Methods: A total of 20 menopausal women were recruited using purposive sampling through social media in the state of Pahang, Malaysia. In-depth semi-structured interviews were used to explore how they perceived their menopausal experience. The data were then analyzed using thematic analysis.
Results: Three themes that emerged from the findings included perceptions of menopause, biopsychosocial changes and help-seeking behavior. For many Muslim women, menopause was perceived as a time for them to engage in religious commitment more than they had before.
Conclusion: The study findings uncovered a knowledge gap and a lack of support for women impacted by menopause. Muslim women regarded their menopause phase as a time for them to engage in religious duty fully. These results indicate the need for a psychosocial intervention and educational program to ensure women a better transition throughout their menopausal phase.
Methods: This open label comparative design study randomized health professional clinicians to receive "practice points" on tendinopathy management via Twitter or Facebook. Evaluated outcomes included knowledge change and self-reported changes to clinical practice.
Results: Four hundred and ninety-four participants were randomized to 1 of 2 groups and 317 responders analyzed. Both groups demonstrated improvements in knowledge and reported changes to clinical practice. There was no statistical difference between groups for the outcomes of knowledge change (P = .728), changes to clinical practice (P = .11) or the increased use of research information (P = .89). Practice points were shared more by the Twitter group (P social media posts are as effective as longer posts for improving knowledge and promoting behavior change. Twitter may be more useful in publicizing information and Facebook for encouraging course completion.
OBJECTIVES: To measure the level of COVID-19 information overload (COVIO) and assess the association between COVIO and sociodemographic characteristics among the general public.
METHODS: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted between April and May 2020 using a modified Cancer Information Overload scale. The survey was developed and posted on four social media platforms. The data were only collected from those who consented to participate. COVIO score was classified into high vs. low using the asymmetrical distribution as a guide and conducted a binary logistic regression to examine the factors associated with COVIO.
RESULTS: A total number of 584 respondents participated in this study. The mean COVIO score of the respondents was 19.4 (± 4.0). Sources and frequency of receiving COVID-19 information were found to be significant predictors of COVIO. Participants who received information via the broadcast media were more likely to have high COVIO than those who received information via the social media (adjusted odds ratio ([aOR],14.599; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.608-132.559; p = 0.017). Also, participants who received COVID-19 information every minute (aOR, 3.892; 95% CI, 1.124-13.480; p = 0.032) were more likely to have high COVIO than those who received information every week.
CONCLUSION: The source of information and the frequency of receiving COVID-19 information were significantly associated with COVIO. The COVID-19 information is often conflicting, leading to confusion and overload of information in the general population. This can have unfavorable effects on the measures taken to control the transmission and management of COVID-19 infection.
METHODS: A randomized, parallel group, double blinded study was conducted on 54 patients undergoing orthodontic treatment at a university clinic. They were randomized to 3 groups, i.e., WhatsApp (W) group, electronic mail (email) (E) group and control (C) group with 18 subjects in each group. Group (W) and group (E) received oral health messages once a week through WhatsApp and email reminders, respectively, while group (C) did not receive any reminders. Plaque was measured at baseline (T0), after 4 weeks (T1), and after 8 weeks (T2). For each subject, intraoral photographs were taken after application of a plaque-disclosing agent; and the area covered by plaque was measured on teeth 12, 13, 43, 22, 23 and 33 by planimetry. Data were analyzed using SPSS (version 22, IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). Mixed analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare plaque scores between and within the groups.
RESULTS: A total of 54 subjects (14 males and 40 females) with mean age of 22.43 years completed the study. At the end of 8 weeks, no statistically significant difference in the mean plaque score was found between the groups at the different time intervals (p = 0.201).
CONCLUSION: WhatsApp and email reminders did not significantly influence the oral hygiene compliance of orthodontic patients.