Search

Summary Objective The prevalence of hemorrhoids has been reported to be 7–14%. However, there have been no large-scale studies. This study aims to investigate the incidence of hemorrhoids in Korea by analyzing big data and to find the associated risk factors. Methods This was a retrospective analysis using the Health Insurance Cohort database of the National Health Insurance Corporation of Korea in 2002–2015. The study was divided into two models: the diagnostic (DM) and surgical model (SM). Socio-demographic and lifestyle behavioral characteristics were analyzed as risk factors. Results Overall, 467,567 participants were included. The incidence density of hemorrhoids was 13.9 and 5.7 per 1000 person-years in the DM and SM, respectively. Hemorrhoids occurred more frequently in men and metropolitan areas in both models. The incidence was highest in the 40s. The incidence rates were highest in the high income, smoking, alcohol and the exercise group of 1–4 times a week in both models. The adjusted hazard ratio (HR) was higher in men and decreased with increasing age. It was higher in the metropolitan area. The high-income level and alcohol consumption were risk factors in the DM and SM, respectively. The HR of the exercise group was higher than that of the non-exercise group in both models. Conclusions The diagnostic and surgical incidence density was 13.9 and 5.7 per 1000 person-years, respectively. Hemorrhoids occurred most frequently in men in their 40s. The metropolitan area, high income level and alcohol consumption were associated with an increased frequency of hemorrhoids.

Nowadays, smart meters are deployed in millions of residential households to gain significant insights from fine-grained electricity consumption data. The information extracted from smart meter data enables utilities to identify the socio-demographic characteristics of electricity consumers and then offer them diversified services. Traditionally, this task is implemented in a centralized manner with the assumption that utilities have access to all the smart meter data. However, smart meter data are measured and owned by different retailers in the retail market who may not be willing to share their data. To this end, a distributed electricity consumer characteristics identification method is proposed based on federated learning, which can preserve the privacy of retailers. Specifically, privacy-perseverance principal component analysis (PCA) is exploited to extract features from smart meter data. On this basis, an artificial neural network is trained in a federated manner with three weighted averaging strategies to bridge between smart meter data and the socio-demographic characteristics of consumers. Case studies on the Irish Commission for Energy Regulation (CER) dataset verify that the proposed federated method has comparable performance with the centralized model on both balanced and unbalanced datasets.

BACKGROUND: Severe depression is a mental disorder with a wide range of changes in psychic functions, primarily of affectivity, and is manifested by dysphoric mood and reductive changes in cognitive, conative, and other psychic dynamics, with the presence of psychosomatic complaints and suicidal thoughts. There is always a triad of symptoms: Alteration of affectivity, anhedonia, and low energy with fatigue, but in her clinical picture, there are other symptoms, such as feeling guilty and helpless, obsessed with “black thoughts” with loss of confidence in themselves, with hopelessness, loss of appetite, and weight loss with present insomnia or hypersomnia, and more frequent thinking about death due to the feeling of worthlessness of life. This mental illness covers a vast area of the affective life of a human with a broad spectrum classified by ICD - 10- F 32, F 32.2, and F 32.3. AIM: The main goal is to determine the total number of patients with the major depression treated at “Demir Hisar” Psychiatric Hospital for a period of 5 years, retrospectively in 2013 until 2017 and to determine the impact of socio-demographic variables as risk factors and predictors. METHODS: The study is retrospective, and the necessary parameters for achieving the goals of the research are provided by analyzing the medical histories of all hospitalized patients treated in psychiatric hospitals Demir Hisar in the period from 2013 to 2017. Incidence rates and indexes of the dynamics of hospitalized patients with major depression were determined. RESULTS: About 61.8% of the patients are men and 38.2% women. Patients with no education and elementary school were 64.5% versus patients with high school and university 35.5% and are significantly underpowered. Regarding the employment status, 38.2% of patients are unemployed, and 61.8% of patients are employed. According to the cross-sectional study, 64.7% of men without education have severe depression and live in the city, and 53.3% of women with secondary education live in urban areas (city), meaning rural residence is associated with a reduced rate of severe depression. CONCLUSION: We can conclude that socio-demographic characteristics – age, gender, marital status, level of education, employment/unemployment status, and place of residence are related to the severity of depression.

Background: Changes of body image following breast cancer is one of the factors affecting the quality of life of women with this disease. Objectives: Thus, the factors affecting the body image need to be identified to improve their quality of life. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the factors affecting the body image in Iranian women diagnosed with breast cancer. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 200 breast cancer women were participated using convenience sampling method during April to January, 2018. The data were collected using a demographic questionnaire and body image questionnaires after breast cancer (BIBCQ). The data were analyzed using Univariate and Multivariate linear regression in SPSS25 at a significance level of 0.05. Results: The mean age of participants was 48.43 (SD=10.53). The results showed that the variables such as type of treatment (p=0.002), physical health (β=-0.49, p

Successful farmland eco-compensation projects need to reflect the heterogeneous preferences both from suppliers and beneficiaries. This paper tries to answer this question by investigating both citizen and farmer preferences for different farmland eco-compensation methods in Wuhan, China, and explore some of the socio-demographic characteristics that contribute to their preferences. Based on the data of 288 citizens and 331 farmers, the multinomial logit model was employed to analyze their preferences for the four farmland eco-compensation methods (monetary compensation, in-kind compensation, technology compensation and policy compensation), respectively. The results show that: (1) Monetary compensation is the most welcomed farmland eco-compensation method among both citizens and farmers. (2) Despite farmers and citizens both putting a high value on monetary compensation methods, citizens are more likely to provide compensation methods that can help farmers improve their living standards in a sustainable method (in-kind compensation, technology compensation and policy compensation). Farmers are less likely to choose the in-kind compensation method. (3) The preference for farmland eco-compensation systems of farmers and citizens are influenced by different socio-demographic characteristics. The results can help the government to design more aimed farmland eco-compensation methods for farmers with different socio-demographic characteristics.

Background: Although shreds of evidence are emerging to show the role of illness perceptions in the health outcomes of patients, most of the previous studies have been on single chronic conditions. Aim: To assess the illness perceptions and the associated factors amongst adults with multimorbidity. Setting: General outpatient clinics of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted amongst a systematic sample of 403 adults with multimorbidity. Data on illness perception and other variables were collected using interviewer-administered questionnaires. Descriptive statistics, chi-square test, t -test and analysis of variance were employed for analyses. Results: The age of the participants ranged from 18 to 97 years, with a mean of 60.9 years (standard deviation [s.d.] ± 14.3 years). The majority of participants (57.3%) were women. Ninety-four (23.3%) respondents had only two morbid conditions, whilst 31.2% had at least four morbid conditions. Prioritisation sub-domain of illness perception recorded the highest score (mean = 2.0, s.d. ± 0.8), whilst the treatment burden sub-domain was the lowest (mean = 0.8, s.d. ± 0.7). A significant bivariate relationship was observed between emotional representation ( p = 0.001), prioritisation ( p = 0.013) and causal relationship ( p = 0.013) sub-domains and age group of study participants. Emotional burden associated with illnesses declined as educational level increased ( p = 0.039). Conclusion: Patient’s characteristics such as age, education and the number of morbidities are associated with illness perception. Healthcare providers should pay attention to these factors whilst addressing illness perception as a way to achieve better clinical outcomes.

The goal of this paper is to determine the level of patient satisfaction with health care among adults in the Republic of Serbia and to analyze the correlation between the satisfaction and socio-demographic characteristics of the interviewees. The paper is based on the data provided by the National health survey of the Republic of Serbia. For the purposes of this paper, we used data on age and household of the people aged 19 and more. By eliminating the interviewees who were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with the health care services, we obtained the sample containing 18.206 interviewees. Demographic characteristics and well-being index represented independent variables in the research. Dependent variable of the patient satisfaction was transformed into a binary variable by categorizing satisfied and very satisfied interviewees into one group and by placing dissatisfied and very dissatisfied interviewees into group of dissatisfied patients. The connection between satisfaction and predictors was examined using Chi-Square test and logistic regression. The percentage of the satisfied patients with health care was 72.9%. The satisfaction level was directly connected to age, gender, marital status, employment, region the interviewee comes from and well-being index. Patients who were more satisfied included older people, women, as well as married people, the unemployed and those living in the cities. The analysis of the financial situation shows that the poorest interviewees were the most satisfied with health care.

Changes in the structure of consumers’(tourists’) needs that shape tourism in accordance with the modern way of life attribute greater importance to different types of consumers/tourists. Understanding consumer behaviour (tourists as consumers) is significant in terms of tourism destination management. This paper presents the results of a research conducted with the aim of identifying activities (visiting cultural and historical attractions, sport and recreation, health, fun, gastronomy, shopping, cultural entertainment events) that consumers/tourists prefer in a tourist destination depending on their age and family structure. Two hypotheses were set in this paper: H 1 : There is a statistically significant difference between the age of tourists and the activity preferences in a tourist destination; and H 2 : There is a statistically significant difference between the family structure of tourists and the activity preferences in a tourist destination. The sample included 1117 respondents from the area of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. A survey was conducted from January to March 2017. In accordance with the defined hypotheses, descriptive statistics and a statistical test of multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) were used.

The purpose of this research was to analyze the influence of demographic, social and economic characteristics towards the consumer empowerment of electronic products. The research used cross-sectional study with an online survey of 100 respondents. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential analysis. Descriptive analysis used to identify the demographic, social and economic characteristics of the sample and the consumer empowerment index. The inferential analysis used in this study include chi-square test and logistic regression. The level of consumer empowerment in electronic products only 41.78 that belongs to capable category. The largest index was found in goods selection dimension (88.33) and the lowest (6.4) on behavior complaint dimension. The result of this study showed that female, early-aged adult (18-40 year), higher education, employed, income between Rp2 000 000-Rp3 000 000 per capita per month, origin from the urban area, and family size ≤ 4 were the most empowered consumers. Only two of six variables significantly affect consumer empowerment, namely age and education. Age has a negative and significant effect on consumer empowerment, while education has a positive and significant effect on consumer empowerment of electronic products. Based on the results of the research, it is necessary to raise awareness of consumers to be able to choose the brand of local products. Also consumers need to use their rights as consumers to be able to file complaints if they experience disappointment or loss when buying electronic products.

Introduction. The multitude of changes taking place in the female body in terms of the physiological aspect as well as in the psychological well-being in the perinatal period has become the motivation to fi nd an answer to the question: what is the women’s satisfaction with life (SWL) after childbirth. Aim. The aim of the study was to analyse the level of SWL among women after vaginal delivery and caesarian section according to selected socio-demographic characteristics. Material and methods. The study included 128 females after vaginal delivery (n=58) and caesarian section (n=70) hospitalized at the maternity units in Lublin. The study was voluntary and anonymous. It was conducted in 2020 with the use of survey method and utilized two research tools: the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) and a questionnaire designed by the author in order to collect socio-demographic data. Results. The mean SWL were 26.12±4.78 in women after vaginal delivery and 24.60±6.17 after cesarean section. Selected socio-demographic factors (age, education, marital status, place of residence, professional status) are signifi cantly related to the satisfaction with life of women after cesarean section; while the material situation and living together with the family among women with vaginal delivery. Conclusions. Analysis of the results obtained indicated that actions aimed at the improvement of SWL should be directed to young, unemployed, with primary and vocational education, unmarried women and with poor fi nancial situation.

Carbon taxes evoke a variety of public responses, often with negative implications for policy support, implementation, and stringency. Here we use topic modeling to analyze associations of Spanish citizens with a policy proposal to introduce a carbon tax. This involves asking two key questions, to elicit (1) citizens’ associations with a carbon tax and (2) their judgment of the fairness of such a policy for distinct uses of tax revenues. We identify 11 topics for the first question and 18 topics for the second. We perform regression analysis to assess how respondents’ associations relate to their carbon tax acceptability, knowledge, and sociodemographic characteristics. The results show that, compared to people accepting the carbon tax, those rejecting it show less trust in politicians, think that the rich should pay more than the poor, consider the tax to be less fair, and stress more a lack of renewable energy or low-carbon transport. Respondents accepting a carbon tax emphasize more the need to solve environmental problems and care about a just society. These insights can help policymakers to improve the design and communication of climate policy with the aim to increase its public acceptability. © 2020, Springer Nature B.V. This work was funded by a Recercaixa 2016 project titled “understanding Societal Views on Carbon Pricing” and an ERC Advanced Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (grant agreement no. 741087). I.S. acknowledges financial support from the Russian Science Foundation (RSF grant number 19-18-00262).

As it is the case in many industrialized countries, household food waste accounts for a large share of total food waste in Germany. Within this study, the characteristics of edible and inedible domestic food waste, the reasons for discarding food and the potential influence of socio-demographic factors on food waste generation are assessed. A data set of 6853 households who participated in a diary study in 2016 and 2017 was analyzed by use of descriptive statistics, parametric tests, and linear regression. The results indicate that perishable products such as vegetables, fruits, and bread are mainly affected by disposal. Moreover, household food waste occurs due to quantity problems at purchase for small households and quantity problems at home for larger households and households with children. Despite statistically significant differences in food waste amounts between household lifecycle stages, age of the head of household, household size, and size category of the municipality, socio-demographic factors have a limited power in predicting a household&rsquo, s food waste level. The study has important implications for food waste policy and research regarding the issues of food waste prevention measures, quantification methodologies, and monitoring implementation.

Background Depressive symptoms (DS) are a well-recognized public health problem across the world. There is limited evidence with regard to DS and its associates, such as socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle factors and chronic conditions in low-income countries like Nepal. In this study, we aimed to assess the level of DS and its relationship with socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle factors and chronic disease conditions among community dwelling older people in Nepal. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study of 794 older adults aged 60 or above residing in the rural setting of the Sunsari and Morang districts of eastern Nepal between January and April 2018. Multi-stage cluster sampling was adopted to select the study participants. Data included socio-demographics, lifestyle factors, self-reported chronic disease conditions and the Geriatric depression scale. On Geriatric depression scale, an older adult with a test score greater than five were defined as having depressive symptoms. Determinants of DS were estimated through the generalized estimating equation (GEE) approach by considering exchangeable correlation structure among clusters. Results In our study samples, nearly 55.8% of the older adults were found to be suffering from DS. We found a significant association between DS and being female (aOR: 1.25, 95% CI: 0.89–2.09), Buddhism (aOR: 1.95, 95% CI: 1.58–2.42), Dalits (aOR: 2.60, 95% CI: 1.19–5.65), unemployed, low family income (aOR: 1.77, 95% CI: 1.07–2.92), smokers (aOR: 1.49, 95% CI: 1.01–2.20) and having chronic multi-morbid conditions (aOR: 1.67, 95% CI: 1.09–2.55). Conclusions The prevalence of DS was high among community-dwelling older adults in eastern Nepal. Our findings suggest the need for mental health prevention and management programs targeting the older population in rural Nepal.

Objective:To estimate food insecurity (FI) prevalence among UK adults and investigate associations with socio-demographic characteristics, diet and health.Design:Weighted cross-sectional survey data. FI was measured using the USDA Adult Food Security Survey Module. Data were analysed using adjusted logistic regression models.Setting:United Kingdom.Participants:2551 participants (aged 18–64 years); sub-sample (n 1949) used to investigate association between FI and overweight.Results:FI prevalence was 24·3 %. Higher odds of FI were observed among participants who reported that making ends meet was difficult v. easy (OR 19·76, 95 % CI 13·78, 28·34), were full-time students v. non-students (OR 3·23, 95 % CI 2·01, 5·18), had low v. high education (OR 2·30, 95 % CI 1·66, 3·17), were male v. female (OR 1·36, 95 % CI 1·01, 1·83) and reported their ethnicity as mixed (OR 2·32, 95 % CI 1·02, 5·27) and white other (OR 2·04, 95 % CI 1·04, 3·99) v. white British. Odds of FI were higher in participants living with children v. alone, especially in single-parent households (OR 2·10, 95 % CI 1·19, 3·70). Odds of FI decreased per year of increase in age (OR 0·95, 95 % CI 0·94, 0·96) and were lower in participants not looking for work v. full-time employed (OR 0·60, 95 % CI 0·42, 0·87). Food insecure v. food secure adults had lower odds of consuming fruits (OR 0·59, 95 % CI 0·47, 0·74) and vegetables (OR 0·68, 95 % CI 0·54, 0·86) above the median frequency, and higher odds for fruit juice (OR 1·39, 95 % CI 1·10, 1·75). Food insecure v. food secure adults had higher odds of reporting unhealthy diets (OR 1·65, 95 % CI 1·31, 2·10), poor general health, (OR 1·90, 95 % CI 1·50, 2·41), poor mental health (OR 2·10, 95 % CI 1·64, 2·69), high stress (OR 3·15, 95 % CI 2·42, 4·11) and overweight (OR 1·32, 95 % CI 1·00, 1·75).Conclusions:FI prevalence was high and varied by socio-demographic characteristics. FI was associated with poorer diet and health.

The role of physical activity for social sustainability, as well as potential for social marketing to contribute to increasing the level of physical activity, are already documented in previous literature. Those considerations may gain additional importance in the context of student population, often confronted with the decrease of the level of physical activity, and in a country with scarce similar researches. The purpose of this study is to identify socio-demographic determinants of Serbian students&rsquo, physical activity. Physical activity was examined as an ordinal dependent variable (inactive, low-frequency activity, and recommended frequency activity) and an ordered logit model was implemented for examining its relations with students&rsquo, gender, age, household size, emotional status, accommodation, year of study, and living standard. The results show that 15.7% of students are inactive, 22.9% have low-frequency activity, while 61.3% met the recommended level of physical activity. The average probability of physical activity is larger for male students in comparison to female students. Students with better living standards are also more physically active. Finally, the average probability of physical activity decreases starting from students who live with their families, followed by those who live in a private accommodation, to students who live in a dormitory. Considering the obtained results, recommendations from a social marketing perspective are provided.

In modern business conditions, it is possible to identify a number of manners for company's communication with current customers and prospects. That is the reason for marketers to prioritize the requirements of finding an adequate mix of integrated marketing communications instruments, defining their roles and the extent to which they should be implemented, as well as their mutual coordination and synergetic effects. Company can use different media and, by their combination and integration, send a clear and consistent promotional message to customers. In this paper, the authors analyse the perceived impact of the media and their combination on consumers' attitudes towards food products and their intention to buy food products, as well as whether there are differences when it comes to these influences among consumers with different socio-demographic characteristics.

The subject of this paper is the involvement of adults with hemophilia in Serbia in physical activity through planned and systematic physical exercise and sports activities Authors have explored the basic socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents as well as the level of awareness about the benefits of physical activity for health and psychosocial status of adults with hemophilia. The aim of the research is to determine the difference between adults with hemophilia in Serbia in: the socio-demographic characteristics; in the presence of fear of injury; in awareness about the benefits of physical activity through physical exercise for overall health condition and quality of life and in accepting doctors' recommendations related to physical activity through physical exercise. The study included 44 adults with hemophilia surveyed in April 2016, at Ada Ciganlija in Belgrade, during the event marking the World Day of hemophilia patients in Serbia. As there is no sociological researches of involvement in physical activity of people with hemophilia in Serbia for now, the results of this research can be a specific type of a landmark in the implementation of further sociological studies of this population. The results suggest that the adults with hemophilia should be more involved in the physical activity or sport with the recommendation of doctors and trainers in accordance with the degree of severity of hemophilia.

The aim of this study is to prove that profile of organic food consumers is dependent on their socio-demographic characteristics as well as to shape universal organic food consumer profile. The survey included 398 consumers in Serbia. Results indicate existence of typical consumer's profile. The findings could be generalized proving that socio-demographic profiles in a larger population are strictly related to the decision to utilize organic food. The study finally contributes to the stakeholders in general, since the knowledge of the attributes can help all of them to play more active role in this supply chain. It should stimulate the personalized approach to the particular groups of consumers based on socio-demographic characteristics in order to intensify consumption of organic food and to create different marketing plans dependent on the particular countries or areas.

Background Given the effects of childhood obesity on future health, and the lack of information of its prevalence in Italy, a national surveillance system was implemented in 2007. It is OKkio alla SALUTE, part of the WHO/Europe Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI). This study reports the 2008–2016 trends by sex, area of residence and socio-demographic characteristics in the prevalence of overweight and obesity in primary school children (8–9 years). Methods In each round of the surveillance held in 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016, a nationally representative sample of about 45,000 children, was weighed and measured with standard equipment and methods by trained personnel. Children were classified as normal weight, overweight or obese using World Obesity Federation (WOF) (formerly the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF)) and WHO cut-offs. Children’s sex, area of residence and mothers’ education and citizenship, were obtained using self-reported questionnaires and were assessed using multivariate logistic regression models. Results Between 2008 and 2016, the overall prevalence of obesity dropped from 12.0 to 9.3% (WOF-IOTF) and from 21.2 to 17.0% (WHO), while the overall prevalence of overweight (including obesity) from 35.2 to 30.6% (WOF-IOTF) and from 44.4 to 39.4% (WHO). Reduction in the prevalence of overweight and obesity was greater in boys (− 14.5%, p for trend

Objective: To study the socio-demographic characteristics, the working environment, and the level of career satisfaction among psychiatry residents in China. Method: This was a part of a large-scale, nation-wide online survey of hospitals, healthcare professionals, and patients. Data, including socio-demographics, work hours, income, job satisfaction, and intention to quit were collected anonymously. Respondents also completed the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ). Results: One thousand sixty residents nested in 32 psychiatric hospitals in 29 provinces in China completed the survey. Respondents were predominantly female (69.0%), worked an average of 47.8 ± 11.6 h per week, and 28.97% had experienced medical disputes in the previous year. The top three reported reasons for dissatisfaction were low pay (50.1%), contentious doctor-patient relationships (17.6%), and high workload (10.8%). An intention to quit their current job was reported by 18.7% of residents. The overall mean MSQ score was 73.8 ± 13.8, with significant differences across post-graduate training years and regions. A multilevel regression analysis found that a higher MSQ score was significantly associated with fewer years in residency, shorter work hours, higher monthly pay, having medical liability insurance, and feeling satisfied with the level of doctor-nurse cooperation, their hospitals' medical disputes prevention/management, and the healthcare workers' social environment. Conclusion: Psychiatry residents in China are predominantly female and well-educated. They are only moderately satisfied with their career. Poor salaries, contentious doctor-patient relationships and high workload are among their top complaints and may explain why a considerable proportion are intending to leave their current residency. More support from the government regarding residents' salaries, workload and working environment may help improve their job satisfaction and retention, ensuring that China will have a pool of well-trained and engaged psychiatrists for the future.

Background and Objectives: Cancer is a threatening-life disease with a significant psychological burden. The psychological morbidity varies according to the phases of the illness and is influenced by multiple socio-demographic factors, that are useful to consider in order to identify the categories of patients most at risk of developing psychiatric disorders. The present study analyzes, in a sample of women newly diagnosed with breast cancer, the relationships between their levels of anxiety and depression and several socio-demographic characteristics. The study was cross-sectional. Materials and Methods: Four hundred and seventy eight women newly diagnosed with breast cancer completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale during the pre-surgical phase. Results: Findings show that almost 40% of the sample had clinically relevant anxious symptoms and about a quarter of the sample had significant depressive symptoms. Their prevalence was higher in widows. Moreover, depressive symptoms were higher in older women and anxious symptoms were higher in patients with a lower educational level. In the pre-surgical phase, women can suffer from clinically relevant anxiety and depression, especially the widows, older women, and women with a lower educational level. Conclusions: Identifying the most psychologically vulnerable patients, due to specific socio-demographic characteristics, is essential in order to provide adequate psycho-oncological treatments to the categories of patients, who are most at risk of developing psychopathological concerns.

One of the groups most negatively affected by the epidemic process has been the elderly patients. In this process, it is of great importance to determine the fear levels of the patients and to evaluate the factors that may be related. With this approach, this study aimed to examine the relationship between the fear of COVID-19 and health literacy scores of elderly patients living in Kahramanmaraş City, Turkey. Another aim of the study was to investigate whether the participants’ COVID-19 fear change according to various socio-demographic characteristics. The convenience sampling method were used and 266 of valid samples were collected. Descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation analysis, simple and multiple linear regression analysis techniques were used. The results obtained from the study showed that COVID-19 fear status of the participants were moderate while the health literacy scores were low. Higher health literacy was associated with lower fear of COVID-19. In addition, it was determined that the fear of COVID-19 showed statistically significant differences according to education level, insurance status, smoking status, follow the news status and marital status. As a result, it has been observed that the level of health literacy can be effective in protecting elderly patients from fear. Longitudinal studies have been proposed to determine whether this relationship is causal or not.

Background: Updated information on prevalence of ever smoking and its related factors is necessary for planning smoking control programs. Objective(s): The current study aimed at assessing the prevalence and identifying the associated factors and predictors of ever cigarette smoking among the Saudi adult population. Methods: The current study was a secondary analysis of the cross-sectional community-based survey conducted by the WHO in collaboration with the Saudi Ministry of Health in 2005 using WHO STEP wise approach. A multistage, stratified, cluster random sampling was applied to select a total sample of 5000 Saudi adults aged 15 to 64 years. The interview questionnaire included socio-demographic characteristics, status of smoking, and physical activity pattern. Blood pressure, weight and height were measured. Blood samples were drawn for assessment of fasting blood sugar, total and HDL cholesterol. Results: The prevalence of ever smoking was 21.6%. Just over half of the subjects were females, about 23% less than 25 years, while about 11% more than 55 years of age. Ever smoking was significantly associated with male gender, younger age, and lower education and income levels. Of all study subjects 12.5% were categorized as ever smokers and practicing low level of physical activity. Additionally, 15.2% were categorized as ever smokers and non-obese. Ever smoking was significantly associated with low physical activity and non-obesity. No significant association between ever smoking and hypertension, diabetes mellitus or cholesterol level was found. The significant predictors of ever smoking were male gender and lower educational level. Conclusion: Ever smoking was prevalent among Saudi adult population indicating a need to develop community-based and effective tobacco control programs to reduce this risk. Keywords: Ever smoking, prevalence, socio-demographic characteristics, adults, Saudi Arabia

Introduction: Cameroon has a high prevalence of out-of-school youths. Therefore, research relating to out-of-school youths and HIV/AIDS is imperative, since they might engage in high risk sexual behaviours. The current study investigated the highly prevalent at-risk sexual behaviours among out-of-school youths in urban Cameroon. Methods: A cross-sectional design was adopted using a self-administered questionnaire to collect data from a cluster sample of 405 out-of-school youths, aged 15-24 years. Statistics was calculated using SPSS version 20 at the level 0.05. Results: By age less than 16 years, more females, 90.2% than males, 71.8% had experienced sex (p < 0.001); more females, 40.4% than males, 23.2% used condoms during first sex (p < 0.01); more males, 70.8% than females, 46.0% had multiple sequential sexual partners during the last one year prior to this study (p < 0.001); more males, 42.6% than females, 18.0% had multiple concurrent sexual partners during the study period (p < 0.01); more youths who did not belong to a well-defined social network, 80.8% had experienced sex than those who belonged, 55.8% (p < 0.001); more youths who did not belong to a well-defined social network had multiple sequential sexual partners, 46.7% than those who belonged, 32.3% (p < 0.01); more youths who belonged to a well-defined social network, 24.3% used condoms consistently than those who did not belong,15.4% (p < 0.01). Conclusion: Sexual risk behaviours exist among out-of-school youths in urban Cameroon. There is need for campaigns and interventions to bring about sexual behaviour change especially among those with low socioeconomic status. Youths should be encouraged to join well-defined social networks.Keywords: HIV/AIDS, out-of-school youths, socio-demographic characteristics, sexual risk behavior, urban Cameroon

WOS: 000435293900004, The main objective of this pilot study is to examine spectators' motives for attending a film festival, their perceptions of socio-economic impacts of the festival to the host community, and their satisfaction with the festival utilizing data collected from the attendees of the Transylvania International Film Festival, which takes place on a regular basis in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The results indicate that there are significant variations in motivations, satisfaction, and perceptions of impacts across gender, age, level of education, and occupation of attendees. Theoretical contributions, managerial implications, and limitations are addressed.

Chronic venous insufficiency’s frequency reaches almost 25% in European countries. The aim of this present study was to assess the correlation between sociodemographic characteristics as well as clinical findings and para-clinical findings of aCVI patients. A total number of 2636 patients diagnosed with CVI were evaluated for over an 8 year time period (2006-2013). In case of 795 of them, diagnosis of aCVI (C4-C6) has been established. The following variables have been evaluated: demographic data, etiology, risk factors, chronic diseases as risk factors, signs and symptoms, laboratory findings and even the therapeutic approach. All the assessed data has been evaluated using descriptive statistics, t-Student test, and chi square test. Also the relative risk (RR) and Odds ratio (OR) has been calculated. The mean age of aCVI patients was significantly higher (p=0.001) than the age of patients with stage C1-3 CVI. A positive correlation (p

Growth of youth tourism share in overall tourist expenditures and arrivals is noted on global level. Despite of that, the available data regarding socio-demographic characteristics of youth tourists, characteristics of their travel and tourist stay, as well as their motivation for coming to Belgrade and their satisfaction with their stay in it, is sparse. Aim of this research is attaining scientific findings on the discussed matter. The results of the survey conducted at Belgrade Main Railway Station showed that students from the EU account for the majority of the sample and that the majority of the indicators corresponds with global trends. The significant difference is noted regarding the type of used accommodation, where an absolute domination of hostels is noted. Several figures indicate the transit character of the visit and the general satisfaction with the stay in Belgrade. In average, this tourist segment accounts for larger number of overnight stays than Belgrade's overall average of overnight stays. Differences are also noted regarding the geographic structure of the respondents, but that may potentially be explained by methodological limitations which should be addressed in future research of the subject. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 146010 i br. 176008]

This study examined the socio-demographic and health related characteristics of elder mistreatment (EM) in a community-dwelling older Chinese population. Methods: Guided by a community-based participatory research approach, the PINE study conducted in-person interviews with 3,159 U.S. Chinese older adults aged 60 years and older in the Greater Chicago area from 2011–2013. Participants answered questions regarding psychological, physical and sexual mistreatment, caregiver neglect, and financial exploitation. Definitional approaches for EM subtypes were constructed from least restrictive to most restrictive. Results: The sociodemographic and health-related characteristics associated with EM differed by type of mistreatment and by the operational definition used. Living with fewer people, having been born in countries other than China, poorer health status, and lower quality of life were significantly correlated with physical mistreatment. Only higher education was positively and significantly associated with sexual mistreatment and only poorer health status was consistently correlated with psychological mistreatment among all definitions. Male gender, higher educational levels, higher income, fewer children, and having been in the U.S. for fewer years were significantly correlated with financial exploitation. As for caregiver neglect, older age, having more children, having been in the U.S. for more years, poorer health status, lower quality of life, and worsening health over the past year were consistently correlated with caregiver neglect with different definitions. Conclusions: Prevention and intervention programs on EM should be geared towards specific types of mistreatment. Studies on EM should conduct a thorough analysis to justify the operational definition used.

Background Head lice infestation is a common public health problem that is most prevalent in primary school children throughout the world, especially in developing countries including different parts of Iran. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and risk factors associated with head lice infestation and pediculicidal effect of 1% permethrin shampoo in primary schools girls of Bashagard County, one of the low socioeconomic areas in southeast of Iran. Methods In this interventional study six villages with similar demographical situations were selected and randomly assigned into intervention and control areas. In each area 150 girl students aged 7–12 years were selected randomly and screened for head lice infestation by visual scalp examination. In intervention area, treatment efficacy of 1% permethrin shampoo was evaluated via re-examination for infestation after one, two, and three weeks. Pre-tested structured questionnaire was used to collect data on socio-demographic and associated factors of head lice infestation. Results The prevalence of head lice infestation was 67.3%. There was significant association between head lice infestation and school grade, family size, parents’ literacy, bathing facilities, frequency of hair washing, and use of shared articles (p

Background and Objective: Globally, food hygiene/food borne illnesses remain subjects of great concern. This study sought to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of food hygiene; and to determine the types, prevalence and load of microbial isolates among food handlers’ in cafeterias around a University in South-Western Nigeria. It also highlighted the socio-demographic characteristics of food handlers/respondents. Study Design: A cross sectional descriptive design was used, followed by sample collection and analyses. Place and Duration of Study: Study was carried out over a period of three months at cafeterias around the University campus gates. Methodology: A cross sectional descriptive design using a simple random sampling technique to select 50 participants from six major cafeterias around the University. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire. Microbial samples collected using palm imprint method, prior to microbial isolation and identification. Descriptive analyses were done with frequency and summary statistics, and SPSS version 15 to determine significant relationships with the p set at 0.05 significance level. Results: Majority of respondents were female (70%). A higher percentage (46%) of respondents was between 20-29 years. More than half (62%) of respondents were married. Knowledge of food hygiene was good (42%), likewise the attitude (34%), but only one fifth of respondents had good food hygiene practices. Escherichia coli had the highest occurrence (18.9%) of all bacteria. Aspergillus niger had the highest occurrence (31.6%) of all fungal isolates. Hygiene level of respondents was generally low due to the high occurrence of E. coli. Conclusion: Knowledge of food hygiene amongst food handlers was not complemented by good hygiene practices. Research findings serve as an early warning system to aid implementation of monitoring systems, and spur urgent action from relevant authorities.

Background In higher income countries, social disadvantage is associated with higher arthritis prevalence; however, less is known about arthritis prevalence or determinants in low to middle income countries (LMICs). We assessed arthritis prevalence by age and sex, and marital status and occupation, as two key parameters of socioeconomic position (SEP), using data from the World Health Organization Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE). Methods SAGE Wave 1 (2007–10) includes nationally-representative samples of older adults (≥50 yrs), plus smaller samples of adults aged 18-49 yrs., from China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russia and South Africa (n = 44,747). Arthritis was defined by self-reported healthcare professional diagnosis, and a symptom-based algorithm. Marital status and education were self-reported. Arthritis prevalence data were extracted for each country by 10-year age strata, sex and SEP. Country-specific survey weightings were applied and weighted prevalences calculated. Results Self-reported (lifetime) diagnosed arthritis was reported by 5003 women and 2664 men (19.9% and 14.1%, respectively), whilst 1220 women and 594 men had current symptom-based arthritis (4.8% and 3.1%, respectively). For men, standardised arthritis rates were approximately two- to three-fold greater than for women. The highest rates were observed in Russia: 38% (95% CI 36%–39%) for men, and 17% (95% CI 14%–20%) for women. For both sexes and in all LMICs, arthritis was more prevalent among those with least education, and in separated/divorced/widowed women. Conclusions High arthritis prevalence in LMICs is concerning and may worsen poverty by impacting the ability to work and fulfil community roles. These findings have implications for national efforts to prioritise arthritis prevention and management, and improve healthcare access in LMICs. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12891-017-1624-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The study was carried out within the project “Good environmental status through regional coordination and capacity building” (GES-REG) funded by the Central Baltic INTERREG IV A Programme 2007–2013. MC acknowledges the support of the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education and the National Science Centre of Poland (project 2015/19/D/HS4/01972). SS thanks the project “Development of the ships' ballast water management system to reduce biological invasions” (BALMAN, 2015–2017) for funding her work. NH thanks MASTS (HR09011) (www.masts.ac.uk) for funding a part of his work. The ecological status of coastal and marine waterbodies world-wide is threatened by multiple stressors, including nutrient inputs from various sources and increasing occurrences of invasive alien species. These stressors impact the environmental quality of the Baltic Sea. Each Baltic Sea country contributes to the stressors and, at the same time, is affected by their negative impacts on water quality. Knowledge about benefits from improvements in coastal and marine waters is key to assessing public support for policies aimed at achieving such changes. We propose a new approach to account for variability in benefits related to differences in socio-demographics of respondents, by using a structural model of discrete choice. Our method allows to incorporate a wide range of socio-demographics as explanatory variables in conditional multinomial logit models without the risk of collinearity; the model is estimated jointly and hence more statistically efficient than the alternative, typically used approaches. We apply this new technique to a study of the preferences of Latvian citizens towards improvements of the coastal and marine environment quality. We find that overall, Latvians are willing to pay for reducing losses of biodiversity, for improving water quality for recreation by reduced eutrophication, and for reducing new occurrences of invasive alien species. However a significant group within the sample seems not to value environmental improvements in the Baltic Sea, and, thus, is unwilling to support costly measures for achieving such improvements. The structural model of discrete choice reveals substantial heterogeneity among Latvians towards changes in the quality of coastal and marine waters of Latvia. Postprint

Although the etiology of obesity is complex, social disparities are gaining attention for their contribution to obesity. The aim of this study was to estimate prevalence of obesity and to explore the associations between socio-demographic characteristics and obesity by race in Mississippi. Data from the 2014 Mississippi Behavior Risk Factors Surveillance System (BRFSS) were used in this study (n = 3794). Descriptive statistics, Chi-square tests and logistic regressions were conducted using SAS Proc. Survey procedures to account for BRFSS’s multistage complex survey design and sample weights. The overall prevalence of self-reported obesity was 37%. Multiple logistic regression model showed gender was the only variable associated with increased risk of obesity among blacks. Black females were more likely to be obese (Adjusted OR [aOR] = 2.0, 95% CI: 1.4–2.7, ref = male) after controlling for confounders. Among white adults, obesity was significantly associated with physical activity, gender, age and education levels. Those aged 25–44 years (aOR = 1.7, 95% CI: 1.1–2.6, ref ≥ 64 years), those were physically inactivity (aOR = 1.8, 95% CI: 1.4–2.5, ref = physically active) or had high school education (OR = 1.6, 95% CI: 1.2–2.3, ref = college graduate) or some college (aOR = 1.5, 95% CI: 1.2–2.3, ref = college graduate) were more likely to be obese; females (aOR = 0.8; 95% CI: 0.6–0.9, ref = male) and those aged 18–24 years (aOR = 0.50, 95% CI: 0.21–0.9, ref ≥ 64 years) were less likely to be obese.

Introduction Routine immunization coverage in Nigeria is one of the lowest national coverage rates in the world. The objective of this study was to compare the mother’ characteristics and the child’s Immunization status in some selected rural and urban communities in the North central part of Nigeria. Methods A descriptive cross sectional study, using a multistage sampling technique to select 600 respondent women with an index child between 0-12 months. Results Mean age of rural respondents was 31.40±7.21 years and 32.72+6.77 years among urban respondents, though there was no statistically significant difference in age between the 2 locations (p-0.762). One hundred and ninetyseven (65.7%) and 241(80.3%) of rural and urban respondents respectively were aware of immunization, the difference was statistically significant (p-0.016). knowledge in urban areas was better than among rural respondents. There was statistically significant association between respondents age, employment status, mothers' educational status and the child's immunization status (P0.05. More than half 179(59.7%) of rural and 207(69.0%) of urban had good practice of immunization though the difference was not statistically significant (p-0.165) Conclusion The immunization coverage in urban community was better than that of the rural community. The result of this study has clearly indicated that mothers in Nigeria have improved on taking their children for immunization in both rural and urban area compared to previous reports

Electric vehicles are considered as one of the most effective technologies for reducing current greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector. Although in many countries, local and national governments have introduced incentives and subsidies to facilitate the electric vehicle market penetration, in Sweden, such benefits have been limited. Results from a survey carried out among private owners of electric vehicles are presented in this paper, including the analysis of the respondents socio-demographic characteristics, reasons for choosing an electric vehicle, charging locations and driving preferences, among others. The main results characterize current electric vehicle drivers as male, well-educated, with medium-high income; electric vehicles are used mainly for private purposes and charged at home during night time. Furthermore, the paper presents an analysis of the impact of large-scale penetration of electric vehicles on existing power distribution systems. The findings presented in this paper provide important insights for assuring a sustainable large-scale penetration of electric vehicles by learning from the experiences of early adopters of the technology and by analyzing the impact of different EV penetration scenarios on the power distribution grid. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd

This research investigates the perceptions of different groups of consumers for and against the disintermediation of travel agencies also considering the relative power in influencing the tourist's choices exerted by user generated-content (UGC). A web-based survey is carried out in Spain and 961 complete questionnaires was obtained. A latent segmentation was applied on factors identified running an exploratory factor analysis on a list of 16 statements, the use and frequency of use of the Internet to make hotel reservations, if consumers are bookers or lookers, and they have changed hotel reservations after having read UGC. Findings revealed that different clusters exist based on the identified factors and aforementioned variables, and that significant differences between these clusters based on sociodemographic characteristics, their behavior in using the Internet for searching for information and/or buying, and the extent to which they change the accommodation that had been suggested by a travel agent after having read UGC. The generalization of this research is limited by its method of sampling. This study provides further insights into the scientific debate on disintermediation also considering the relative power of UGC in influencing the tourist's choices. Further, it suggests that hotel marketers should use different types of online and offline distribution channels according to the different characteristics of the consumers who use them and of the products they are looking for.

ObjectiveIn Ghana, intermittent preventive treatment during pregnancy with sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (IPTp-SP) is recommended for the prevention of malaria-related adverse outcomes. This study demonstrates the coverage of IPTp-SP use among pregnant women over a period (2011–2015) and the impact of various sociodemographic groups on the uptake of IPTp-SP.DesignRetrospective analysis using data from all pregnant women in the Kintampo Health and Demographic Surveillance System area on the uptake of IPTp-SP.SettingKintampo North Municipality and Kintampo South District of Ghana.ParticipantsAll pregnant women in the Kintampo Health and Demographic Surveillance System area.Primary and secondary outcome measuresThe number of doses of IPTp-SP taken by pregnant women were examined. Logistic regression was used to assess the determinant of uptake of IPTp-SP while adjusting for within-subject correlation from women with multiple pregnancies.ResultsData from 2011 to 2015 with a total of 17 484 pregnant women were used. The coverage of the recommended three or more doses of IPTp-SP among all pregnant women was 40.6%, 44.0%, 45.9%, 20.9% and 32.4% in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, respectively. In the adjusted analysis, age, household size, education, religion, number of antenatal care visits, ethnicity, marital status, wealth index and place of residence were significantly associated with the uptake of three or more doses of IPTp-SP. Having middle school education or higher, aged 20 years and above, visiting antenatal care five times or more (OR 2.83, 95% CI 2.64 to 3.03), being married (OR 1.10, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.19) and those in higher wealth quintiles were significantly more likely to take three or more doses of IPTp-SP.ConclusionThe uptake of the recommended three or more doses of IPTp-SP is low in the study area. We recommend a community-based approach to identify women during early pregnancy and to administer IPTp-SP.

Background Population level data regarding the general mental health status, and the socio-demographic factors associated with the mental health status of adolescents in Australia aged 12–16 years is limited. This study assessed prevalence of mental health problems in a regional population of Australian students in Grades 7–10, and investigated associations between mental health problems and socio-demographic factors. Methods A web-based survey was conducted in 21 secondary schools located in disadvantaged local government areas in one regional local health district of NSW Australia. Mental health problems were measured using the youth self-report Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) total SDQ score and three subscale scores (internalising problems, externalising problems and prosocial behaviour). Associations between each SDQ outcome and student socio-demographic characteristics (age, gender, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Status, remoteness of residential location and socio-economic disadvantage) were investigated. Results Data are reported for 6793 students aged 12–16 years. Nineteen percent of participants scored in the ‘very high’ range for the total SDQ, 18.0 % for internalising problems, 11.3 % for externalising problems and 8.9 % for prosocial behaviour problems. Gender and Aboriginal status were associated with all four SDQ outcomes, while age was associated with two, excluding externalising problems and prosocial behaviour. Aboriginal adolescents scored higher for mental health problems than non-Aboriginal adolescents for all four SDQ outcomes. Females scored higher than males for total SDQ and internalising problems, with mean difference greatest at age 15. Males scored higher for externalising problems and lower for prosocial behaviour than females. Conclusions The finding that mental health problems significantly varied by age, gender and Aboriginality may suggest a need for tailored interventions for groups of adolescents with highest levels of mental health problems. Trial Registration ANZCTR ACTRN12611000606987. Registered 14/06/2011.

Aims: The aim of this study was to assess the orthodontic treatment needs of adolescents, the schoolchildren, in Zagreb, Croatia, in relation to their orthodontic treatment history, caries experience and socio-demographic parameters. Methods: The subjects of the study sample comprised 1, 289 schoolchildren from 12 randomly selected public schools in Zagreb, Croatia. The subjects were 15 – 18 years old (mean age 16.3±1.4), and 51% of them were girls. Dental Aesthetic Index (DAI), namely the sum of the numbers of decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT index), and a questionnaire (covering socio-demographic issues, oral health-related attitudes and behaviours) were employed in this study. The data was analysed by means of Chi- square test, analysis of variance, and multiple logistic regression models. Results: DMFT score was higher in schoolchildren with no orthodontic history (5.2 ± 3.7) than in those who were under orthodontic treatment at the time of the research (4.5 ± 3.2 ; p=0.043). More than 60% of the schoolchildren were never under orthodontic treatment, around 24% were previously under treatment, and 15% were under treatment at the time of the research. Overall, 85% of the schoolchildren’s’ orthodontic appliances were removable, and the girls were more often under orthodontic treatment. One fifth of the studied population had severe or very severe malocclusion. Girls were more often undergoing orthodontic treatment. Schoolchildren with previous orthodontic treatment more often wished for better teeth alignment, changes in their teeth positioning and for continuing orthodontic treatment. Multiple logistic regression model demonstrated that previously treated schoolchildren in comparison to their untreated peers, were on average older (p=0.002), less satisfied with the appearance of their teeth (p=0.001), and had higher malocclusion severity (p=0.046), fewer caries teeth (

In several countries around the world, Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) exist in aquatic environments, a fact that increases the awareness within the scientific community with respect to their possible fate and environment effects. This research presents a preliminary monitoring of use, consumption and presence of PPCPs in wastewater from a treatment plant in a rural area of Pereira (Colombia). Domestic sewage is treated in a septic tank followed by an Up-Flow Anaerobic Filter and its effluent is discharged into the Otún River, upstream of the water intake of the supply system of the city. The compounds monitored in this research included ibuprofen, naproxen, diclofenac, aspirin, ketoprofen, caffeine, galaxolide, tonalide and dihydrojasmonate. An adapted method of multi-residue analysis was used, which is based on solid phase extraction with hydrophilic-lipophilic balance cartridges, and determination by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The removal efficiencies demonstrated that the treatment plant could eliminate less than 50% of dihydrojasmonate, diclofenac and galaxolide existing in wastewater; concentration of aspirin, naproxen and tonalide could only be reduced in 15%; and caffeine, ibuprofen and ketoprofen were not removed. Results provided basic information to decide over the necessity of complementary treatments for effluents from systems with the mentioned units. En muchos países del mundo, los productos farmacéuticos y de cuidado personal (PPCPs) están presentes en el medio acuático, aumentando las preocupaciones entre la comunidad científica respecto a sus posibles destinos y efectos ambientales. Esta investigación presenta un monitoreo preliminar del uso y consumo de PPCPs y su presencia en las aguas residuales de una planta de tratamiento en zona rural de Pereira (Colombia), donde los vertimientos domésticos son tratadas en un sistema tanque séptico-filtro anaerobio y cuyo efluente se vierte en el río Otún antes de la bocatoma del acueducto de la ciudad. Los compuestos monitoreados en esta investigación incluyen ibuprofeno, naproxeno, diclofenaco, aspirina, ketoprofeno, cafeína, galaxolide, tonalida y dihidrojasmonato. Se utilizó un método de análisis multiresiduo adaptado, que se basa en la extracción en fase sólida con cartuchos de balance hydrophiliclipophilic y determinación por cromatografía de gases-espectrometría de masas. La planta de tratamiento pudo eliminar menos del 50% del dihidrojasmonato, diclofenaco y galaxolida del agua residual; las concentraciones de aspirina, naproxeno y tonalida sólo fueron reducidas en un 15%, y la cafeína, ibuporfeno y ketoprofeno no fueron removidos. Estos resultados proporcionan información base para decidir sobre la necesidad de tratamientos complementarios para los efluentes de estos sistemas de tratamiento.

The ongoing project “Detailed Methodological Approach to understanding the VET educational system in 7 European countries (7EU-VET)” tries to improve understanding of what particular factors influence on VET system attractiveness and success. The project tries to answer to questions what's new in human perception of VET systems and how they see the future job opportunities, career development and mobility; how effective and successful are advising and informing systems? For these reasons the project implemented empirical study among VET schools’ pupil which results are intended for decision makers, experts and VET managers. Results derived from research made in Latvian institutions of initial VET are presented.

Background Sickle cell disease (SCD) is of major public health concern globally, with majority of patients living in Africa. Despite its relevance, there is a dearth of research to determine the socio-demographic distribution and psychosocial impact of SCD in Ghana. The objective of this study was to examine the socio-demographic distribution and psychosocial consequences of SCD among patients in Ghana and to assess their quality of life and coping mechanisms. Methods A cross-sectional research design was used that involved the completion of questionnaires on socio-demographic characteristics, quality of life, coping mechanisms, anxiety and depression. Participants were 387 male and female patients attending a sickle cell clinic in a public hospital. Results Results showed that majority of the patients were single, female, less than 39 years old and had attained secondary school level of education or less. Also, patients were more satisfied by the presence of love, friends and relatives as well as home, community and neighbourhood environment. While pains of varied nature and severity were the major reasons for attending hospital in SCD condition, going to the hospital as well as having faith in God was the most frequently reported mechanisms for coping with an unbearable SCD attacks. Results of multiple regression analysis showed that some socio-demographic and quality of life indicators had strong associations with anxiety and/or depression. Conclusions It is recommended that a holistic intervention strategy incorporating psychosocial dimensions should be considered in the treatment and management of SCD.

Este estudio examina la relación entre características sociodemográficas de las personas y su uso de Tecnologías de Información (TI) en Chile, empleando una versión abreviada del Modelo de Aceptación de Tecnología, TAM (Technology Acceptance Model, por su sigla en inglés). Los datos recolectados apoyan al TAM, mostrando que tanto la facilidad de uso percibida (FUP) como la utilidad percibida (UP) impactan positivamente en el uso de computadores (U). A su vez, la facilidad de uso favorece la utilidad percibida. Dentro de las variables sociodemográficas, el ingreso familiar (IF) y nivel educacional (NE) influyen favorablemente en FUP, UP y el uso (U) de computadores, al contario de la edad (E), la cual impacta negativamente en dichas variables. Asimismo, se advirtió que existe una correlación positiva entre ingreso familiar y nivel educacional, y una correlación negativa entre edad y NE. A diferencia de otros estudios, esta investigación recolectó datos de una muestra heterogénea con sujetos de diferentes ingresos familiares, edades y niveles educacionales, aproximándose a la población urbana chilena. Por ello, este estudio presenta una panorámica del uso de TI, de utilidad para guiar políticas gubernamentales enfocadas en la promoción del uso colectivo de TI en un país en desarrollo. This paper examines the relationship between people’s socio-demographic characteristics and their use of Information Technology (IT) in Chile, employing an abridged version of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). The data collected supports the TAM, showing that the perceived easiness of use (PEOU) and perceived usefulness (PU) positively impact the use of computers (U). In turn, perceived ease of use favors perceived usefulness. Regarding the socio-demographic variables, family income (FI) and educational level (EL) positively influence PEOU, PU and U, contrary to age (A), which negatively impacts those variables. Likewise, the data showed a positive correlation between FI and EL, and a negative correlation between A and EL. Unlike previous studies, this research gathered data using a heterogeneous sample, which included subjects who exhibited different income, age, and educational levels, approximating the urban Chilean population. Thus, this paper presents a picture of the use of IT, which makes it useful for guiding government policy making aimed at promoting the collective use of IT in a developing country. Cette étude examine les relations entre caractéristiques sociodémographiques des personnes et leur recours aux Technologies de l’Information (TI) au Chili, usant pour cela d’une version abrégée du Modèle d’Acceptation de Technologie, TAM (Technology Acceptance Model en anglais). Les données obtenues corroborent le TAM, indiquant que la facilité d’emploi perçue (FUP en espagnol) ainsi que l’utilité perçue (UP) ont un impact positif sur l’usage des ordinateurs (U). De même, la facilité d’emploi favorise l’utilité perçue. Au sein des variables sociodémographiques, le revenu familial (IF en espagnol) et le niveau d’éducation (NE) influent favorablement sur la FUP, l’UP et l’usage (U) des ordinateurs, contrairement à l’âge (E en espagnol), qui a un impact négatif sur ces variables. De cette manière, nous remarquons qu’il existe une corrélation positive entre le revenu familial et le niveau d’éducation, ainsi qu’une corrélation négative entre l’âge et le NE. Se distinguant d’autres études, cette recherche a procéder à une collecte de données d’un échantillon hétérogène incluant des sujets de revenus familiaux, d’âges et de niveaux d’éducation variés, correspondant dans son ensemble à la population urbaine chilienne. Pour cela, ce travail présente une approche panoramique de l’usage de TI, nécessaire afin d’orienter les politiques gouvernementales destinées à promouvoir l’usage collectif de TI dans un pays en voie de développement. Este estudo examina a relação entre as características sociodemográficas dos indivíduos eo uso de Tecnologia da Informação (TI) no Chile, usando uma versão abreviada do Modelo de Aceitação de Tecnologia, TAM. Os dados coletados apoiam a TAM, mostrando que tanto a facilidade de uso percebida (FUP) e utilidade percebida (PU) têm um impacto positivo sobre o uso de computadores (U). Por sua vez, facilidade de uso promove a utilidade percebida. Entre as variáveis __sócio-demográficas, a renda familiar (IF) e nível de escolaridade (NE) influenciam favoravelmente FUP, UP e use (U) de computadores, para dizer a idade (E), que tem um impacto negativo sobre essas variáveis. Também foi observado que há uma correlação positiva entre renda familiar e nível educacional e uma correlação negativa entre idade e NE. Diferentemente de outros estudos, esta pesquisa colheu dados de uma amostra heterogênea com sujeitos de renda familiar diferente, idade e níveis de ensino, aproximando-se da população chilena urbana. Portanto, este estudo apresenta uma visão geral do uso de TI, útil para orientar as políticas governamentais voltadas para a promoção do uso coletivo de TI em um país em desenvolvimento.