Purpose
Given their negative influence on community health, vaccine hesitancy and resistance are emerging challenges that require healthcare intervention. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the impact of physician-pharmacist collaborative health coaching on rates of hesitancy and resistance for a COVID-19 vaccine.
Methods
After an initial assessment of rates of hesitancy and resistance for a COVID-19 vaccine was conducted, hesitant and resistant participants were approached, recruited, and randomized into an active and control group. Pharmacists-physicians collaborative coaching intervention was delivered to active group subjects over two months through Facebook live sessions. The outcome measures were assessed in both groups before coaching, directly after coaching, and a month after coaching.
Results
The proportions of hesitancy and resistance for a COVID-19 vaccine among subjects in the active group were significantly reduced from 64.3% and 35.7% before coaching to 20.1% and 7.8% directly after coaching, respectively. These proportions were further reduced to 11.1% and 3.3% a month after coaching, respectively. Furthermore, the mean scores for knowledge on, and attitude towards COVID-19 vaccine were significantly increased from 4.6±1.8 and 4.1±1.7 before coaching to 7.5±3.1 and 8.9±3.8 directly after coaching, respectively. However, the change in mean score of beliefs about COVID-19 vaccines among active group subjects was not significant.
Conclusion
High rates of hesitancy and resistance for a COVID-19 vaccine were found in Jordan. These rates can be significantly reduced through online pharmacists-physicians collaborative coaching, which can also improve knowledge of and attitude towards COVID-19 vaccines.
More than three in 10 people living in Jordan are immigrants, with the majority being Palestinian and Syrian refugees, who have a very similar non-communicable diseases (NCDs) profile to the hosting Jordanian community. We conducted a rapid review of the literature of studies, reports, and documents on the evidence of the impact of COVID-19 on vulnerable populations in Jordan with regard to NCD during the first year of the pandemic. COVID-19-related mobility constraints and often lack of awareness of NCDs put additional burden on vulnerable populations like refugees and migrants, in particular on non-registered migrants. COVID-19 pandemic and associated mitigation measures led to disruption in routine health services, significantly impacting people living with NCDs. Ensuring to deliver a people-centered and inclusive approach that works well during COVID-19 is of paramount importance toward Universal Health Coverage (all people have access to the health services they need, when and where they need them, without financial hardship).
Background
Lung cancer is a major health burden in Jordan. With the failure of tobacco control policies and the evolution of new smoking methods like water pipes and e-cigarettes, lung cancer is projected to further increase. This study investigates the epidemiology and the different histopathological subtypes of lung cancer in correlation with age, sex and smoking.
Material and methods
434 tumors diagnosed in the main tertiary hospital in Northern Jordan throughout the period of 2004–2017 were included. Specimens were tested by H&E and immunohistochemical stains. Clinical data were collected from patients' medical files. IRB approval number 310/2016 was granted by Jordan University of Science and Technology review board.
Results
86.9% of cases were males compared to 13.1% in females obtaining a male:female ratio of 6.6:1. The mean age was 63.8 years with a range of 28–103 years. Prevalence of cases increased with increasing age and smoking. Histopathologically, adenocarcinoma accounted for over half of the cases followed by Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and neuroendocrine tumors (NET) in both sexes. Adenocarcinoma had the lowest mean age; 62.74 years, while SCC had the highest mean age with 65.42 years. All subtypes increased with age but in different degrees. The increase was more pronounced in SCC and NET and less with adenocarcinoma. Adenocarcinoma was more common in both smokers and non-smokers. However, smokers to non-smokers ratio differed; where it was the highest in NET (6:1) compared to 4:1 in SCC and 2:1 in adenocarcinoma.
Conclusion
Median age of our patients was slightly lower than that previously reported in Jordan. This study also showed an increase in the relative incidence of adenocarcinoma compared to SCC.
Objective: This study was conducted to assess the knowledge and attitudes regarding organ donation among Jordan University of Science and Technology students and assess their willingness to donate. Methods: A total of 389 students of both sexes in Jordan University of Science and Technology were included in this cross-sectional study. A questionnaire was used to collect information about the degree of knowledge concerning organ donation and their likelihood to donate, factors and obstacles that may influence their decisions, and whether they prefer a certain category of recipients. The content validity was ascertained from a feedback from of three experts. Chi-square test was used to test the significance of the association between willingness to donate an organ and the sociodemographic factors. Results: Only 8.3% of students reported that are highly informed about organ donation. Two thirds (68.5%) reported that they are not willing to donate an organ during their life and 33.9% reported that they are not willing to donate an organ after death. None of the studied socio-demographic factors were significantly associated with the willingness to donate an organ during life or after death. The most common reason for not being willing to donate an organ during their life was fear of deterioration of health (34.7%). Of those who were willing to donate organs after death, 68.2% reported they were more likely to donate kidney. Of those who were willing to donate during their life, 77% reported that they more likely to donate kidney followed by cornea (30.0%) and bone marrow (27.0%). Conclusions: Two thirds and one third of students were not willing to donate an organ during their life and after death, retrospectively. The most common reasons for not being willing to donate an organ during their life was fear of deterioration of health and the want of the body to remain complete. Religious belief was a common reason for not being willing to donate an organ after death.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.