Journal of Public Health-Heidelberg最新文献

Aim: Based on the risk compensation theory, this study was designed to investigate the relationship between health behaviors of inpatients and COVID-19 vaccination during the epidemic with regard to the Omicron variant of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Taizhou, China.

Subject and methods: We conducted an online self-administered survey with a group of inpatients in a grade III, class A hospital in Taizhou, China, from February 27, 2022, to March 8, 2022. A total of 562 complete questionnaires were collected, and 18 questionnaires completed in under 180 seconds were rejected, leaving a total of 544 (96.8%) valid questionnaires collected. The participants who had received a COVID-19 vaccine were asked to describe the differences in their health behaviors before and after the vaccination, and the data were analyzed using SPSS Statistics version 22.0 software.

Results: There were significant differences in the percentage of individuals wearing masks (97.2% and 78.9%, P < 0.001) and the percentage of hand washing after taking off the mask (89.1% and 63.2%, P < 0.001) between the inoculated group and the uninoculated group; however, there were no significant differences in other health behaviors. The participants showed better health behaviors (handwashing and wearing a mask) after the vaccination than prior to it.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the Peltzman effect did not increase risk behaviors during the Omicron epidemic. There was no reduction in health behaviors among inpatients after the COVID-19 vaccine, which may have even improved their health behaviors.

Aim: In this study, personal variables, technology use cases, vaccine-related variables, social media-specific epistemological beliefs, media literacy, and social influence strategies were examined as predictors of Covid-19 vaccination hesitancy (VH) beliefs.

Subject and methods: The prediction design research model is used to detect the predictors of the dependent variable. The study group consists of 378 participants. Five different scales were used together with the self-description form as a data collection tool.

Results: According to the results of the research, individuals who have positive perceptions about the safety of Covid-19 vaccines and who have received the Covid-19 vaccine have lower anti-vaccine beliefs. It is another situation that prevents the opposition to vaccination of those who research the source of information on social media. As a result, age, education and income level, social media usage experience, media literacy, and social influence strategies were not effective on the participants' anti-vaccine beliefs.

Conclusion: According to the findings of the study, positive perceptions about the safety of Covid-19 vaccines, being vaccinated against Covid-19, and researching a source of information on social media variables seem to be effective in laying the foundations for constructive interventions such as using anti-vaccine beliefs to guide, reduce or eliminate negative beliefs about vaccines.

Aim: The 2019 novel coronavirus epidemic (COVID-19) is a highly contagious viral disease with a high rate of morbidity and mortality. Food insecurity has frequently been linked to the emergence of infectious diseases. The present study was conducted to determine the association of food insecurity and socioeconomic status with COVID-19 in the Iranian population.

Subject and methods: The study was a case-control study including 248 participants (124 COVID-19-infected people with a positive PCR test and a history of clinical symptoms of COVID-19 and 124 non-infected people with a negative PCR test and no history of clinical symptoms of COVID-19 infection) aged 20 to 60 years. The participants in the two groups were matched based on age, sex, and BMI. Anthropometric and socioeconomic data were collected. Individuals' food insecurity status during the previous 12 months (before the disease for the case group) was assessed using a validated 18-item USDA questionnaire.

Results: About 44% of the controls and 76% of the case group were food-insecure (P < 0.001). After controlling for any possible confounders, only food insecurity and poor economic level increased the risk of COVID-19, by about three times (OR = 3.10; 95% CI = 1.44-6.68; P = 0.004) and 9.5 times (OR = 9.53; 95% CI = 3.73-24.30; P < 0.001), respectively.

Conclusion: Food insecurity and poor economic status are linked to an increased risk of COVID-19. Future prospective studies are needed to confirm these outcomes and identify the underlying mechanisms.

Aim: Integrative and complementary practices (PICs) can be important health care strategies, mainly because they consider the integrality of the person. The objective of this article was to verify the inequality in the access to PICs of the Brazilian population based on data from the National Health Survey (PNS).

Subject and methods: This is a population-based cross-sectional study, with data from the 2019 PNS. The use of PICs in the past 12 months was investigated. Adjusted analysis was performed using Poisson regression and the Slope Index of Inequality (SII) and the Concentration Index (CIX) were used to assess absolute and relative inequality.

Results: The prevalence of PIC use in Brazil was 5.4% (95%CI 5.3; 5.5). Individuals from the richest quintile, with higher education and with health insurance were more likely to use PICs in general, except for medicinal plants/herbal medicine. When observing the magnitude of inequalities, this was more positively accentuated in those with higher education and who had a private health plan.

Conclusion: The results reveal social inequalities in the access to integrative practices, where the most elitist are more accessed by people with better socioeconomic conditions.

Aim: Identifying risk factors associated with mortality in elderly patients hospitalized with COVID-19 can be helpful in managing the disease in this age group. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the risk factors of death in elderly patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Hamadan in 2020.

Subject and methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on the medical records of 1694 patients aged 60 years and older who were diagnosed with COVID-19 disease between March and August 2020 and were admitted to Shahid Beheshti and Sina Hospitals. A researcher-made checklist included demographic information, clinical information, laboratory results, type of procedures performed for the patient in the hospital, and the number of hospitalization days.

Results: The results showed that 30% of the elderly patients died due to COVID-19 complications. The results of adapted logistic regression showed that the variables of gender, age, inpatient ward and laboratory indices of albumin, hemoglobin, ESR, and LDH were the main predictors of COVID-19 related death in elderly patients (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: The rate of COVID-19 related death in the hospitalized elderly patients is remarkable. The death rate increased among male patients, age older than 75 years, hospitalization in the ICU, increased ESR and HDR levels, and decreased albumin and hemoglobin.

Aim: The perinatal period is characterised by radical change across multiple domains. When it coincides with natural disasters, women and families need targeted support to mitigate the impacts on their birthing and early parenting experiences. Disaster planning in Australia has paid scant attention to the needs of this group. This study aimed to explore rural maternal and child health nurses' perceptions of how women receiving postnatal care during times of disaster manage mental health and wellbeing issues.

Subject and methods: Eight female maternal and child health nurses (MCHNs) were recruited through purposive sampling across two rural regions of Victoria, Australia. A qualitative design using an online survey followed by in-depth interviews, was underpinned by intersectional feminist theory. Thematic analysis was applied to qualitative data.

Results: Three overarching themes: context of practice, impact of disasters on mothers, and impact of disasters on services were identified. Isolation for mothers was highlighted, necessitating increased provision of emotional support, at a time when service providers themselves were under strain.

Conclusion: Natural disasters exacerbate stressors on perinatal rural women and can impede their access to formal and informal supports, jeopardizing mental health outcomes. Targeted investment in rural perinatal services to enable proactive planning and implementation of disaster strategies is urgently needed to reduce the impact of natural disasters on rural perinatal women and their families.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10389-023-01855-y.

Aim: The aim of the study is to determine the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the attitudes of university students towards domestic violence.

Subject and methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out between 15 June and 15 July 2021 in Turkey. The study sample consists of 426 students studying in the health departments of two universities (faculty of medicine, dentistry, midwifery, nursing) in the 2020-2021 academic year. Data were collected from university students using a university student descriptive form and the Attitudes Towards Violence Scale in university students.

Results: The mean age of the participants was 21.20±2.29 years; 86.4% were women and 40.4% were educated in the midwifery department. It was observed that 39.2% of the students had financial difficulties during the pandemic and 15.3% wanted to leave their school in order not to be a financial burden on their families. It was shown that 4.9% of the students were working for economic reasons during the pandemic period. Psychological and verbal violence was found to increase after the COVID-19 pandemic. There was a significant difference between the students' maternal employment status and the sub-dimension of violence against women (p < 0.05). A significant relationship was found between the educational status of the father and the sub-dimensions of normalizing violence and different dimensions of violence (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: An important finding of our study is that domestic violence, which is a serious problem in our country, has increased even more during the pandemic period. It is recommended that training on domestic violence be given to university students, as training given in schools on this subject can help to increase awareness regarding the prevention of domestic violence.

Aim: Integrating sex and gender into health research is critical to contributing to an ethical and more responsible science to address significant knowledge gaps, resulting in higher-quality evidence for all.

Subject and methods: Using the Essential Metrics for Assessing Sex and Gender Integration in Health Research Proposals Involving Human Participants, we evaluate the quality of the integration of sex and gender in the 350 scientific articles produced by 144 health studies funded by the Department of Science and Technology of the Brazilian Ministry of Health between 2004 and 2016.

Results: The results show that clinical research articles are the type of studies that most frequently report on sex differences, while population and public health research articles most frequently report on gender differences. Analysis of the quality of sex and gender integration reveals low levels of qualification in the items of the literature review and research objectives (section 1) and participant recruitment and retention (section 2). However, the data collection tools, data analysis, and knowledge translation (section 3) items were rated as excellent and good.

Conclusion: Funding agencies and public institutions should recognize the importance of the integration of sex and gender at all stages of the research process, for instance, through awareness and training for researchers and reviewers, clear requirements, and the possibility to use metrics in the evaluations process.

Objectives: COVID-19 booster vaccine uptake among minority ethnic individuals in the United Kingdom has been lower than in the general population. This is the case not only for the first and second dose of the vaccine, but particularly for the booster dose. However, little research has examined psychosocial factors contributing to vaccine hesitancy in minority ethnic individuals. This study conducted a qualitative exploration, informed by Protection Motivation Theory, of attitudes towards and perceptions of the COVID-19 booster vaccination among ethnic minority individuals in North East England.

Design: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 ethnic minority individuals (11 females, five males) aged between 27 and 57, residing in North East England.

Results: Inductive thematic analysis showed that perceived susceptibility to COVID-19 influenced vaccination decisions. Perceived response costs acted as barriers to COVID-19 booster vaccination among interviewees, in the form of time constraints and a perceived lack of practical support in the event of experiencing side effects from the vaccine. There was a lack of confidence in the vaccine, with individuals seeing it as lacking sufficient research. Participants also spoke of medical mistrust due to historical events involving medical experimentation on minority ethnic individuals. Interviewees suggested involving community leaders in addressing people's concerns, misassumptions, and lack of confidence in COVID-19 vaccination.

Conclusion: Campaigns to increase COVID-19 booster vaccine uptake need to be designed to address physical barriers towards vaccination, misconceptions, and a lack of confidence in the vaccine. Further research needs to determine the effectiveness of enlisting community leaders in these efforts.

Aim: This study aimed to explore the spatial and temporal characteristics of emerging airborne viral infectious diseases outbreaks worldwide.

Subject and methods: We conducted a systematic literature review on outbreaks of emerging airborne viral infectious diseases and calculated outbreak number and intensity at the country level. Fisher's exact test was used to compare the viral infectious diseases outbreaks in different income-level regions. To identify the major airborne viral infectious diseases outbreaks, we ranked and extracted the leading viral infectious diseases in outbreak number and intensity in each country by year.

Results: A total of 2505 outbreaks were reported from 1873 to 2021 across 2010 studies. There were 47 countries (47/130, 36.15%) with more frequent emerging airborne viral infectious disease outbreaks (more than nine outbreaks), and these countries mainly distributed in high-income regions (22/47 countries, 46.81%, p < 0.05), especially in Western Europe (14/47 countries, 29.79%, p < 0.05). The number of overall outbreaks was more in the United States and China than in other countries in different years. Outbreaks of measles and influenza are always frequent and intense. Highly pathogenic human coronaviruses infection caused short-term pandemics during which their outbreak number and intensity exceeded other viruses. Rift valley fever outbreaks in the human population are spreading outside of Africa through the flow of goods and travelers.

Conclusion: Countries in high-income regions reported more emerging airborne viral infectious diseases outbreaks, especially in the Western European region, the United States, and China. It is urgent to strengthen collaborative surveillance of emerging airborne viruses, cross-border flow of goods and travelers, and ecological environment to avoid the spread of viral infectious diseases outbreaks worldwide.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10389-023-01850-3.