Awareness and Acceptance of COVID-19 Vaccines among Pharmacy Students in Zambia: The Implications for Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy

Abstract Background: Several vaccines have been developed and administered since coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was declared a pandemic in March 2020. In April 2021, the authorities in Zambia administered the first doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca® COVID-19 vaccine. However, little is known about the awareness and acceptability of the vaccines among the Zambian population. This study was undertaken to address this starting with undergraduate pharmacy students in Zambia. Materials and methods: A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted among 326 undergraduate pharmacy students in Zambia using an online semi-structured questionnaire from 12th to 25th April 2021 and analysed using Stata version 16. Test of associations were undertaken using Pearson chi-square test or Fisher's exact test as appropriate. The multivariable logistic regression was used to investigate the determinants of awareness and acceptability. All statistical tests were performed at a 5% significance level and 95% confidence level. Results: Among 326 participants, 98.8% were aware of the COVID-19 vaccination programme but only 24.5% would accept the vaccine should it be made available to them. Awareness of the COVID-19 vaccine was influenced by religious beliefs (aOR=0.01, 95% CI: 0.01 to 0.20, p=0.004). Being male (aOR=1.78, 95% CI: 1.05 to 3.02, p=0.034) and single (aOR=2.61, 95% CI: 1.04 to 6.55, p=0.041) was associated with higher odds of accepting the vaccine. Being unemployed (aOR=0.31, 95% CI: 0.15 to 0.66, p=0.002) was associated with lower odds of vaccine acceptancy. Barriers to acceptance of the vaccine were possible side effects (78.5%) and scepticism about its effectiveness to prevent COVID-19 (10.2%). Conclusion: There was significant vaccine hesitancy towards COVID-19 vaccines among Zambian pharmacy students despite their awareness about the vaccines. Health authorities must work collaboratively with the Universities and other institutions to mitigate vaccine hesitancy, especially with pharmacy students a key part of the future healthcare workforce overseeing disease prevention strategies. These findings can help guide future interventions to address vaccine hesitancy to reduce future transmission rates of this virus.

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Association between speech and dental occlusion changes in children with cleft lip and palate and time of primary plastic surgeries

Revista CEFAC ◽

10.1590/1982-0216/202123412420 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 23 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Gabriela Ribeiro Schilling ◽

Maria Cristina de Almeida Freitas Cardoso ◽

Paulo Sérgio Gonçalves da Silva ◽

Marcia Angélica Peter Maahs

Keyword(s):

Cleft Lip ◽

Cleft Lip And Palate ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Dental Occlusion ◽

Chi Square ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Significance Level ◽

Exact Test ◽

Chi Square Test ◽

Incisive Foramen

ABSTRACT Purpose: to describe the changes in speech and dental occlusion in children with cleft lip and palate and verify their association with each other and with the time of primary plastic surgeries. Methods: a cross-sectional study with collected data on the subjects’ identification, age at the time of primary surgeries, and clinical assessment of speech and dental occlusion. The chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, and t-test were used to verify the associations between the variables at the 5% significance level (p < 0.05). Results: the sample comprised 11 children aged 6 to 10 years, most of whom were males, self-reported white, with trans-incisive foramen cleft, predominantly on the left side. The mean age at lip repair surgery was 6 months, and 13 months at palatoplasty. Among the main dental occlusion changes, posterior and anterior crossbite stood out. All the subjects presented changed speech, with a prevalence of cases with dentoalveolar and palatine deformities, followed by passive and active changes. Subjects with anterior crossbite tended to have undergone primary lip repair surgery at a mean of four months earlier than the subjects without anterior crossbite. Conclusions: the associations between speech and dental occlusion changes, and between these and the time of primary plastic surgeries were not statistically significant. Even though it is known that early lip repair surgery is ideal to favor oral functions and aesthetics, the results revealed a tendency towards anterior crossbite, in these subjects.

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Knowledge and ability to manage medical emergencies among dental students

Journal of Oral Medicine Oral Surgery Oral Pathology and Oral Radiology ◽

10.18231/j.ijooo.2021.050 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (3) ◽

pp. 161-166

Author(s):

Chitturi Prashanthi ◽

Prashant B Patil ◽

Vajendra Joshi ◽

Kiran Kumar K R ◽

Shilpa R T

Keyword(s):

Life Support ◽

Dental Students ◽

Medical Emergency ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Chi Square ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Significance Level ◽

Chi Square Test ◽

Medical Emergencies ◽

The Difference

: An emergency can be encountered anytime and anywhere. Minimal knowledge about medical emergency and their etiology, primary protocol for management must be known to avoid potential consequences. Hence, the present study was undertaken to compare the knowledge, and ability to handle the medical emergencies among the dental students. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 100 randomly selected dental students (post-graduate students and interns) comprising of two groups of students those who had underwent training and those who did not. The data obtained was analyzed using the SPSS for windows version 22.0 released 2013. Independent chi square test was used for comparison of responses and independent student t-test was used for the comparison of mean scores. The significance level was set at p<0.001. : The average mean knowledge and ability score was 68% & 61.4% respectively among the participants. On further comparison of mean knowledge & ability scores between the participants with & without basic life support training, participants with BLS training showed better knowledge than those without training and the difference was statistically significant between the two groups (p<0.001%). The study found deficiencies in the knowledge and ability of untrained graduates to deal with medical emergencies as compared to trained.

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Pengetahuan Masyarakat Tentang Protokol Kesehatan Dengan Tindakan Pencegahan Penularan COVID-19 Di Wilayah Kabupaten Sikka

Jurnal Keperawatan Muhammadiyah ◽

10.30651/jkm.v6i3.9409 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Pasionista Vianitati ◽

Maria Yulita Meo

Keyword(s):

Statistical Tests ◽

Sampling Technique ◽

Public Knowledge ◽

Prevention Measures ◽

Chi Square ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Significance Level ◽

The Public ◽

Chi Square Test ◽

Cross Sectional Design

Objective: The aim of this study to find out the relationship between public knowledge about health protocols and prevention measures for Covid-19 transmission in the Sikka Regency area.Methods: This type of research is analytic observational with cross sectional design. A questionnaire was given to measure public knowledge about health protocols and an observation sheet to see the behavior of the community to prevent Covid-19 transmission. The sample in the study was 147 people using purposive sampling technique. Data analysis used Chi-Square with a significance level of α = 0.05.Results: of this study were obtained public knowledge about the health protocol for the prevention of Covid-19 transmission was in a good category of 53.7% and most people made efforts to prevent Covid-19 transmission by 5M as much as 62.6%. And the results of statistical tests using the Chi Square test obtained pvalue = 0.029 <α = 0.05.Conclusion: there is a significant relationship between public knowledge about health protocols and measures to prevent Covid-19 transmission in the Sikka Regency area. Therefore, all forms of health education to the public related to Covid-19 must continue to be carried out and carry out tiered evaluations related to the implementation of health protocols and it is hoped that the community will be more obedient to implementing health protocols to prevent Covid-19 transmission through 5M measures.

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Questionnaire based assessment of awareness about infection control practices regarding COVID-19 among health care workers

International Journal of Advances in Medicine ◽

10.18203/2349-3933.ijam20212360 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Abhijeet K. Mane ◽

Anuradha G. Tolpadi ◽

Meera S. Modak ◽

Ashok K. Verma ◽

Ancy C. Achenkunju ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Infection Control ◽

Educational Interventions ◽

Basic Knowledge ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Chi Square ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Significance Level ◽

Chi Square Test ◽

Ancillary Staff ◽

Study Participants

Background: Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at frontline of response of the current pandemic of the COVID-19. This exposes them to risk of infection due to insufficient knowledge and unhealthy practices. The aim of the study was to assess the knowledge of infection control practices among HCWs regarding COVID-19.Methods: A web-based cross-sectional survey was conducted between April 2020 and June 2020. A 21-questions survey was developed and distributed among study population. A total of 622 HCWs working in a dedicated COVID-19 hospital participated in this study. Descriptive statistics was applied to represent participant characteristics and Chi-square test was used to evaluate the level of association among variables with a significance level of <0.05.Results: Out of 622 participants, 443 (71.22%) were females and 179 (28.78%) were males. Majority of the participants were nurses 308 (49.5%) followed by resident doctors 152 (24.4%), faculty doctors 108 (17.3%) and ancillary staff 54 (8.6%). Most participants 424 (68.1%) were less than 30 years of age. The overall response to survey was satisfactory with average correct responses recorded at 70.9%. Faculty doctors and resident doctors scored maximum average of 73% marks.Conclusions: The study participants showed sufficient basic knowledge about infection control practices regarding COVID-19. It also highlights the importance of continued training and educational interventions which are required to battle the present pandemic situation.

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Perception, knowledge, and attitudes towards molar incisor hypomineralization among Spanish dentists: a cross-sectional study

BMC Oral Health ◽

10.1186/s12903-020-01249-6 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Clara Serna-Muñoz ◽

Yolanda Martínez-Beneyto ◽

Amparo Pérez-Silva ◽

Andrea Poza-Pascual ◽

Francisco Javier Ibáñez-López ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Environmental Pollutants ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Glass Ionomer ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Chi Square ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Exact Test ◽

Dental Practitioners ◽

Molar Incisor Hypomineralization ◽

Chi Square Test

Abstract Background Molar incisor hypomineralization (MIH) is a growing health problem, and its treatment is a challenge. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate and compare the perceptions, knowledge, and clinical experiences of MIH in general dental practitioners (GDPs) and paediatric dentists (PDs) in Spain. Methods All dentists belonging to the College of Dentists of the Region of Murcia, in the South-East of Spain, were invited to participate in a cross-sectional survey. They were asked to complete a two-part questionnaire including sociodemographic profiles and knowledge, experience, and perceptions of MIH. Data were analysed using Pearson’s chi-square test, Fisher’s exact test and Cramer’s V test. Results The overall response rate was 18.6% (214/1147). Most respondents were aged 31–40 years (44.86%), with more than 15 years of professional experience (39.72%). They worked mainly in the private sector (84.58%) and were licensed in dentistry (74.30%): 95.45% of PDs had detected an increase in the incidence of MIH in recent years (p < 0.001). Only 23.80% of GDPs claimed to have made a training course on MIH. With respect to the aetiology, chronic medical conditions (p = 0.029) and environmental pollutants (p = 0.008) were the only factors that showed significant between-group differences. Durability (p = 0.009) and remineralization potential (p = 0.018) were the factors where there was a between-group difference in the choice of the restoration material. In the case of post-eruptive fractures and opacities, the preferred material for both groups was resin-modified glass ionomer (RMGIC). However, in incisor lesions, composite was the material of choice for both groups, with significant differences (p = 0.032) in the use of glass ionomer. Most respondents expressed a need for continuing education on MIH. Conclusion Spanish dentists perceived an increase in the incidence of MIH. The material of choice was RMGIC for non-aesthetic sectors and composite for incisors. Dentists believe it is difficult or very difficult to manage MIH, since the long-term success of restorations of MIH lesions is compromised because resin adhesion is not good. Both GDPs and PDs believe they need more training on the aetiology, diagnosis, and treatment of MIH.

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Community Pharmacists’ Opinions towards Poor Prescription Writing in Jazan, Saudi Arabia

Healthcare ◽

10.3390/healthcare9081077 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (8) ◽

pp. 1077

Author(s):

Saad Saeed Alqahtani

Keyword(s):

Saudi Arabia ◽

Descriptive Analysis ◽

Community Pharmacists ◽

P Value ◽

Chi Square ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Significance Level ◽

Health Authorities ◽

Chi Square Test ◽

Prescription Writing

Avoidance of medication errors is imperative for the safe use of medications, and community pharmacists are uniquely placed to identify and resolve the errors that may arise due to poorly handwritten prescriptions. Purpose: To explore the opinion and attitudes of community pharmacists towards poor prescription writing and their suggestions to overcome this concern. Methods: A cross-sectional, self-administered survey was conducted among the community pharmacists in the Jazan region, Saudi Arabia. Descriptive analysis and chi-square test were used at 5% p-value (p > 0.05) as the significance level. Results: The response rate for the survey was 78.66%, and 140 community pharmacists agreed to participate. Among the study subjects, the majority (73.57%) had a bachelor’s degree. Nearly three-fourths (3/4) of the pharmacists (72.29%) chose to send the patient back to the prescriber when they found difficulty in interpreting the information from an illegible prescription. As many as 80.71% of the pharmacists believed that poorly handwritten prescriptions were the cause of actual errors when dispensing medications. The most commonly encountered problem due to poorly handwritten prescriptions was the commercial name of medicine, which was reported by around two-thirds (67.86%) of the pharmacists. The use of e-prescription was suggested by 72.86% of the pharmacists as a probable solution to encounter this problem. Conclusion: Our findings highlight the belief and attitudes of community pharmacists in the region and their opinions to solve this impending problem of poor prescription writing. Continuous professional development courses can be adopted to tackle the problem. Additionally, health authorities can work on incorporating and facilitating the use of e-prescription in the community sector, which can be a boon to physicians, pharmacists, and patients. Proper and extensive training is however needed before the implementation of e-prescribing.

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Acceptance of COVID-19 Vaccine A mong Residents of South India: A Cross-sectional Survey

PERSPECTIVES IN MEDICAL RESEARCH - 2 ◽

10.47799/pimr.0903.17 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 9 (3) ◽

pp. 72-78

Author(s):

Tarun Suvvari ◽

Venkataramana Kandi ◽

Divya Bala A M R Salibindla ◽

Simhachalam Kutikuppala ◽

Christos Tsagkaris ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Online Survey ◽

South India ◽

Vaccination Strategy ◽

Vaccine Hesitancy ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Chi Square ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Awareness Campaigns ◽

Routine Administration ◽

Chi Square Test

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.

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Relation between performance in side bridge and injuries in amateur soccer

Fisioterapia em Movimento ◽

10.1590/0103-5150.028.003.ao03 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 28 (3) ◽

pp. 447-457

Author(s):

Luiz Antônio Garcia de Souza ◽

Tissiani Morimoto ◽

Pâmela von Mühlen ◽

Tiarlei Crossetti Gonçalves ◽

Philip dos Santos Felippe ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Chi Square ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Male Athletes ◽

Significance Level ◽

Exact Test ◽

Muscle Imbalance ◽

Chi Square Test ◽

Bridge Performance ◽

Clinical Records

AbstractIntroduction Central instability is associated with insufficient endurance and strength of the stabilizer muscles, and it can lead to muscle imbalance and injuries.Objective Relate side bridge performance with the presence of injuries in amateur soccer athletes.Materials and methods A cross-sectional study with a sample of 188 male athletes, aged between 11 and 17 years. To identify the injuries, a questionnaire developed by researchers was applied and the players’ clinical records were reviewed. The time of the side bridge test was used to identify muscle imbalance. For statistical analysis, the following tests were used: chi-square test; Pearson’s chi-square test; Fisher’s exact test; Yates’s correction for continuity; two-way ANOVA; one-way ANOVA; and t-test. The significance level (α) of 5% was adopted.Results Injuries were reported by 59.6% of the athletes: sprain (31.3%); muscle strain (28.6%) and fracture; luxation and subluxation (19.6%) were the most frequently reported injuries. Athletes that reported any injury corresponded to 73.2% of the sample. The presence of injuries was not associated with muscle imbalance (p = 0.565), as it prevailed in athletes with both balance (64%) and imbalance (58%). Injury type and prevalence were not significant when compared with the presence of imbalance (p > 0.05).Final considerations No significant relation between muscle imbalance and injury was observed in the studied sample.

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Association between ankyloglossia and breastfeeding

CoDAS ◽

10.1590/2317-1782/20182018264 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 31 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Silvia Márcia Andrade Campanha ◽

Roberta Lopes de Castro Martinelli ◽

Durval Batista Palhares

Keyword(s):

Statistical Analysis ◽

Newborn Infants ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Ethics Committee ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Chi Square ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Significance Level ◽

Exact Test ◽

Chi Square Test

ABSTRACT Purpose To analyze the association between ankyloglossia and breastfeeding. Methods A cross-sectional study was undertaken on 130 newborn infants in exclusive breastfeeding with Apgar score ≥ 8 within the first five days of life. The research was approved by the Ethics Committee on Human Research. The data collection was performed by the researcher and by three trained speech therapists of the team. The protocols applied were the Neonatal Tongue Screening Test from the Lingual Frenulum Protocol for Infants, the UNICEF Breastfeeding Observation Aid, and the collection of maternal complaints related to the difficulty in breastfeeding was also considered. The data were submitted to statistical analysis – chi-square test and Fisher’s exact test, with a significance level of 5%. Results When correlating the data, the statistical analysis revealed an association between ankyloglossia and the items of suckling category of the Breastfeeding Observation Aid. The association between complaint of difficulty in breastfeeding and ankyloglossia was also seen. Conclusion On the first days of life, ankyloglossia is associated with the mother’s breastfeeding complaint and with the newborn’s sucking difficulty.

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Effect of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Levels of Empathy among Undergraduate Dental Students in Pakistan

European Journal of Dentistry ◽

10.1055/s-0040-1722091 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 14 (S 01) ◽

pp. S110-S115

Author(s):

Sundas Ghaus ◽

Madiha Abdul Waheed ◽

Shahreen Zahid Khan ◽

Laila Mustafa ◽

Sohaib Siddique ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dental Students ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Chi Square ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Significance Level ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Chi Square Test ◽

Post Hoc ◽

The Impact ◽

One Way Anova

Abstract Objective The purpose of our study is to determine the effect of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the levels of empathy toward patients among undergraduate dental students in Pakistan. Materials and Methods A cross-sectional, survey-based study was conducted at Islamic International Dental College, Islamabad, Pakistan. After taking an informed consent, a validated and pretested Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ) was distributed amongst the undergraduate dental students at two points, one before the COVID-19 existed, and the other after August 7th, 2020, when the COVID-19 cases dropped in Pakistan. Responses were indicated on a five point Likert Scale. Statistical Analysis A one-way ANOVA (analysis of variance) was used to compare the TEQ scores between the different years of education at the dental school. Difference within the groups was analyzed using the post-hoc Tukey test. Pre- and post-COVID-19 comparison was done using the Chi-square test (significance level p < 0.05). Results A total of 221 out of 260 students in the pre-COVID-19 group, while 210 out of 260 students in the post-COVID-19 group enrolled in the dentistry program participated in the study. Significant difference in the empathy levels was observed in the pre- and post-COVID-19 groups of the same population, i.e., (p < 0.05). The response rate was 85%. Conclusions This study showed an increase in mean empathy scores among the undergraduate dental students after COVID-19, indicating a significant improvement in their empathy levels during the time of COVID-19. It highlights the impact of the pandemic, whereby death and chaos seem to have brought about an improvement in interpersonal harmony.

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