Face mask use in healthcare settings: effects on communication, cognition, listening effort and strategies for amelioration

Aim To investigate mask use and the difficulties it may pose during communication in healthcare settings. Methods A survey utilizing a series of Likert scales was administered. Mask use challenges between clinicians and their patients were examined in the domains of communication, listening effort, cognition, and rehabilitation. Results Across 243 participants, mask use significantly increased listening effort, with hearing loss having an additive effect on listening effort. Listening effort was also significantly associated with more trouble understanding conversation, decreased interest in conversation, more difficulty connecting with patients, changes in cognition for both providers and patients, and changes in the clinical efficiency of providers. Hearing loss had an additive effect for trouble understanding conversations and changes in clinical efficiency. Conclusion These results provide information about the clinical strain introduced from mask use in healthcare settings. Overall, results show that in healthcare settings there is increased cognitive load and listening effort for both patients and providers, as well as changes in clinical efficiency for providers when utilizing masks. These effects are often greater with hearing loss. Results showed that patients reported written and visual instructions would be most beneficial to include in appointments among the other rehabilitative strategies which are discussed.

Self-Assessment of Cultural Competence and Social Determinants of Health within a First-Year Required Pharmacy Course

As social determinants of health (SDOH) and health disparities are integrated with cultural competence in healthcare education, tools assessing multiple topics are needed. The Self-Assessment of Perceived Level of Cultural Competence (SAPLCC) survey is validated in student pharmacists and includes SDOH. The research objective was to determine if the SAPLCC survey can quantify cultural competence and SDOH course learning. First-year student pharmacists (N = 87) completed the SAPLCC survey anonymously before and after a social and administrative sciences course. The survey had 75 items with 1–4 Likert scales (4 high, total 300 points). All items were summed for the total score. Each item was assigned to a domain and factor. Factors were assigned to domains. The baseline total score was 190 ± 29 points, increasing by 63 ± 33 points post-course. All domains (i.e., knowledge, skills, attitudes, encounters, abilities, awareness), 13 of 14 factors, and total scores statistically increased. The SAPLCC tool captured student pharmacists’ self-reported changes in cultural competence and SDOH.

Linguistic variables of Comprehensibility, Accentedness and Fluency in L2 Spanish: Listener type and ability level differences

The aim of this study is to identify which linguistic variables are most strongly related to comprehensibility, accentedness and fluency in Spanish as L2, and how the results may also vary according to the type of listener (expert or non-expert) and to the speakers’ level of ability in these three dimensions. To this end, 40 native English speakers of Spanish orally described picture narratives that were subsequently rated by four groups of raters using 9-point Likert scales. The first two groups were composed of 109 novice and 42 expert raters assessing comprehensibility, accentedness and fluency. The last two groups consisted of 35 phoneticians and 35 linguistic raters responsible for analyzing and scoring a total of 14 speech measures (7 per group) targeting pronunciation, disfluencies, lexis, grammar and discourse. The results reveal that comprehensibility is associated with a wide range of elements, while accentedness is determined especially by segmentals, and fluency by speech rate. Additionally, the impact of linguistic parameters varies according to the speakers’ level of performance, and there are differences between novice and expert raters, with the former being more affected by pronunciation and the experts by lexis and grammar.

Absurdism and Generation Z Humor: the Effects of Absurdist Content on Perceived Humor Levels in Generation Z Students

This study investigated the relationship between absurd humor in meme stills and the perceived humor among Generation Z students. Students of a high school in Northeast Ohio were given one of two seemingly identical surveys, each with a selection of six memes and individual Likert scales corresponding to the presented memes. A rubric was created with guidelines for visual components that was used to assign the presented memes an absurdity score with categories of “minimal absurdism,” “semi-absurd,” and “absurd.” Participants (n=298) were asked to rank the memes on the Likert scale ranging from a value of 1—not at all funny to a maximum value of 5—extremely funny. Following a chi-squared test, we can be over 99% confident that there is a present relationship between absurdist humor content in meme stills and how humorous they are rated by Generation Z students. These findings can be applied to the usage of memes in marketing, an ever-increasing function of meme humor, to make advertisements and communication more effective.

Extrinsic and Intrinsic for online Classroom

The objectives of this research are 1) to examine how Thai youth in tertiary education feel about extrinsic and intrinsic rewards when studying online.2) to explore any similarities and differences between the two techniques. 3) to determine how students felt about the reward system used in this class. The samples in this research are 37 students. They are all the students who study in an online classroom for the whole semester during the COVID19 global pandemic (2019-2021).The questionnaire and the interview instruments were designed to clarify participants’ attitude and used a five point Likert scales and the entire reliability value is 0.80. The statistics used for data analysis were included descriptive statistics; and proportion and percentage, and inferential statistics such as multiple regression and Chi-square- test. The result disclose as follows : 1) The students showed that all of the four dimensions of this variables test of which one variables is extrinsic, have significant, positive relationships with satisfaction (r = .690, p < 0.01). 2) The results indicate that extrinsic and intrinsic variables had a negative effect on satisfaction (b = .051, p > 0.01), (b = .252, p > 0.01).3) the results indicate that Feelings had a positive effect on satisfaction (β = .638, p < 0.01) and could predict satisfaction variables by 56.1 percent (adjusted R2  = 0.561), and extrinsic and intrinsic variables had a negative effect on satisfaction (p > 0.01).

How Do Consumers Perceive Sensory Attributes of Apple?

Pomological characteristics and consumer acceptability of four scab-resistant apple cultivars (‘Topaz’, ‘Florina’, ‘Goldstar’ and ‘Golden Orange’) and standard commercial cultivar ‘Golden Delicious’ were investigated. Consumer acceptability consisted of rating fruit samples on Likert scales measuring appearance, flavour, size, sweetness, acidity, crispiness, juiciness, skin texture and general impression. Consumers better evaluated the cultivar ‘Topaz’ sensory characteristics of flavour, juiciness, taste and general impression than other evaluated scab-resistant apple cultivars and the cultivar ‘Golden Delicious’. ‘Golden Delicious’ got good grades for appearance, size and sweetness. ‘Topaz’ also had the best pomological characteristic related to measured fruit firmness, contents of soluble solids and organic acids. It can be concluded that only the cultivar ‘Topaz’ among the scab-resistant apple cultivars achieved a good consumer assessment.

Perception of a New Prolonged-Release Buprenorphine Formulation in Patients with Opioid Use Disorder: The PREDEPO Study

<b><i>Aim:</i></b> The aim of the study was to assess the acceptance of patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) to switching their opioid dependence treatment (ODT) for a prolonged-release buprenorphine (PRB) injection according to their prior ODT (buprenorphine/naloxone [B/N] or methadone). <b><i>Methods:</i></b> This was an observational, retrospective/cross-sectional, multicentre study of adult patients diagnosed with OUD on ODT. Data collected from diaries were analysed to know their interest and opinion on PRB. Questions with fixed response options were included, and several Likert scales were used. <b><i>Results:</i></b> A total of 98 patients were enrolled (B/N: 50.0%, methadone: 50.0%). The mean age was 46.9 ± 8.43 years and 79.6% were males. PRB was similarly perceived by both groups in most variables analysed, receiving a mean score of 7.2/10 (B/N: 7.4, methadone: 7.0; <i>p</i> = 0.520), and approximately 65% of patients said they were willing to switch to PRB (B/N: 63.3%, methadone: 65.3%; <i>p</i> = 0.833). Of these, a higher percentage in the B/N group considered that switching would be easy/very easy (B/N: 90.3%, methadone: 46.9%; <i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.001) and that they would start PRB when available (B/N: 64.5%, methadone: 34.3%; <i>p</i> = 0.005). More than 90% would prefer the monthly injection (B/N: 93.6%, methadone: 100%; <i>p</i> = 0.514). One-third of patients in both groups were unsure/would not switch their ODT to PRB (B/N: 36.7%, methadone: 34.7%; <i>p</i> = 0.833). The main reason was administration by injection. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> Two-thirds of patients would switch their treatment for PRB, and most patients on B/N considered that switching would be easy. PRB could be a suitable alternative for OUD management.

The Tourism Destination Determinant Quality Factor from Stakeholders Perspective

High-quality tourism destinations nowadays become the expectations of tourism stakeholders. However, these quality tourism destinations do not have a definition and key performance indicator that can be used as a measurement indicator, so this research is necessary. This study tries to measure the quality of tourism destinations based on the perspective of Bali tourism respondents. In this survey, the attitude of the respondents was measured using a choice of 5 Likert scales that directly asked their attitude towards various indicators on two elements, namely the tourist quality variable and the destination quality measurement variable. The results of a survey of 200 informants illustrate that the respondents' views on all indicators that are considered as indicators of measuring the quality of tourists and indicators of tourism destinations. They can be used as indicators to measure other destinations with adjustments according to their conditions. The novelty in this studies is three factors that have been formed key factors of tourism destination quality. The first is named the quality beautiful destination and unique attraction. The second factor is named quality tourist spending and respect local culture minded. The third factor is named the quality climate and weather condition and infrastructure.

Challenges in the Digitization of Apprenticeships during the Coronavirus Pandemic: Who Needs Special Assistance?

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all areas of life, including everyday working life. Apprentices are often affected two-fold by the lockdown—school closures make it difficult to learn the theoretical content, while restrictions in the company affect practical work. This article reports the findings of an online mixed-method survey among 167 apprentices on the impacts of the pandemic on dual vocational training in Germany. In the survey, Likert scales were presented visually in a way that was particularly suitable for adolescents. The results show that the schools have had gaps in terms of equipment and online instruction. There was little or no online teaching, and the apprentices had hardly any contact with teachers and were left to work on the material on their own. The majority of apprentices expected their school performance to deteriorate as a consequence of the pandemic. The individual comments in response to open-ended questions also suggest that the digital offerings of vocational schools were inadequate during the first lockdown. At the same time, there were major differences in individual hardware equipment, such as computers, and in the apprentices’ Internet access. The gender differences are particularly interesting, as women tended to be at a disadvantage.