International journal of environmental research and public health
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Int J Environ Res Public Health · May 2020
Government Intervention, Risk Perception, and the Adoption of Protective Action Recommendations: Evidence from the COVID-19 Prevention and Control Experience of China.
This study examines the relationships between government interventions, risk perception, and the public's adoption of protective action recommendations (PARs) during the COVID-19 coronavirus disease emergency in mainland China. We conducted quota sampling based on the proportion of the population in each province and gender ratios in the Sixth Census and obtained a sample size of 3837. Government intervention was divided into government communication, government prevention and control, and government rescue. ⋯ The effects of government interventions and risk perception on the public's adoption of PARs was not found to vary by region. Risk perception is identified as an important mediating factor between government intervention and the public's adoption of PARs. These results indicate that increasing the public's risk perception is an effective strategy for governments seeking to encourage the public to adopt PARs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Int J Environ Res Public Health · May 2020
Can Teledentistry Improve the Monitoring of Patients during the Covid-19 Dissemination? A Descriptive Pilot Study.
The aim of this pilot study was to describe the advantages of telemedicine (TM) in dental practice during the current national emergency condition due to the Covid-19 dissemination. At Department of Oral Surgery and Pathology-Magna Graecia University of Catanzaro, regional reference center for Covid-19-two groups of patients were determined: patients with urgent conditions (group U) and patients in follow-up (group F). Both groups were instructed to implement remote consultations using a messaging service (WhatsApp Messenger, WhatsApp Inc., Mountain View, California, USA) to send photos. ⋯ In the F group, 384 photos were collected by 52 patients. None of them sent more photos than the number that was established by the protocol. Telemedicine allowed a monitoring of all patients, reducing costs and limiting human contact, decreasing the risk of Covid-19 dissemination.
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Int J Environ Res Public Health · May 2020
Bivariate Spatial Pattern between Smoking Prevalence and Lung Cancer Screening in US Counties.
Objectives: Lung cancer screening (LCS) with low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) has been a reimbursable preventive service covered by Medicare since 2015. Geographic disparities in the access to LDCT providers may contribute to the low uptake of LCS. We evaluated LDCT service availability for older adults in the United States (US) based on Medicare claims data and explored its ecological correlation with smoking prevalence. ⋯ At the county level, the median LDCT density was 0.5 (interquartile range (IQR): 0-5.3) providers per 1000 Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries, and cigarette smoking prevalence was 17.5% (IQR: 15.2-19.8%). High LDCT service availability was most concentrated in the northeast US, revealing a misalignment with areas of high current smoking prevalence, which tended to be in the central and southern US. Conclusions: Our maps highlight areas in need for enhanced workforce and capacity building aimed at reducing disparities in the access and utilization of LDCT services among older adults in the US.
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Int J Environ Res Public Health · May 2020
Spatio-Temporal Resource Mapping for Intensive Care Units at Regional Level for COVID-19 Emergency in Italy.
COVID-19 is a worldwide emergency since it has rapidly spread from China to almost all the countries worldwide. Italy has been one of the most affected countries after China. North Italian regions, such as Lombardia and Veneto, had an abnormally large number of cases. ⋯ This is also the case at a regional scale. We analysed Italian data at regional level with the aim to: (i) support health and government decision-makers in gathering rapid and efficient decisions on increasing health structures capacities (in terms of ICU slots) and (ii) define a geographic model to plan emergency and future COVID-19 patients management using reallocating them among health structures. Finally, we retain that the here proposed model can be also used in other countries.
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Int J Environ Res Public Health · May 2020
Dentistry during the COVID-19 Epidemic: An Italian Workflow for the Management of Dental Practice.
The COVID-19 outbreak has raised concerns about infection control all over the world. Among health workers, dentists are particularly exposed to the COVID-19 infection risk. ⋯ No cases of COVID-19 infection were detected among patients and staff of the dental unit in a two-month period of time while using this protocol. This workflow seems a promising and effective solution to manage dental procedures during the COVID-19 outbreak, and could be implemented in both public and private practices until the emergency is contained.