Journal of Preventive Medicine and Hygiene最新文献

Background: Social and environmental inequalities in public health are recognized as global problems of our time. From the point of view of the theory of deprivation, social and environmental determinants identified as deprivation indicators, which help to detect health inequality. Indices are one of the most practical and powerful tools for measuring the level of deprivation.

Objectives: The aims of our study are (1) to develop a Russian derivation index to measure the levels of deprivation and (2) to analyze its associations with total and infant mortality.

Material and methods: Deprivation indicators were obtained from the Federal State Statistics Service of Russia. All mortality data were taken from the official website of the Federal Research Institute for Health Organization and Informatics of Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation from 2009 to 2012. Principal components analysis with varimax rotation was used to (1) select suitable deprivation indicators and (2) create the index. A Spearman's correlation was run to determine the relationship of deprivation with all-cause and infant mortality. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression was used to assess the relationship between deprivation and infant mortality. Development of the index and statistical analysis were carried out using R and SPSS software.

Results: There is not a statistically significant correlation between deprivation and all-cause mortality. OLS regression showed a significant relationship between deprivation and infant mortality (p = 0.02). For every one-unit increase in the index score, infant mortality rate increases by about 20%.

Introduction: A large proportion of all pregnancies worldwide occur in young adolescent women, and almost all these pregnancies are unintentional. To address effective educational interventions, it is necessary to assess adolescents' literacy on this topic. The aim of this study was to translate and validate the Italian version of the SexContraKnow instrument.

Methods: This was a methodological study. The validation of the instrument was performed following the EORTC Quality of Life Group translation procedure. The process consisted of four phases: translation, content validation, face validation, and pilot test. Data were collected between May and September 2021. The STROBE guidelines were followed for this study.

Results: After performing forward and backward translations, we evaluated content validity (Scale-Content Validity Index = 0.91) and face validity. We then conducted a pilot test, test re-test, with 10 students (Cronbach α = 0.928; Pearson's R = 0.991).

Conclusion: The Italian Version of the SexContraKnow instrument has a good level of validation and reliability and can be effectively used by nurses to assess adolescents' literacy about the use of contraceptives and to develop targeted educational interventions. This instrument will help to evaluate the effectiveness of education programmes about health literacy about safe sex and contraception. The attention of nurses should be actively directed towards the process of health literacy among adolescents, in the perspective of a society focused on the empowerment of the population.

Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the most challenging diseases in diagnosis, treatment and control. We aimed to assess the association of the initial grading of Mycobacterium Sputum Smear (MSS) on the outcomes of TB treatment.

Materials and methods: In a retrospective study, data of 418 positive pulmonary smear patients were retrieved from the TB registration system in Iran during 2014 to 2021. Patients' data included demographic, laboratory and clinical information and were recorded in our checklist. The grading of Mycobacterium Sputum Smear (MSS) at the initial treatment was assessed based on World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. Chi-square test was used to assess the relationship between tuberculosis treatment outcomes and Mycobacterium grade at initial treatment in SPSS.

Results: The mean age of cases was 51.19 ± 22.29 years old and varied between 14 and 95 years. Laboratory results showed that the rate of 1-9, 1+,2+ and 3+ Mycobacterium tuberculosis was 17.7%, 44.3%, 19.4% and 18.7%, respectively. The rate of cure, death and treatment failure in patients was 87.1%, 6.9%, and 1.2%, respectively. The highest mortality rate (11.5%) occurred in patients with 3+ and the lower rate of cure was 79.5% in this group. Moreover, by increasing the Mycobacterium grade the rate of transferred out and lost to follow up from treatment increased (p = 0.024).

Conclusion: High smear grading of sputum is inversely associated with lower curing and on-time treatment. Moreover, by increasing the Mycobacterium grade at initial treatment, treatment failure and lost to follow up increased Therefore, improvement the health system and patient-diagnosis and screening programs is necessary to on-time diagnosis and facilitate the treatment process.

Introduction: Health literacy refers to "the ability to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and access health services in order to make informed choices." In essence, being able to acquire, understand, and use information for one's own health.

Methods: Observational study through the administration of a face-to-face questionnaire conducted between July and September 2020 on 260 individuals residing between Calabria and Sicily, aged between 18 and 89 years. Questions related to education, lifestyle (alcohol, smoking, and physical activity). Multiple-choice questions to assess health literacy and conceptual skills, ability to find information on health topics and services, use of preventive medicine especially vaccinations, and ability to make decisions about one's own health.

Results: Of 260, 43% were male and 57% female. The most represented age group is between 50 and 59 years. Forty-eight percent of respondents had a high school diploma. 39% smoke and 32% habitually consume alcoholic beverages; only 40% engage in physical activity. Ten percent had a low level of health literacy, average 55%, and adequate 35%.

Conclusions: Given the importance of adequate HL on health choices and on individual and public wellbeing, it is essential to expand the knowledge of the individual, through public and private information campaigns and with an increasing involvement of family physicians, who are fundamental in training and informing their patients.

Over the centuries, the oldest universities have amassed an extraordinary patrimony of material and immaterial cultural assets, which have been created or acquired for the purposes of research or teaching. Now on display in museums, they testify to the evolution of knowledge and its diversification in various disciplines. In order to safeguard, conserve and study this precious heritage, we need to implement a cultural project that activates that "process of awareness" on which cataloging is based. This is a "reasoned awareness" that enables an object to be framed within a system of scientific knowledge and historical-critical relationships, which are essential to its conservation and, consequently, to its public exploitation. Through this process, we can uncover the history of an object, its characteristics and its uniqueness. This is the case, for example, of an optical microscope on display in the Museo di Strumentaria medica (Medical Equipment Museum), which is part of the Museum System of the University of Siena.

Introduction: Despite the growing importance of nursing fundamentals of care, nurses often overlook these aspects of care. In this study, we explored why this happens precisely where nursing education is initially provided. In fact, little is known about how undergraduate nursing students perceive the teaching of fundamentals of care and how they value them.

Methods: This pilot cross-sectional study used a questionnaire adapted and validated in Italian to assess the perceptions of first, second, and third-year undergraduate nursing students (n=150) in an Italian university about the teaching of fundamentals of care during theoretical lessons and clinical practice.

Results: In the first section of the tool, on general fundamentals of care (nutrition, hygiene, mobility, rest and sleep, the expression of sexuality, safety, etc), students reported high levels of agreement for all items: range between 61.2% (95% CI: 57.1-65.3) and 100%.In the section on nutrition, divided into nutrition, oral intake of fluids, and malnutrition high percentages of agreement from 53.1% (95% CI: 46.0-60.2) to 91.8% (95% CI: 87.9-95.7%) were obtained, but for questions regarding 'learning how to document food and fluid intake', first-year students reported low levels of agreement.With regard to the 'Communication Section', the item about 'learning how to inform minor patients' presented low percentages of agreement throughout the three-year programOf the first-year students, between 71.4% (95% CI: 64.9-77.9) and 77.6% (95% CI: 71.6-83.6) declared they had not received instructions about this.

Conclusions: Understanding how nursing students perceive the importance of learning of fundamentals of care during their curriculum and how their multidimensional nature is highlighted by teachers and clinical supervisors, will enable educators to address the gaps in the way they taught and prioritized within the curriculum.

Introduction: It is important to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practice (KAP) related to visceral leishmaniasis (VL) to implement an effective control program. Hence, this study aimed to highlight KAP among residents of Al-Suwaira city in Wasit Governorate, Middle East of Iraq.

Methods: During March to May 2021, a cross-sectional study was done on 121 randomly selected residents. A normal self-administered questionnaire was used to measure KAP. Descriptive analysis was used to present the results.

Results: Overall, participants indicated average knowledge towards VL. However, the incubation period of VL (23.9%), the symptoms of VL (57.9%), and the diseases' transmission ways (54.5%) were recognized as knowledge gaps. Participants had a positive attitude towards VL, as the majority of them (more than 70.0%) agreed that VL causes health problems in local populations and local communities should be actively involved in the fight against VL. Also, the majority of participants agreed that VL is a treatable disease. Regarding the practice towards VL, 110 (90.9%) participants had taken preventive measures against sand fly bites. The majority of respondents (44.6%) chose cleanliness as a preventive measure. The main sources of information that participants used to learn about the disease were the Internet (57.0%) and television (19.8%).

Conclusion: Overall, participants had good knowledge, positive attitudes, and good practice when it came to VL prevention. However, there were also some gaps. Hence, it is recommended that knowledge-based strategies be strengthened and implemented consistently to raise awareness among residents in the region.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic was declared on March 11^th, 2020. By the end of January, the first imported cases were detected in Spain and, by March, the number of cases was growing exponentially, causing the implementation of a national lockdown. Madrid has been one of the most affected regions in terms of both cases and deaths. The aim of this study is to describe the epidemic curve and the epidemiological features and outcomes of COVID-19 patients hospitalized in La Paz University Hospital, a tertiary hospital located in Madrid.

Methods: We included confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases admitted to our centre from February 26^th to June 1^st, 2020. We studied trends in hospitalization and ICU admissions using joinpoint regression analysis.

Results: A sample of 2970 patients was obtained. Median age was 70 years old (IQR 55-82) and 54.8% of them were male. ICU admission rate was 8.7% with a mortality rate of 45.7%. Global CFR was 21.8%. Median time from symptom onset to death was 14 days (IQR 9-22).

Conclusions: We detected an admissions peak on March 21st followed by a descending trend, matching national and regional data. Age and sex distribution were comparable to further series nationally and in western countries.

Background: Since the first months of 2020 COVID-19 patients who were seriously ill due to the development of ARDS, required admission to the intensive care unit to ensure potentially life-saving mechanical ventilation and support for vital functions. To cope with this emergency, an extremely rapid reorganization of premises, services and staff, to dedicate an entire intensive care unit exclusively to SARS-CoV-2 patients and increasing the number of beds was essential. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of reorganization of the COVID-19 intensive care unit in terms of nursing sensitive outcomes.

Methods: a retrospective observational study was conducted to compare nursing sensitive outcomes between pre-COVID period and COVID period.

Results: Falls (0.0 and 0.4%, respectively), physical restraint (1.8 and 1.1%, respectively), and pressure ulcers (8.0 and 3.0%, respectively) were similar in the COVID and in the pre-COVID group. After adjusting for gender, age, BMI, and number of comorbidities, the incidence of bloodstream infections was significantly higher in the COVID group than in the pre-COVID group. There were no statistically significant differences in the incidence between the two groups regarding other evaluated outcomes.

Conclusion: The selected nursing sensitive outcomes maintained similar values in the pre-COVID and COVID patient groups. Healthcare-related infections rate must be considered an important alarm signal of quality of nursing care especially in conditions of excessive workload, stress and the presence of less experienced staff increase.