Basic life support skills of high school students before and after cardiopulmonary resuscitation training: a longitudinal investigation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Immediate bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) significantly improves survival after a sudden cardiopulmonary collapse. This study assessed the basic life support (BLS) knowledge and performance of high school students before and after CPR training.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This study included 132 teenagers (mean age 14.6 ± 1.4 years). Students completed a two-hour training course that provided theoretical background on sudden cardiac death (SCD) and a hands-on CPR tutorial. They were asked to perform BLS on a manikin to simulate an SCD scenario before the training. Afterwards, participants encountered the same scenario and completed a questionnaire for self-assessment of their pre- and post-training confidence. Four months later, we assessed the knowledge retention rate of the participants with a BLS performance score.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Before the training, 29.5% of students performed chest compressions as compared to 99.2% post-training (<it>P </it>< 0.05). At the four-month follow-up, 99% of students still performed correct chest compressions. The overall improvement, assessed by the BLS performance score, was also statistically significant (median of 4 and 10 pre- and post-training, respectively, P < 0.05). After the training, 99.2% stated that they felt confident about performing CPR, as compared to 26.9% (<it>P </it>< 0.05) before the training.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>BLS training in high school seems highly effective considering the minimal amount of previous knowledge the students possess. We observed significant improvement and a good retention rate four months after training. Increasing the number of trained students may minimize the reluctance to conduct bystander CPR and increase the number of positive outcomes after sudden cardiopulmonary collapse.</p

The impact of agricultural input subsidies on food and nutrition security: a systematic review

Agricultural input subsidies, a form of social protection, are often considered an important means of improving agricultural productivity in low- and middle-income countries. However, their effectiveness and efficiency remains contentious with respect to productivity, economic and consumer welfare measures, as well as food and nutrition security. This is exacerbated by a weak evidence base, including no review focused on the impact of agricultural input subsidies on food security and nutrition. Further, where studies have considered nutritional outcomes of agricultural input subsidy interventions, this has often been in regard to changes in consumption of the targeted staple food, measured in terms of calorie consumption or a similar measure of changes in energy availability, ignoring other aspects of malnutrition, including impacts from dietary diversity. This wider consideration of impacts from dietary diversity is important, given the increasing recognition in nutrition policy of its importance. We address this gap in the literature with a review of the evidence on the impact of agricultural input subsidy programmes on nutrition and nutrition-related health in low- and middle-income countries, mapping this evidence against a conceptual framework of the mediating pathways

Exploring The Migration Profiles of Primary Healthcare Users in South Africa.

South Africa's public healthcare system responses seldom engage with migration. Our exploratory study investigates migration profiles and experiences of primary healthcare (PHC) users. A cross-sectional survey involving non-probability sampling was conducted with 229 PHC users at six purposively selected PHC clinics in three districts of SA. The survey captured socio-demographic information, migration histories, and PHC experiences. Chi square and Fischer's exact tests were used to compare categorical variables, whilst Mann-Whitney U tests compared continuous variables between groups. Most PHC users were migrants (22% internal South African; 45% cross-border) who generally move for reasons other than healthcare seeking. Length of time accessing services at a specific clinic was shown to be key in describing experiences of PHC use. Understanding population movement is central to PHC strengthening in SA and requires improved understanding of mobility dynamics in regard to not just nationality, but also internal mobility and length of stay

Moving beyond the ‘language problem': developing an understanding of the intersections of health, language and immigration status in interpreter-mediated health encounters

Health systems internationally are dealing with greater diversity in patient populations. However the focus on ‘the language problem’ has meant little attention is paid to diversity within and between migrant populations; and how interpreted consultations are influenced by intersecting migratory, ethnicity and sociodemographic variables. Our analysis of the experiences of patients, health care providers and interpreters in Scotland evidences the need to move beyond language, addressing multiple hidden inequalities in health care access and provision that operate in both clinic and, especially, home-based settings. We call for a practice-evidenced research agenda promoting cultural communication across health care and home settings, acknowledging immigration status as a social determinant of health. Sur le plan international, des systèmes de santé font face à une diversité croissante dans ses populations de patients. Cependant, l’accent sur ‘le problème de langue’ se traduit dans une manque d’attention à la diversité a l’intérieur même et entre des populations des migrants; et la façon par laquelle des variables migratoire, ethnique et sociodémographique influencent elles-mêmes des consultations interprétées. Notre analyse des expériences des patients, des professionnels fournissant de soins de santé et des interprètes offre des preuves du besoin de dépasser le problème de langue. Et en faisant cela, nous adressons des multiples inégalités, souvent cachées dans des contextes de soins de santé, dans les milieux clinique et domicile. Nous proposons un programme de recherche basé sur la pratique, qui favorise la communication culturelle dans des milieux clinique et domicile, et qui reconnait le statut d’immigration comme un déterminant social de la santé

Analysis of the burden and economic impact of digestive diseases and investigation of research gaps and priorities in the field of digestive health in the European Region—White Book 2: Executive summary

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Understanding healthcare and population mobility in southern Africa: The case of South Africa

The impact of global increases in human mobility on health systems is a little understood but highly political issue in recipient countries. South Africa (SA) is the greatest recipient of migrants from the Southern African Development Community. There is a policy of free primary health care for all in SA – as outlined in the Constitution and the National Health Act – but its interpretation is less inclusive within implementation guidelines and practice.  As a result, non-nationals face access challenges, and public health responses have engaged with migration to a limited extent. Migration provides opportunities for health and economic benefits, and has the potential to positively and negatively affect health systems. To maximise positive impact and mitigate against potential negative consequences requires attention and engagement of policy-makers from health and other sectors, including public health researchers and health workers. We outline our current research and existing responses to migration and health in southern Africa

Methyltransferases: Functions and Applications

In this review the current state of the art of S-adenosylmethionine (SAM)-dependent methyltransferases and SAM are evaluated. Their structural classification and diversity is introduced and key mechanistic aspects presented which are then detailed further. Then, catalytic SAM as a target for drugs and approaches to utilise SAM as a cofactor in synthesis is introduced with different recycling approaches evaluated. The use of SAM analogues are also described. Finally O-, N-, C- and S-MTs, their synthetic applications and potential for compound diversification is given

Co-producing the covid-19 response in Germany, Hong Kong, Lebanon, and Pakistan.

The covid-19 response is creating the opportunity for an accelerated and inclusive shift towards co-production for policy making It has brought a focus to three cross cutting issues: building on established structures; working together to co-produce research; and disseminating research and engaging communities. The covid-19 pandemic has forced policy makers to rethink the formal and informal structures of how, where, when, and with whom they collaborate, including with researchers as well as the broader public, patients, and communities. Unprecedented levels of public attention during the covid-19 pandemic have posed new challenges to evidence based policy making, particularly in terms of communicating sometimes complicated science and dealing with an overabundance of information