Attitudes towards being offered a choice of self-sampling or clinician sampling for cervical screening: A cross-sectional survey of women taking part in a clinical validation of HPV self-collection devices.

OBJECTIVES: Primary human papillomavirus (HPV) testing in cervical screening offers the opportunity for women to be given a choice between HPV self-sampling and traditional clinician screening. This study assessed attitudes towards a choice and anticipated future preference among women who had collected a vaginal self-sample alongside their usual cervical screen. SETTING: Thirty-eight general practices across five areas in England. METHODS: Overall, 2323 women (24-65 years; response rate: 48%) completed a survey after collecting a self-sample and having a clinician screen at their GP practice. We asked which test they preferred and assessed attitudes to being offered a choice. We explored age, education, ethnicity and screening experience as predictors of attitudes towards a choice and anticipated future choice. RESULTS: Most participants felt they would like a choice between self-sampling and clinician screening (85%) and thought this would improve screening for them (72%). However, 23% felt it would be difficult to choose, 15% would worry about making a choice, and nearly half would prefer a recommendation (48%). Compared with women with degree-level education, those with fewer qualifications were more likely to say they would worry about having a choice or would not want a choice (p < 0.001). The majority said they would choose to self-sample at home if offered a choice in the future (69%; n = 1602/2320). CONCLUSIONS: Self-sampling is likely to be popular, but offering a choice could cause worry for some people and many would prefer a recommendation. Supporting people to make a choice will be important, particularly for those with lower levels of education.

Exploring the landscape of public attitudes towards gene-edited foods in Japan.

The success or failure of food technologies in society depends to a large extent on the public interest, concerns, images, and expectations surrounding them. This paper delves into the landscape of public attitudes towards gene-edited foods in Japan, exploring the reasons behind the acceptance or rejection of these products. A literature review and preliminary findings from a survey conducted in Japan in 2022, aim to identify key issues crucial for evaluating societal acceptance of gene-edited foods. The study showed that the public view gene-edited foods as somewhat unnatural, but upon closer examination, significant variation in attitudes was observed among respondents. Some respondents expressed a favorable perception towards gene-edited foods, particularly those that benefit consumers, while others expressed concerns about its perceived artificiality. Moreover, a significant number of respondents displayed indifference or lack of clear perspective regarding gene-edited foods. These findings reflect the complex relationship between public attitudes, naturalness, and social acceptance of gene-edited foods. Furthermore, the study indicates the importance of paying close attention to those who refrain from expressing their viewpoints in the survey. This nuanced landscape warrants further exploration.

Public perceptions of international genetic information sharing for biomedical research in China: a case study of the social media debate on the article "A Pangenome Reference of 36 Chinese Populations" published in Nature.

BACKGROUND: The international disclosure of Chinese human genetic data continues to be a contentious issue in China, generating public debates in both traditional and social media channels. Concerns have intensified after Chinese scientists' research on pangenome data was published in the prestigious journal Nature. METHODS: This study scrutinized microblogs posted on Weibo, a popular Chinese social media site, in the two months immediately following the publication (June 14, 2023-August 21, 2023). Content analysis was conducted to assess the nature of public responses, justifications for positive or negative attitudes, and the users' overall knowledge of how Chinese human genetic information is regulated and managed in China. RESULTS: Weibo users displayed contrasting attitudes towards the article's public disclose of pangenome research data, with 18% positive, 64% negative, and 18% neutral. Positive attitudes came primarily from verified government and media accounts, which praised the publication. In contrast, negative attitudes originated from individual users who were concerned about national security and health risks and often believed that the researchers have betrayed China. The benefits of data sharing highlighted in the commentaries included advancements in disease research and scientific progress. Approximately 16% of the microblogs indicated that Weibo users had misunderstood existing regulations and laws governing data sharing and stewardship. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the predominantly negative public attitudes toward scientific data sharing established by our study, we recommend enhanced outreach by scientists and scientific institutions to increase the public understanding of developments in genetic research, international data sharing, and associated regulations. Additionally, governmental agencies can alleviate public fears and concerns by being more transparent about their security reviews of international collaborative research involving Chinese human genetic data and its cross-border transfer.

Public Attitudes towards and Management Strategies for Community Cats in Urban China.

Managing community cats in urban China is a contentious and emerging issue, with debates centering on the most effective and humane approaches. This study aimed to investigate public attitudes towards community cats and various management strategies. A survey was conducted involving 5382 urban residents in China. Their attitudes towards the positive and negative roles of community cats in urban areas and their support for different management methods were examined, including trap-and-kill, taking no action, centralized management, and trap-neuter-return (TNR) and its variations. Results indicated that 63% of participants were willing to coexist with community cats, 71% opposed trap-and-kill, and 61% agreed or strongly agreed with the TNR method and its variations. Older residents or those with higher incomes were more likely to support coexistence with community cats. In contrast, younger or lower-income residents were more likely to support non-coexistence. Residents in first- or second-tier cities (e.g., Beijing, Hangzhou, and Jinan Cities in China) were more inclined to support trap-and-kill and less likely to support coexistence than their counterparts in fourth-tier cities (e.g., county-level cities in China). Moreover, those with lower education or incomes were more supportive of trap-and-kill and taking no action as the methods to manage community cats than those with relatively higher education or incomes. Those with higher incomes held more positive attitudes towards community cats and were more supportive of TNR and its variations than their counterparts with lower incomes. Males were more inclined to support trap-and-kill and taking no action and less inclined to support centralized management and TNR than females. The implications of the findings on TNR with adoption programs in urban China are discussed. These novel findings underscore the need for targeted educational campaigns to promote humane and effective management strategies, addressing public concerns and community cats' welfare. The study's insights are critical for informing policy and improving community cat management in urban China.

Predicting negative attitudes towards suicide in social media texts: prediction model development and validation study.

Background: Implementing machine learning prediction of negative attitudes towards suicide may improve health outcomes. However, in previous studies, varied forms of negative attitudes were not adequately considered, and developed models lacked rigorous external validation. By analyzing a large-scale social media dataset (Sina Weibo), this paper aims to fully cover varied forms of negative attitudes and develop a classification model for predicting negative attitudes as a whole, and then to externally validate its performance on population and individual levels. Methods: 938,866 Weibo posts with relevant keywords were downloaded, including 737,849 posts updated between 2009 and 2014 (2009-2014 dataset), and 201,017 posts updated between 2015 and 2020 (2015-2020 dataset). (1) For model development, based on 10,000 randomly selected posts from 2009 to 2014 dataset, a human-based content analysis was performed to manually determine labels of each post (non-negative or negative attitudes). Then, a computer-based content analysis was conducted to automatically extract psycholinguistic features from each of the same 10,000 posts. Finally, a classification model for predicting negative attitudes was developed on selected features. (2) For model validation, on the population level, the developed model was implemented on remaining 727,849 posts from 2009 to 2014 dataset, and was externally validated by comparing proportions of negative attitudes between predicted and human-coded results. Besides, on the individual level, similar analyses were performed on 300 randomly selected posts from 2015 to 2020 dataset, and the developed model was externally validated by comparing labels of each post between predicted and actual results. Results: For model development, the F1 and area under ROC curve (AUC) values reached 0.93 and 0.97. For model validation, on the population level, significant differences but very small effect sizes were observed for the whole sample (χ 2 1 = 32.35, p < 0.001; Cramer's V = 0.007, p < 0.001), men (χ 2 1 = 9.48, p = 0.002; Cramer's V = 0.005, p = 0.002), and women (χ 2 1 = 25.34, p < 0.001; Cramer's V = 0.009, p < 0.001). Besides, on the individual level, the F1 and AUC values reached 0.76 and 0.74. Conclusion: This study demonstrates the efficiency and necessity of machine learning prediction of negative attitudes as a whole, and confirms that external validation is essential before implementing prediction models into practice.

Understanding and Perception of Automated Text Generation among the Public: Two Surveys with Representative Samples in Germany.

Automated text generation (ATG) technology has evolved rapidly in the last several years, enabling the spread of content produced by artificial intelligence (AI). In addition, with the release of ChatGPT, virtually everyone can now create naturally sounding text on any topic. To optimize future use and understand how humans interact with these technologies, it is essential to capture people's attitudes and beliefs. However, research on ATG perception is lacking. Based on two representative surveys (March 2022: n1 = 1028; July 2023: n2 = 1013), we aimed to examine the German population's concepts of and attitudes toward AI authorship. The results revealed a preference for human authorship across a wide range of topics and a lack of knowledge concerning the function, data sources, and responsibilities of ATG. Using multiple regression analysis with k-fold cross-validation, we identified people's attitude toward using ATG, performance expectancy, general attitudes toward AI, and lay attitude toward ChatGPT and ATG as significant predictors of the intention to read AI-written texts in the future. Despite the release of ChatGPT, we observed stability across most variables and minor differences between the two survey points regarding concepts about ATG. We discuss the findings against the backdrop of the ever-increasing availability of automated content and the need for an intensive societal debate about its chances and limitations.

Understanding the consumer-citizen gap in Chinese public attitudes toward farm animal welfare.

Individuals of the general public can perform both consumer and citizen roles in farm animal welfare, and attitudes toward farm animal welfare may differ between these roles. However, scant research is available regarding this distinction, especially in developing countries such as China. The present study aimed to explore consumer-citizen gaps in Chinese public attitudes toward farm animal welfare across three dimensions and across demographic characteristics. A 36-item scale was designed, and completed by 5284 Chinese participants in a large-scale cross-sectional survey. Consumer-citizen gaps in attitudes toward farm animal welfare across three dimensions and demographic characteristics were analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, and effects of demographic characteristics on attitudes were further explored by linear regression analysis. A significant consumer-citizen gap was found in overall attitudes, although the consumer role was only slightly more positive than the citizen role. The consumer-citizen gap is driven by differences in both cognitive attitudes and behavioral attitudes. The gap is most pronounced in cognitive attitudes, where the consumer role is significantly more positive, and smaller in behavioral attitudes, where the citizen role is significantly more positive. The consumer-citizen gap varies significantly among different demographic groups, including gender, age, education, monthly household income, area of residence, and occupation. Additionally, education, monthly household income, and area of residence have significant effects on attitudes in the dual role, whereas gender only affect consumer-role attitudes significantly. The findings provide evidence that consumer-citizen gaps in Chinese public attitudes toward farm animal welfare exist, and this distinction is mainly determined by demographic characteristics.

How does the UK public think and feel about people with visual impairment: a review of existing evidence.

Despite legislation to protect people with visual impairment (V.I.) from discrimination in the United Kingdom (UK), the latter continue to experience overt and covert negative behaviours. Perceived discrimination has been associated with an adverse impact on identity, health and well-being, while negative attitudes have been identified as the biggest barrier to participation in everyday life. This article provides a narrative review of existing evidence of how the UK public treats (behaviours), thinks (perceptions) and feels (attitudes) about people with V.I. Despite limitations, the findings suggest that there is a gap between the behaviours reported by people with V.I. and the attitudes expressed by members of the UK public. Social psychological theories are used to explore possible reasons for this gap, and ways in which it may be addressed. As such, the article provides an example of how social psychological theories can be used to address problems in an applied context.

Stigmatized Stroke? A Qualitative Study of Perception of Stroke Among Community Residents With Hypertension.

Objectives: To understand the perception of stroke in the hypertensive population. Hypertension is the primary risk factor for stroke, and current approaches to stroke prevention are inadequate and often fragmented. Understanding the perception of stroke among individuals with hypertension is crucial for a targeted approach. However, empirical evidence on this perception is limited. Methods: A qualitative design involved thematic analysis of focus groups and interview data from urban China with hypertension. Audio recordings were transcribed and subjected to thematic analysis. Results: Three themes were identified. Hypertensive participants first identified stroke patients by their obvious physical disability, and then identified the disease as a negative thing. Finally, they wanted to stay away from stroke, but paradoxically, there is a contradictory approach to avoidance and prevention, such as being willing to prevent the disease or simply avoiding socializing with stroke patients. Conclusion: Hypertensive patients hold complex and diverse perceptions of stroke, including a certain stigma. Future public health education should prioritize improving media promotion and fostering interaction between patients with hypertension and stroke in the community.

Patient and Public Willingness to Share Personal Health Data for Third-Party or Secondary Uses: Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: International advances in information communication, eHealth, and other digital health technologies have led to significant expansions in the collection and analysis of personal health data. However, following a series of high-profile data sharing scandals and the emergence of COVID-19, critical exploration of public willingness to share personal health data remains limited, particularly for third-party or secondary uses. OBJECTIVE: This systematic review aims to explore factors that affect public willingness to share personal health data for third-party or secondary uses. METHODS: A systematic search of 6 databases (MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Scopus, and SocINDEX) was conducted with review findings analyzed using inductive-thematic analysis and synthesized using a narrative approach. RESULTS: Of the 13,949 papers identified, 135 were included. Factors most commonly identified as a barrier to data sharing from a public perspective included data privacy, security, and management concerns. Other factors found to influence willingness to share personal health data included the type of data being collected (ie, perceived sensitivity); the type of user requesting their data to be shared, including their perceived motivation, profit prioritization, and ability to directly impact patient care; trust in the data user, as well as in associated processes, often established through individual choice and control over what data are shared with whom, when, and for how long, supported by appropriate models of dynamic consent; the presence of a feedback loop; and clearly articulated benefits or issue relevance including valued incentivization and compensation at both an individual and collective or societal level. CONCLUSIONS: There is general, yet conditional public support for sharing personal health data for third-party or secondary use. Clarity, transparency, and individual control over who has access to what data, when, and for how long are widely regarded as essential prerequisites for public data sharing support. Individual levels of control and choice need to operate within the auspices of assured data privacy and security processes, underpinned by dynamic and responsive models of consent that prioritize individual or collective benefits over and above commercial gain. Failure to understand, design, and refine data sharing approaches in response to changeable patient preferences will only jeopardize the tangible benefits of data sharing practices being fully realized.

'If I Knew More I Would Feel Less Worried': Filipino Americans' Attitudes and Knowledge of Genetic Disease, Counseling, and Testing.

INTRODUCTION: The field of genetics is rapidly expanding and people are increasingly utilizing genetic testing and counseling services. However, the current literature on genetic health topics and Filipinos remains limited, as many minority populations are not adequately studied. This study describes Filipino Americans' attitudes and knowledge of genetic disease, genetic testing, and genetic counseling. To address these knowledge gaps and reduce the burden of health disparities, the informational needs of Filipino Americans regarding genetic disease and genetic services must be understood in order to better tailor these services and outreach methods. METHODS: Fifteen semi-structured, qualitative interviews were held with individuals who self-identified as Filipino American between November 2022 and January 2023. Interviews were transcribed and coded using an iterative process. RESULTS: Most participants were familiar with genetic disease and believed that factors such as biology, as well as cultural factors such as upbringing and food, contributed to its development. The majority of participants had previously heard of genetic testing; however, most participants either did not know much or were only familiar with ancestry direct-to-consumer genetic testing (DTC-GT). Most participants had not heard of genetic counseling and those that had heard of genetic counseling before did not understand its purpose. Overall, most participants had a positive attitude toward genetic testing and counseling. Participants identified the benefits of these services including genetic disease prevention, management, and treatment. Participants stressed the importance of educating the Filipino community and shared their ideas for how to implement outreach efforts. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: This study found that Filipino Americans generally had a positive outlook on genetic testing and genetic counseling. We propose participant-generated ideas for outreach and education that may help inform future public health efforts that aim to educate this population about genetic disease, testing and counseling.

Facilitators and Barriers to Understanding and Accepting People with a Sexual Interest in Children: A Thematic Analysis.

The widespread conflation between having a sexual interest in children and engaging in sexually abusive behavior contributes significantly to elevated levels of stigma targeted at people living with a sexual interest in children. Stigmatization and societal punitiveness surrounding people living with these interests can impact their well-being, obstruct help-seeking, and potentially increase risk of offending behavior. Recent quantitative research employing stigma intervention strategies has produced encouraging results in reducing stigmatizing attitudes toward this population. The current study sought to expand on quantitative research findings to explore qualitatively the facilitators and barriers to understanding and accepting people living with sexual interest in children. Thirty participants were interviewed following completion of an online stigma intervention study. Participants were asked about their attitudinal responses to the earlier study and how personal and professional experiences contributed to shaping their attitudes surrounding people living with a sexual interest in children. Reflexive inductive thematic analysis was used to explore what factors promote understanding and what factors act as barriers to understanding people with sexual interest in children. The significance of experiences which challenged the dominant social narrative was identified across several themes which facilitated understanding and acceptance of people who have a sexual interest in children. Themes which reflected barriers to understanding included difficulty comprehending alternate narratives, parental concern, and reinforcement of current stereotypes. Implications for developing stigma-reduction interventions and future research are discussed.

Should AI allocate livers for transplant? Public attitudes and ethical considerations.

BACKGROUND: Allocation of scarce organs for transplantation is ethically challenging. Artificial intelligence (AI) has been proposed to assist in liver allocation, however the ethics of this remains unexplored and the view of the public unknown. The aim of this paper was to assess public attitudes on whether AI should be used in liver allocation and how it should be implemented. METHODS: We first introduce some potential ethical issues concerning AI in liver allocation, before analysing a pilot survey including online responses from 172 UK laypeople, recruited through Prolific Academic. FINDINGS: Most participants found AI in liver allocation acceptable (69.2%) and would not be less likely to donate their organs if AI was used in allocation (72.7%). Respondents thought AI was more likely to be consistent and less biased compared to humans, although were concerned about the "dehumanisation of healthcare" and whether AI could consider important nuances in allocation decisions. Participants valued accuracy, impartiality, and consistency in a decision-maker, more than interpretability and empathy. Respondents were split on whether AI should be trained on previous decisions or programmed with specific objectives. Whether allocation decisions were made by transplant committee or AI, participants valued consideration of urgency, survival likelihood, life years gained, age, future medication compliance, quality of life, future alcohol use and past alcohol use. On the other hand, the majority thought the following factors were not relevant to prioritisation: past crime, future crime, future societal contribution, social disadvantage, and gender. CONCLUSIONS: There are good reasons to use AI in liver allocation, and our sample of participants appeared to support its use. If confirmed, this support would give democratic legitimacy to the use of AI in this context and reduce the risk that donation rates could be affected negatively. Our findings on specific ethical concerns also identify potential expectations and reservations laypeople have regarding AI in this area, which can inform how AI in liver allocation could be best implemented.

Public and Patients' Perspectives Towards Data and Sample Sharing for Research: An Overview of Empirical Findings.

We aimed to review the attitudes and perspectives of the public and patients towards the sharing of data and biospecimens for research and to identify common dimensions, regardless of setting. Our review included systematic, scoping or thematic reviews of empirical studies retrieved from Medline (PubMed interface), Web of Science, Scopus, ProQuest and Cochrane Reviews. The main themes identified and synthesised across the 14 reviews were readiness and motivations; potential risks and safeguards; trust, transparency and accountability; autonomy and preferred type of consent; and factors influencing data and biospecimen sharing and consent. Sociodemographic factors and research and individual context remain relevant influencing factors in all settings, while preferences for types of consent are highly heterogeneous. Trusted environments and adapted consent options with participant engagement are relevant to improve research participation.

Human genome editing in clinical applications: Japanese lay and expert attitudes.

Background: The world's first gene-edited babies, reported by the Chinese scientist He Jiankui, prompted an outcry of criticism and concerns worldwide over the use of genome editing for reproductive purposes. Many countries and academic associations opposed to heritable genome editing (HGE) called for public discussion involving various stakeholders. To hold a discussion of this nature and form a consensus concerning HGE, we must understand under what conditions stakeholders consider HGE acceptable and the reasons for which they deem it unacceptable. Methods: Laypeople and researchers were surveyed in May 2019. They were asked about the degree of their acceptance toward somatic genome editing (SGE) and HGE; those who answered "acceptable depending on the purpose" were queried further regarding their acceptance in the contexts of specific clinical purposes. Results: Responses were obtained from 4,424 laypeople and 98 researchers. The percentage of respondents choosing each option in attitudes to HGE was, from largest to smallest: "acceptable depending on purpose" (laypeople 49.3%; researchers 56.1%), "not acceptable for any purpose" (laypeople 45.8%; researchers 40.8%), and "acceptable for any purpose" (laypeople 5.0%; researchers 3.1%). In an additional question for those who answered "acceptable depending on the purpose," laypeople found the following purposes acceptable: infertility treatment (54.5%), treatment of life-threatening diseases (52.2%), and treatment of debilitating diseases (51.4%). Meanwhile, the degree of acceptance for enhancement purposes was 10.7, 7.9, 6.2, and 5.5% for physical, cognitive, health, and personality enhancements, respectively. In contrast, acceptance among the researchers was 94.5% and 92.7% for the treatment of life-threatening and debilitating diseases, respectively, compared with 69.1% for infertility treatment. Researchers' acceptance for enhancement purposes was similar to that of the lay participants, with 12.7, 9.1, 10.9, and 5.5% for physical, cognitive, health, and personality enhancement, respectively. Conclusion: In the past, debates regarding the acceptability of human genome editing in clinical applications tend to focus on HGE in many countries. Society will now need to debate the acceptability of both types of human genome editing, HGE and SGE.

Development of a Questionnaire to Measure Public Perceptions of the Role of Community Pharmacy in Public Health (PubPharmQ).

BACKGROUND: Community pharmacies are well placed to provide public-health interventions within primary care settings. This study aimed to establish the general public's perceptions of community pharmacy-based public-health services in the UK by designing a structured questionnaire to assess the barriers and facilitators to optimizing this role. METHODS: A standardized questionnaire was developed informed by the literature, additional semi-structured interviews, and synthesis of key findings with the authors' previous research based on data generated from eight focus groups. The original 42-item questionnaire was distributed online from May to June 2021 via social media platforms to capture the views of non-regular pharmacy users. Following exploratory factor analysis, and Cronbach's alpha analysis, total Likert scale response scores were calculated. RESULTS: Of the 306 responders, 76.8% were female with a mean age of 34.5 years (SD = 15.09). The most prevalent pharmacy use reported was 1-2 times a year (28.1%). Exploratory factor analysis revealed four scales: Expertise, Role in Public Health, Privacy, and Relationship (18 items) with acceptable internal consistency and good face and content validity. Awareness of well-established pharmacy services was high; however, responders demonstrated poor awareness of public-health-related services and low recognition of pharmacy expertise for this role. A lack of an established relationship with community pharmacies and privacy concerns were also perceived barriers. CONCLUSIONS: Based on these findings, considerable effort is needed to increase public awareness and address these concerns if strategic plans to utilize community pharmacy in the delivery of public-health policy are to be successful. The PubPharmQ provides a novel, structured questionnaire to measure the public's perceptions of community pharmacy's role in public health.

Beyond Patient Characteristics: A Narrative Review of Contextual Factors Influencing Involuntary Admissions in Mental Health Care.

Variations in the rates of involuntary admission (IA) reflect the influence of unexplained contextual variables that are typically too heterogeneous to be included in systematic reviews. This paper attempts to gather and analyze factors unrelated to the patients that have been linked to IA. The articles included in this review were selected by iteratively searching four electronic databases (PubMed, PsychINFO, EMBASE, and Web of Science). A total of 54 studies from 19 different countries and regions, including 14 European countries, the United States, Canada, China, Vietnam, and Taiwan, were selected. The factors were categorized as service-related factors, impactful events, seasonal and temporal factors, mental health legislation, staff factors, and public attitudes. The factors rarely act in isolation but rather interact and reinforce each other, causing a greater influence on IA. This paper explains how these factors present opportunities for robust and sustainable interventions to reduce IAs. The paper also identifies future directions for research, such as examining the effects of economic recessions. Enhancing global reporting standards is essential to validate future research and support further in-depth studies. The complexity of the factors influencing IA and the implicit role of society suggest that resolving it will require social change.

The influence of sociodemographic factors on COVID-19 vaccine certificate acceptance: A cross-sectional study.

Vaccine certificates have been implemented worldwide, aiming to promote vaccination rates and to reduce the spread of COVID-19. However, their use during the COVID-19 pandemic was controversial and has been criticized for infringing upon medical autonomy and individual rights. We administered a national online survey exploring social and demographic factors predicting the degree of public approval of vaccine certificates in Canada. We conducted a multivariate linear regression which revealed which factors were predictive of vaccine certificate acceptance in Canada. Self-reported minority status (p < .001), rurality (p < .001), political ideology (p < .001), age (p < .001), having children under 18 in the household (p < .001), education (p = .014), and income status (p = .034) were significant predictors of attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccine certificates. We observed the lowest vaccine-certificate approval among participants who: self-identify as a visible minority; live in rural areas; are politically conservative; are 18-34 years of age; have children under age 18 living in the household; have completed an apprenticeship or trades education; and those with an annual income between $100,000-$159,999. The present findings are valuable for their ability to inform the implementation of vaccine certificates during future pandemic scenarios which may require targeted communication between public health agencies and under-vaccinated populations.

Investigating Canadian Public Attitudes Toward COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates with a Nested Analysis Framework.

BACKGROUND: Social media is an important medium for studying public attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccine mandates in Canada, and Reddit network communities are a good source for this. METHODS: This study applied a "nested analysis" framework. We collected 20378 Reddit comments via the Pushshift API and developed a BERT-based binary classification model to screen for relevance to COVID-19 vaccine mandates. We then used a Guided Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) model on relevant comments to extract key topics and assign each comment to its most relevant topic. RESULTS: There were 3179 (15.6%) relevant and 17199 (84.4%) irrelevant comments. Our BERT-based model achieved 91% accuracy trained with 300 Reddit comments after 60 epochs. The Guided LDA model had an optimal coherence score of 0.471 with four topics: travel, government, certification, and institutions. Human evaluation of the Guided LDA model showed an 83% accuracy in assigning samples to their topic groups. CONCLUSION: We develop a screening tool for filtering and analyzing Reddit comments on COVID-19 vaccine mandates through topic modelling. Future research could develop more effective seed word-choosing and evaluation methods to reduce the need for human judgment.

Factors influencing decisions among the public related to the chosen surgeons for elective surgeries: A nationwide study.

Aim: It is a complex decision for patients and their families to select a qualified surgeon who meets their needs. Understanding these needs enables surgeons to build stronger relationship with patients. This study aimed to identify influencing factors, variables, and criteria that individuals consider when selecting surgeons for elective surgeries. Methods: This is a nationwide cross-sectional study conducted among patients who have undergone elective surgeries in Saudi Arabia. The data were collected with an anonymous self-administered pre-validated questionnaire. The collection of data was carried out through web-based questionnaires using google forms. The questionnaire contains socio-demographic characteristics (i.e., age, gender, education, etc.) and different factors to assess patients' perceptions in choosing a surgeon. Result: Patients' overall number was 3133 (56.2 % females vs 43.8 % males). The most common age group was 18 to 34 years old (63.7 %). The prevalence of patients who were able to choose the right surgeon to perform an operation was 79.8 %. Patients' top choice when selecting a surgeon was according to the surgeon's manner followed by the qualifications then the reputation. Females are choosing a surgeon according to his/her manner while males are choosing according to his/her qualifications. Conclusion: Surgeons' manner and qualifications are the most considered factors among when selecting a surgeon while the realistic factors such as accreditation of a facility and surgeon's scientific roles, quality improvement, and patient safety are ignored among the public. This requires condensed educational efforts and further research to determine the advertisements and social media effects on patients' decisions related to their health.