Do parents' perceptions of risks protect children engaged in farm work?

BACKGROUND: The purpose was to describe farm parents' perceptions of risks on their farms and determine if these perceptions were associated with (1) using of the North American Guidelines for Children's Agricultural Tasks (NAGCAT) and (2) making NAGCAT-recommended changes to enhance the safety of farm work for their children. METHODS: This is a secondary analysis of data collected by telephone interview during a randomized trial that involved 450 farms in the United States and Canada. RESULTS: While 81% of farm parents perceived farming to be more dangerous than other occupations, only 66% of those parents felt that it was more dangerous for children to work on a farm than at other work. Furthermore, risk perception scores were only weakly associated with parents' use of NAGCAT and making NAGCAT-recommended safety changes. CONCLUSION: Even with voluntary safety guidelines in hand and the general perception of farming as a dangerous occupation, many farm parents were not actively using NAGCAT to reduce the exposure of their children to hazardous farm work. Together with the continuing morbidity and mortality among farm children, this suggests that voluntary guidelines alone may not be sufficient to protect children working on farms.     

Where do children usually play? A qualitative study of parents' perceptions of influences on children's active free-play

This study explored the perceptions of 78 parents from low, mid and high socio-economic areas in Melbourne, Australia to increase understanding of where children play and why. Using an ecological model interviews with parents revealed that safety and social factors emerged as key social themes, facilities at parks and playgrounds, and urban design factors emerged as important physical environment themes. The children's level of independence and attitudes to active free-play were considered to be important individual level influences on active free-play. The study findings have important implications for future urban planning and children's opportunities for active free-play.     

Developmental services in primary care for low-income children: Clinicians’ perceptions of the healthy steps for young children program

Difficulties with providing quality primary health care for low-income Americans have been well documented. Few studies have addressed the challenges faced by pediatric clinicians serving low-income families or whether practice-based interventions improve clinicians’ ability to provide quality preventive health services. We investigated if, over time, the Healthy Steps for Young Children program affected the practices and perceptions of clinicians in pediatric primary care practices serving low-income families compared to practices serving more affluent families. Self-administered questionnaires were completed at baseline (N=104) and at 30 months (N=91) by clinicians at 20 pediatric practices participating in the Healthy Steps program. Practices were divided into three groups: those serving families with low, middle, and high incomes. Barriers to providing care, provision of preventive developmental services, and perceptions of care were assessed at baseline and at 30 months after introducing the program. Across all income groups and over time, clinicians were more likely to report the provision of preventive developmental health services. Clinicians in low-income practices reported increased problems with both reimbursement and time barriers; clinicians in high-income practices reported increased problems with reim-bursement. At 30 months, clinicians serving low-income families reported the greatest positive changes in their perceptions about the quality of care provided by their practices. They also were more likely to strongly agree that they gave support to families and to be very satisfied with the ability of their clinical staff to meet the developmental needs of children. We found that Healthy Steps was successful in universally increasing developmental services despite the reported practice barriers for both low- and high-income practices. The Healthy Steps program enabled low-income practices to achieve similar levels of clinician satisfaction as middle- and high-income practices despite having reported lower levels at the beginning months of the program. The Healthy Steps for Young Children Program is a program of the Commonwealth Fund, local funders, and health care providers across the nation. It is cosponsored by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Funding for the Healthy Steps National Evaluation is being provided by the Commonwealth Fund, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Atlantic Philanthropic Foundation, and local funders. The views presented here are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the funders, their directors, officers, or staff.     

Do parental neighbourhood perceptions contribute to child behaviour problems? A study of disadvantaged children

Abstract

Over the past decade disadvantaged communities are increasingly the target for intervention, with the introduction of a number of Area Based Initiatives (ABIs) designed to reduce the effects of poverty on children. However, an exclusive focus on the neighbourhood can overlook interactions between individuals' characteristics and their surroundings. Neighbourhood deprivation, parental mental health, parental personality, family stress and harsh discipline were included in a study of predictions of children's behaviour problems in a sample of 463 children aged 5 years and 12 years living in three disadvantaged neighbourhoods in England. Children's primary caregivers (primarily mothers) were given a structured questionnaire administered in the home as a face-to-face interview about the neighbourhood, the family, parenting, parental personality, parental mental current health and child behaviour. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that child factors (younger age group) and gender (male), neighbourhood factors (attachment and non-family networks), parental personality (agreeableness) and parent–child interactions (harsh discipline and family stress) accounted for 37% of the total variance in child behaviour problems. Interactions between parental mental health, parental personality, parenting and children's well-being need to be considered when introducing interventions related to neighbourhood deprivation and local disorder; these factors may inhibit some vulnerable families from the benefits of interventions.     

Validity and reliability of the Arabic version of the child perceptions questionnaire for 8–10-year-old children

Quality of Life Research - To develop an Arabic version of the CPQ8–10 and test its validity and reliability for use among Arabic-speaking children. The 25-item professionally translated...     

Management and dissemination of professional expertise: Physiotherapists’ perceptions of the supervision of dedicated aides working with children with cerebral palsy

ABSTRACT

A qualitative study was undertaken to explore pediatric physiotherapists’ perceptions and experiences of supervising dedicated aides responsible for the daily care of preschool children with cerebral palsy. Data were collected using individual semi-structured interviews. A theme-based content analysis yielded three major themes. Supervision and therapy were provided simultaneously, giving supervision a secondary priority. The physiotherapists transitioned their professional language into a common form of language to make the aides understand. The importance of letting aides attain first-person experiences of professional skills was highlighted. Implications of the findings for supervision in pediatric physiotherapy and for future research are addressed.     

Young children’s perceptions of health warning labels on cigarette packages: a study in six countries

Aim

Health warning labels on cigarette packages are one way to reach youth thinking about initiating tobacco use. The purpose of this study was to examine awareness and understanding of current health warning labels among 5 and 6 year old children.

Subjects and methods

Researchers conducted one-on-one interviews with urban and rural 5 and 6 year olds from Brazil, China, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Russia.

Results

Among the 2,423 participating children, 62 % were unaware of the health warnings currently featured on cigarette packages, with the lowest levels of awareness in India and the highest levels in Brazil. When shown the messages, the same percentage of participating children (62 %) showed no level of message understanding.

Conclusion

While youth are receiving social and informational messages promoting tobacco use, health warning labels featured on cigarette packages are not effectively reaching young children with anti-smoking messages.     

A comparison of urban and rural kindergarten teachers’ perceptions of school safety for young children: implications for quality teacher education

Although a quality preschool supports young children's health and safety, ‘quality' has been defined diversely enough that its delivery has been varied among kindergarten teachers. The current study was the first to examine and compare perceptions of school safety between urban and rural kindergarten teachers. Sixty-seven Hong Kong teachers (from an urban region of China) and 111 Yunnan teachers (from a rural region of China) rated their perceived knowledge and attitudes regarding child safety and perceived school safety for young children. The results showed that although Yunnan teachers rated their schools’ safety less favourably than did Hong Kong teachers, they rated themselves as having better knowledge and stronger attitudes about child safety. Hong Kong teachers’ age and total teaching experience and Yunnan teachers’ perceived knowledge significantly predicted their perceived school safety for young children. The implications for ‘quality' as a multi-level construct in relation to quality teacher education are discussed.     

Adolescents' proxy reports of parents' socioeconomic status: How valid are they?

STUDY OBJECTIVE: Children's proxy reports on indicators of their parents' socioeconomic status (SES) have either been used uncritically or dismissed as invalid. This paper examines the validity of young adolescents' reports of parental SES by comparing adolescent reports with parents' own reports of SES. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: In 1990, 924 13 year olds, along with 648 of their fathers and 735 of their mothers, participated in the baseline survey of The Norwegian Longitudinal Health Behaviour Study. Data on parental occupation were collected from both adolescents and parents at baseline, while data on parental education were collected at follow up from the adolescents at age 15 and from their parents when the adolescents were 19 years old. MAIN RESULTS: Three different ways of grouping the SES categories based on occupational data were investigated, and the strength of agreement was good for all three groups, with kappa statistics ranging from 0.65 to 0.86. There were no significant improvements of agreement when comparing adolescent data from age 15 to adolescent data from age 13. The strength of agreements between the adolescents' and parents' reports of parental education were fair; kappa statistics were 0.30 and 0.38 for fathers' and mothers' education, respectively. The proportions of unclassified answers or no responses from the adolescents were similar for questions on occupation and education, and ranged from 11% to 16%. CONCLUSIONS: The agreement between adolescents' and parents' reports of SES based on occupation was judged to be good, but adding a few specific questions may cue the adolescent to provide more detailed information, thereby reducing the numbers of unclassified answers or non-responders.     

Consumers’ perceptions of biocidal products in households

Biocidal products are commonly used in households and can pose a risk to human health and the environment. The aim of this study was to evaluate consumers’ use and understanding of biocidal products in order to identify starting points for minimising their exposure to these products and reducing possible emissions to the environment. In a case study, standardised questionnaires were used to interview consumers in 133 households in three neighbourhoods in Northern Germany, representing the urban–rural typologies in Europe: predominantly urban, intermediate and predominantly rural regions. The questions focussed on the comprehension of the term ‘biocide’, pest control habits, sources of information, risk perception of different product groups and possible emission reduction measures.Only 21% of the respondents understood the term ‘biocide’ correctly, whereas 29% thought of ‘something that had to do with organic pest control’, and 28% were not able to think of a possible meaning. The risk perception of biocidal products compared to plant protection products varied depending on the living conditions. In the urban neighbourhood, biocidal products were perceived as more dangerous than in the rural area. The main pests to be fought were ants, mould and fruit fly. The results of the study indicate that there is a considerable difference between the types of biocidal products that interviewees claimed to own and those that they actually did have in their households. Most notably, respondents did not realise that they owned surface disinfectants. This result indicates that consumers often seem not to be aware of using specific biocidal products. Also, this shows the limitations of collecting data on products owned with only one method, as the results from products inventories of the households deviate from the data collected in interviews.Our results show that the term ‘biocide’ is not fully understood by many people. To communicate possible risks of biocidal products, other terms would have to be used. Online information regarding general facts on necessary general hygiene measures and biocidal products against bacteria and insects are likely to be of highest relevance for consumers. However, risk communication for biocidal products in general is difficult because consumers are often not aware of using biocidal products. For this reason, information and awareness raising campaigns should be accompanied by further measures such as sales restrictions for specific user-groups or prohibitions of certain uses for a sustainable use of biocidal products.     

Patients’ perceptions of generic drugs in Greece

The use of generic drugs is growing increasingly around the world and in Greece, in particular, in order to reduce pharmaceutical expenditure. However, patients’ perceptions and attitudes about generics have only partially been studied so far in Greece.ObjectiveThis study aimed to examine the factors that influence the attitude of patients and consumers regarding generic drugs.MethodsA questionnaire survey of 364 patients visiting a pharmacy was conducted. The questionnaire consisted of 29 questions, including questions regarding their knowledge about generics, the reasons for using them, their previous experience, their willingness for generic substitution, and the factors behind these choices.ResultsNearly half of the participants in the survey know the term ‘generic’ and that it has a lower price compared to the brand name drug. Their views on safety and efficacy vary significantly and the main source of information on generics is the media and the internet. The lack of knowledge is the main barrier for attitudes of doctors. Health professionals play the most influential role for the substitution of a branded drug by a generic, followed by the cost of the generic.ConclusionsAlmost half of the patients know about generic drugs, with their lower price being the most popular feature which most patients are familiar with. It seems that primarily the doctor and, subsequently the pharmacist play the most important role in a patient's decision to replace his/her medicine with a generic.     

Do workers underreport morbidity? The accuracy of self-reports of chronic conditions

We use matched Danish health survey and register data to investigate discrepancies between register-based diagnoses and self-reported morbidity. We hypothesize that false negatives (medical diagnoses existing in the register but not reported in the survey) arise partly because individuals fear career repercussions of being discovered suffering a chronic or severe illness that potentially lowers productivity. We find evidence of substantial underreporting, which is indeed systematically higher for individuals in the labor market.     

The accuracy of general practitioners’ clinical assessment of chest pain patients

Objective: To study general practitioners’ (GP) assessment of the probability of ischaemic heart disease (IHD) and GP action in daily practice regarding chest pain patients. Methods: All chest pain patients aged 20–79 years, attending three primary health-care centres in south-east Sweden and assessed by the GP to have high, low or very low probability of IHD, were included consecutively over a two year period. The “GP action in daily practice” was classed as “active decisions” (investigation or treatment) or “wait and see”. “IHD” or “not IHD” was settled according to the results of acute hospital investigation or exercise testing/myocardial perfusion scintigraphy. Results: 516 patients were included, 93 high, 145 low and 278 very low probability cases. The outcome was “IHD” in 47%, 9% and 1% respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of the “GP assessment of the probability of IHD” were 72% and 89%. The sensitivity and specificity of the “GP action in daily practice” were 88% and 72%, respectively. The negative predictive value was 98%. Conclusion: GP assessment, after clinical evaluation, that the probability of IHD was low did not safely rule out IHD. GP action in daily practice however, indicates that general practice is an appropriate level of care for chest pain patients.     

He said,she said,but what do they say?: young children’s perceptions of father involvement

One of the important implications of the rights given to children by Article 12 of UN Convention on the Rights of Children 1989 is the inclusion of children in research on issues related to their lives. However, studies on father involvement are still conducted for young children not with them and there are no data-gathering techniques available that can be used specifically with young children. Within this context the main aim of this study is to develop new techniques to gather qualitative data from children aged between 50 and 72 months to understand how they perceive their fathers’ involvement. Findings of the present study were consistent with the results of previous studies that depended on adult reports of father involvement. Both the findings and the techniques used with children in the present study have implications for future research into father involvement and its application.     

Health Belief Model and parents' acceptance of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5–18 years Old: A national survey

BackgroundDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, several vaccines received approval for children aged 18 or younger. Parents’ decisions to accept vaccines play an important role in the success of vaccination campaigns. The Health Belief Model (HBM) may explain its association with vaccine acceptance. This study examined parents’ Pfizer-BioNTech and Sinopharm vaccine acceptance for their children and its association with HBM.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted in March 2022 using an online survey. Respondents were parents of children aged 5–18 in public and private schools. The multistage random sampling technique was used to choose schools and respondents. Multivariable analysis was conducted to examine the association between vaccine acceptance and HBM.ResultsThe response rate was 55 %. Of 1,056 respondents, 80.1 % were female, with a mean age of 41, and 95.8 % were not health professionals. Pfizer-BioNTech had a greater acceptance rate than Sinopharm (90 % v.s. 36 %). The Multivariable analysis shows that perceived benefits (aOR = 25.30, 95 %CI = 10.02–63.89 and aOR = 17.94, 95 %CI = 9.56–33.66 for Pfizer-BioNTech and Sinopharm, respectively) and perceived barriers (aOR = 0.06, 95 %CI = 0.01–0.50 and aOR = 0.20, 95 %CI = 0.11–0.40 for Pfizer-BioNTech and Sinopharm, respectively) were associated with vaccine acceptance for both vaccines. Education was associated with Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine acceptance (aOR = 0.96, 95 %CI 0.71–1.29).ConclusionsThe respondents were more confident in Pfizer-BioNTech than Sinopharm. Perceived barriers and perceived benefits were strongly associated with the respondents’ vaccine acceptance for both vaccines. During epidemics and pandemics, the government needs vaccines with high efficacy and safety for a higher chance of parents’ vaccine acceptance. Future research should examine vaccine costs as perceived barriers for a newly out-of-pocket developed vaccine.     

Gastric Schwannoma or GIST: accuracy of preoperative diagnosis?

Mesenchymal cell tumours of the gastrointestinal tract are rare in western society. Gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST) is the most common of this group of tumours. Gastric schwannoma is rarer, accounting for only 0.2% of all gastric tumours and 4% of all benign gastric neoplasms. Indeed, schwannoma has only been recognized as a primary gastrointestinal tumour in the last 20 years through advances in pathological techniques. We report a rare case of gastric schwannoma, the endoscopic and radiological features of which were indistinguishable from a GIST. Due to the diagnostic uncertainty, surgical resection is the treatment of choice. Development of more reliable diagnostic methods, such as endoscopic core biopsy, may help the accuracy of preoperative diagnosis.