Urgency in Improving Child Health Care Workers' Awareness and Knowledge of ASD: Findings From a Cross-Sectional Study in Southwest China

Objective: To evaluate the levels of awareness and knowledge of ASD among child health care workers in China, we conducted a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study to assess the participants' awareness and knowledge of ASD.Methods: A total of 159 child health care workers from Southwest China participated in the survey and filled out the questionnaire.Descriptive analysis was conducted on the five parts of the questionnaire, including general knowledge, symptomology, screening and diagnosis, and intervention and treatment. Univariate analysis was used to assess impacts of the participants' basic demographic characteristics on the questionnaire scores. Multivariate analysis was used to analyze association of the participants' basic demographic characteristics and the questionnaire scores.Results: Less than 15% of the participants knew that ASD is a developmental, congenital and genetic disorder. Few participants knew that the symptoms include language disorder (38.4%) and social dysfunction (29.6%). A minority of the participants knew the diagnostic criteria (22.6%) and the age for early screening (14.5%). A total of 23.9% of the participants agreed that there are no effective drugs to treat ASD, and 6.3% agreed that ASD is incurable. A number of years in practice of ≥10 (OR = 0.3249, 95% CI: 0.1080–0.9189) was the main factor related to a high questionnaire score.Conclusions: Most participants had relatively low levels of awareness and knowledge of ASD, especially in terms of general knowledge as well as knowledge of intervention and treatment. Working for more than 10 years was a significant predictor of higher levels of awareness and knowledge of ASD. ASD-related training and knowledge dissemination are crucial for the early diagnosis and intervention of ASD. Child health care workers' awareness and knowledge of ASD needs to be improved to help build public awareness about ASD.

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Seroconversion following H1N1 influenza vaccination among health care personnel in South Kerala, India

International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health ◽

10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20170267 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 428 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Anuja U. ◽

Rajasi R. S. ◽

Ratheesh K. H. ◽

VijayaKumar K. ◽

Amar Fettil

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Single Dose ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Influenza Pandemic ◽

Univariate Analysis ◽

Health Care Personnel ◽

World Health ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

H1n1 Vaccine ◽

Care Workers

Background: Health care workers were prioritized by World Health Organization (WHO) for H1N1 vaccination during 2009 swine influenza pandemic following which in Kerala, a total of 72,000 people mostly health care personnel were immunized with a single dose of inactivated split influenza monovalent H1N1 vaccine in 2010. The present study was carried out with the objective to find out the proportion of health care workers seroconverted in Kerala following H1N1 vaccination.Methods:A cross-sectional study conducted in three districts of Kerala. Blood samples collected from 193 health staffs were analysed for H1N1 antibody titre 6 months following single dose of vaccination. Univariate analysis was done using proportions for qualitative variables.Results: 99.5% of health staffs seroconverted following vaccination and none of them developed disease even after getting exposed to H1N1 cases thereafter.Conclusions:Single dose of H1N1 vaccine is found to offer sufficient protection and should be recommended for health care workers. So all health care personnel shall consider H1N1 vaccination for their own protection.

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‘It Was Hell in the Community’: A Qualitative Study of Maternal and Child Health Care During Health Care Worker Strikes in Kenya

10.21203/rs.3.rs-581857/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Michael L Scanlon ◽

Lauren Y. Maldonado ◽

Justus E. Ikemeri ◽

Anjellah Jumah ◽

Getrude Anusu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Child Health ◽

Health Facility ◽

Maternal And Child Health ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Economic Effects ◽

Child Health Services ◽

Child Health Care ◽

Care Workers ◽

And Child Health

Abstract Background: Health care workers in Kenya have launched major strikes in the public health sector in recent years but how strikes by health care workers affect health systems and services is under-explored. We conducted a qualitative study to explore maternal and child health care and services during nationwide strikes by health care workers in 2017 from the perspective of pregnant women, community health volunteers (CHVS), and health facility managers. Methods:We conducted interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs) with three populations: women who were pregnant in 2017, CHVs, and health facility managers. Participants were part of a previous study and recruited using convenience sampling from a single County in western Kenya. Interviews and FGDs were conducted in English or Kiswahili using semi-structured guides that probed women’s pregnancy experiences and maternal and child health services in 2017. Interviews and FGDs were audio-recorded, translated, and transcribed. Content analysis followed a thematic framework approach using deductive and inductive approaches. Data were collected March to July 2019. All participants provided written informed consent.Results:Forty-three women (mean age 28) and 22 CHVs (mean age 47) participated in 4 FGDs and 3 FGDs, respectively, and 8 health facility managers (mean age 38) participated in interviews. CHVs and health facility managers were majority female (80%). Participants reported that strikes by health care workers significantly impacted the availability and quality of maternal and child health services in 2017 and led to indirect economic effects due to households paying for services in the private sector. Participants overwhelmingly felt it was the poor, particularly poor women, who were most affected since they were more likely to rely on public services, while CHVs highlighted their own poor working conditions in response to strikes by other health care workers. Strikes strained relationships and trust between communities and the health system that were identified as particularly important to maternal and child health care. Conclusion: The impacts of strikes by health care workers extend beyond negative health and economic effects and exacerbate fundamental inequities in the health system with important implications for health systems strengthening and universal health coverage in Kenya and other countries.

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Prevalence and Risk Factors of Smoking Among Health Care Workers and Non-Health Care Workers in Zambezi Region, Namibia: A Cross-Sectional Study

10.20944/preprints202012.0598.v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Sylvia Kahimbi Mahoto ◽

Kabwebwe Honoré Mitonga ◽

Olanrewaju Oladimeji

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Health Care ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Smoking Prevalence ◽

Health Workers ◽

Smoking Status ◽

Demographic Characteristics ◽

Bivariate Analysis ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Care Workers

Smoking is a major risk factor for non-communicable diseases and remains a significant public health challenge in many lower- and middle-income countries (LMIC) including Namibia. The purpose of the study was to estimate the prevalence of smoking and its associated risk factors among HCWs and non-HCWs in Zambezi region. An exploratory cross-sectional survey was conducted between March and October 2020 among residents of the eight (8) constituencies of Zambezi region. Four hundred and sixty-one (461) respondents who had been residents of the selected constituencies for over five years and aged between 17-60 years were selected for the study. The main outcome measure was current cigarette smoking status. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents. We stratified data analysis by individual being health workers or non-health workers. A bivariate Pearson Chi-square test was used to determine the association between socio-demographic characteristics and the smoking status. Statistically significant variables in the bivariate analysis were used as predictors in the univariate and multivariate models. The response rate of potential participants was 95% (n=434). The mean (±SD) age of participant’s was 32.5 (± 11.34 years). Significant relationships were observed between smoking status and area of residency (constituency), gender, age category, level of education, age of onset of smoking and the daily smoking frequency. The majority of smokers (n=108) were none-HCWs with males being the majority (n=62). Age (p=0.001), education levels (p=0.001) and area of residency (p=0.022) were highly associated with smoking among none-HCW while marital status was associated with smoking among HCWs (p=0.013). In the final multivariate model, the odds of smoking among female non-HCWs were significantly lower (OR: 0.386; 95% CI: 0.228 – 0.655). Furthermore, the odds of smoking among this same group were lower among those who had secondary level education (OR: 0.178; 95% CI: 0.0659 – 0.483), post-secondary (OR: 0.117, 95% CI: 0.0412 – 0.330) and first stage tertiary (OR: 0.306: 95% CI: 0.106 – 0.881) compared to those who had primary school education. In conclusion, smoking prevalence among none HCWs and HCWs working in Zambezi included in the study was similar to that of the general Namibian population but higher than other neighboring countries within SADC. The results showed a need for the establishment of specific smoking related strategies that target HCWs to address smoking use parallel to the running of none HCWs which would ultimately decrease the smoking prevalence and improve health.

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‘It was hell in the community’: a qualitative study of maternal and child health care during health care worker strikes in Kenya

International Journal for Equity in Health ◽

10.1186/s12939-021-01549-5 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Michael L. Scanlon ◽

Lauren Y. Maldonado ◽

Justus E. Ikemeri ◽

Anjellah Jumah ◽

Getrude Anusu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Child Health ◽

Health Facility ◽

Maternal And Child Health ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Economic Effects ◽

Child Health Services ◽

Child Health Care ◽

Care Workers ◽

And Child Health

Abstract Background Health care workers in Kenya have launched major strikes in the public health sector in the past decade but the impact of strikes on health systems is under-explored. We conducted a qualitative study to investigate maternal and child health care and services during nationwide strikes by health care workers in 2017 from the perspective of pregnant women, community health volunteers (CHVs), and health facility managers. Methods We conducted in-depth interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs) with three populations: women who were pregnant in 2017, CHVs, and health facility managers. Women who were pregnant in 2017 were part of a previous study. All participants were recruited using convenience sampling from a single County in western Kenya. Interviews and FGDs were conducted in English or Kiswahili using semi-structured guides that probed women’s pregnancy experiences and maternal and child health services in 2017. Interviews and FGDs were audio-recorded, translated, and transcribed. Content analysis followed a thematic framework approach using deductive and inductive approaches. Results Forty-three women and 22 CHVs participated in 4 FGDs and 3 FGDs, respectively, and 8 health facility managers participated in interviews. CHVs and health facility managers were majority female (80%). Participants reported that strikes by health care workers significantly impacted the availability and quality of maternal and child health services in 2017 and had indirect economic effects due to households paying for services in the private sector. Participants felt it was the poor, particularly poor women, who were most affected since they were more likely to rely on public services, while CHVs highlighted their own poor working conditions in response to strikes by physicians and nurses. Strikes strained relationships and trust between communities and the health system that were identified as essential to maternal and child health care. Conclusion We found that the impacts of strikes by health care workers in 2017 extended beyond negative health and economic effects and exacerbated fundamental inequities in the health system. While this study was conducted in one County, our findings suggest several potential avenues for strengthening maternal and child health care in Kenya that were highlighted by nationwide strikes in 2017.

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COVID-19 Psychological Impact on Health Care Workers in Saudi Arabia

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18116076 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (11) ◽

pp. 6076

Author(s):

Hasan S. Alamri ◽

Wesam F. Mousa ◽

Abdullah Algarni ◽

Shehata F. Megahid ◽

Ali Al Bshabshe ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Saudi Arabia ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Psychological Impact ◽

Psychological Outcomes ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Online Questionnaire ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Care Workers ◽

The Impact

Objective: Little is known about the impact of Coronavirus (COVID-19) among the health care workers in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, the present study aimed to assess the psychological impact of COVID-19 among the health care workers. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted from May till mid-July among 389 health care workers from government and private hospitals in Saudi Arabia. Data was collected using a pre-structured online questionnaire that measured adverse psychological outcomes, including the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) scale and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) scale. The Pearson chi-square test was used to assess the distribution of depression and anxiety among health care workers. Results: A high level of anxiety was recorded among the health care workers, and 69.3% of health care workers below the age of 40 were found to have depression. There was a significant increase in depression among staff with chronic health problems (72.1% vs. 61.9%; p = 0.048). High anxiety levels were detected among young staff compared to others (68.7% vs. 43.8%; p = 0.001). Moreover, 82.1% of the female staff were anxious, as compared to 55.6% of the males (p = 0.001). Conclusions: We found increased prevalence of adverse psychological outcomes among the health care workers in Saudi Arabia during the outbreak of COVID-19. Therefore, there is a need for proper screening and development of corresponding preventive measures to decrease the adverse psychological outcomes.

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Epidemiology of needlestick injuries among health-care workers in Awassa City, Southern Ethiopia

Tropical Doctor ◽

10.1258/td.2009.090191 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 40 (2) ◽

pp. 111-113 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Moges Tadesse ◽

Takele Tadesse

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Needlestick Injury ◽

Public Health Issue ◽

Southern Ethiopia ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Needlestick Injuries ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Care Workers

Accidental needlestick injuries sustained by health-care workers are a common occupational hazard and a public health issue in health-care settings. An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted and 30.9% of health-care workers had experienced at least one needlestick injury in the previous year.

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