Awareness, Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Teledentistry among Dental Practitioners during COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background and Objectives: This systemic review aims to appraise and analyse the awareness, knowledge, attitude, and practice of teledentistry among dental practitioners during COVID-19. Materials and Methods: This review was registered in the PROSPERO database (CRD42021283404). Cross-sectional articles on dental practitioners’ perceptions towards teledentistry published between March 2020 and September 2021 were searched in ten online databases (PubMed, Google Scholar, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, Cochrane, EMBASE, SIGLE, EBSCO, LILACS, and Open Grey). The Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal tool was employed to analyse the risk of bias (RoB) of each article, whereas the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine recommendation tool was used to evaluate the level of evidence. Data were analysed using the DerSimonian–Laird random effect model based on a single-arm approach. Results: Six studies were included and demonstrated Level 3 evidence. A single-arm meta-analysis revealed that dental practitioners had a high level of awareness (70.4%) and attitude (72.5%) towards teledentistry during the COVID-19 pandemic, but their knowledge level (57.9%) was moderate with a poor practice level (35.8%). A substantial heterogeneity was observed with the overall I2 ranging from 90.78% to 98.21%. Furthermore, meta-regression indicated that the sample size of each study had a significant (p < 0.05) impact on the degree of data heterogeneity. Conclusions: Despite their high degree of awareness and attitude, dental practitioners demonstrated moderate knowledge and relatively poor practice of teledentistry during the COVID-19 pandemic. More well-designed studies are warranted to investigate the alternatives for enhancing dental practitioners’ knowledge and practice of teledentistry interventions.

Assess the Level of Practice regarding Prevention of Pressure Ulcer in bedridden patients among Nurses

Background: Pressure ulcers are the common conditions among patients hospitalized in acute and chronic care facilities and impose significant burden on patients, their relatives and caregivers. Now days, pressure ulcers are recognized worldwide as one of the five most common causes of harm to patients and preventable patient safety problem. It is also increasingly described as an indicator of the quality of care provided by health care organization. However, pressure ulcers are largely preventable. All patients who are identified as being at risk should have a management plan to prevent development of pressure ulcer, optimize healing, and prevent complications of existing pressure ulcer. Objectives: 1. To assess the level of practice regarding prevention of pressure ulcer in bedridden patients among nurses. 2. To determine the association between pre-test practice scores of nurses regarding prevention of pressure ulcer in bedridden patients with selected sample characteristics. Methodology: The research design used for this study was non – experimental descriptive design. The study was conducted at a tertiary hospital in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. Population comprises of nurses (staff nurses and student nurses) working in a selected hospital. The sample size selected for this study consists of 60 nurses (staff nurses -24 and student nurses -36) who were working in medical, surgical wards and Intensive Care Units (ICUs). Nurses providing care to the patients who are bed ridden for more than 48 hours were included in the study. Non – probability purposive sampling technique was used to select the samples. The tool used in this study was socio-demographic profile of nurses (separate tool for staff nurses and student nurses) and observational checklist to assess the practice. Result: The overall practice scores of the 60 nurses revealed that 40(66.67%) had good practice, whereas 20(33.33%) samples had average practice and none of them had poor practice. Among of 24 staff nurses; 20(83.33%) had good practice, whereas 4(16.67%) had average practice and none of them had poor practice. Out of 36 student nurses; 20(55.56%) had good practice, whereas 16(44.44%) samples had average practice and none of them had poor practice. It was found that among socio-demographic variables none had association with the practice of staff nurses and student nurses too. Conclusion: The study concluded that continuing education programmes are needed to improve the practices of nurses. Nurses must be motivated to provide back care and position change every second hourly in bedridden patients.

A Study to assess the knowledge attitude and practice regarding Breast Cancer screening among Women in reproductive age (15-45 years) in selected rural areas of Chamarajanagar district with a view to develop educational programme

Objective: To assess the knowledge attitude and practice regarding Breast Cancer screening among Women in reproductive age (15-45 years) in selected rural areas of Chamarajanagar district and to find the association between the knowledge attitude and practice scores with the selected demographic variables. Methodology: Questionnaire on demographic Performa. Knowledge about breast cancer screening was used to collect the data. An explorative descriptive method has been adopted and 150 Women were selected for the study using simple random sampling technique.5-point likert scale and interview schedule was performed with the help of structured and semi structured questionnaire to collect data. Results: Result of the study revealed that of Out of 150 participants only 0.7% of participants having moderate knowledge and 99.3% of participants having inadequate knowledge The large proportion of participant (90.7%) have moderately favourable attitude towards screening of breast cancer and 9.3% participant of have unfavourable attitude towards screening of breast cancer and none of the participant have favourable attitude towards screening of breast cancer High majority of the participants (100%) do not practice breast self-examination and having poor practice. Conclusion: The knowledge regarding Breast cancer screening is lacking in many participants, many women have moderately favourable attitude regarding breast cancer screening and majority of women having poor practice regarding screening of breast cancer so there is need for educational programme which helps in prevention and early detection of Breast cancer. IEC activities should gear up in rural areas.

Effectiveness of demonstration on practice regarding pulmonary rehabilitation techniques among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in selected hospital at Udaipur city, Rajasthan.

Practice related to demonstration on pulmonary rehabilitation techniques are posing a great threat globally in COPD patient's mortality and morbidity, COPD is an increasing health problem globally and India is not an exemption. The patients have poor practice related to pulmonary rehabilitation techniques. Present study is aimed to assess the effectiveness of demonstration on practice regarding pulmonary rehabilitation techniques among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in selected hospital at Udaipur city, Rajasthan. 60 samples was selected using Non probability purposive sampling techniques. The findings revealed that In pre test 88.33% respondents were found with poor level of practice whereas with post test 21.67% of the respondents had poor practice level, 11.67% respondents had average practice level in the pre test whereas in post test it was 75.00%, there were no respondents found with good practice level in pre test whereas in post test good respondents level improved to 3.33%. The study concluded that there was significant improvement in the level of practice of patient with COPD regarding pulmonary rehabilitation techniques. Which indicated that the demonstration was effective. The study also revealed that there is a significant association between pre test practice scores with selected socio demographic variables. Hence this kind of practice should be conducted from time to time for patients so that their practice can be improved by pulmonary rehabilitation techniques and reduce the breathing complications in COPD patients.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Towards Kangaroo Mother Care Among Postnatal Women in Ethiopia: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Author

Background: Kangaroo mother care could be a key procedure to decrease neonatal mortality and morbidity of preterm and low-birth-weight neonates. However, in Ethiopia, preterm birth and low-birth-weight neonatal death still exist. This study aimed to determine the pooled prevalence of knowledge, Attitude, and practice of kangaroo mother care among postnatal women in Ethiopia.Methods: PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, EMBASE, manual search, and Ethiopian University online library were searched. The data were extracted by using Microsoft excel and analyzed by STATA version 11 statistical software. The Publication bias was checked by funnel and more objectively through Egger's test and Begg’s test with P < 0.05 considered being a potential publication for bias. I2 was used to check for the presence of heterogeneity of the studies. Overall estimated analysis was done. Subgroup analysis was done by region, study setting, publications, gestational age, birth weight, and the component of kangaroo care. Sensitivity analysis was conducted to see the effect of a single study on the pooled estimation.Results: A total of 5 studies with 1,232 respondents for knowledge, five studies with 1,232 respondents for attitude, and 16 studies with 12,475 respondents for practice were used to estimate the pooled level of good knowledge, positive attitude, and poor practice of kangaroo mother care among postnatal women. The pooled estimate of good knowledge, positive attitude and poor practice of kangaroo mother care was found to be 64.62% (95% CI: 47.15%-82.09%; I2 = 97.8%), 61.55 % (49.73-73.38%; I2 =94.8%) and 45.7% (95%CI: 37.297-54.092%; I2 = 98.5%) respectively.Conclusion: Findings showed significant gaps in kangaroo mother care-related knowledge, attitude, and practice compared with reported results of developed countries of the demographic health survey. Therefore, it is better to have periodic training and counseling on kangaroo mother care for postnatal women.

Obesity self-management: knowledge, attitude, practice, and pharmaceutical use among healthy obese individuals in Saudi Arabia

Introduction: Obesity is a chronic disease that is increasing in Saudi Arabia (SA) and globally. Obesity self-management among individuals is essential for managing obesity and its complications. This study aimed to conduct an obesity knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) assessment and prevalence of used pharmaceutical anti-obesity medications among individuals with obesity in SA. Subjects and methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted between January and April 2021. The participants completed a validated online administered questionnaire using the Survey Monkey website. Potential participants were approached in governmental hospitals, leisure centers, and shopping malls. The chi-square test was used to assess associations between categorical variables. In addition, correlations between the participants' KAP and outcome variables were measured using the Pearson correlation coefficient (r). Results: In all, 410 obese individuals (mean age 40±14 years, range 18–80 years) were surveyed. Overall, 68% of participants reported good obesity knowledge, and 63% reported a good attitude, while 72% reported poor practice. In addition, there were significant positive linear correlations between knowledge and attitude (r=0.44, P<0.001), knowledge and practice (r=0.14, P<0.01), attitude and practice (r=0.11, P<0.05), body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference (WC) (r=0.25, P<0.01), while there were significant negative linear correlations between knowledge and BMI (r=−0.20, P<0.001), attitude and BMI (r=−0.19, P<0.001), practice and BMI (r=−0.67, P<0.001), knowledge and WC (r=−0.10, P<0.05), attitude and WC (r=−0.10, P<0.05), and practice and WC (r=−0.45, P<0.001). Interestingly, 67% of participants did not use any approved pharmaceutical anti-obesity medications due to a lack of anti-obesity treatment knowledge and safety. Conclusion: The participants reported good knowledge and attitudes toward obesity, although these were not reflected in their practice levels. The lack of pharmaceutical knowledge, safety, and use of anti-obesity medications contributed directly to poor practice levels. Health authorities should establish clinical and pharmaceutical health education programs incorporating the latest pharmaceutical anti-obesity medications, including their applications and safety, for enhancing self-management and awareness among obese individuals.