SUBJECTS AND METHODS: An online survey was performed by sending out an online questionnaire comprising 21 questions among dental practitioners working in four different countries: Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Malaysia and United Kingdom. The survey evaluated dental practitioners' level of awareness about the PD therapy, comportment and attitude for its implication and prevalence in daily clinical practice. For statistical significance the Chi-square analysis with Spearman Correlation coefficient was conducted to assess the sub-groups and correlating the factors with the level of awareness of the dental practitioners.
RESULTS: A total of 1,219 dental practitioners from four different countries (Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Malaysia and United Kingdom) responded to the questionnaire. The median age of the respondents was 37, 34, 36 and 39 respectively. The majority of dental practitioners demonstrated to have an acceptable level of awareness regarding PD therapy. Nearly 76%, 74%, 79% and 80% of the individuals from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Malaysia and United Kingdom respectively were aware of the role/mechanism of action of the PD therapy. Moreover, in preponderance, practitioners were confident that the effect of PD therapy will not be reduced in patients infected with COVID-19. The majority of dental practitioners were convinced that successful dental treatment due to PD therapy is linked majorly with therapies done in relation to four major dental specialties: prosthodontics, endodontic, restorative dentistry and periodontology. Approximately more than 90% of the dentists were sure that the rate of COVID-19 transmission can be reduced by using PD therapy in oral treatments. The dental practitioners from Saudi Arabia (91%), Pakistan (82%), Malaysia (83%) and United Kingdom (82%) were contented to learn about PD therapy for its use in clinical practice. Nearly more than 95% of the practitioners from the four countries were keen to attend the lectures/hands-on workshops regarding PD therapy to enhance their skills and knowledge. More than 80% of dentists do not refuse the peripheral role of PD therapy with their patients.
CONCLUSIONS: The respondents from the four countries displayed passable level of awareness regarding basic information of PD therapy and its clinical implication in dental specialty. Nevertheless, there is a need to develop awareness regarding the use of PD therapy among dental practitioners during their undergraduate program. Furthermore, lectures and hands-on workshops should be arranged to train dental practitioners in order to enhance their skills for its solicitation in clinical practice. It is perceived by the dentists in the four countries that the use of PD therapy can effectively reduce COVID-19 rate of transmission.
METHOD: A paper-based cross-sectional survey was performed. A pilot-tested questionnaire consisting of 21 questions (demographics 5, knowledge 6, attitude 6, and preparedness 4) was administered to 900 healthcare students at different years of study. Descriptive and inferential analyses were used.
RESULTS: Out of the 900 students approached, 852 (94.7%) completed the questionnaire. The overall students' mean (SD) percentage knowledge score (PKS) was poor [46.7% (18.7)]. The mean (SD) attitude and preparedness scores for all students were 4.68 (1.32), and 1.9 (1.40), respectively, indicating overall positive attitudes, but low preparedness to apply PGx to clinical care. Pharm-D students' overall PKS was significantly higher than medical students (P
METHODS: Ten focus group discussions were held with opinion leaders (chiefs, elders, assemblymen, leaders of women groups) and 16 in-depth interviews were conducted with healthcare workers (District Directors of Health, Medical Assistants in-charge of health centres, and district Public Health Nurses and Midwives). The interviews and discussions were audio recorded, transcribed into English and imported into NVivo 10 for content analysis.
RESULTS: As heads of the family, men control resources, consult soothsayers to determine the health seeking or treatment for pregnant women, and serve as the final authority on where and when pregnant women should seek medical care. Beyond that, they have no expectation of any further role during antenatal care and therefore find it unnecessary to attend clinics with their partners. There were conflicting views about whether men needed to provide any extra support to their pregnant partners within the home. Health workers generally agreed that men provided little or no support to their partners. Although health workers had facilitated the formation of father support groups, there was little evidence of any impact on antenatal support.
CONCLUSIONS: In patriarchal settings, the role of men can be complex and social and cultural traditions may conflict with public health recommendations. Initiatives to promote male involvement should focus on young men and use chiefs and opinion leaders as advocates to re-orient men towards more proactive involvement in ensuring the health of their partners.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective online questionnaire based survey was carried out among the pharmacy students about knowledge, attitude perception and practice of antibiotics using 5-point "Likert scale" and true/false responses. The responses range from strongly agree to strongly disagree, and always to never were recorded. The data were analysed by using simple descriptive statistics.
RESULTS: Out of 300 students approached 212 responded and the response rate was found to be 71%. In this study, most (95%) of the students were aware of the emerging problem of antibiotic resistance due to inappropriate use of antibiotics. Majority (89%) of the students agreed the inappropriate use of antibiotics can increase the overall cost of treatment. However, over half of the (54%) students were not aware of the antibiotic resistance that may be a nation-wide problem of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The net positive response (NPR) and net other response (NOR) of all items in perception on antibiotics received more or less equal responses.
CONCLUSION: The knowledge of antibiotics usage among the students are considerably good compared with previous studies. However, the attitude, perception and practice on antibiotics usage among the pharmacy students are very poor. It alarms the need of appropriate education to enlighten antibiotic awareness for the better disease prevention and health outcomes for the benefit of patient community.