Background: Good oral health not only promotes an individual to look and feel good, it also helps in preserving oral functions. Oral health is considered an integral part of an individual's overall health. The study was carried out to assess oral health knowledge and practices among male students of Qassim University.Methods: This study included five hundred and eight Students from (4) male colleges in Qassim University enrolled in that academic year were invited to participate in this survey using a self-administered structured questionnaire consisted of (16) questions, written in Arabic and was pretested. Results: The students had good knowledge on the basic oral health measures. Majority (63%) of them they knew that poor oral health lead to gum disease, (59.1%) students were aware that maintaining oral hygiene by using toothbrush and paste. The attitude toward regular visits to the dentist were necessary (81.5%), they perceived brushing of teeth regularly prevents dental decay (94.9%), Sweets affected the teeth adversely (87.4%) and Soft drinks affect the teeth adversely (84.4%). But still students had poor oral health practices they brush their teeth once daily (71.3%) and brushed for less than the optimal time of two minutes (55.7%). Conclusions: Students had good knowledge on the basic oral health measures, but their attitude regarding oral health was diverse and practices toward oral health were relatively poor. Oral health education programs should be conducted with reinforcement, to close the gap between knowledge and practice.

Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) contribute to increased length of hospital stay, higher mortality and higher health-care costs. Prevention and control of HAIs is a critical public health concern. This study assessed the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of standard infection control precautions among health-care workers (HCWs) in Qassim, Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional online survey among HCWs was conducted using a structured questionnaire. Predictors of KAP were investigated using multivariate logistic regression analyses and independent sample t-tests. A total of 213 HCWs participated in the survey. The prevalence of good (≥80% correct response) knowledge, attitude, and practice were 67.6%, 61.5%, and 73.2%, respectively. The predictors of good knowledge included the age of the HCWs (>34 years) (adjusted odds ratio: 30.5, p < 0.001), and training (13.3, p < 0.001). More than 6 years of work experience was a significant predictor of having a positive attitude (5.5, p < 0.001). While the predictors of good practice were having >6 years of experience (2.9, p < 0.01), previous exposure to HAIs (2.5, p < 0.05), and training (3.5, p < 0.01). However, being female (0.22, p < 0.001) and older (>34 years) (0.34, p < 0.01) were negatively associated with knowledge. Results indicate that arranging training for HCWs might be useful in improving their knowledge of standard infection control precautions and is also expected to facilitate positive attitude and practice.

Objective: This study assessed the intention and predictors of accepting the corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine in Jordan. Method: A national-level online survey was conducted among adults (≥18 years) in Jordan between June and September 2021. Descriptive analyses were performed to report vaccination intent. In addition, bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were done to evaluate the association between vaccination intent and its predictors. Results: A total of 2307 adults participated. Most of them (83.7%) expressed an intention to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Their vaccination intention was significantly (p < 0.001) associated with male gender (aOR: 2.6), residence in the Amman region (aOR: 51.8), and no history of COVID-19 infection (aOR: 6.0). In contrast, individuals aged 50-64 years (aOR: 0.2, p < 0.001), Jordanians (aOR: 0.7, p = 0.038), and those with an occupation designated as “other” (unemployed, general workers, housewives) (aOR: 0.2, p < 0.001) were less likely to have a positive vaccination intent. Among the health belief model constructs, perceived future (aOR: 2.8) and present (aOR: 5.0) susceptibility to COVID-19 infection; severity of complications (aOR: 9.9); and benefits (aOR: 100.8) were significantly (p < 0.001) associated with a higher likelihood of having a vaccination intent. On the other hand, individuals who are concerned about the efficacy (aOR: 0.2) and side effects (aOR: 0.2) of the vaccine were less likely to have a positive vaccination intent (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Despite having high rates of intention to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, Jordanians, older adults and housewives, general workers and unemployed individuals were less likely to be vaccinated. These findings highlight that need-based public health campaigns are necessary to ensure maximum COVID-19 vaccination uptake in Jordan.

Abstract:Malaria is the most prevalent parasitic endemic disease in North Sudan, 75% of the total population is at risk.WHO recommends the use of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) an effective malaria control strategy. This study was aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices of mother's about Insecticide-Treated Nets as one of the preventive measures against malaria. This is a descriptive community based study of (295) mothers living in Abo Harira village in North Sudan. The pre-tested structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Multivariate logistic regression was used to study association between the dependent and independent variables, using Spss version 20. The study showed that more than half (55.9%) of mothers had good knowledge regarding ITNs, In spite of good knowledge about ITNs, (66.8 %) of mothers still had negative attitude and only (27.8%) reported always sleeping under it. Multivariate analysis suggested that mothers aged ≤31 years were more likely to have good knowledge about ITNs compared with mother with age ≥ 32 years [OR; 0.5174 (95% CI: 0.2974-0.9001)]. Similarly, mothers who had formal education were more likely to have knowledge about ITNs, two time higher than those with informal education [OR; 2.2 (95% CI: 1.274-3.788)]. We observed that mothers with age ≤31 years had positive attitudes towards ITNs [OR=0.461; 95%CI= (0.2578-0.8232)]. In addition, mothers with formal education were more likely to have positive attitude toward ITNs two time higher than those with informal education [OR; 1.99 (95% CI: 1.1182-3.5731)]. Only association between income and practice is evident. Higher income group is more likely to practice preventive activities two time higher than those with low income group [OR; 1.69 (95% CI: 1.0158-2.8214)]. We Conclude that the attitude and practice of mothers to ITNs in this study was poor. Multivariate analysis revealed that knowledge of mothers about ITNs has significant association with age and education, also illustrate that mothers attitude towards ITNs has significant association with age, mother's work, education and monthly income. Therefore, Education System and the Malaria Control Programme in North Sudan should work closely, especially on malaria education for behaviour change as a key element for increasing utilization of ITNs.

Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) contribute to increased length of hospital stay, high mortality and higher health-care costs. Prevention and control of HAIs is a critical public health concern. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 213 hospital health-care workers in Qassim, Saudi Arabia. We assessed Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) of standard infection control precautions using a structured questionnaire. Predictors of KAP were investigated using multivaraible logistic regression analyses and independent sample t tests. Prevalence of good (&ge;80% correct response) knowledge, attitude and practice were 67.6%, 61.5% and 73.2%, respectively. Predictors of good knowledge included age over 34 years (adjusted odds ratio: 30.5, p&lt;0.001), and receiving training (13.3, p&lt;0.001). Predictor of positive attitude was having &gt;6 years of experience (5.5, p&lt;0.001). While, the predictors of good practice were having &gt;6 years of experience (2.9, p&lt;0.01), previous exposure to HAIs (2.5, p&lt;0.05) and training (3.5, p&lt;0.01). However, being female (0.22, p&lt;0.001) and older (&gt;34 years) (0.34, p&lt;0.01) were negatively associated with knowledge. Results indicate that older academic programs might not have adequately covered infection crontrol. Arranging training for HCWs might be useful in improving their knowledge of standard infection control precautions and is also expected to facilitate positive attitude and practice.