Sun Safety: Knowledge and Behavior among Egyptian Farmers-a Multicomponent Intervention Study.

The purpose of study was to screen for health hazards related to sun exposure and to examine the effectiveness of a sun safety multicomponent intervention designed specifically for the Egyptian farmers. A multicomponent interventional study was conducted among 128 farmers from three villages in Zagazig district, Sharkia Governorate, Egypt, from January to July 2022. It passed through three phases: phase 1: assessment of participants' risk of skin cancer and vision screening; phase 2: filling a semi-structured questionnaire assessing sun exposure hazards and sun safety knowledge, behavior, and barriers; and phase 3: conducting multicomponent intervention composed of education session, providing sun safety supplies and reminders then evaluate the effect of this intervention after one month. Most of participants had moderate risk for skin cancer (69.0%), history of photokeratitis (77.3%), cataract (15.6%), and bad/very bad self-reported overall eyesight (43.0%). After intervention, there was a statistically significant improvement in the participants' awareness regarding sun exposure-related hazards, all knowledge items about sun safety measures (p < 0.01) and some sun safety behaviors (p < 0.05) including wearing protective clothing, minimization of direct sunlight exposure, taking breaks, plentiful water intake, regular self-checking of skin, wearing wide brimmed hats, and job rotation. Furthermore, there was a statistically significant improvement in all sun protection barriers (p < 0.01) except sunscreen and sunglasses related barriers (p ˃ 0.05). The multicomponent intervention composed of education session, providing sun safety supplies and reminders was effective in increasing awareness of farmers with sun exposure hazards and improving their knowledge and behavior towards sun safety measures.

Acceptance rate of COVID-19 vaccination and its predictors in Egypt: An online survey.

INTRODUCTION: Public acceptance, understanding, and trust are some significant challenges facing COVID-19 vaccine coverage. Our study objective was to assess the acceptance rate of COVID-19 vaccination and its predictors among the Egyptian adult population. METHODS: An online survey was conducted on 1,053 participants from six randomly selected governorates in Egypt between March and April 2021 using an Arabic self-administrated questionnaire, developed using the Google Form App. RESULTS: Out of the 1,053 participants surveyed, 321 (31.5%) reported that they would accept taking the vaccine when it is available. The main reasons for refusing COVID-19 vaccination were doubt in vaccine effectiveness (80%), lack of trust due to rapid vaccine production (70%), deficiency of information about the vaccine (66%), and fear of vaccine side effects (55%). Regression analysis concluded that previous history of influenza vaccination (p = 0.01), perceived vaccine effectiveness (0.00), vaccine price (p = 0.02), and doctors' recommendation to take the vaccine (p = 0.03) were the only significant predictors of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. CONCLUSIONS: Low level of COVID-19 vaccination acceptance has been shown among the Egyptian population. To expand vaccination acceptance and coverage, the government should promote vaccine confidence by increasing the availability of clear, precise, and up-to-date information addressing public concerns. It should also provide free vaccinations and should reach out to doctors for promoting the vaccine.

Occupational stress, job satisfaction, and intent to leave: nurses working on front lines during COVID-19 pandemic in Zagazig City, Egypt.

During epidemics, the medical working environment is highly stressful especially for the nurses. The purpose of this study was to assess occupational stress, job satisfaction, and intent to leave among nurses dealing with suspected COVID-19 patients. A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted among 210 nurses from Zagazig Fever Hospital (ZFH) which is one of COVID-19 Triage Hospitals (Group I) versus 210 nurses from Zagazig General Hospital (ZGH) (Group II) which is neither triage nor isolation hospital; dealing only with suspected COVID-19 patients in emergency at Sharkia Governorate, Egypt, from 10th to 24th of April 2020. Assessment was done through online questionnaire formed of the Expanded Nursing Stress Scale, the McCloskey/Mueller Satisfaction Scale, and questionnaire assessing specific COVID-19-associated stressors and nurses' intent to leave. Three quarters of nurses (75.2%) in ZFH had high stress level versus 60.5% in ZGH. Workload (98.6%), dealing with death and dying (96.7%), personal demands and fears (95.7%), employing strict biosecurity measures (95.2%), and stigma (90.5%) represented the highest priority stressors in ZFH, while exposure to infection risk (97.6%) was the stressor of highest priority among ZGH according to Pareto analysis. More than half of nurses (51.0%) in ZFH reported low satisfaction level versus 41.9% in ZGH. Only 4.8% of nurses in ZFH definitely had no intent to leave their present job. Type of hospital and its related workload were the most significant predictor of all the studied outcomes.

Effect of telephone counselling on the knowledge, attitude and practices of contacts of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Egypt.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an emerging respiratory illness. The World Health Organization declared it a public health emergency of international concern on 30 January 2020 and called for collaborative efforts, such as contact tracing and promoting the public awareness about COVID-19, and recommended prevention and control measures. AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the effect of telephone counselling on the knowledge, attitude and practices (KAPs) of contacts of COVID-19 confirmed cases towards COVID-19 epidemiology and infection prevention and control measures. SETTING: Ten areas in Sharkia Governorate, Egypt divided into six rural and four urban areas. METHODS: A non-randomised controlled trial was conducted in Sharkia Governorate, Egypt, from 26 March 2020 to 12 April 2020 on 208 contacts of confirmed COVID-19 cases, divided equally into two groups: an experiment group that was exposed to telephone counselling by the researchers and a control group that was exposed to routine surveillance by local health authority. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to assess the KAP of both groups towards COVID-19 before and after intervention. RESULTS: After intervention the percent of contacts who achieved good knowledge, positive attitudes and better practice scores in the experimental group was 91.3%, 57.8% and 71.2%, respectively, compared with 13.5%, 7.8% and 16.3%, respectively, in the control group. Male gender and working group were significantly associated with bad practice score. Furthermore, there was a statistically significant positive correlation between differences in knowledge, attitudes and practices of the experimental group before and after the intervention. CONCLUSION: This study proved the effectiveness of telephone counselling in improving COVID-19-related KAP scores of contacts of confirmed COVID-19 cases.