scholarly journals Assessment of public attitude and uptake experience of COVID-19 tests in the United Kingdom and China: a comparative infodemiology study (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhiyuan Hou ◽  
Leesa Lin ◽  
Yi Song ◽  
Qian Wang ◽  
Jialu Pu ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Background: Massive community-wide testing has become a cornerstone of management strategies for the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to assess public attitudes, risk perception, information needs, perceived access, and uptake experience about COVID-19 testing in the UK and China. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to assess public attitudes, risk perception, information needs, perceived access, and uptake experience about COVID-19 testing in the UK and China. METHODS Methods We collected and manually coded 3856 UK tweets and 9299 Chinese Sina Weibo posts mentioning COVID-19 testing from June to July, 2020. We adopted a grounded theory framework to conduct content analysis. Descriptive analysis, time trends, geographical mapping, and chi-squared test were performed to assess the temporal, spatial, and socio-demographic characteristics that determine the difference of attitudes or uptake of COVID-19 tests. RESULTS Results Social media users in the UK demonstrated a higher percentage of support towards COVID-19 testing than those in China; comparatively, there were much wider reports of public uptake of COVID-19 tests in mainland China than the UK, and uncomfortable experiences and logistical barriers to testing were more expressed in China. The top reasons for taking COVID-19 tests were personal health needs, community-wide testing, and mandatory testing policies for travel, with major differences in the ranking order between two countries. Rumours and information need about COVID-19 testing were also identified. CONCLUSIONS Conclusion The local epidemic situation influenced public attitudes towards individual COVID-19 testing and mass community-wide testing. Policies and information campaigns that emphasise the importance of timely testing and provide a supporting environment for accessing a test are key to normalise COVID-19 testing as a part of life during the pandemic and to increase uptake.

10.2196/26895 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. e26895
Author(s):  
Leesa Lin ◽  
Yi Song ◽  
Qian Wang ◽  
Jialu Pu ◽  
Fiona Yueqian Sun ◽  
...  

Background Massive community-wide testing has become the cornerstone of management strategies for the COVID-19 pandemic. Objective This study was a comparative analysis between the United Kingdom and China, which aimed to assess public attitudes and uptake regarding COVID-19 testing, with a focus on factors of COVID-19 testing hesitancy, including effectiveness, access, risk perception, and communication. Methods We collected and manually coded 3856 UK tweets and 9299 Chinese Sina Weibo posts mentioning COVID-19 testing from June 1 to July 15, 2020. Adapted from the World Health Organization’s 3C Model of Vaccine Hesitancy, we employed social listening analysis examining key factors of COVID-19 testing hesitancy (confidence, complacency, convenience, and communication). Descriptive analysis, time trends, geographical mapping, and chi-squared tests were performed to assess the temporal, spatial, and sociodemographic characteristics that determine the difference in attitudes or uptake of COVID-19 tests. Results The UK tweets demonstrated a higher percentage of support toward COVID-19 testing than the posts from China. There were much wider reports of public uptake of COVID-19 tests in mainland China than in the United Kingdom; however, uncomfortable experiences and logistical barriers to testing were more expressed in China. The driving forces for undergoing COVID-19 testing were personal health needs, community-wide testing, and mandatory testing policies for travel, with major differences in the ranking order between the two countries. Rumors and information inquiries about COVID-19 testing were also identified. Conclusions Public attitudes and acceptance toward COVID-19 testing constantly evolve with local epidemic situations. Policies and information campaigns that emphasize the importance of timely testing and rapid communication responses to inquiries and rumors, and provide a supportive environment for accessing tests are key to tackling COVID-19 testing hesitancy and increasing uptake.


2018 ◽  
Vol 222 ◽  
pp. 52-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Dunn ◽  
Mariella Marzano ◽  
Jack Forster ◽  
Robin M.A. Gill

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (24) ◽  
pp. 436 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ojewole, Foluso ◽  
Oludipe, Yemisi O.

Background: Pregnant women attending antenatal care have a need for quality pregnancy-related information. Purpose: To describe the pregnancy-related information seeking patterns among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic in Ikorodu. Methods and Design: The study was carried out using a descriptive correlational design. A purposive sample of 228pregnant women were recruited from an antenatal clinic in Lagos State to complete pregnancy-related information seeking pattern questionnaire (PRISPQ).” Descriptive analysis and inferential statistics (logic regression) was used to analyse the information generated. Result: Over 50% respondents are in third trimester, age range 26-35years. Majority of the pregnant women in the study area had moderate level of pregnancy information needs (58.3%, mean = 28.007) and information-seeking (52.2%, mean = 26.119). Long wait to see the healthcare personnel (64.5%) and having knowledge of pregnancy (60.5%) are perceived barriers to seeking pregnancy-related information. The most potent predictor of information seeking pattern among the predictor variables of the study is religion (β = .372; t = 8.419; p < .05), followed by age (β= .300; t = 6.335; p <.05), and lastly by marital status (β= .261; t = 4.456; p <.05). Conclusion: Pregnancy outcomes could be improved if pregnant women are provided with pregnancy-related information necessary to empower them to overcome pregnancy challenges. Thus, nurses and midwives should offer quality information that could assist the pregnant women to make rightful healthcare decision during antenatal.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. e000780
Author(s):  
Anna Rosala-Hallas ◽  
Ashley P Jones ◽  
Emma Bedson ◽  
Vanessa Compton ◽  
Ricardo M Fernandes ◽  
...  

BackgroundBronchiolitis is a major cause of admission to hospital in children. Non-invasive ventilation (NIV) support with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) or high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) oxygen is routinely used for infants in the UK with bronchiolitis.ObjectiveTo establish UK paediatric practice regarding management of bronchiolitis, and to explore issues pertinent to the design of a potential future randomised controlled trial of NIV.DesignScreening logs were completed in hospitals in England capturing information on paediatric bronchiolitis admissions. An online national survey of clinical practice was disseminated to healthcare professionals (HCPs) across the UK to ascertain current management strategies.ResultsScreening logs captured data on 393 infants from 8 hospitals. Reasons for admission were most commonly respiratory distress and/or poor fluid intake. Oxygen was administered for 54% of admissions. Respiratory (CPAP and HFNC) and non-respiratory support administered varied considerably. The national survey was completed by 111 HCPs from 76 hospitals. Data were obtained on criteria used to commence and wean NIV, responsibilities for altering NIV settings, minimum training requirements for staff managing a child on NIV, and numbers of trained staff. Most centres were interested in and capable of running a trial of NIV, even out of normal office hours.ConclusionsRespiratory and non-respiratory management of bronchiolitis in UK centres varies widely. A trial of HFNC oxygen therapy in this group of patients is feasible and HCPs would be willing to randomise patients into such a trial. Future work should focus on defining trial eligibility criteria.


2021 ◽  
pp. 003232172098670
Author(s):  
Stephen Farrall ◽  
Emily Gray ◽  
Phil Mike Jones ◽  
Colin Hay

In what ways, if at all, do past ideologies shape the values of subsequent generations of citizens? Are public attitudes in one period shaped by the discourses and constructions of an earlier generation of political leaders? Using Thatcherism – one variant of the political New Right of the 1980s – as the object of our enquiries, this article explores the extent to which an attitudinal legacy is detectable among the citizens of the UK some 40 years after Margaret Thatcher first became Prime Minister. Our article, drawing on survey data collected in early 2019 (n = 5781), finds that younger generations express and seemingly embrace key tenets of her and her governments’ philosophies. Yet at the same time, they are keen to describe her government’s policies as having ‘gone too far’. Our contribution throws further light on the complex and often covert character of attitudinal legacies. One reading of the data suggests that younger generations do not attribute the broadly Thatcherite values that they hold to Thatcher or Thatcherism since they were socialised politically after such values had become normalised.


Author(s):  
K. Dhanasekar ◽  
V. Visakan ◽  
F. Tahir ◽  
S. P. Balasubramanian

Abstract Introduction Composite phaeochromocytoma is a tumour containing a separate tumour of neuronal origin in addition to a chromaffin cell tumour. This study reports on two cases from a single centre’s records and presents a systematic literature review of composite phaeochromocytomas. Methods In addition to describing 2 case reports, a systematic search of the Medline database from inception up to April 2020 was done for human case reports on composite phaeochromocytomas. Relevant titles and/or abstracts were screened, and full texts were reviewed to identify appropriate studies. Data was extracted and a descriptive analysis of presentation, clinical features, management strategies and outcomes was performed. The quality of included studies was assessed using a critical appraisal checklist. Results There were 62 studies included, with a total of 94 patients. Of 91 patients where data was available, the median (range) age of patients was 48 (4–86) years. Of 90 patients where information was provided, 57% were female. In at least 28% of patients, a genetic cause was identified. Common presenting features include abdominal pain, palpable mass, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal symptoms. The most common tumour component with phaeochromocytoma is ganglioneuroma; other components include ganglioneuroblastoma, neuroblastoma and malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumours. In patients with follow-up data (n=48), 85% of patients were alive and well at a median (range) follow-up time of 18 (0.5–168) months. Conclusion Composite phaeochromocytoma is a rare tumour, with a significant genetic predisposition. This review summarises available epidemiological data, which will be useful for clinicians managing this rare condition.


2021 ◽  
pp. 095892872110230
Author(s):  
Gianna Maria Eick ◽  
Christian Albrekt Larsen

The article theorises how covering social risks through cash transfers and in-kind services shapes public attitudes towards including/excluding immigrants from these programmes in Western European destination countries. The argument is that public attitudes are more restrictive of granting immigrants access to benefits than to services. This hypothesis is tested across ten social protection programmes using original survey data collected in Denmark, Germany and the UK in 2019. Across the three countries, representing respectively a social democratic, conservative and liberal welfare regime context, the article finds that the public does indeed have a preference for easier access for in-kind services than for cash benefits. The article also finds these results to be stable across programmes covering the same social risks; the examples are child benefits and childcare. The results are even stable across left-wing, mainstream and radical right-wing voters; with the partial exception of radical right-wing voters in the UK. Finally, the article finds only a moderate association between individual characteristics and attitudinal variation across cash benefits and in-kind services.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Burn ◽  
Andreas Heinemeyer ◽  
Thorunn Helgason ◽  
David Glaves ◽  
Michael Morecroft

&lt;p&gt;Peatlands are globally valued for the ecosystem services they deliver, including water quality regulation and carbon sequestration. In the UK, blanket bogs are the main peatland habitat and previous work has linked blanket bog management, especially rotational burning of heather vegetation on grousemoors, to impacts on these ecosystem services. However, we still lack a mechanistic, process-level understanding of how peatland management and habitat status is linked to ecosystem service provision, which is mostly driven by soil microbial processes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Here we examine bacterial and fungal communities across a spectrum of &amp;#8220;intact&amp;#8221; to degraded UK blanket bogs and under different vegetation management strategies. Sites included grousemoors under burnt and alternative mown or uncut management along with further locations including 'near intact', degraded and restored sites across a UK climatic gradient ranging from Exmoor (South UK), the Peak District (Mid) to the Flow Country (North). Moreover, an experiment was setup at the University of York with peat mesocosms taken from all sites and management/habitat conditions to allow a comparison between field and controlled conditions and assessing root-mediated processes. Using a structural equation model, we linked grousemoor management to specific fungal/bacterial functional groups, and have started to relate this to changes in water quality provision and carbon cycle aspects. This represents a significant step in the effort to use microbial communities as indicators of peatland habitat condition in UK upland blanket bogs.&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Farnoush Bayatmakou ◽  
Azadeh Mohebi ◽  
Abbas Ahmadi

Purpose Query-based summarization approaches might not be able to provide summaries compatible with the user’s information need, as they mostly rely on a limited source of information, usually represented as a single query by the user. This issue becomes even more challenging when dealing with scientific documents, as they contain more specific subject-related terms, while the user may not be able to express his/her specific information need in a query with limited terms. This study aims to propose an interactive multi-document text summarization approach that generates an eligible summary that is more compatible with the user’s information need. This approach allows the user to interactively specify the composition of a multi-document summary. Design/methodology/approach This approach exploits the user’s opinion in two stages. The initial query is refined by user-selected keywords/keyphrases and complete sentences extracted from the set of retrieved documents. It is followed by a novel method for sentence expansion using the genetic algorithm, and ranking the final set of sentences using the maximal marginal relevance method. Basically, for implementation, the Web of Science data set in the artificial intelligence (AI) category is considered. Findings The proposed approach receives feedback from the user in terms of favorable keywords and sentences. The feedback eventually improves the summary as the end. To assess the performance of the proposed system, this paper has asked 45 users who were graduate students in the field of AI to fill out a questionnaire. The quality of the final summary has been also evaluated from the user’s perspective and information redundancy. It has been investigated that the proposed approach leads to higher degrees of user satisfaction compared to the ones with no or only one step of the interaction. Originality/value The interactive summarization approach goes beyond the initial user’s query, while it includes the user’s preferred keywords/keyphrases and sentences through a systematic interaction. With respect to these interactions, the system gives the user a more clear idea of the information he/she is looking for and consequently adjusting the final result to the ultimate information need. Such interaction allows the summarization system to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the user’s information needs while expanding context-based knowledge and guiding the user toward his/her information journey.


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