Oral health self-management barriers among rural older adults in Guangxi, China: A qualitative study

BACKGROUND

Objective: To understand the barriers associated with self-management of oral health among rural older adults in Guangxi, and to explore the high incidence of oral problems. This information will assist in the formulation of relevant strategies to solve the oral health problems in this population.

METHODS

Taking a phenomenological approach, the current status of, and barriers to, oral health self-management in rural older adults from different regions of Guangxi were explored. Participants were purposively selected and interviewed face-to-face.

RESULTS

The interviews yielded four overarching themes and six corresponding sub-themes pertaining to barriers in oral health self-management. These included: (1) Older adults' understanding of oral health and disease, perceptions of oral health and their oral health behaviours; (2) Problems in accessing oral health information; (3) Role of family support; and (4) Barriers to healthcare that included access to dental services, oral treatment experience and financial burden of access to dental care.

CONCLUSION

Rural older adults in Guangxi face oral health self-management barriers. Improving access to oral healthcare services and changing existing oral health perceptions and habits may assist them in overcoming self-management challenges.

Aerobic exercise regulates FGF21 and NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated pyroptosis and inhibits atherosclerosis in mice

Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), a known risk factor for atherosclerosis, is readily regulated by exercise, and it can inhibit NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3)-mediated pyroptosis. However, it is not clear whether aerobic exercise inhibits atherosclerosis via these pathways. Eight-week-old apolipoprotein E-deficient (ApoE-/-) mice on a high-fat diet were randomly divided into 1-h post-exercise (EX-1h), 24-h post-exercise (EX-24h), and sedentary (SED) groups. C57BL/6J wild-type mice fed normal chow served as controls (WT group). Mice in the EX-1h and EX-24h groups were subjected to treadmill exercise training for 12 weeks. Aerobic exercise reduced body weight; blood glucose, lipid, and inflammation levels; and aortic plaque area proportion. Aerobic exercise increased the sensitivity of FGF21 by upregulating the expression of the downstream receptor adiponectin (ApN); the serum FGF21 level after exercise increased initially, and then decreased. Aerobic exercise downregulated the expression of NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated pyroptosis-related markers in the aorta, and FGF21 may participate in the above process. Meanwhile, the liver may be the tissue source of serum FGF21 during aerobic exercise. In conclusion, aerobic exercise may inhibit atherogenesis by regulating FGF21 and NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated pyroptosis. Our study provides new information on the atherosclerosis-preventing mechanism of aerobic exercise.

Nurses' knowledge, attitudes, and willingness to practice hospice care: An analysis of influencing factors

Background

Hospice care is a multidisciplinary approach that focused on patients’ quality of life, and nurses allocate more of their time with patients and patients’ families than those nurses working in other disciplines. Nurses’ knowledge of and attitudes toward hospice care can affect the quality of hospice care. At present, China’s hospice care institutions are suffering from an obvious shortage of nursing staff. Since clinical nurses are the main force behind the future provision of hospice care, their knowledge of, attitudes and willingness to practice can greatly promoted the growth of hospice care, however, available data on clinical nurses’ willingness to practice hospice care are limited.

Methods

A cross-sectional descriptive study design was employed to collect data from 1833 nurses working in tertiary or secondary general hospitals in Guangxi, China. We examined nurses’ demographic characteristics and scores on the Chinese version of the hospice care knowledge scale, the Chinese version of the Bradley Attitude Assessment Questionnaire, and a brief quiz concerning their willingness to practice hospice care in the future. Descriptive, single factor, multiple regression analyses and logistic regression analyses were used for data analysis.

Results

Nurses displayed moderate mean scores for both knowledge of and attitudes, and only 505 (27.5%) nurses expressed their willingness to practice hospice care, 1329 (72.5%) of nurses sampled expressed their unwillingness or uncertainty. Multivariate regression analyses showed that education, professional qualification, monthly income, whether they had been trained in hospice care, and willingness to practice hospice care were the main influencing factors of knowledge; education, whether they lived with someone aged >60 years, and whether they had been trained in hospice care were main factors influencing attitudes. Additionally, logistic regression analyses showed that hospice care knowledge, whether they had been trained in hospice care, and whether they had clinical experience affected the nurses’ willingness to practice hospice care.

Conclusion

This study highlighted a knowledge gap and moderate attitudes toward hospice care among nurses, and most nurses did not prefer to practice hospice care. Having been trained in hospice care was the main common factor of nurses’ knowledge of, attitudes toward, and willingness to practice hospice care in the future, indicating the necessity to provide nurses with more targeted hospice care training.

Vaccination status, acceptance, and knowledge toward a COVID-19 vaccine among healthcare workers: a cross-sectional survey in China

Healthcare workers (HCWs) are considered both a high-risk population regarding infections and effective vaccine recommenders whose willingness to be vaccinated is the key to herd immunity. However, the vaccination status, acceptance, and knowledge of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine among HCWs remain unknown. Therefore, we conducted an online survey regarding the above among HCWs in China after the vaccine was made available. Questionnaires returned by 1,779 HCWs were analyzed. Among these participants, 34.9% were vaccinated, 93.9% expressed their willingness to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, and vaccine knowledge level was high (89.2%). A bivariate analysis found that participants with a college degree, low level of knowledge, non-exposure to COVID-19 status, and those who are females or nurses have a lower vaccination rate, while participants who are married, with a monthly income of more than 5,000 yuan, and low knowledge levels are less willing to be vaccinated. A multivariate analysis found that participants with a high (OR = 7.042, 95% CI = 4.0918-12.120) or medium (OR = 3.709, 95% CI = 2.072-6.640) knowledge level about COVID-19 vaccines were more willing to be vaccinated. Participants were less likely to accept a COVID-19 vaccine if they were married (OR = 0.503, 95% CI = 0.310-0.815). In summary, Chinese HCWs have a strong willingness to be vaccinated and a high level of knowledge. Measures, such as targeted education for HCWs with low willingness and low level of knowledge, open vaccine review procedures, increased government trust, reduced vaccine costs, and provide vaccination guarantee policies, may improve the vaccination coverage of the at-risk group.