Background
This cross-sectional study evaluates digital health literacy (DHL) and web-based information-seeking behaviour of Lebanese university students in light of the coronavirus pandemic and the ‘infodemic'.
Methods
18 universities took part in the study. Ethical approval was sought from the ethics committees of the participating universities. Data collection was carried out in May-August 2020. The survey was discontinued due to the devastating explosion that shook Beirut early August.
Results
A total of 602 students (60.1% females), 20.6 years (±4.3) took part in the study. 54% reported using the Internet to seek for COVID-19 information in the past month. Students in fields other than health and social sciences (HHS), and not using official sources, had limited DHL for information seeking (26.6%). Lebanese students, at undergraduate level, with a health impairment, and not using official sources and news portals had limited DHL for adding self-generated content (35.9%). Students at undergraduate level, who used social media for information, had limited DHL for evaluating reliability (42.7%). Non-HHS, with a health impairment, and not using official sources had limited DHL for determining relevance (32.0%). Graduate students had higher odds of having sufficient DHL for adding self-generated content (OR = 2.304; 95% CI = 1.076, 4.937) and evaluating reliability (OR = 2.440; 95% CI = 1.171, 5.087). Frequent users of official sources had higher odds (OR = 1.684; 95% CI = 1.065, 2.665) of having sufficient DHL for adding self-generated content. Those who regularly used social media for information had lower odds (OR = 0.577; 95% CI = 0.351, 0.946) regarding evaluating reliability.
Conclusions
Health education programmes in Lebanon need to strengthen digital health literacy in university students, particularly in undergraduates, in fields other than health and social sciences, in those relying on social media, and those with a health impairment.
In this review, sex, racial, and ethnic differences in acute coronary syndromes on a global scale are summarized. The relationship between disparities in presentation and management of acute coronary syndromes and effect on worse clinical outcomes in acute coronary syndromes are discussed. The effect of demographic, geographic, racial, and ethnic factors on acute coronary syndrome care disparities are reviewed. Differences in risk factors including systemic inflammatory disorders and pregnancy-related factors and the pathophysiology underlying them are discussed. Finally, breast arterial calcification and coronary calcium scoring are discussed as methods to detect subclinical atherosclerosis and start early treatment in an attempt to prevent clinical disease.
The present study aims to determine the carcinogenic and neurotoxic risks associated with acrylamide intake from cereal products. Analysis on a UPLC-MS/MS spectrometer revealed that oat-based and mixed cereals contain the highest amount of acrylamide among cereal products with levels as high as 271 and 348 μg/kg, respectively. Children were shown to exhibit both carcinogenic and neurotoxic risks regardless of the type of cereal product consumed. For adults above 50 years of age, only consumers of oat-based cereal products seem to exhibit carcinogenic and neurotoxic risks. To avoid a carcinogenic and neurotoxic risk among the Lebanese population, we propose that food processors set the maximum tolerable concentration for acrylamide in cereal products at 94.8 μg/kg product, a value which is threefolds lower than the average acrylamide levels found in this study. Alternatively, and unreasonably, the average Lebanese population and children among the Lebanese population may choose to cut down on cereal consumption by 1.7-and 7.2-folds respectively, should they want to avoid a health hazard as a result of acrylamide intake. The industry should also respond by optimizing the production process in a way to reduce acrylamide levels in cereals.
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