• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.12
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• pp.4885-4891
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• 2014

Background: Successful implementation of pain management procedures and guidelines in an institution depends very much on the acceptance of many levels of healthcare providers. Aim: The main purpose of this study was to determine the level of knowledge and attitudes regarding pain among nurses working in tertiary care in a local setting and the factors that may be associated with this. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional research study used a modified version of the Nurses' Knowledge and Attitudes Survey (NKAS) regarding pain. Basic demographic data were obtained for further correlation with the level of pain knowledge. Results: A total of 566 nurses, 34 male and 532 female, volunteered to participate in this study. The response rate (RR) was 76%, with an overall mean percentage score of $42.7{\pm}10.9$ (range: 5-92.5). The majority of participants were younger nurses below 40 years of age and more than 70% had worked for less than 10 years ($6.6{\pm}4.45$). Up to 92% had never had any formal education in pain management in general. The total mean score of correct answers was $58.6{\pm}9.58$, with oncology nursing staff scoring a higher percentage when compared with nurses from other general and critical care wards ($63.52{\pm}9.27$, p<0.045). Only 2.5% out of all participants obtained a score of 80% or greater. The majority of the oncology nurses achieved the expected competency level (p<0.03). Conclusions: The present findings give further support for the universal concern about poor knowledge and attitudes among nurses' related to the optimal management of pain. The results reflected that neither number of years working nor age influenced the level of knowledge or attitudes of the practising nurses. Oncology nursing staff consistently scored better than the rest of the cohort. This reflects that clinical experience helped to improve attitudes and knowledge concerning better pain management.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.9
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• pp.3927-3930
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• 2015

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the most common gastrointestinal cancer and the incidence is increasing in many developing countries. While it can be detected early and even prevented through screening and removal of premalignant lesions, there are barriers to screening which include low level of knowledge and awareness of CRC. This study assessed the level of knowledge of CRC in Brunei Darussalam. Materials and Methods: A total of 431 (262 male and 161 female) subjects participated in this questionnaire study. Subjects were scored on their knowledge of signs/symptoms (maximum 10 correct answers) and known risk factors for CRC (maximum 10 correct answers) and were categorised into poor (0-2), moderate (3-4) and satisfactory (5-10). Comparisons were made between the various patient factors. Results: Overall, 54.1% could not name any CRC signs/symptoms or associated risk factors. Most were not aware of any screening modalities. The overall scores for CRC signs/symptoms and risk factors were $1.3{\pm}1.39$ (range 0-6) and $0.6{\pm}1.05$ (range 0-5) respectively. Overall, the breakdown of scores was: poor (78.1%), moderate (20.3%) and satisfactory (6.2%) for signs/symptoms and poor (93.2%), moderate (6.2%) and satisfactory (0.7%) for risk factors. Higher level of education, female gender and non-Malay race were associated with higher scores for both signs/symptoms and knowledge of screening modality; however the overall scores were low. Conclusions: Our study showed that the general knowledge of CRC in Brunei Darussalam is poor. Being female, with higher levels of education and non-Malay race were associated with higher scores, but they were still generally poor. More needs to be done to increase the public knowledge and awareness of CRC.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.15
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• pp.6669-6672
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• 2015

Background: Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers among females worldwide. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and practice about breast cancer and its related factors among women in Baghdad city, Iraq. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 508 women aged 18 to 55 years from four non-governmental organizations (NGO) in Baghdad city, Iraq. A self-administered questionnaire on breast cancer knowledge and practice was distributed to participants during weekly activity of the NGO. Results: A total of 61.2% of the respondents had poor knowledge, only 30.3% performed breast self-examination (BSE) and 41.8% said that they did not know the technique to perform BSE. Associations between knowledge and marital status and age were significant. For practice, working status, education, age and family income were significant. After controlling for cofounders, the most important contributing factors for poor knowledge among respondents were marital status and not performing BSE, with adjusted odds ratio of 1.6 and 1.8 respectively. Conclusions: Breast cancer knowledge and practice of BSE are poor among women in Baghdad city, Iraq. More promotion regarding breast cancer signs and symptoms and also how to perform BSE should be conducted using media such as television and internet as these constituted the main sources of information for most women in our study.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.20
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• pp.8735-8740
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• 2014

Background: Previous studies for non-communicable disease cotrol, including cancer, have mostly relied on health literacy in adults. However, limited studies are available for adolescents. This study aimed to assess the status and determinants of health literacy in in-school adolescents in Guangdong, China. Materials and Methods: A total of 3,821 students aged 13-25 years were selected by multi-stage cluster sampling. After the questionnaire of health literacy was answered, the total scores for health knowledge (18 questions), skills (5 questions) and behaviors (14 questions) were determined. The total scores for health literacy and each subscale were recoded into adequate and inadequate subgroups, and logistic regression models were used to identify factors associated with each outcome variable. Results: The prevalence of adequate health literacy was 14.4%, and the prevalences for adequate knowledge, skills and behavior were 22.4%, 64.7% and 6.6%, respectively. Students coming from prestigious schools and having parents with higher education had higher odds of having adequate knowledge, skills and behaviors. Female students had higher odds of having adequate knowledge and behaviors. Students in grade 7-8 had higher odds of having adequate knowledge and skills. The health knowledge was positive associated with health skills (odds ratio [OR] =2.1, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.7-2.5) and behaviors (OR=3.0, 95%CI 2.3-4.0), and health skills were positive associated with health behaviors (OR=2.6, 95%CI 1.8-3.8). Conclusions: Further efforts should be made to increase adolescents' health knowledge and behaviors, especially for low grade and male students in non-prestigious schools.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.78-84
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• 2018

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Folic acid supplementation before pregnancy is known to reduce the risk of neural tube defects. The purposes of this study were to investigate the awareness, knowledge, and use of folic acid supplements along with their associated factors among non-pregnant Korean women of childbearing age. SUBJECTS/METHODS: From August 2012 to March 2013, 704 women aged 19-45 years completed a self-administered questionnaire regarding their awareness, knowledge, and use of folic acid as well as questions to identify risk of inadequate folate intake. RESULTS: Approximately 67% of women reported that they had heard of folic acid, and 23.7% had knowledge of both the role of folic acid in preventing birth defects and appropriate time for taking folic acid supplements to prevent birth defects. However, only 9.4% of women took folic acid supplements at the time of the survey. Women aged 19-24 years, unmarried women, and women who had never been pregnant were less likely to be aware and knowledgeable of folic acid or take folic acid supplements. In addition, women at high risk of inadequate folate intake were less likely to take folic acid supplements. In a multivariate analysis, women aged 19-24 years, women with a high school diploma or lower education level, and unmarried women were less likely to be aware and have knowledge of folic acid. The percentage of women taking folic acid supplements was significantly higher among knowledgeable women than among unknowledgeable women. CONCLUSIONS: These results support our hypothesis that women with knowledge of folic acid are more likely to take folic acid supplements. Therefore, educational programs or campaigns to improve knowledge regarding the importance of folic acid and to promote consumption of folic acid supplements as well as folate-rich foods are needed to target young, less educated, and unmarried women.

• The Journal of Fisheries Business Administration
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.91-103
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• 2013

When it comes to the development of a retail market, it has not only influenced the supply and sales of seafood, but it has also led to considerable changes in consumers' purchasing behavior and purchasing purposes. As consumers' incomes and lifestyles have improved, the tendency to purchase seafood has rapidly changed. In addition, the increase in two-income family incomes that resulted from women's active participation in society has increased the number of consumers purchasing home meal replacements (HMR) or convenience food rather than original food. With these changes in social-economic background and in consumers' needs, the purchase of seafood is gradually changing. As a result, companies are constructing diverse marketing strategies to satisfy their needs. Companies' marketing strategies have an immediate and vital effect on consumers' purchases of seafood. The most important and fundamental role is providing an opportunity for consumers to choose what to buy by being giving information and knowledge. In this paper, the purchasing behavior of consumers buying seafood will be examined with respect to their knowledge. First, which factors among a diverse range of marketing strategies exerted a significant impact on consumers' objectives and subjective knowledge was examined. Second, the study investigated which knowledge factors were important in influencing attitudes and purchasing purposes based on knowledge level. By comparing and analyzing factors related to consumers' knowledge with respect to seafood purchases, information is provided to inform companies about efficient strategies for marketing tactics.

• Journal of Korean Medical Science
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• v.33 no.47
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• pp.302.1-303.10
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• 2018

Background: A considerable amount of research has shown that knowledge and appropriate awareness are essential for encouraging positive behaviors and promoting health. In Korea, the roles that behavioral changes play in the prevention of cancer have been an important issue since the introduction of the 10 codes for cancer prevention in 2006. Thus, the present study investigated the associations of tobacco-related knowledge with awareness and attitudes towards positive smoking-cessation behaviors. Methods: The present study analyzed data from the 2010 national questionnaire survey (n = 1,006). This study evaluated sociodemographic characteristics, smoking status, self-rated health status, health-related interests, and the accuracy of 12 tobacco-related statements to determine knowledge level and to investigate its impact on awareness and behaviors related to smoking. These parameters were examined and staged using the Precaution Adoption Process Model. Results: A higher level of tobacco-related knowledge was significantly associated with a positive attitude towards smoking cessation (5-8 correct answers: odds ratio [OR], 2.53; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.57-4.08; ${\geq}9$ correct answers: OR, 3.90; 95% CI, 2.22-6.82; reference: ${\leq}4$ correct answers). Interestingly, among current smokers, only those who correctly responded to ${\geq}9$ of 12 tobacco-related statements were significantly associated with a positive attitude towards smoking cessation. Conclusion: This study found that having a higher level of tobacco-related knowledge had a significant impact on positive attitudes towards smoking cessation. This suggests that there is a need to disseminate appropriate knowledge to the general population to encourage positive attitudes and promote healthful behaviors in terms of smoking.

• Journal of Internet Computing and Services
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.127-133
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• 2016

In the present knowledge and information society, every citizen can enjoy benefits of various advanced technologies such as information and communication technology(ICT) and smart technology. Nowadays everybody has to have some level of information literacy and application ability in order to enjoy benefits from various advanced technologies. In additions, knowledge and practice will about information and communication ethics are also required for all. Currently we need some kind of standards to evaluate and model everybody's information literacy and application capability. In this sense, information culture index has been developed to check information literacy and application capability of every citizen for various aspects of daily life. Information culture index consists of three standards, that is, application, awareness, and norm, respectively. Application standard indicates how information contents and skills are generalized for all. In other words, it is concerned with how every citizen can understand information literacy and use information skills in his or her daily life. Awareness standard is concerned with how well everyone can respect and trust others in the current information culture community. Norm standard is concerned with how everyone can use information communication services according to his or her desirable sense of information and communication ethics. The purpose of this paper is to analyze correlation between academic background and three standards of information culture index, that is, application, awareness, and norm. For this purpose, we use 2-year national survey works for information culture. After thorough statistical analysis, we can conclude that, awareness and norm standards do not show a meaningful correlation with academic background while application standard shows a meaningful correlation with academic background, It means that, the higher academic background one has, the higher application standard one can achieve. We expect that our correlation analysis results can be helpful to spread of information education and information culture in the future.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.300-310
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• 2013

Under the goal of examining the subjective awareness characteristics of oral health and identifying major factors influencing the oral health knowledge and practice behavior of oral health, this study collected and analyzed questionnaires from 763 adults in certain areas from June 23, 2011 to March 24, 2012 and obtained the following conclusions: 1. As for oral health knowledge according to general characteristics, there was statistical significance(p<0.001) according to gender, educational background, and vocation. 2. As for the practice behavior of oral health according to general characteristics, there was statistical significant(p<0.001) according to gender, age, educational background, vocation, and income. 3. As for the Oral health knowledge and the practice behavior of oral health according to awareness characteristics of oral health, there was statistical significant(p<0.001) according to the importance of oral health, subjective health state and interest in oral health(p<0.001). 4. According to the regression analysis results of the factors related to oral health knowledge and practice behavior of oral health, there was statistical significance(p<0.001) in interest in oral health and had connection. Based on those findings, it is imperative to fully consider the general characteristics and subjective awareness characteristics of oral health of individuals when developing an educational program for oral health and investigating and conducting educational methods for oral health in order to improve the practice of oral health for practically better oral health of the nation.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.237-244
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• 2016

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The current South Korean government policy on food irradiation technology should be reformed based on an in-depth investigation of the communications aspect, because the issue is no longer of a technological nature, given the proven safety and efficacy of the processes. SUBJECTS/METHODS: The target population of the education program consisted of elementary, middle, and high school students attending 310 schools in South Korea (2013: 63 schools, 2014: 104 schools, 2015: 143 schools). Data subjected to analysis were 13,327 pre-education and 12,641 post-education questionnaires received from 7,582 elementary, 2,671 middle, and 3,249 high school students who participated in the education program from May 2012 to April 2015 (n = 12,831), after the exclusion of inadequately filled-in questionnaires. RESULTS: Analysis of the three-year educational effect trend was conducted by comparing levels of variables before and after food radiation education. The analysis yielded the finding that the post-education levels were significantly higher for all variables. That is, for interest in education, perception (necessity, safety, subjective knowledge, and information acquisition), objective knowledge, and attitude, with the sole exception of objective knowledge in 2013. CONCLUSIONS: Given that post-education levels of perception, knowledge, and attitude concerning irradiated foods increased considerably compared to pre-education levels, behavior change should be induced by providing continuous education to enhance, these primary variables.