 1.13) and lower household income (RII 1.17, 95% CI 1.11 to 1.24; SII 0.55, 95% CI 0.35 to 0.75) families had higher dmft than those from well-educated and most affluent families. Relative and absolute inequalities in dental caries were larger in urban areas by household income, and in rural areas by parental education.ConclusionsAssociation between dental caries and SES was demonstrated and socioeconomic inequalities in dental caries existed among Chinese preschool children.


2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 679-691 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruna Fernanda do Nascimento Jacinto de Souza ◽  
Letícia Marín-León

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether food insecurity is associated with the demographic, socioeconomic, lifestyle, and health conditions of the elderly. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 427 elderly (³60 years) from Campinas, São Paulo; half were users of a government-run soup kitchen and the others, their neighbors of the same sex. Food insecurity was measured by the Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale. Univariate multinomial logistic regression was used for calculating the odds ratio and 95% confidence interval to measure the association between the independent variables and food insecurity. Variables with p<0.20 were included in a multinomial model, and only those with p<0.05 remained. RESULTS: Most respondents (63.2%) were males; 15.2% and 6.6% were experiencing mild and moderate/severe food insecurity, respectively. The final model, adjusted for sex and age, showed that elderly with a total family income ≤2 minimum salaries (OR=3.41, 95%CI=1.27-9.14), who did not have a job (OR=2.95, 95%CI=1.23-7.06), and who were obese (OR=2.01, 95%CI=1.04-3.87) were more likely to be mildly food insecure. Elderly with cancer (OR=4.13, 95%CI=1.21-14.0) and those hospitalized in the past year (OR=3.16, 95%CI=1.23-8.11) were more likely to be moderately/severely food insecure. Finally, elderly living in unfinished houses (OR=2.71; and OR=2.92) and who did not consume fruits (OR=2.95 and OR=4.11) or meats daily (OR=2.04 and OR=3.83) were more likely to be mildly and moderately/severely food insecure. CONCLUSION: Food insecure elderly are more likely to have chronic diseases, poor nutritional status, and poor socioeconomic condition. Therefore, the welfare programs should expand the number of soup kitchens and develop other strategies to assure adequate nutrition to these elderly.


2007 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 320-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Min Jung Park ◽  
Kyung Eun Yun ◽  
Go Eun Lee ◽  
Hong Jun Cho ◽  
Hye Soon Park

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