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Background Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC) is a growing public health problem affecting 2.2 million of the world's population per year and the rates are increasing annually. The disease is usually diagnosed in later stages, and carries high morbidity and mortality rates worldwide. Proper awareness among health care professionals (HCP) is the most significant factor for ensuring early diagnosis and treatment. They should have thorough knowledge to identify all suspicious lesions or otherwise to seek specialist opinion when unsure. The present study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAPs) of OSCC among dental and medical undergraduate students along with general practitioners and specialists of both disciplines. Materials and methods The present cross-sectional study was conducted at Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University and its affiliated hospital. A total of 332 participants filled a close-ended online questionnaire. Responses to the questionnaire were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics. Results Of the 450 health care professionals approached, 332 filled the questionnaire with a response rate of 73.77.%. It was observed that the mean knowledge index was higher among dental participants (10.96 ± 1.85). The attitude index was higher at medical side (6.89 ± 1.11), and the practice index was also higher among the dental participants (4.95 ± 0.91). Most of the health care professionals had knowledge regarding risk factors associated with OSCC. HCPs indicated their lack of training as the main barrier for conducting a comprehensive examination for OSCC. Interestingly, the vast majority of HCPs expressed their interest to have further educational and training sessions regarding this malignancy. Conclusion The study puts forward, the need for intensive training and workshops for awareness and improvement of the abilities of the HCPs, (including dental and medical undergraduate students along with practitioners and specialists) to diagnose OSCC.

Aim of study: To assess knowledge, attitude and practice of health care professionals working in Abha primary health care (PHC) centers regarding standard precautions of infection control. Subjects and Methods: This cross sectional study included 212 health care professionals in Abha PHC centers. An electronic questionnaire was constructed by the researchers and was used for data collection. It consisted of five parts, i.e., socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge questions about infection control and standard precautions, statements about attitude of participants, practice of health care providers regarding infection control and perceived obstacles against adequate application of standard precautions. Results: Most participants were physicians with Bachelor degree (68.9%, and 45.3%, respectively), while 51.9% had an experience less than five years in PHC. About two thirds of PHC centers (60.8%) had a special and separate room for medical waste. Only 55.7% attended training programs on infection control and 72.6% viewed a memo about coronavirus. About one third of participants (31.6%) had poor knowledge about infection control, 88.2% had positive attitude toward infection control policy and procedures, while 49.5% had poor practice level. There were no significant differences in participants' knowledge or attitude according to their socio-demographic characteristics, while their practices were significantly better among those who got a training program about infection control and those who had an experience

Early marriage and childbearing have led to Bangladesh having the highest adolescent fertility rate in the Asia Pacific region. Adolescent pregnancy is correlated with pregnancy-related complications, preterm delivery, delivery of low-birth weight babies, and spousal violence. A quasi-experimental study was conducted in four urban slums (two intervention and two control areas) of Dhaka from July 2014 to August 2016 to assess the effectiveness of a married adolescent girls club (MAG club) in reducing the unmet need for family planning (FP) among married girls between the ages of 14 and 19 (n = 1601, 799 in intervention and 802 in control areas). The percentages of the targeted population using any modern method of contraception were significantly higher among respondents in the intervention areas than those in the control areas (72.6% versus 63.5%). The unmet need for FP was significantly lower among respondents in the intervention areas than that of the control areas (16.2% versus 20.7%). The MAG club was a well-received strategy to provide comprehensive information on FP, which in turn helped improve contraceptive method practices and reduced the unmet need for FP among married adolescent girls in urban slums in Bangladesh. The government could leverage its existing resources to expand the MAG Club model in rural parts of the country to achieve the targets outlined in its Adolescent Reproductive Health Strategy.

Background Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is a viral respiratory illness that was recently recognized in humans. Recently, the Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia reported a substantial increase in MERS cases, primarily from the Riyadh region. The objective of the present study was to evaluate knowledge, attitude and practices towards MERS among physicians, nurses, pharmacist and technicians individually. Methods A cross sectional study conducted at King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia among individual healthcare workers. The survey questionnaire was self-administrated and consisted of five sections: Demographic; Source of MERS information; Knowledge; Attitude; and Practice of healthcare workers towards MERS. Results A total of 391 participants of which physicians (162; 41.4%), pharmacists (18; 4.6%), nurses (130; 33.3%) and technicians (81; 20.7%) were included with a response rate of 95.71%. The majority of the participants were female (53.70%) and mostly in the nurse’s category (40.5%). The participants reported the highest main source of information was seminars and workshops (n = 191; 48%) followed by social media (n = 179; 45%). The overall score indicates good knowledge among physicians (95.7%), pharmacists (88.9%), nurses (86.2%) and technicians (91.4%) and showed statistically significant (p = 0.039). The study showed a positive attitude among physicians (96.3%), pharmacist (94.4%), nurses (94.6%) and technicians (90.1%) with no statistically significant (p = 0.273). However, the majority of the participants showed average practices towards MERS. However, the least practice among participants was the use of facemask in the crowds (24.2%). The demographic characteristic’s age, gender and professions showed significantly associated with mean knowledge score. Similarly, statistical significance observed in gender and experience demographic variables with a mean attitude score. Conclusions The study concludes that different health workers showed good knowledge and positive attitudes, but low to average practices towards MERS with low adherence to facemask practice. When comparing workers, physicians have a high degree of knowledge and attitude when compared to nurses, pharmacist and technicians.

Background In South Africa malaria is endemic in Mpumalanga, Limpopo and the north–eastern areas of KwaZulu-Natal provinces. South Africa has set targets to eliminate malaria by 2018 and research into complementary vector control tools such as the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) is ongoing. It is important to understand community perceptions regarding malaria transmission and control interventions to enable development of community awareness campaign messages appropriate to the needs of the community. We aimed to assess knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding malaria transmission to inform a public awareness campaign for SIT in Jozini Local Municipality, Mamfene in KwaZulu-Natal province. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional survey in three communities in Mamfene, KwaZulu-Natal during 2015. A structured field piloted questionnaire was administered to 400 randomly selected heads of households. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize data. Results Of the 400 participants interviewed, 99% had heard about malaria and correctly associated it with mosquito bites. The sources of malaria information were the local health facility (53%), radio (16%) and community meetings (7%). Approximately 63% of the participants were able to identify three or four symptoms of malaria. The majority (76%) were confident that indoor residual spraying (IRS) kills mosquitoes and prevents infection. Bed nets were used by 2% of the participants. SIT knowledge was poor (9%), however 63% of the participants were supportive of mosquito releases for research purposes. The remaining 37% raised concerns and fears, including fear of the unknown and lack of information on the SIT. Conclusion Appropriate knowledge, positive attitude and acceptable treatment-seeking behaviour for malaria were demonstrated by members of the community. Community involvement will be crucial in achieving success of the SIT and future studies should further investigate concerns raised by the community. The existing communication channels used by the malaria control program can be used; however additional channels should be investigated. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-017-4583-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Objectives: Several occupations in developing countries lag behind in ensuring the safety of their workers in occupational settings. Lack of implementation of safety guidelines at workplaces can expose workers to health risks. In Pakistan, barbers are one of the un-regulated occupational groups. Low literacy, increased frequency of direct skin contact and blade/razors use can expose barbers to body fluids including blood of the customers. We conducted this study in order to determine hepatitis B virus (HBV) prevalence among barbers and their knowledge, attitude and practices in a peri-urban district of Sindh. Material and Methods: Three hundred eighty-five barbers from the Sukkur district were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Blood samples were collected and tested for HBsAg. A scale was built to determine the proportions of responses to knowledge, attitude and practice items. Results: The prevalence of HBV among barbers was 2.1%. The barbers’ knowledge on HBV and its transmission routes was poor. The response to attitude items was good, except that only 35.1% of the participants agreed to have vaccination against HBV. The overall performance on the knowledge and practice scales was poor compared to the attitude scale on which 80% of the barbers performed well. Conclusion: The prevalence of HBV among barbers was lower compared to the available national figures for the prevalence among the general population.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practices of dental surgeons in the city of Karachi providing treatment to pediatric patients. A cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practices of dental surgeons in the city of Karachi providing treatment to pediatric patients. A cluster-sampling technique was used and 200 dental surgeons from six different dental institutions were selected. A self-constructed questionnaire was distributed to the dental surgeons that comprised 20 closed-ended questions. The data was entered and analyzed for frequency and percentages by using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 19. The results showed that 76 (38%) dental surgeons took the responsibility of managing pediatric patient when given; 68 (34%) dental surgeons allowed the parents in the clinic; 111 (55.5%) dental surgeons are of the view that colorful and fun environment in dental clinic make the child at ease; 59 (29.5%) always demonstrate the dental procedure to the child to eradicate imaginary fears; 94 (47.0%) dental surgeons preferred the child to be treated in general anesthesia (GA) to avoid difficult behavior of the child; 135 (67.5%) dental surgeons did not show syringe needle or any instrument to the child. All the members of dental profession must be aware of patient perceptions, preferences, and fear to meet patient's needs. Dental studies should include guidelines and techniques to train the upcoming dentists for excellent practice in pediatric dentistry. How to cite this article Wali A, Siddiqui TM, Khan R, Batool K. Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices of Dental Surgeons in managing Child Patients. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2016;9(4):372-378.

Objectives: Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of healthcare providers related to occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens were assessed in a tertiary-care hospital in Middle East. Methods: A cross-sectional study was undertaken using a self-administered questionnaire based on 3 paired (infectivity known vs. not known-suspected) case studies. Only 17 out of 230 respondents had an exposure in the 12 months prior to the survey and of these, only 2 had complied fully with the hospital's exposure reporting policy. Results: In the paired case studies, the theoretical responses of participating health professionals showed a greater preference for initiating self-directed treatment with antivirals or immunisation rather than complying with the hospital protocol, when the patient was known to be infected. The differences in practice when exposed to a patient with suspected blood pathogens compared to patient known to be infected was statistically significant (p < 0.001) in all 3 paired cases. Failure to test an infected patient's blood meant that an adequate risk assessment and appropriate secondary prevention could not be performed, and reflected the unwillingness to report the occupational exposure. Conclusion: Therefore, the study demonstrated that healthcare providers opted to treat themselves when exposed to patient with infectious disease, rather than comply with the hospital reporting and assessment protocol.

Introduction: Maternal knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) toward management and prevention of diarrhea in children

Background: Malaria causes 216 million cases and an estimated 655000 deaths in 2010 in the world. 80.5% of the 109 billion population of India lives in malaria risk areas. The purpose of this study was to determine the knowledge, attitude and practices of malaria transmission and its prevention among the school going adolescents. Methodology: A cross sectional study was conducted among school going adolescents in the rural area of District Wardha, Maharashtra, Central India. 1096 adolescents from eight government secondary schools were randomly selected. A pre-designed, pre-tested questionnaire was used for data collection. Data thus generated was entered in Microsoft Excel and analyzed using Epi Info 6.04 software package. Chi square value was used for testing the statistical significance. Results: The mean age of the school going adolescents was 13.45 ± 1.91, for boys 13.43 ± 1.99 and 13.48 ± 1.85 year old for girls. About 84.7% of the respondents heard about the malaria disease and. 8.6% were aware about the causative agent. Transmission of malaria by mosquito bite was known to 69.8% of the adolescents. This was found significantly associated with male gender (X 2 = 4.21, p = 0.03). Some of the adolescents had misconception regarding the mode of transmission of malaria like houseflies (32.8%). Nearly half (51.1%) of the adolescents had knowledge of symptoms of malaria as fever. None of the adolescents were aware about the new strategy of insecticide treated bed nets. Majority of the adolescents (57.7%) knew commonest breeding habits of mosquitoes as dirty stagnant water. The main source of information about malaria to most of the adolescents was television and radio (51.7%). About 47.4% of the adolescents practiced the prevention of breeding places of the mosquitoes by cleaning the surrounding. Nearly one fifth (20.7%) of the adolescents were using mosquito net. During the study, 66 (6.02%) adolescents were suffering from fever out of that 12.1% adolescents had taken self medication. Conclusion: Despite widespread knowledge about the morbidity of malaria, understanding about its transmission, treatment and prevention was low. It is imperative to involve the health workers to provide active support and empower teachers with information about malaria causation and prevention strategies so that such knowledge could be passed on to learners.

Background: A teacher with adequate oral health knowledge, positive attitude toward dental health can always play an important role in health education of school children and be a role model for children, lay people and the community at large. Objective: To assess and compare the oral health knowledge among English and Telugu medium primary school teachers in Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy districts of Andhra Pradesh. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire study was conducted among 300 primary school teachers selected from two districts of Andhra Pradesh. A combination of cluster and systematic random sampling technique was employed for the selection of study participants. The data on oral health knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) were collected by two investigators using a structured questionnaire. The data were entered onto a personal computer, and statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 20. Results: A total of 150 school teachers each from English (62 males and 88 females) and Telugu medium (62 males and 88 females) schools participated in the study. By considering the oral hygiene aid used and frequency of brushing, it was evident that the oral hygiene practices were better among English medium teachers compared to their counterparts in Telugu medium. The teachers in English medium had favorable attitudes toward dental health than teachers in Telugu medium. Conclusion: The study found English medium teachers to be having better oral hygiene practices, more frequent dental visits, and better awareness about first aid in dentistry. However, the lack of preventive attitude, lack of motivation to be role models for children in oral health maintenance, reflect that there is a tremendous need to improve the oral health KAP among schoo teachers.