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Article
Publication date: 21 June 2023

Parvin Reisinezhad and Mostafa Fakhrahmad

Questionnaire studies of knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) are effective research in the field of health, which have many shortcomings. The purpose of this research is to…

Abstract

Purpose

Questionnaire studies of knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) are effective research in the field of health, which have many shortcomings. The purpose of this research is to propose an automatic questionnaire-free method based on deep learning techniques to address the shortcomings of common methods. Next, the aim of this research is to use the proposed method with public comments on Twitter to get the gaps in KAP of people regarding COVID-19.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper, two models are proposed to achieve the mentioned purposes, the first one for attitude and the other for people’s knowledge and practice. First, the authors collect some tweets from Twitter and label them. After that, the authors preprocess the collected textual data. Then, the text representation vector for each tweet is extracted using BERT-BiGRU or XLNet-GRU. Finally, for the knowledge and practice problem, a multi-label classifier with 16 classes representing health guidelines is proposed. Also, for the attitude problem, a multi-class classifier with three classes (positive, negative and neutral) is proposed.

Findings

Labeling quality has a direct relationship with the performance of the final model, the authors calculated the inter-rater reliability using the Krippendorf alpha coefficient, which shows the reliability of the assessment in both problems. In the problem of knowledge and practice, 87% and in the problem of people’s attitude, 95% agreement was reached. The high agreement obtained indicates the reliability of the dataset and warrants the assessment. The proposed models in both problems were evaluated with some metrics, which shows that both proposed models perform better than the common methods. Our analyses for KAP are more efficient than questionnaire methods. Our method has solved many shortcomings of questionnaires, the most important of which is increasing the speed of evaluation, increasing the studied population and receiving reliable opinions to get accurate results.

Research limitations/implications

Our research is based on social network datasets. This data cannot provide the possibility to discover the public information of users definitively. Addressing this limitation can have a lot of complexity and little certainty, so in this research, the authors presented our final analysis independent of the public information of users.

Practical implications

Combining recurrent neural networks with methods based on the attention mechanism improves the performance of the model and solves the need for large training data. Also, using these methods is effective in the process of improving the implementation of KAP research and eliminating its shortcomings. These results can be used in other text processing tasks and cause their improvement. The results of the analysis on the attitude, practice and knowledge of people regarding the health guidelines lead to the effective planning and implementation of health decisions and interventions and required training by health institutions. The results of this research show the effective relationship between attitude, practice and knowledge. People are better at following health guidelines than being aware of COVID-19. Despite many tensions during the epidemic, most people still discuss the issue with a positive attitude.

Originality/value

To the best of our knowledge, so far, no text processing-based method has been proposed to perform KAP research. Also, our method benefits from the most valuable data of today’s era (i.e. social networks), which is the expression of people’s experiences, facts and free opinions. Therefore, our final analysis provides more realistic results.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 52 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 April 2021

Harold Van Andaya Aquino, Tyron Yap, Jean Paolo Gomez Lacap, Gertrude Tuazon and Maribel Flores

The study examines the interrelationships of food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices, and the moderating effect of food safety training on the said interrelationships.

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Abstract

Purpose

The study examines the interrelationships of food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices, and the moderating effect of food safety training on the said interrelationships.

Design/methodology/approach

Predictive-causal was the primary research design used and partial least squares – structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was the statistical technique applied.

Findings

Results showed that food safety knowledge significantly and positively influences attitudes towards food safety. It was further revealed that attitudes toward food safety and food safety practices are also significantly and positively related. Moderation analysis indicated that food safety training moderates the significant and positive relationship between attitudes towards food safety and food safety practices.

Research limitations/implications

The present study has limitations. First, the unit of analysis is focused on food handlers in fast-food restaurants in Angeles City, Philippines. Other researchers may come up with similar studies on a larger scale – provincial, regional or national. Second, only food safety training as a construct was used as a moderator on the hypothesized relationships of the structural model. Other studies may expand and explore other moderating variables and/or mediating constructs that may affect the said hypothesized relationships.

Practical implications

Based on the present study, food safety knowledge was found to have a huge significant and direct influence on attitudes of fast-food restaurant food handlers towards food safety, as evidenced by the computed effect size. In short, knowledge on food safety is an integral factor when it comes to enhancing food safety attitudes of fast-food restaurant food handlers. When fast-food restaurant food handlers are well-equipped with the right food safety knowledge, they become more aware of the different food safety protocols and other pertinent food safety guidelines and procedures which can lead to favorable food safety attitudes.

Social implications

The present study highlighted the moderating effect of food safety training on the relationship between attitudes toward food safety and food safety practices. Therefore, regular attendance of food handlers to food safety training is crucial in developing acceptable attitudes toward food safety, which in turn, favorably affect their food safety practices in fast-food restaurants.

Originality/value

The current study utilized PLS-SEM, a second-generation statistical technique, to measure the hypothesized relationships as compared to correlation tests performed by prior studies on the interrelationships of food safety knowledge, attitudes toward food safety and food safety practices. PLS-SEM is suitable for this type of research design – predictive-causal – since this study involves model development and prediction. Furthermore, it employed moderation analysis to measure the moderating effects of food safety training on the identified hypothesized relationships of the structural model. Hence, methodologically, the present study employed new ways and insights in measuring the interrelationships of food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 123 no. 12
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 May 2019

Hena Chandran, K. Jayanthi, S. Prabavathy, K. Renuka and Rajesh Bhargavan

Parents or primary caregivers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have important role in early recognition of the disorder as well as in the management of the…

Abstract

Purpose

Parents or primary caregivers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have important role in early recognition of the disorder as well as in the management of the disorder. Knowledge, attitude and practice of primary caregivers towards children with ASD are important factors in promoting health and wellness of such children. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of video-assisted teaching regarding care of children with ASD on knowledge, attitude and practice among primary caregivers.

Design/methodology/approach

Quasi-experimental research design with one group pre-test post-test was adopted. A total of 60 primary caregivers were selected through stratified random sampling technique. Video-assisted teaching was given to 60 primary caregivers. Data collection was done before and after the video-assisted teaching programme using structured questionnaire which consists of 57 questions.

Findings

The result of the study showed that the post-test level of knowledge attitude and practice among primary caregivers of children with ASD was significantly high (p<0.0001) when compared to pre-test level by using Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test. The study finding revealed that video-assisted teaching was effective in enhancing the knowledge, developing a positive attitude and good practice among primary caregivers regarding care of children with ASD.

Social implications

Findings of this study will help mental health nurses, psychologists, intellectual disability nurses, teachers, public health, social workers, etc. to know the importance of video-assisted teaching programme regarding care of children with ASD and to motivate the primary caregivers to participate in such teaching programme. The community mental health nurse can plan video-assisted teaching programme in a community regarding care of children with ASD.

Originality/value

Results of this study indicate that the video-assisted teaching is effective and helps the primary caregivers to enhance the knowledge, attitude and practice regarding care of children with ASD. So continuous awareness in primary health centre and community area is necessary to improve the knowledge, attitude and practice of primary caregivers.

Details

Advances in Autism, vol. 5 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-3868

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2023

Zohreh Bakrani, Fatemeh Estebsari, Meimanat Hosseini, Maliheh Nasiri and Marzieh Latifi

The purpose of this study was to develop and psychometrically evaluate a tool to measure nurses’ knowledge of, attitude toward and practice regarding the elder abuse phenomenon.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to develop and psychometrically evaluate a tool to measure nurses’ knowledge of, attitude toward and practice regarding the elder abuse phenomenon.

Design/methodology/approach

This study is methodological research that was conducted in two stages. In the first stage, the available tools related to knowledge, attitude and practice regarding elder abuse were identified through an extensive review of theoretical principles, previous research and related articles. The initial items were extracted and categorized. In the second stage, the psychometric properties of the tool were examined by assessing face validity, content validity, construct validity, internal consistency and stability. Four hundred nurses working in the hospitals of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences were selected to determine the validity of the structure.

Findings

The initial tool consisted of 114 items extracted, 34 of which were removed according to the experts’ opinions. The face validity of the 80-item questionnaire was then examined. The number of the items was reduced to 74 after measuring the face validity. After the qualitative measurement of the content validity, three items were eliminated. After measuring the content validity using a quantitative approach, 8 other items were removed and 63 items remained. According to the content validity index, 1 more item was removed, reducing the number to 62. The construct validity approved three dimensions of knowledge, attitude and practice. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was calculated to be 0.84. The stability was also confirmed through test–retest with a value of 0.85 for the whole scale.

Originality/value

The tool developed for assessing nurses’ knowledge, attitude and practice regarding elder abuse has acceptable dependability and credibility. Given the advantages of this tool, including the simplicity and fluency of sentences, and the comprehensive evaluation of nurses’ knowledge, attitude and practice regarding elder abuse, it is recommended to use this tool in relevant future studies.

Details

Working with Older People, vol. 27 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1366-3666

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 June 2021

Ahmed Farouk Radwan and Engy M. Abou Sreea Khalil

This paper aims to assess the level of knowledge, attitudes and practices adopted among University of Sharjah (UOS) students toward sustainability efforts done by their university.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to assess the level of knowledge, attitudes and practices adopted among University of Sharjah (UOS) students toward sustainability efforts done by their university.

Design/methodology/approach

An online survey was emailed to students with the assistance of the UOS Sustainability Office. The survey consisted of four sections assessing knowledge, attitudes, practices and preferred media to obtain sustainability information. A total of 200 responses from male and female students, representing 4 levels of study in sciences and humanities colleges, were received. Research data is analyzed using the IBM SPSS Statistics (version 26). For assessing knowledge, eight items were developed to measure if the student knew about the university’s projects and activities in the field of sustainability. For assessing attitudes, six items were developed to indicate the level of agreement or disagreement toward main sustainability issues. For assessing practices, ten items were developed to measure the frequency of acting in a sustainable manner.

Findings

Survey results showed an advanced level of basic knowledge among university students regarding the programs and activities conducted by UOS, and a positive attitude toward these efforts and toward the importance of supporting sustainable practices. Most of the participating students disagreed with limiting the use of cars on campus – this may be because of a cultural aspect among young people in the Emirati society, who consider driving cars as an essential part of their daily life. Most students also indicated that they care about the behavior that supports sustainability in the university environment, such as rationalizing water consumption and using environment friendly products.

Research limitations/implications

The study’s limitations are that it was applied to one university – UOS. The sample of the online survey was only 200 students from undergraduate students. Different universities may have their own sets of different environmental approaches, and because of this reason, university students may exhibit different levels of knowledge, attitude and practice toward sustainability in contrast to the findings from this study.

Practical implications

Findings from this research can give decision-makers a good picture of the university’s performance in accomplishing sustainability. The authors recommend that UOS sustainability communication programs should be more comprehensive, and not only limited to protecting the environment that some students perceive as the primary aspect of sustainability. These efforts must address all economic and social aspects emphasized by the United Arab Emirates 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the current study is considered one of the first studies addressing sustainability efforts in Emirati universities and seeking to assess the level of student knowledge, attitudes and practices toward sustainability issues in the country. The study is crucial in providing better insights such as the level of knowledge, attitude and practices toward UOS sustainability performance. As found in this study, even with sufficient knowledge, students still lack the drive to convert them into actions. So, future research could investigate deeper into the barriers of converting sustainable knowledge and attitudes into practices. The results represent an added value to the research literature concerned with sustainability issues in the Arab world and the Middle East region. This paper will also contribute to the sustainability literature that will be benefited by other various organizations.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 22 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 April 2012

Nevin Sanlier and Ece Konaklioglu

The number of reported food‐borne illnesses has increased recently in the world. In this respect, this study is carried out with the aim of investigating the food safety knowledge

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Abstract

Purpose

The number of reported food‐borne illnesses has increased recently in the world. In this respect, this study is carried out with the aim of investigating the food safety knowledge, attitude and food handling practices of university students in Turkey.

Design/methodology/approach

Questionnaires were applied to 1,340 people volunteered in the study, regarding their knowledge, attitude and practices. The research data was collected through a face‐to‐face questionnaire. An overall number of 1,340 university students from three different institutions were included in this study. Gender distribution was 54.6 per cent for male while that of female was 45.4 per cent, and age range was between 18‐24 years.

Findings

Depending on the respondents' gender, a statistically significant difference was found between male and female participants on total food safety knowledge, attitude and practice scores (p<0.001). In addition, there was a statistically significant difference between students' institutes (p<0.001). Also, a correlation was found between food safety knowledge attitude and practice (p<0.001).

Research limitations/implications

Because the population of this study consisted of university students from different faculties in the city of Ankara, the results cannot be generalized to all students or to all ages. Comment on the results is limited due to responses being self reported, which are prone to bias by the subjects.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors' knowledge, limited studies focused on university students have been found in the Turkish literature and there is a lack of study concerning food safety knowledge, attitude and practice of university students in Ankara, Turkey. The originality of this study is to assess the level of food safety attitude, knowledge and food handling practice to investigate the association between the students' institutions and gender among university students in Turkey. There is a need to assess the food safety knowledge, attitude and practice of this target group as they are more likely to engage in risky eating behaviors, thus are more susceptible to food‐borne illnesses and they are more likely to engage in risky food handling practices because of their future roles as parents and food preparers for his/her family.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 114 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 December 2020

Nour Amin Elsahoryi, Refat Alkurd, Leena Ahmad, Amin N. Olaimat, Fwzieh Hammad and Richard Holley

People with food allergies rely to a great extent on restaurant staff to have a safe meal. The purpose of this paper is to acquire novel data to evaluate knowledge, attitudes and

Abstract

Purpose

People with food allergies rely to a great extent on restaurant staff to have a safe meal. The purpose of this paper is to acquire novel data to evaluate knowledge, attitudes and practices of food allergy among the restaurant's staff and factors that could be associated with these domains.

Design/methodology/approach

A cross-sectional study involving 306 restaurant staff in Amman City, Jordan was conducted using a validated self-reported questionnaire. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors independently associated with knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP).

Findings

The results showed that most restaurant staff had moderate to excellent knowledge, positive attitudes, low to moderate risk practices regarding food allergy. Knowledge level was significantly associated with the staff's age, position, education level and restaurant class. Further, attitude level was significantly associated with staff age, experience, gender, education level, restaurant class and whether the restaurant held food safety certificates. Similarly, staff behavioral practices were significantly associated with staff position, restaurant class and the presence of valid food safety certificates.

Practical implications

This study suggests that more training for the staff in restaurants would be associated with a lower risk of providing unsafe meals.

Originality/value

This study demonstrated the need for the pre-employment theoretical and practical tests for restaurants’ staff to determine their knowledge level and provide them mandatory developing training programs to support and facilitate food allergy risk management and to develop food allergy policies.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 123 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 July 2020

Hadiseh Ebdali, Masoud Sami, Nimah Bahreini and Zahra Esfandiari

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the levels of food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of food technical assistants (FTAs) working in dairy processing plants…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the levels of food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of food technical assistants (FTAs) working in dairy processing plants (DPPs) with different grades of prerequisite programs (PRPs) checklist.

Design/methodology/approach

An observational cross-sectional study was carried out by using a self-administered questionnaire and interviewing 76 FTAs occupied in DPPs in the city of Isfahan, Iran.

Findings

Out of a total score of 100, the participants received scores for knowledge (79.5 ± 14.9), attitudes (75.2 ± 9.9) and practices (86 ± 11.6) referred to the principles of Hazard analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP). It was found correlations between food safety knowledge and attitudes of FTAs (r = 0.38, p ≤ 0), knowledge and practices (r = 0.21, p = 0.03) and between attitudes and practices (r = 0.36, p ≤ 0). Moreover, there were also significant correlations between KAP scores and age (knowledge: r = 0.18, p = 0.06; attitude: r = 0.25, p = 0.01; practice: r = 0.22, p = 0.02) and KAP scores and job satisfaction level (knowledge: r = 0.27, p = 0. 01; attitude: r = 0.22, p = 0.02; practice: r = 0.27, p = 0). There was no significant correlation between educational background and KAP scores. Furthermore, no significant correlation was found in terms of gender.

Originality/value

Education of FTAs about food safety issues seems necessary. Such training should not only focus on theoretical aspects of knowledge but also be practical to foster positive attitudes toward food safety and promote practices among FTAs. Consideration to all principles of PRPs is recommended to implement food safety management system (FSMS) in food processing plants (FPPs).

Details

Nutrition & Food Science , vol. 51 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0034-6659

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 April 2018

Foong Ming Moy, Abd Aziz Alias, Rohana Jani, Hishamuddin Abdul Halim and Wah Yun Low

The purpose of this paper is to examine the level of food safety practices and their determinants among youths in the city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the level of food safety practices and their determinants among youths in the city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Design/methodology/approach

An online cross-sectional study was carried out among 1,178 students at a premier university in the city of Kuala Lumpur. A web-based questionnaire pertaining to food safety knowledge, attitudes and practices was e-mailed to all registered students.

Findings

This study found that 61.7 per cent of the respondents had good food safety practices, 89.7 per cent had fair knowledge and slightly less than half of them had positive attitudes regarding food safety. There was significant association between respondents’ attitudes and their food safety practices. No association was found between socio-demographic characteristics, year and field of study and their food safety practices. There was also no significant association between knowledge and food safety practices. Respondents with positive food safety attitudes had higher odds (OR=7.55, 95 per cent CI: 5.66, 10.07) for food safety practices compared to those with negative attitudes.

Research limitations/implications

As the study population consisted only of university students, the results may not be generalised to all youths in the country. Data collection using online self-reported questionnaires may cause misinterpretation. However, the questionnaire was validated and pilot tested prior to data collection. The results can be used in creating greater awareness of food safety practices, especially on positive attitudes among Malaysian youths.

Originality/value

This study describes self-reported food safety practices and their relationship with socio-demographic factors, knowledge, and attitudes of Malaysian university students.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 120 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 July 2013

Aradhana Bhargava, Bibhabati Mishra, Archana Thakur, Vinita Dogra, Poonam Loomba and Sonal Gupta

The study aims to assess healthcare workers' needle‐stick injury (NSI) knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP).

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Abstract

Purpose

The study aims to assess healthcare workers' needle‐stick injury (NSI) knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP).

Design/methodology/approach

A cross‐sectional study was conducted in a 600‐bedded hospital throughout six months. The data were collected using an anonymous, self‐reporting questionnaire. Participants were various healthcare workers (HCW) drawn through stratified random sampling and their knowledge, attitude and practice regarding NSI were assessed.

Findings

There is significant difference in the mean knowledge, attitude and practice scores among healthcare workers. Even though scores are better for doctors and nurses, practice scores were better for technical staff. Healthcare workers, who had better practice scores, had suffered fewer NSIs. Since this study is a cross‐sectional, the population's NSI incidence could not be calculated.

Practical implications

This study emphasizes that applying knowledge to practice is required to prevent NSIs. Various recommendations to help prevent and deal with NSIs are made.

Originality/value

This study analyses healthcare workers' NSI knowledge, attitude and practices, and also assesses their correlation with NSI incidence, which has not been done previously.

Details

International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, vol. 26 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0952-6862

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 108000