A Cross-Sectional Analysis into the Willingness and Hesitancy to Test and Vaccinate Against COVID-19 Among the Elderly Population in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Reem S AlOmar,1 Nouf A AlShamlan,1 Marwa Mahmoud Shafey,1 Assim M AlAbdulKader,1 Khalid S AlHarkan,1 Wejdan M Al-Johani,1 Sameerah Motabgani,1 Nourah K Alkaltham,1 Abdullah A Alharbi2 1Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia; 2Family and Community Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Jazan University, Jazan City, Jazan, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Reem S AlOmar, Email [email protected]: COVID-19 remains a public health concern. Vaccinations, testing and tracing have been proven to provide strong protection against severe illness and death. Older adults are amongst the groups with an increased risk of severe illness. This study aimed to explore the willingness and hesitancy of the elderly population in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to test and vaccinate against COVID-19.Methods: This cross-sectional study targeted participants aged 65 years and above. The questionnaire included both sociodemographic variables, and variables related to willingness and hesitancy to vaccinate and test for COVID-19 that were mainly based on existing literature. Bivariate analyses were performed to test for associations. Significance was set at the 0.05 level.Results: The total sample of respondents was 502. The results show that 52.4% were not aware of a previous infection. Participants aged above 70 years and females were found to be more aware of a previous infection (51.6% and 53.1% respectively) (P < 0.05). Also, 54.7% felt it necessary to test against COVID-19, and among those, 70.8% believed that testing would contain and control the spread. The results also show that 3.2% were not vaccinated to date, compared to 95.41% who had the complete dose as well as the recommended booster dose for elderlies. Age, sex and level of education were significantly associated with vaccine uptake, where participants aged between 65 and 70 years, males and high levels of education were associated with a complete vaccine uptake.Discussion: The current findings add to the epidemiological evidence and show that the social network theory within the context of health may have played a role in self-awareness of previous infections. Also, social factors should be incorporated in public health interventions and public health campaigns targeting the elderly are still needed especially with the continued discovery of variants of interests.Keywords: COVID-19, public health, health promotion, prevention, elderl

Crowded task performance in visually impaired children:Comparing magnifier and large print

<p>This study compares the influence of two different types of magnification (magnifier versus large print) on crowded near vision task performance.</p><p>Fifty-eight visually impaired children aged 4-8 years participated. Participants were divided in two groups, matched on age and near visual acuity (NVA): [1] the magnifier group (4-6 year olds [n = 13] and 7-8 year olds [n = 19]), and [2] the large print group (4-6 year olds [n = 12] and 7-8 year olds [n = 14]). At baseline, single and crowded Landolt C acuity were measured at 40 cm without magnification. Crowded near vision was measured again with magnification. A 90 mm diameter dome magnifier was chosen to avoid measuring the confounding effect of navigational skills. The magnifier provided 1.7x magnification and the large print provided 1.8x magnification. Performance measures: [1] NVA without magnification at 40 cm, [2] near vision with magnification, and [3] response time. Working distance was monitored.</p><p>There was no difference in performance between the two types of magnification for the 4-6 year olds and the 7-8 year olds (p's = .291 and .246, respectively). Average NVA in the 4-6 year old group was 0.95 logMAR without and 0.42 logMAR with magnification (p <.001). Average NVA in the 7-8 year was 0.71 logMAR without and 0.01 logMAR with magnification (p <.001). Stronger crowding effects predicted larger improvements of near vision with magnification (p = .021).</p><p>A magnifier is equally effective as large print in improving the performance of young children with a range of visual acuities on a crowded near vision task. Visually impaired children with stronger crowding effects showed larger improvements when working with magnification.</p>