Evaluation of Willingness to Accept COVID-19 Vaccine and Willingness to Pay among Pakistani Parents for Their Children Aged 5 to 11 Years: Findings and Implications.

Vaccines are the most efficient and cost-effective tool to halt the transmission and prevention of COVID-19. The current study examined the willingness of parents to vaccinate their children against COVID-19. This was a cross-sectional study that used a questionnaire based on the Health Belief Model, previous history of COVID-19, willingness to accept, and willingness to pay for the COVID-19 vaccine. The questionnaire was administered among parents of children aged 5 to 11 years. Descriptive statistics, χ2 tests, and regression analysis were carried out for data analysis. A total of 474 respondents participated in this survey with a response rate of 67.7%. In our study, a majority of the respondents exhibited a willingness to accept the COVID-19 vaccine for their children (Definitely yes/Probably yes = 252, 53.2%); nevertheless, 229 (48.3%) respondents were unwilling to pay for it. More than three-quarters of the respondents were worried about the probability of COVID-19 infection in their children (n = 361, 76.2%) and were afraid of COVID-19-associated complications (n = 391, 82.5%). Likewise, most respondents showed their concerns regarding the effectiveness of the vaccine (n = 351, 74.1%), vaccine safety (n = 351, 74.1%), and the halal nature of the vaccine (n = 309, 65.2%). Respondents who were aged 40 to 50 years (odds ratio [OR]: 0.101, 95% CI: 0.38-0.268; P < 0.001), family income > 50,000 PKR (OR: 0.680, 95% CI: 0.321-1.442; P = 0.012), and location (OR: 0.324, 95% CI: 0.167-0.628; P = 0.001) were the factors that were likely to impact vaccine acceptance among parents. Education-based interventions are urgently required to improve COVID-19 vaccination acceptance among parents for their children.

Audit of antibiotic prophylaxis and adherence of surgeons to standard guidelines in common abdominal surgical procedures.

BACKGROUND: Prophylactic use of antibiotics before surgery is evidence-based practice for prevention of surgical site infections (SSIs). AIMS: To investigate adherence to and surgeons' perception of antibiotic prophylaxis guidelines. METHODS: A two-phase, cross-sectional prospective study conducted in two teaching hospitals. Phase 1: 6-month audit of prescriptions to investigate adherence rate to evidence-based guidelines. The important information was collected from medical charts through a predesigned proforma. Phase 2: self-administration questionnaire was used to investigate the surgeons' perception. Descriptive statistics, independent-sample Kruskal-Wallis test and multivariate linear regression analysis were performed using SPSS version 21.0. RESULTS: A total of 866 eligible surgical cases (acute appendectomy; n = 418; 48.2%), laparoscopic cholecystectomy (n = 278; 32.1%) and inguinal hernia (n = 170; 19.7%) were investigated. Surgical antibiotic prophylaxis was prescribed in 97.5% of procedures. Out of these, 9.5% adhered to guidelines with respect to correct choice, 40% for timing, and 100% for dose and route (optimal value 100%). Most patients received ceftriaxone (n = 503; 59.5%) as prophylactic antibiotic. The questionnaire (good internal consistency; α ≥ 0.7) was filled out by 200 surgeons. More than half (69%) of participants thought that antibiotics were overused. Most surgeons perceive that poor adherence to treatment guidelines is due to poor awareness, underestimation of infection, lack of consensus, and disagreement with guidelines recommendations. CONCLUSIONS: Surgeons have positive perception that antibiotics should be used according to guidelines recommendations. However, we found poor treatment adherence to antibiotic prophylaxis guidelines.