Assessment of Knowledge, Perceptions, and Attitudes During the Global Mpox Outbreak in June 2022: A Cross-Sectional Study From the United Arab Emirates

Objectives: To examine knowledge, worry, anxiety, and vaccine acceptance for mpox among UAE adults.Methods: An online survey, advertised on academic and social media platform in June 2022 collected data from 959 participants (aged 18 and above) on mpox beliefs, risks, knowledge, worry, anxiety, COVID-19 infection, vaccination, and willingness to receive the mpox vaccine. Bivariate and logistic regression analysis identified associations and predictors between variables.Results: 56% had optimal knowledge of mpox transmission and symptoms. 54% were worried, and 27% experienced anxiety related to the outbreak. Knowledge scores were higher among women, healthcare workers, and those with reliable information sources. High perceived infection risk, changes in precautionary measures, and belief in difficult treatment predicted more worry and anxiety. Higher worry and two or more doses of the COVID-19 vaccine predicted higher likelihood of taking the mpox vaccine.Conclusion: The UAE population showed low knowledge and high worry and anxiety during the global mpox outbreak. Increasing public awareness through targeted educational campaigns is vital. Promoting better understanding of infectious diseases, addressing concerns, and encouraging vaccine uptake can prepare for future outbreaks

Towards improving diabetes care among Arabic-speaking background immigrant population: examining cultural and health beliefs

Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is currently recognised as a major health issue. Individuals with T2DM are at higher risk of developing a number of microvascular, macrovascular and neuropathic complications. Globally, the prevalence of T2DM is increasing at epidemic rates and it is reaching alarming levels worldwide. Published data confirms that management of diabetes is more challenging among minority ethnic groups, compared to the general population, for several reasons: higher diabetes-related morbidity and mortality rates, worse glycaemic control, underutilisation of medical services, lower adherence rates, cultural and communication barriers. Understanding the relationship between patients’ cultural and health beliefs and diabetes self-care practices such as dietary behaviours, exercise, self-monitoring of blood glucose and medication-taking has been shown to provide an opportunity to inform development of culturally appropriate diabetes education. Drawing on substantial evidence documenting its effect on clinical outcome measures, the provision of culturally appropriate diabetes self-management education is widely acknowledged as an integral component of diabetes care among ethnic minority groups. Currently, there is a large body of research on cultural beliefs and diabetes experiences that have been conducted among ethnic minority groups such as Latinos/Hispanics, African Americans, Asians, Pacific Islanders and others. Anecdotally, it is known that ASB immigrants have a strong sense of cultural identity, adherence to their traditional and cultural norms and do not assimilate easily into western host society. There is, however, little research conducted among Arabic-speaking background (ASB) immigrants. Diabetes experiences from the perspective of ASB immigrants in Australia were needed to be explored to identify difficulties in performing self-management activities and to recognise modifiable health beliefs that are associated with non-adherence behaviours. This research, through the two stages reported herein, has investigated ASB immigrants’ views and beliefs about diabetes, identified issues in quality use of medicines, explored factors that influenced health care seeking behaviours, assessed diabetes learning needs and preferences, and measured the relationship between health beliefs, adherence and glycaemic control. Prior to this study, little was known about the diabetes profile, cultural and health beliefs and barriers to diabetes care among ASB immigrants in Australia. The results obtained highlighted poorer knowledge about diabetes and its management among ASB immigrants, compared to their English-speaking background (ESB) counterparts. Arabic-speaking background immigrants intentionally delayed accessing medical services when they experienced classical signs of diabetes, so diabetes complications were already developed at the time of diagnosis for the vast majority of them. Diabetes control of ASB immigrants was suboptimal and they were significantly less adherent to all aspects of diabetes self-care activities (dietary behaviours, exercise and physical activity, foot care, SMBG and medication-taking) than the ESB group. The negative health beliefs held by ASB immigrants were associated with non-adherence behaviours and with worse glycaemic control. This research has made a significant contribution to diabetes treatment adherence research in an ASB immigrant population. Findings of this research provide detailed information about the interplay between an individual’s cultural and health beliefs, adherence behaviour and glycaemic control. Such understanding, which has previously been lacking, may assist diabetes health professionals in planning culturally appropriate diabetes interventions and establishing best practice for this ethnic minority group

Towards improving diabetes care among Arabic-speaking background immigrant population: examining cultural and health beliefs

Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is currently recognised as a major health issue. Individuals with T2DM are at higher risk of developing a number of microvascular, macrovascular and neuropathic complications. Globally, the prevalence of T2DM is increasing at epidemic rates and it is reaching alarming levels worldwide. Published data confirms that management of diabetes is more challenging among minority ethnic groups, compared to the general population, for several reasons: higher diabetes-related morbidity and mortality rates, worse glycaemic control, underutilisation of medical services, lower adherence rates, cultural and communication barriers. Understanding the relationship between patients’ cultural and health beliefs and diabetes self-care practices such as dietary behaviours, exercise, self-monitoring of blood glucose and medication-taking has been shown to provide an opportunity to inform development of culturally appropriate diabetes education. Drawing on substantial evidence documenting its effect on clinical outcome measures, the provision of culturally appropriate diabetes self-management education is widely acknowledged as an integral component of diabetes care among ethnic minority groups. Currently, there is a large body of research on cultural beliefs and diabetes experiences that have been conducted among ethnic minority groups such as Latinos/Hispanics, African Americans, Asians, Pacific Islanders and others. Anecdotally, it is known that ASB immigrants have a strong sense of cultural identity, adherence to their traditional and cultural norms and do not assimilate easily into western host society. There is, however, little research conducted among Arabic-speaking background (ASB) immigrants. Diabetes experiences from the perspective of ASB immigrants in Australia were needed to be explored to identify difficulties in performing self-management activities and to recognise modifiable health beliefs that are associated with non-adherence behaviours. This research, through the two stages reported herein, has investigated ASB immigrants’ views and beliefs about diabetes, identified issues in quality use of medicines, explored factors that influenced health care seeking behaviours, assessed diabetes learning needs and preferences, and measured the relationship between health beliefs, adherence and glycaemic control. Prior to this study, little was known about the diabetes profile, cultural and health beliefs and barriers to diabetes care among ASB immigrants in Australia. The results obtained highlighted poorer knowledge about diabetes and its management among ASB immigrants, compared to their English-speaking background (ESB) counterparts. Arabic-speaking background immigrants intentionally delayed accessing medical services when they experienced classical signs of diabetes, so diabetes complications were already developed at the time of diagnosis for the vast majority of them. Diabetes control of ASB immigrants was suboptimal and they were significantly less adherent to all aspects of diabetes self-care activities (dietary behaviours, exercise and physical activity, foot care, SMBG and medication-taking) than the ESB group. The negative health beliefs held by ASB immigrants were associated with non-adherence behaviours and with worse glycaemic control. This research has made a significant contribution to diabetes treatment adherence research in an ASB immigrant population. Findings of this research provide detailed information about the interplay between an individual’s cultural and health beliefs, adherence behaviour and glycaemic control. Such understanding, which has previously been lacking, may assist diabetes health professionals in planning culturally appropriate diabetes interventions and establishing best practice for this ethnic minority group

Psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the 9-item Shared Decision-Making Questionnaire: the entire process from translation to validation

OBJECTIVE: To translate the German 9-item Shared Decision-Making Questionnaire (SDM-Q-9) to Arabic and assess its psychometric properties for measuring Arabic-speaking patients\u27 perceptions of the shared decision-making (SDM) process. DESIGN: Multicentre cross-sectional study. SETTING: Secondary healthcare settings; outpatient clinics of 10 major hospitals were selected in four emirates in the United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and Umm Al Quwain). PARTICIPANTS: Patients with chronic diseases who attended outpatient clinics of participating hospitals. MEASUREMENTS: The original German SDM-Q-9 was translated to Arabic. International multiphase translation guidelines and the process of cross-cultural adaptation of self-reported measures were used. Various psychometric properties were assessed, including reliability (internal consistency), and construct validity (exploratory factor analysis [EFA] and confirmatory factor analysis [CFA]). RESULTS: The final Arabic version of the SDM-Q-9 was tested among 516 secondary care patients. Internal consistency yielded a Cronbach\u27s alpha of 0.929 for the whole scale. EFA showed a one-factorial solution, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy was 0.907 and Bartlett\u27s test of sphericity was significant (χ2=3413.69, df=36, p<0.0005). For the CFA, two different models were tested; Model 1 included the nine items and Model 2 was monofactorial that included items 2-9 and thus excluded item 1. Both models were adequate as they produced similar indices. CONCLUSIONS: The Arabic version of SDM-Q-9 showed excellent reliability and acceptable validity parameters among secondary care patients. The newly translated Arabic questionnaire is the first psychometrically tested tool that can be used in the 22 member states of the Arab league to assess patients\u27 perspectives on the SDM process

The relationship between diabetes distress, medication taking, glycaemic control and self-management

Background Diabetes distress (DD) has broad-ranging effects on type 2 diabetes (T2DM) management and outcomes. DD research is scarce among ethnic minority groups, particularly Arabic-speaking immigrant communities. To improve outcomes for these vulnerable groups, healthcare providers, including pharmacists, need to understand modifiable predictors of DD. Aim To assess and compare DD and its association with medication-taking behaviours, glycaemic control, self-management, and psychosocial factors among first-generation Arabic-speaking immigrants and English-speaking patients of Anglo-Celtic background with diabetes, and determine DD predictors. Setting Various healthcare settings in Australia. Method A multicentre cross-sectional study was conducted. Adults with T2DM completed a survey comprised of validated tools. Glycated haemoglobin, blood pressure, and lipid profile were gathered from medical records. Multiple linear regression models were computed to assess the DD predictors. Main outcome measure Diabetes distress level. Results Data was analysed for 696 participants: 56.3% Arabic-speaking immigrants and 43.7% English-speaking patients. Compared with English-speaking patients, Arabic-speaking immigrants had higher DD, lower medication adherence, worse self-management and glycaemic control, and poorer health and clinical profile. The regression analysis demonstrated that higher DD in Arabic-speaking immigrants was associated with cost-related medication underuse and lower adherence to exercise, younger age, lower education level, unemployment, lower self-efficacy, and inadequate glycaemic control. Whereas among English-speaking patients, higher DD was associated with both cost- and non-cost-related underuse of medication and lower dietary adherence. Conclusion Results provided new insights to guide healthcare providers on reducing the apparent excess burden of DD among Arabic-speaking immigrants and potentially improve medication adherence, glycaemic control, and self-management. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

The relationships between illness and treatment perceptions with adherence to diabetes self-care: A comparison between Arabic-speaking migrants and Caucasian English-speaking patients

AimsTo compare illness and treatment perceptions between Arabic-speaking immigrants and Caucasian English-speaking people with type 2 diabetes, and explore the relationships between these beliefs and adherence to self-care activities.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted in healthcare settings with large Arabic populations in metropolitan and rural Victoria, Australia. Adherence to self-care activities, illness and treatment perceptions, and clinical data were recorded. Bivariate associations for continuous normally distributed variables were tested with Pearson\u27s correlation. Non-parametric data were tested using Spearman\u27s rank correlation coefficient.Results701 participants were recruited; 392 Arabic-speaking participants (ASPs) and 309 English-speaking participants (ESPs). There were significant relationships between participants’ illness and treatment perceptions and adherence to diabetes self-care activities. ASPs’ negative beliefs about diabetes were strongly and significantly correlated with poorer adherence to diet recommendations, exercise, blood glucose testing and foot care. ASPs were significantly less adherent to all aspects of diabetes self-care compared with ESPs: dietary behaviours (P = <0.01; 95% confidence interval (CI) = −1.17, −0.84), exercise and physical activity (P = <0.001, 95% CI −1.14, −0.61), blood glucose testing (P = <0.001) and foot-care (P = <0.001). 52.8% of ASPs were sceptical about prescribed diabetes treatment compared with only 11.2% of the ESPs. 88.3% of ASPs were non-adherent to prescribed medication, compared with 45.1% of ESPs.ConclusionsArabic-speaking migrants’ illness and treatment perceptions were significantly different from the English-speaking group. There is a pressing need to develop new innovative interventions that deliver much-needed improvements in adherence to self-care activities and key health outcomes