scholarly journals “Vaccinate, Do Not Hesitate!”. Vaccination Readiness against COVID-19 among Polish Nursing Undergraduate Students: A National Cross-Sectional Survey

Vaccines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 1029
Author(s):  
Joanna Gotlib ◽  
Tomasz Sobierajski ◽  
Mariusz Jaworski ◽  
Dominik Wawrzuta ◽  
Ewa Borowiak ◽  
...  

COVID-19 vaccination raises numerous concerns among the public, and also among medical personnel including nurses. As nurses play a crucial role in the process of vaccination, it is important to recognize the attitudes of students of nursing, nurses in spe, toward COVID-19 vaccination, as well as to define the factors influencing students’ pro-vaccine choices. The study was conducted between March and April 2021 at all medical universities in Poland educating nurses in spe. The study included 793 first-degree students from 12 universities. The results revealed that the vast majority of students of nursing (77.2%) were vaccinated against COVID-19, as 61.2% received an mRNA vaccine and 16% a viral vector vaccine. Every other person in the non-vaccinated group declared their intention to get a vaccination. A trend was observed whereby people co-living with persons from the risk group, who are at risk of a severe form of COVID-19, showed greater willingness to get a vaccine. The study results identified the role of universities in increasing the vaccination rate among students, both in terms of education about vaccinations and in shaping pro-vaccine attitudes among students, as well as organizing vaccinations on university campuses to facilitate the process.

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (10) ◽  
pp. 1519-1524
Author(s):  
Zahid Kamal ◽  
Nauman Aziz ◽  
Hafiza Swaiba Afzal ◽  
Ahmad Zeeshan Jamil ◽  
Muhammad Waseem ◽  
...  

Objective: Objective Structured Practical Examination (OSPE) is a growing way of assessing the students of medical universities particularly. This study is targeted to compare and assess different perceptions of the faculty and the students towards OSPE at a public sector medical college. Study Design: Cross Sectional Survey. Setting: Sahiwal Medical College Sahiwal. Period: 1st July 2020 to 15th July 2020. Material & Methods: The questionnaire was sent to all the participants by Whatsapp because of COVID-19 pandemic. All the undergrad students of MBBS (500) and all the faculty members (65) of clinical and basic medical sciences were included in the study. Results: The response rate of faculty members was 78.46% and that of undergraduate students was 70.80%. Out of 51 members who responded, 23 (45.10%) were males while 28 (54.90%) were female. Female students were having majority of participation (71.20%). Most of the faculty and students agreed with the fact that ‘The questions asked in the OSPE stations were appropriate and related to the curriculum’ (60.10% and 45.10% respectively). Response to a question ‘OSPE is more transparent, fair and objective as compared to traditional practical examination’ got a nod from faculty members (49%). Almost 76% of the students (strongly agreed and agreed) thought that OSPE was tiring and stressful for them but their respected faculty members thought the opposite. Conclusion: Our study concludes that there is satisfaction of both students and the faculty regarding their perceptions of OSPE at public sector medical college. In our study while comparing, the majority of both the groups were having almost same opinions.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaling Peng ◽  
Chenchen Pei ◽  
Yan Zheng ◽  
Juan Wang ◽  
Kui Zhang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has become a great threat to public health, which has greatly impacted the study and life of undergraduate students in China. Objective: This study aims to perform a survey of their knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) associated with COVID-19. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was designed to gather information regarding the COVID-19 related KAP among undergraduates during the home isolation in the outbreak. Subjects were recruited from 10 universities in Shaanxi Province, China. Enrollees voluntarily submitted their answers to a pre-designed questionnaire online. Results: A total of 872 subjects (female, 534; male, 338) were enrolled with ages from 17 to 25 years old. This cohort included 430 medical and 442 non-medical students, 580 freshmen and 292 higher school year students. There were 453 from public schools and 442 from private school, residing in 28 regions and provinces at the time of study. Results showed that appropriate knowledge was acquired by 82.34% subjects; the levels were significantly higher in undergraduates from public universities and medical majors than those from private schools and non-medical majors (p<0.05). 73.81% subjects reported positive attitudes; females showed significantly higher levels of positive attitudes than males (p<0.05). Proactive practice was found in 87.94% subjects. Using a common scoring method, the overall scores for Knowledge, Attitude and Practice were 4.12±0.749 (range: 0~5), 8.54±1.201 (range: 0~10), and 8.91±1.431 (range: 0~10), respectively. There was a positive correlation between attitude and practice (r=0.319, p<0.05) in the whole study group. Total KAP score was 21.57±2.291 (range: 0~25), which was significantly different among gender groups and major groups. Conclusions: Most undergraduates acquired necessary knowledge, positive attitude and proactive practice in response to COVID-19 outbreak; but their KAP scores significantly varied by gender, major and school types.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaling Peng ◽  
Chenchen Pei ◽  
Yan Zheng ◽  
Juan Wang ◽  
Kui Zhang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has become a great threat to public health, which has greatly impacted the study and life of undergraduate students in China. Objective: This study aims to perform a survey of their knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) associated with COVID-19. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was designed to gather information regarding the COVID-19 related KAP among undergraduates during the home isolation in the outbreak. Subjects were recruited from 10 universities in Shaanxi Province, China. Enrollees voluntarily and anonymously submitted their answers to a pre-designed questionnaire online. Results: A total of 872 subjects (female, 534; male, 338) were enrolled with ages from 17 to 25 years old. This cohort included 430 medical and 442 non-medical students, 580 freshmen and 292 higher school year students. There were 453 from public schools and 442 from private school, residing in 28 regions and provinces at the time of study. Results showed that appropriate knowledge was acquired by 82.34% subjects; the levels were significantly higher in undergraduates from public universities and medical majors than those from private schools and non-medical majors ( P <0.05). 73.81% subjects reported positive attitudes; females showed significantly higher levels of positive attitudes than males ( P <0.05). Proactive practice was found in 87.94% subjects. Using a common scoring method, the overall scores for Knowledge, Attitude and Practice were 4.12±0.749 (range: 0~5), 8.54±1.201 (range: 0~10), and 8.91±1.431 (range: 0~10), respectively. There was a positive correlation between attitude and practice (r=0.319, P <0.05) in the study group. Total KAP score was 21.57±2.291 (range: 0~25), which was significantly different among gender groups and major groups. Conclusions: Most undergraduates acquired necessary knowledge, positive attitude and proactive practice in response to COVID-19 outbreak; but their KAP scores significantly varied by gender, major and school types.


2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 15-23
Author(s):  
Joan L. Bottorff ◽  
Casey Hamilton ◽  
Anne Huisken ◽  
Darlene Taylor

Food insecurity has been identified as an issue among postsecondary students. We conducted this study to describe the level of food insecurity in a sample of university students with a particular interest in the effect of marginalization. A cross-sectional survey was conducted using a volunteer sample of 3,636 undergraduate students (44% participation rate) at one BC university campus between February and May 2017. Forty-two percent (n=1479) of respondents were classified as experiencing food insecurity. Among those who were food insecure 58% (n=891) were female. Logistic regression analysis indicated that females, students living on campus, those with a diverseability (developmental, physical, or other diversability), individuals self-reporting as belonging to a visible minority and international students were more likely to experience food insecurity. When adjusted for sex, years on campus, and living situation, students who reported experiencing two or more forms of marginalization were 2.52 times more likely to be food insecure compared to students who do not report any form of marginalization. This study further supports concerns about high levels of food insecurity among university students in Canada. In particular, the findings highlight the risk for food insecurity among students who are already vulnerable to socio-economic inequity due to belonging to marginalized groups. Efforts to promote student wellbeing on university campuses need to address food insecurity by addressing system-level factors to equalize the field for all students at risk for food insecurity.


Author(s):  
Stephan Geyer ◽  
Herna Hall ◽  
Liana Le Roux

Problematic internet use (PIU) is a growing phenomenon worldwide. Students in higher education especially are a vulnerable group for developing symptoms associated with PIU as a result of the idiosyncratic characteristics of student life. Owing to a lacuna in local social work research on the nature, extent and impact of internet use among students in South Africa, a cross-sectional survey was conducted with 498 (n = 498) second-year undergraduate students at a South African university. The results indicate that students access the internet on university campuses and at home daily through their cell phones and laptops for academic and social purposes. Although the average number of hours spent on the internet per day does not indicate PIU, the findings flag certain symptoms associated with PIU, for example, tolerance, escape from problems, and loss of control. Social workers should not be complacent, but rather introduce services to lower students’ risk of PIU. Considering the country’s adoption of social development as welfare model, developmental social work services on the preventive, early intervention and treatment levels as well as policy development are recommended.


SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 215824402110063
Author(s):  
MaryJoy Umoke ◽  
Prince Christian Ifeanachor Umoke ◽  
Chioma Adaora Nwalieji ◽  
Rosemary N. Onwe ◽  
Ifeanyi Emmanuel Nwafor ◽  
...  

Lassa fever is a zoonotic disease characterized by acute viral hemorrhagic fever, endemic in West Africa including Nigeria. The study assessed the knowledge and sources of information on Lassa fever infection among the undergraduate students of Ebonyi State University, Nigeria. This was a descriptive cross-sectional survey conducted among a sample of 389 students (18 years above). A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Data were analyzed with SPSS (Version 20), and hypotheses were tested at p < .05 level of significance. Results showed that the majority of the students had good knowledge of Lassa fever description, 232 (60.75%); the signs and symptoms, 221 (57.9%); mode of transmission, 261 (68.41%); and preventive measures, 291 (76.13%). Radio, 23 (84.6%), and television, 307 (80.4%), were their major sources of information. Age ( p = .424), sex ( p = .082), and academic level ( p = .553) were not significant in the study, while faculty (social sciences; p = .000*) was strongly associated with the knowledge of Lassa fever. In conclusion, the overall knowledge of Lassa fever was good among students, though knowledge gaps were observed in the signs and symptoms. We recommend that health education on endemic diseases in the state be made a compulsory course as a general study (GST) in the university. Also, the internet, social media, and campus campaign be further used to educate and sensitize students on the effect of Lassa fever.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-44
Author(s):  
Koawo Edjah ◽  
Francis Ankomah ◽  
Ebenezer Domey ◽  
John Ekow Laryea

AbstractStress is concomitant with students’ life and can have a significant impact on their lives, and even how they go about their academic work. Globally, in every five visits by patients to the doctor, three are stress-related problems. This study examined stress and its impact on the academic and social life among students of a university in Ghana. The descriptive cross-sectional survey design was employed. Using the stratified and simple random (random numbers) sampling methods, 500 regular undergraduate students were engaged in the study. A questionnaire made up of Perceived Stress Scale and Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale was used to gather data for the study. Frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviation, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), with AMOS were used for the analyses. It was found that majority of the students were moderately stressed. Paramount among the stressors were academic stressors, followed by institutional stressors, and external stressors. Stress had a significant positive impact on the academic and social life of students. It was concluded that undergraduate students, in one way or the other, go through some kind of stress during the course of their study. It was recommended that the university, through its Students’ Affairs, and Counselling Sections, continue to empower students on how to manage and deal with stress in order to enhance their academic life.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Hope ◽  
David Kluth ◽  
Matthew Homer ◽  
Avril Dewar ◽  
Richard Fuller ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Due to differing assessment systems across UK medical schools, making meaningful cross-school comparisons on undergraduate students’ performance in knowledge tests is difficult. Ahead of the introduction of a national licensing assessment in the UK, we evaluate schools’ performances on a shared pool of “common content” knowledge test items to compare candidates at different schools and evaluate whether they would pass under different standard setting regimes. Such information can then help develop a cross-school consensus on standard setting shared content. Methods We undertook a cross-sectional study in the academic sessions 2016-17 and 2017-18. Sixty “best of five” multiple choice ‘common content’ items were delivered each year, with five used in both years. In 2016-17 30 (of 31 eligible) medical schools undertook a mean of 52.6 items with 7,177 participants. In 2017-18 the same 30 medical schools undertook a mean of 52.8 items with 7,165 participants, creating a full sample of 14,342 medical students sitting common content prior to graduation. Using mean scores, we compared performance across items and carried out a “like-for-like” comparison of schools who used the same set of items then modelled the impact of different passing standards on these schools. Results Schools varied substantially on candidate total score. Schools differed in their performance with large (Cohen’s d around 1) effects. A passing standard that would see 5 % of candidates at high scoring schools fail left low-scoring schools with fail rates of up to 40 %, whereas a passing standard that would see 5 % of candidates at low scoring schools fail would see virtually no candidates from high scoring schools fail. Conclusions Candidates at different schools exhibited significant differences in scores in two separate sittings. Performance varied by enough that standards that produce realistic fail rates in one medical school may produce substantially different pass rates in other medical schools – despite identical content and the candidates being governed by the same regulator. Regardless of which hypothetical standards are “correct” as judged by experts, large institutional differences in pass rates must be explored and understood by medical educators before shared standards are applied. The study results can assist cross-school groups in developing a consensus on standard setting future licensing assessment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 215013272110133
Author(s):  
Neel Shimpi ◽  
Ingrid Glurich ◽  
Catherine Maybury ◽  
Min Qi Wang ◽  
Kazumasa Hashimoto ◽  
...  

Objective Health education interventions during pregnancy can influence maternal oral health (OH), maternal OH-behaviors and children’s OH. Interventions that can be delivered at anytime and anywhere, for example mobile-health (mHealth) provides an opportunity to address challenges of health education and support activation of women in underserved and rural communities to modify their health behavior. This pilot study was undertaken as a part of a mHealth initiative to determine knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to pregnancy and ECC prevention among women attending obstetrics/gynecology (OB/GYN) practices at a large rurally-based clinic. Methods A cross-sectional survey study was voluntarily engaged by women (n = 191) aged 18 to 59 years attending OB/GYN visits, over a 3-week period from 12/2019 to 1/2020. Survey results were analyzed applying descriptive statistics, X2 and Fisher’s Exact tests. The significance level was set at P < .0001 for all analyses. Results Approximately half of respondents were between 18 and 29 years (53%), had a college degree (55%), and 100% reported cell phone use. Whereas 53% and 31%, respectively, indicated that they were “somewhat” or “very” sure of how to prevent ECC in their children, only 9% recognized evidence of early decay and 30% did not know the purpose of fluoride. Overall, only 27% of participants correctly answered the knowledge-based questions. Further, only 57% reported their provider explained things in a way that was easy to understand. Only 24% reported seeing a dentist during their current pregnancy. Conclusions Study results suggested potential gaps in knowledge and behaviors related to ECC prevention and provided baseline data to inform future interventions to improve ECC prevention practices. Notably, majority of participants used their cell phones for making medical/dental appointments and reported using their phones to look up health-related information. This demographic represents a potentially receptive target for mHealth approaches to improve understanding of oral health maintenance during pregnancy and ECC prevention.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 399
Author(s):  
Casey Overby Taylor ◽  
Natalie Flaks Manov ◽  
Katherine D. Crew ◽  
Chunhua Weng ◽  
John J. Connolly ◽  
...  

There is a need for multimodal strategies to keep research participants informed about study results. Our aim was to characterize preferences of genomic research participants from two institutions along four dimensions of general research result updates: content, timing, mechanism, and frequency. Methods: We conducted a web-based cross-sectional survey that was administered from 25 June 2018 to 5 December 2018. Results: 397 participants completed the survey, most of whom (96%) expressed a desire to receive research updates. Preferences with high endorsement included: update content (brief descriptions of major findings, descriptions of purpose and goals, and educational material); update timing (when the research is completed, when findings are reviewed, when findings are published, and when the study status changes); update mechanism (email with updates, and email newsletter); and update frequency (every three months). Hierarchical cluster analyses based on the four update preferences identified four profiles of participants with similar preference patterns. Very few participants in the largest profile were comfortable with budgeting less money for research activities so that researchers have money to set up services to send research result updates to study participants. Conclusion: Future studies may benefit from exploring preferences for research result updates, as we have in our study. In addition, this work provides evidence of a need for funders to incentivize researchers to communicate results to participants.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document