Public Health

Adverse mental health has been a major consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. This review examines interventions to enhance mental health outcomes and well-being of populations during COVID-19. Four electronic databases (MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Embase, and CINAHL) were searched following Arskey and O’Malley’s six-staged scoping review process. Twenty studies were included in the review. Various study populations were included to ensure greater generalisability of results. Interventions informing treatment of mental health concerns during COVID-19 were included and classified into (a) prevention of poor mental health, (b) therapeutic interventions, and (c) other interventions. Preventative strategies (n = 16) included public health education, modified social media use, technology-based interventions, physical activity, policy adaptations, and therapeutic interventions. Treatment strategies (n = 7) included adapting existing treatment and the creation new treatment programmes and platforms....

Background Although the association between alcohol use and sexual risk behaviour has been well-documented, there is little understanding of whether marijuana use alone or combining marijuana with alcohol use contributes to sexual risk behaviour among adolescents. A diverse sample of sexually active adolescents (n = 616) aged 12-18 years (50.32% Hispanic; 31.17% Black) completed a survey on alcohol use, marijuana use and sexual risk behaviour during a visit to a primary care clinic. Adolescents were more likely to report having had two or more sexual partners in the past 3 months if they reported using both alcohol and marijuana (OR=3.90, P<0.0001), alcohol alone (OR=2.51, P<0.0001) or marijuana alone (OR=1.89, P<0.001) compared with adolescents who reported no use during the past month. Adolescents were more likely to report having both two or more partners and condomless sex if they used both alcohol and marijuana (OR=3.19, P<0.001) or alcohol alone (OR=3.41, P<0.01...

Background The relationship of health literacy (HL) with objective measures including anthropometric measurements remains an under-researched topic to date. Objective To assess the association between body mass index (BMI) and HL among Albanian adults. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in Tirana, Albania, in 2012–2014 including a population-based sample of 1154 individuals aged ≥18 years. HL was assessed by the use of HLS-EU-Q instrument. Anthropometrics included measurement of weight and height based on which BMI was calculated. Information on socio-demographic characteristics was also collected. Logistic regression was employed to assess the independent association of BMI and HL controlling all socio-demographic factors. Results One-fifth of the participants reported an inadequate HL level, whereas almost one-third (31%) reported an excellent HL level. About 41% of study participants were overweight and further 22% were obese. In multivariate analysis, there was eviden...

In the Ayurveda medical system, diseases are further divided into Shareerika Roga and Manasaroga according to Adhistana. To manage all types of diseases, Chikitsa is divided into three categories namely, Daivavyapashraya, Yuktivyapashraya and Satvavajaya. Daivavyapashraya Chikisa includes measures to combat Daivakrit diseases. Yuktivyapasraya is a form of treatment based on the basic principles of Ayurveda and Satattvavajaya Chikisa can also control mind withdrawing from the unpleasant things. Ayurveda puts extra pressure on Sattvvajaya Chikisha and Daivavyapashraya Chikisa in managing Manovikaras. Among the Trividha chikitsa, Daivavyapashraya Chikisha has been mentioned earlier due to its "Ashukaritva". It works like Vyadhihara because of Devaprabhava. Satwavajaya Chikitsa is a unique non-pharmacological treatment for psychological disorders. Yuktivyapashraya has two types of treatment meaning internal and external. Inside contains Langhan and Brumhan treatments. The trea...

Various food commodities such as groundnuts are prone to fungal contamination in favourable environmental conditions. The purpose of this study was to isolate and identify fungi associated with stored groundnuts. A purposeful and random sampling was employed to collect three hundred (300) samples of groundnuts in storage for more than six (6) months from local storage facilities known as ‘rumbun’ from the three agricultural zones (Nasarawa South, Nasarawa North and Nasarawa West) in Nasarawa State. The samples were grounded and cultured in potato dextrose agar (PDA) under sterile conditions, with the aid of a microscope and the fungal flora were determined using taxonomical schemes relying on their morphological and cultural characteristics. The total heterotrophic fungal ranged from 1.4 × 102 to 2.9 × 105 with stored groundnut from Nasarawa South being the most contaminated (4.8 × 104 CFU/g) followed by Nasarawa West (1.6 x 104) and Nasarawa North was the least contaminated (3.3 × ...

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Permasalahan  dalam  penelitian  ini  ialah  peranan  istri  nelayan dalam meningkatkan  kesejahteraan  rumah tangganya,  bentuk atau wujud partisipasi seorang istri nelayan dalam meningkatkan kesejahteraan rumah tangganya.   Tujuan  penelitian  ini  adalah  untuk  mengetahui  sejauhmana  peranan  istri nelayan   dan  dalam  wujud  apakah   partisipasi   yang  dilakukan   oleh  istri  nelayan dalam  meningkatkan  kesejahteraan  rumah  tangganya. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan peran istri mempunyai peran ganda jadi penambah dan penutup kebutuhan keluarga. Suami merasa terancam dan terganggu akibat istri bekerja untuk menambah pendapatan keluarga berpengaruh terhadap hubungan relasi antara suami dan istri.

BACKGROUND: Many healthcare organizations place a high value on quality of work-life (QoWL). The healthcare system’s long-term sustainability and capability to offer high-quality services to patients depend on improving QoWL for their healthcare workers. OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to explore the impact of Jordanian hospitals’ workplace policies and measures in three main domains: (I) Infection prevention and control (IPC) measures, (II) Supply of personal protective equipment (PPE), and (III) COVID-19 precautionary measures on the QoWL among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted from May to June 2021 through an online self-reported questionnaire (Google Form) targeting hospital healthcare professionals working at Jordanian hospitals (public, private, military, and university). The study used a valid work-related quality of life (WRQoL) scale to study the QoWL. RESULTS: A total of 484 HCWs in Jordanian hospitals participated ...

Objectives. The analysis of transmission dynamics is crucial to determine whether mitigation or suppression measures reduce the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This study sought to estimate the basic (R0) and time-varying (Rt) reproduction number of COVID-19 and contrast the public health measures for ten South American countries. Methods. Data was obtained from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Country-specific R0 values during the first two weeks of the outbreak and Rt values after 90 days were estimated. Results. Countries used a combination of isolation, physical distancing, quarantine, and community-wide containment measures to staunch the spread of COVID-19 at different points in time. R0 ranged from 1.52 (95% confidence interval: 1.13-1.99) in Venezuela to 3.83 (3.04-4.75) in Chile, whereas Rt after 90 days ranged from 0.71 (95% credible interval: 0.39-1.05) in Uruguay to 1.20 (1.19-1.20) in Brazil. Different R0 and Rt values may be relate...

Service provision assessment (SPA) is a survey of health facilities formulated to provide information on the general functioning of outpatient services related to basic maternal, child, and reproductive health. It measures the presence and functioning of components that are considered essential for the provision and maintenance of good quality health services. Quality of health care is a useful reference in the formulation of practical approaches to quality assessment and improvement. The study was conducted in Tikur Anbess General Specialized Hospital on Maternal and Child health care, in child health care, family planning and antenatal care clinics. Objective of the study was to describe strengths and weaknesses, adherence to standards, and client-provider satisfaction in child health, family planning, and antenatal care health services. This study was a descriptive cross-sectional study undertaken using quantitative method. The study used four different data collection instrument...

The objective of disease surveillance and response is to improve the flow of information to monitor the spread of Infectious diseases, evaluate the effectiveness of control and preventive measures. This study assessed surveillance actors' knowledge and capacity to access and utilize relevant evidence from COVID-19 response data. The study was carried out in Anambra State. We adopted a pre-test and post-test design for the study. The population included all the surveillance actors in Anambra state, and the sample was 32 surveillance actors drawn from 42 initial invited actors via accidental sampling. Demographic data and pre-test were administered before the one-day intensive training. After the training, a post-test was administered. Data collected were analyzed using means and standard deviations, and the Chi-square test was used to determine relationships between categorical variables. The study results revealed that there is an increase in the mean of knowledge and capacity a...

Currently, many people have difficulty finding the nearest hospital that can accept the health insurance of the Health Social Security Organizing Agency (BPJS) and the ignorance of the community whether a hospital can accept BPJS Health or not. This can cause critical problems, especially if the patient's condition requires immediate health action. This problem can be solved with an application that can find the closest distance to BPJS recipient hospitals. One method to find the closest distance that currently has the highest level of accuracy is the Haversine Formula method. Applications made using the Haversine Formula method and based on Location Based Service can find the location of the nearest hospital based on the coordinates of the user's location. In this study, the application built using the Haversine Formula method and Location Based Service was able to find the closest distance from 38 hospitals in the Bekasi Regency area using Google Firebase as a database and...

Background Gender-transformative work in the Global South often focuses on transforming ‘toxic masculinities’ to prevent intimate partner violence (IPV), but there has been little research on whether and how constructions of masculinities by men with disabilities shape their experiences and perpetration of violence. Methods We used repeated in-depth interviews and content analysis to understand whether and how physical disability intersects with the construction of masculinities and experience/perpetration of violence among 15 adult men with physical disabilities participating in interventions to prevent IPV in Ghana, Rwanda, and South Africa. Results Societal expectations and participants’ aspirations around masculinity impacted their vulnerability to violence mainly by men without disabilities. Participants reported experiences of disrespect and social exclusion in their communities and felt incapable of protecting themselves when being violated. Most participants felt they were n...

Objective: The objective of the present study is to postulate a model in which the pathways of life stress-Compulsive Buying (CB) can be explored. The model subjected to empirical testing considered life stress as antecedent variables, self-efficacy and depressive symptoms as mediators of these effects on CB across United States (US), China and South Korea college student samples. Methods: A total convenience sample of 3263 college students (aged 18-30) was recruited from US (N=1205), China (N=1090) and South Korea (N=968). Validated psychological instruments were used to measure compulsive buying, depressive symptoms, self-efficacy and life stress. Results: According to the cut-off scores (<= -1.34) of Compulsive Buying Scale, 18.3% (N=522) was classified as compulsive buyers in the total sample. In the US sample, 21.3% (N=257) of the students were classified as compulsive buyers. 16.0% (N=142) and 16.1% (N=123) of students were identified as compulsive buyers in China and South...