University Students' Support for Heterosexual Women with Aids

1989 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 171-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary J. Allen ◽  
Debbi Miller Gutierrez

Support for a woman heterosexual AIDS victim was examined among 237 university students, 54% female and 54% upper division, with a mean age of 23.7 yr. A questionnaire containing one of four scenarios (AIDS resulting from unsafe sex, unsafe drug use, sex with an unfaithful husband, or a blood transfusion) measured support by people's willingness to sign or circulate a petition supporting the victim's right to attend college classes. A five-way mixed-design analysis of variance showed that victims who took risks received less support, that respondents were more willing to sign than to circulate a petition, and, while men did not discriminate among the four scenarios, women were most likely to offer support to “innocent” victims who contracted AIDS without sexual behavior. In addition, respondents who knew someone with AIDS were more likely to sign the petition. AIDS, particularly when contracted through risky behavior, is a disease with social ramifications beyond its threat to public health.

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
I Miskulin ◽  
I Vcev ◽  
I Gaspar ◽  
A Juric ◽  
A Barac ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Illicit drug (ID) use among university students has been recognized as a global public health issue in recent years. It has been emphasized that during university years’ opportunities to experiment with ID increases due to the fact that this is a period of life characterized by transition, intense academic pressures as well as independence and separation from parental supervision. The aim of this study was to identify prevalence and characteristics of ID use among Croatian university students. Methods This was a multicentric, cross-sectional study that included five Croatian universities. A validated, anonymous online questionnaire containing questions regarding demographic and data regarding ID, alcohol and tobacco use was self-administered to cross-faculty representative student sample of University of Osijek, Zagreb, Rijeka, Split and Zadar during November 2018. Results The study sample included 888 students, the average age being 21.9 years (range 18-34); 18.4% males and 81.6% females. The overall prevalence of ID use among Croatian university students was 29.8%. The ID use was more frequent among males (p = 0.001) and among students who repeated the study year (p < 0.001). The study further revealed that there were 48.4% students who tried any type of ID during life. The majority of students tried ID for the first time during high school period (34.1%), when socializing with friends in open spaces such as parks (20.6%) and main reason for usage was to have fun (40.5%). The study also showed that there were statistically significant Spearman rank correlations between ID and alcohol use (p < 0.001) as well as between ID and tobacco use (p < 0.001). Conclusions The usage of ID is highly prevalent among Croatian university students in participating universities. Further studies are needed to identify and explain other possible risk factors for this phenomenon. Key messages Illicit drug use is an important but poorly investigated public health issue among Croatian university students. Better understanding of specific characteristic and possible risk factor for illicit drug use among university student population will ensure development of preventive programs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa J. Messersmith ◽  
Rose Adjei ◽  
Jennifer Beard ◽  
Angela R. Bazzi ◽  
Joel J. Earlywine ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Drug use is a growing concern in Ghana. People who inject drugs (PWID) are highly vulnerable to HIV and other infectious diseases. Ghana’s National Strategic Plan for HIV/AIDS 2016–2020 identifies PWID as a key population, but efforts to address the needs of PWID have lagged behind those targeting sex workers and men who have sex with men. Lack of information about PWID is a critical barrier to implementing effective HIV prevention and treatment. We aimed to learn more about the vulnerability of the PWID population in order to inform much-needed harm reduction interventions. Methods From April to July 2018, we conducted a mixed methods study in Kumasi, Ghana, to identify all major drug using locations, count the numbers of PWID to obtain rough population size estimations, and administer anonymous surveys to 221 PWID regarding drug use and sexual behavior. We also tested for HIV, HCV, and HBV from syringes used by survey participants. Results Key informants identified five major drug using locations and estimated the total PWID population size to be between 600 and 2000. Enumerators counted between 35 and 61 individuals present at each of the five bases. Sharing syringes and reusing discarded syringes are common practices. Over half of survey participants (59%) reported past-month syringe sharing (34% used a used syringe and 52% gave away a used syringe). Individuals with higher injection frequency (≥ 21 times weekly) and who injected with four or more people had higher odds of syringe sharing. Of the survey participants reporting sex in the last month (23%), most reported having one partner, but only 12% used condoms. Nearly all women (11/13) reported exchanging sex for drugs and 6/13 reported exchanging sex for money in the last six months. Fifteen percent of participants (all men) reported paying for sex using drugs or money. Of the used syringes, prevalence estimates were 3% (HIV), 2% (HCV), and 9% (HBV). Conclusions Our findings confirm the urgent need to implement harm reduction interventions targeting PWID and to build a strong and enabling legal and policy environment in Ghana to support these efforts.


Author(s):  
Jonathan Valencia ◽  
Joel Cort

A psychophysical methodology was utilized to examine 40 non-skilled female participants performing right-angle power tool (RAPT) fastening tasks. A combination of two between subject variables were examined for a total of four between-subject groups: joint orientation (horizontal and vertical planes) and joint hardness (hard and soft joints). Participants were evenly distributed into one of four joint orientation- hardness groups. Within each group, a combination of three fastening strategies and three fastening frequencies were performed by each participant. The chosen target torque determined the physical capability limits (PCL). A mixed-design repeated analysis of variance with Tukey’ significance post hoc test were used to determine any significance with the measured variables ( p<0.05). Fastening strategy and frequency influenced the chosen torque magnitude. Participants chose significantly higher target torques with the Turbo Tight strategy in comparison to the other two strategies. Furthermore, participants chose to accept lower target torques and forces as fastening frequency increased.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bader Y Alhatlani ◽  
Waleed A Aljabr ◽  
Mohammed S Almarzouqi ◽  
Sami M Alhatlani ◽  
Rayan N Alzunaydi ◽  
...  

Aim: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) transmission through blood transfusion is a major public health issue worldwide. We aimed to determine the seroprevalence of HEV in blood donors in the Qassim region of Saudi Arabia. Materials & methods: Serum samples (n = 1078) were collected from volunteer blood donors and tested for the presence of anti-HEV IgG and IgM by indirect ELISA. Results: The seroprevalence of anti-HEV IgG among the blood donors was 5.7% overall. Anti-HEV IgG and IgM seropositivity were significantly higher in non-Saudi donors than in Saudi donors (22.1 vs 3 and 7.8 vs 0.2% for anti-HEV IgG and IgM, respectively). Conclusion: The seroprevalence of HEV among blood donors in the Qassim region was lower than previous estimates for other regions of the country and neighboring countries.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Asif Naveed ◽  
Amara Malik ◽  
Khalid Mahmood

PurposeThis study investigated the impact of conspiracy beliefs on fear of Covid-19 and health protective behavior of university students in Pakistan.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional survey using an online questionnaire was conducted at three universities in Punjab (e.g. two public sectors and one private sector) with permission from concerned authorities for data collection. A total of 374 responses were received that were analyzed by applying both descriptive and inferential statistics.FindingsThe results indicated the prevalence of conspiracy beliefs and fear of Covid-19 among university students of two public sector universities and one private sector university. Furthermore, the conspiracy beliefs of university students predicted their fear of Covid-19. However, conspiracy beliefs did not predict the health protective behavior of university students.Research limitations/implicationsThese results had serious implications for public health in Pakistan demonstrating the critical need for health education and promotion as individual preparedness along with system preparedness is essential to combat Covid-19 pandemic and infodemic. These results are useful for policymakers, healthcare professionals, university administration and library staff for making evidence-based decisions toward health education and promotion related to the Covid-19 pandemic.Originality/valueIt is hoped that the present study would make an invaluable contribution to existing research on promotional health in general and the role of conspiracy beliefs in putting public health at risk in particular as limited studies have been published so far.


1976 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 775-780 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Paull Nielsen ◽  
Anne Kernaleguen

Using a semantic differential to assess person perception, a non-random sample of 30 female university students recorded their impressions of a number of pictures of female stimulus persons. The pictures represented a systematic pairing of faces of varying levels of attractiveness, and clothed bodies of varying levels of attractiveness. The results of a 3 × 3 Latin square analysis of variance showed facial attractiveness to be a significant factor in the perception of physical attractiveness of the total unit, social and professional happiness, and social desirability. Attractiveness of the clothed body exerted a significant effect in the perception of bourgeois orientation. Pearson productmoment correlation results indicated that as level of perceived physical attractiveness increased, so did the perception of social and professional happiness and social desirability.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
J Ladner ◽  
A Lukács ◽  
I Brumboiu ◽  
E Ciobanu ◽  
C Croitoru ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Eating disorders (ED) and behavioural risk factors among students in higher education remain to be investigated. The aim of the study was to identify the prevalence of ED and the behavioural factors associated with ED in university students in four European universities: Chisinau (Ch) in Republic of Moldava, Cluj-Napoca (CN) in Romania, Miskolc (Ms) in Hungary and Rouen (R) in France. Methods In the four countries, students in higher education completed an anonymous standardized self-questionnaire, from 2016 to 2018. The questionnaire collected age, gender (M, W), housing, curricula, smoking, cannabis consumption, alcohol abuse problems (ADOSPA test), and perceived stress (Cohen score). The Sick, Control, One stone, Fat, Food (SCOFF scale) screening test was used to identify student with ED. Results A total of 3076 students were included, 705 in Ch, 582 in CL, 534 in Ms and 1255 in R. The sex-ratio was M:F=0.31 Ch, 0.30 in CN, 0.44 in Ms and 0.66 in R. The mean age was 21.2 (SD = 3.98) in Ch, 21.2 (SD = 3.2) in CL, 23.8 (SD = 5.1) in Ms and 20.0 (SD = 3.4) in R. The global prevalence of ED was 23.8%. According to the gender, the prevalence of ED in the four universities was 14.7% in M and 38.3% in W in Ch, 21.8% in M and 24.7% in W in CN, 19.7% in M and 21.4% in W in Ms and 16.1% in M and 34.0% in W in R (p &lt; 10-4). After logistic regression, significant positive relation between the positive SCOFF was observed with female gender, alcohol abuse problems and stress level. Conclusions ED prevalence patterns were quite similar in the four countries, with high prevalence of ED, even in men. Associated behavioural risk-factors were quite similar. It might be necessary in the future to screen students for potential ED upon entry to the university and also to inform student about the risk of ED and advise them to consult a healthcare professional. Key messages Our study highlights the high prevalence of eating disorders, with similar behaviours in university students in four countries. Because of the detrimental effects of ED on physical and emotional health, it seems mandatory to set up public health programs (health promotion, prevention).


1996 ◽  
Vol 75 (6) ◽  
pp. 579-584 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanja Tydén ◽  
Cecilia Björkelund ◽  
Viveca Odlind ◽  
Sven-Eric Olsson

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