METHODS: This study used the EuroQol 5-Dimension 5-Level (EQ- 5D-5L) tool during the COVID-19 pandemic to examine relationships between socio-demographics, knowledge, and attitudes towards education and outcomes of health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Between September and October 2020 and January and February 2021, a cross-sectional study using a multi-stage sampling technique was carried out.
RESULTS: A total of 1,997 adults participated, with a mean age of 45.17 (SD 14.113). In total, 74.9% had good knowledge, while 59.8% had a positive attitude towards skill education. In univariate analyses, the EQ-5D-5L score was related to age, income, education level, marital status, employment status, financial strain level, and knowledge and attitude towards skilled education. Generalised linear model analyses demonstrated that lower EQ-5D-5L scores were associated with older age, financial constraints, and a negative attitude towards skills education. However, additional adjustments for knowledge and attitude towards skills education show only an increase in age and financial strain was significant.
CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that appropriate strategies be implemented to increase low-income populations' knowledge and attitude towards skill education. Improving education may improve the quality of life for this vulnerable group. Additionally, a qualitative study can be conducted to determine the barriers to low-income households participating in skilled education to fill in the knowledge gap.
METHODOLOGY: An exploratory, descriptive qualitative design was performed. The cross-sectional survey used a non-probability convenient sampling technique to recruit the respondents, who were required to answer an open-ended question: Either "If you are willing to get the vaccine, please state your reason" or "If you are not willing to get vaccinated, please state your reason." The survey also included questions on demography such as age, gender, and place of residence. According to the Health Belief Model, the data was transcribed, translated, and analyzed: perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived barrier, and cues for action.
RESULTS: A total of 1091 respondents who completed the online survey comprised 685 (62.8%) females, 406 (37.2%) males, with a mean age of 38.16 (SD = 16.44). The majority (81.1%) were willing to get vaccinated. Thematic analysis showed that most respondents perceived that the vaccine is safe, effective, protective and will provide herd immunity. Barriers to vaccination include unknown long-term side effects, rapid vaccine production, inadequate information and concerns regarding halal status. Cues to vaccination included individual desire, social responsibility, economic concerns and wait-and-see behavior.
CONCLUSIONS: The public should be well informed about the vaccine, its efficacy, side effects, and halal status to increase vaccine acceptability and achieve herd immunity.
Materials and Methods: It was a cross-sectional study involving a two-stage sampling to select the district and villages. A total of 325 participants were selected based on convenience sampling.
Results: Almost half of the participants rated their oral health as poor or average. The mean GOHAI score was 52.96 (±7.749), ranging from 29 to 60. The GOHAI score was statistically significantly lower for female gender (P = 0.025), lower education level (P = 0.001), and elderly (P = 0.001). The GSROH score was also statistically significant with GOHAI score (P = 0.001).
Conclusions: A limited number of studies were conducted in this area, particularly in the vulnerable population of OA. Our study found that half of the OA living in the fringe had a poor GOHAI score. It is, therefore, suggested that potential study and intervention programs concentrate on the low GOHAI score group; the male, lower educational context, and the elderly.
METHODOLOGY: An online survey was conducted for two weeks in December 2020. A bilingual, semi-structured questionnaire was set up using Google Forms and the generated link was shared on social media (i.e., Facebook and WhatsApp). The questionnaire consisted of questions on knowledge, acceptance and perception of COVID-19 vaccine. The association between demographic factors with scores on knowledge about COVID-19 vaccine were analysed using the Mann-Whitney test for two categorical variables, and the Kruskal-Wallis test used for more than two categorical variables.
RESULTS: A total of 1406 respondents participated, with the mean age of 37.07 years (SD = 16.05) years, and among them 926 (65.9%) were female. Sixty two percent of respondents had poor knowledge about COVID-19 vaccine (mean knowledge score 4.65; SD = 2.32) and 64.5% were willing to get a COVID-19 vaccine. High knowledge scores associated with higher education background, higher-income category and living with who is at higher risk of getting severe COVID-19. They were more likely to be willing to get vaccinated if they were in a lower age group, have higher education levels and were female.
CONCLUSION: Even though knowledge about vaccine COVID-19 is inadequate, the majority of the respondents were willing to get vaccinated. This finding can help the Ministry of Health plan for future efforts to increase vaccine uptake that may eventually lead to herd immunity against COVID-19.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to develop mobile apps in assisting clinical decision in ADR assessments of causality, severity, and preventability using validated tools. The usability of the apps was assessed.
METHODS: We designed mobile apps using validated assessment tools for ADRs. They are the Liverpool ADRs Causality Assessment Tool, Hartwig's Severity Assessment Scale, and the Modified Schumock and Thronton Preventability Scale. The apps were named "Adverse Drug ReactionCausality," "Adverse Drug ReactionSeverity," and "Adverse Drug RxnPreventability." A survey was conducted using the System Usability Scale (SUS) to assess the usability of the developed apps among health care professionals.
RESULTS: These apps are available for download through Google Play Store for free since January 2015. From the survey, the mean SUS score was 70.9 based on 26 responses from the pediatric ward of Hospital Ampang, Malaysia.
CONCLUSIONS: The developed apps received an overall acceptable usability among health care professionals. The usage of these apps will improve detection, assessment, and avoidance of future ADRs. They will also contribute to future research on ADRs, thus increasing drug safety.
RESULTS: In general, the genetic diversity decreased from Costa Rica towards the north (Honduras) and south-east (Colombia). Principle coordinate analysis (PCoA) showed a single cluster indicating low divergence among palms. The phylogenetic tree and STRUCTURE analysis revealed clusters based on country of origin, indicating considerable gene flow among populations within countries. Based on the values of the genetic diversity parameters, some genetically diverse populations could be identified. Further, a total of 34 individual palms that collectively captured maximum allelic diversity with reduced redundancy were also identified. High pairwise genetic differentiation (Fst > 0.250) among populations was evident, particularly between the Colombian populations and those from Honduras, Panama and Costa Rica. Crossing selected palms from highly differentiated populations could generate off-springs that retain more genetic diversity.
CONCLUSION: The results attained are useful for selecting palms and populations for core collection. The selected materials can also be included into crossing scheme to generate offsprings that capture greater genetic diversity for selection gain in the future.