Search Results (92)

Background: Prematurity and low birth weight (LBW) drive infant morbidity and mortality, requiring nutritional interventions, especially in food-insecure settings. In Indonesia, regional disparities in food security hinder adequate nutrition for premature and LBW infants, exacerbating health challenges. The aim of study is to investigate and determine factors associated with prematurity and LBW in children from food-insecure and food-secure households. Methods: This research employed a cross-sectional study with 657 mothers of children aged 36–59 months, conducted using random sampling. Data was collected via standardized questionnaires and analyzed using Chi-square tests and logistic regression. Results: The adjusted model showed that children of food-insecure households had a higher risk of LBW (AOR = 0.54; 95% CI: 0.29–0.99; p < 0.05). LBWs were found to significantly less occur in food-insecure households. Low maternal education was associated with an increased risk of preterm birth (AOR = 3.23; 95% CI:1.78–5.84; p < 0.001). Furthermore, prematurity correlated with house ownership (p < 0.01), indicating the household’s wealth condition. Maternal education and house ownership were linked to prematurity, indicating the risk to child health outcomes. In summary, maternal education, employment status, and household income were linked to food insecurity, indicating the risk to child health outcomes. Conclusion: Strategies to improve child health outcomes are essential, including enhancing maternal nutrition knowledge to improve child feeding practices, promoting gender equality in career development, and reducing food insecurity in households. Full article

Introduction: The escalating scarcity of skilled healthcare professionals is particularly pronounced within surgical specialties, where the prospect of attracting prospective medical practitioners poses formidable challenges. Throughout their academic journey, students exhibit diminishing enthusiasm and motivation to pursue careers in surgery, including trauma surgery. It is postulated that the caliber of teaching plays a pivotal role in influencing students’ subsequent specialization choices. Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted among a cohort of third-year medical students at the German University Medicine Greifswald. The methodology encompassed the utilization of a self-administered questionnaire to procure data. Results: The study encompassed 177 participants, of whom 34.7% expressed an inclination toward a career in surgery (22.7% in trauma surgery). Participants who reported a favorable impact from the examination course displayed a significantly heightened interest in clinical clerkships within trauma surgery (p < 0.001), and even expressed a contemplation of specializing in orthopedics and trauma surgery (p = 0.001). Logistic regression analysis highlighted that the convergence of practical training and positive role modeling emerged as the most influential factors augmenting the allure of trauma surgery. Conclusions: Evidently, students who gleaned substantial benefits from high-quality practical instruction in trauma surgery exhibited a significantly heightened likelihood of pursuing this domain in their future endeavors. Surgical academic institutions stand to leverage this insight in their strategic planning for attracting and retaining potential residents. Cultivating a positive affinity for trauma surgery should be instilled early in the curriculum, subsequently sustained through ongoing immersive engagement that encompasses professional as well as interpersonal dimensions. Full article

Background: Work engagement is essential to the well-being of nurses and the quality of health care, particularly in high-demand urban hospital environments in Bangkok. To determine the levels of work engagement—vigor, dedication, and absorption—among nurses in a Thai urban tertiary hospital, and to identify associated demographic and occupational predictors. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 650 nurses at a tertiary university hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, from February to March 2025. Participants were selected through simple random sampling. They completed an online survey including demographic data and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES), which assesses three dimensions of engagement: vigor, dedication, and absorption. To identify the predictors of high engagement levels, chi-square tests and multivariate binary logistic regression were used. Results: Most nurses reported low engagement across all dimensions: 73.1% for vigor, 69.1% for dedication, and 70.0% for absorption. In the adjusted models, monthly income was a significant predictor of higher vigor and dedication, whereas no significant predictors emerged for absorption. Other variables, including age, experience, and professional rank, were significant in the bivariate analyses but not in the multivariate models. Conclusions: Nurse engagement remains suboptimal in the urban tertiary hospital setting, with financial compensation emerging as a key determinant. Strategic interventions to improve income equity and career development may help enhance engagement and retention in the nursing workforce. Full article

Disparities in the participation of individuals from historically excluded groups in science careers persist, particularly at advanced career stages. In response to this challenge, the National Institutes of Health developed the BUilding Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) initiative, aimed at undergraduate institutions to examine evidence-based strategies to engage and retain students across science-related fields. In this longitudinal study, we used propensity score matching and mixed-effects logistic regression models to examine the effects of BUILD on undergraduates’ intentions to pursue science-related research careers. The results indicate that students who participated in BUILD are four times more likely to pursue a science-related research career in comparison to their non-BUILD counterparts. We also discuss and present the need to incorporate research training and mentorship to promote a diverse scientific workforce. Full article

Background: Educational requirements in healthcare are constantly evolving, and understanding nurses’ motivations toward continuing education is critical to designing nursing programs, developing workforce strategies, and ensuring better healthcare outcomes. Objectives: This study aimed to examine the relationships among nurses’ personal factors, motivations, and attitudes toward further education. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study involving 526 employed nurses. Based on their intention to enroll in studies, the nurses were divided into two groups: those who intended to enroll (n = 276) and those who did not intend to enroll (n = 250). We used the Work Preferences Inventory and the Attitudes and Educational Intentions Scale to assess motivations and attitudes toward further education. The multivariate analysis included linear and logistic regression to assess associations between variables. Results: Nurses who intended to enroll in nursing studies had higher intrinsic motivation than nurses who did not. Strong negative associations were found between job challenges and older age (β = −0.68), while length of service was positively correlated (β = 0.46). A lower level of education had a negative effect on overall work motivation (β = −0.15) and attitudes toward future education (β = −0.09). Nurses with higher intrinsic challenge motivation (OR = 1.07) and a positive attitude toward further education (OR = 1.17) were more likely to study nursing. Conclusions: Intrinsic motivation, experience, and a positive attitude toward career advancement influence nurses’ intentions to continue their education. To further motivate nurses, it is crucial to improve working conditions, offer advancement opportunities, and foster a culture that values their contributions and growth. Full article

Background/Objectives: Multiple independent studies indicate an association between the occupations of medical doctors and dentists and the risk of Parkinson’s disease (PD). This study tried to evaluate the associations between a polygenic risk score (PRS) for Parkinson’s disease (PD) and medical career (medical doctor/dentist). Methods: This population-based cross-sectional study used data from the UK Biobank. A total of 92,566 and 166,531 men and women aged 38–73 years, recruited between 2006 and 2010, were included in the analyses of job history and current job, respectively (separate samples). Odds risks for the jobs of medical doctors and dentists were estimated using logistic regression. A PRS of polymorphisms previously shown to predict PD best was constructed and associated with the job history of medical doctors/dentists in the first analysis and with current medical doctor/dentist jobs in the second analysis after regressing out confounding variables. Results: A high PD PRS was associated with employment as a medical doctor or dentist for both the 92,566 individuals with job history data, with an increase of 1 standardized deviation (p = 0.006), and current employment as medical doctors/dentists among the 166,531 individuals without job history data but with current job data. Furthermore, a higher PD PRS was associated with higher education in both samples. Conclusions: These results suggest that PD has shared genetic routes with a propensity for higher education and becoming medical doctors/dentists. Full article

Background/Objectives: The global nursing shortage encompasses issues such as the uneven nurse distribution in low- and middle-income countries, nurse outflow to other countries, and nurse retirement in developed countries, necessitating effective retention strategies. Our objective was to clarify the changes in facility selection reasons among Japanese nurses after changing jobs and the personal attributes influencing facility selection. Methods: In January 2023, an online survey was conducted among licensed practical nurses, registered nurses, midwives, and public health nurses in Japan. The survey items included personal attributes (age and sex), information on ≤five employment facilities, and facility selection reasons. The variations in facility selection reasons by facility number were analyzed using a generalized linear model with a binomial distribution. A logistic regression analysis was conducted with personal attributes and reasons for workplace selection as the independent and dependent variables, respectively. Results: In total, 721 participants were included; 90.8% selected hospitals as their first place of employment. As nurses changed jobs, they increasingly selected non-hospital facilities, including nursing homes, nursery schools, and government agencies. With multiple job changes, the facility selection reasons included “good location for commuting”, “good salary”, and “convenient working style”. Among personal attributes, “age”, “sex”, “age at employment at the facility”, “educational background”, “number of children”, and “living alone” influenced workplace choice reasons. Conclusions: Considering the study results, country-specific demographic trends, medical policy changes, and nursing-shortage-related causes, medical facility managers and policymakers should devise appropriate employment conditions and develop recruitment strategies, especially for situations with severe nursing shortages. Nurses can learn from the career choices of others to manage their own careers. Full article

With the popularity of higher education and the evolution of the workplace environment, graduate education has become a key choice for students planning their future career paths. Therefore, this study proposes to use the data processing ability and pattern recognition ability of machine learning models to analyze the relevant information of graduate applicants. This study explores three different models—backpropagation neural networks (BPNN), random forests (RF), and logistic regression (LR)—and combines them with the firefly algorithm (FA). Through data selection, the model was constructed and verified. By comparing the verification results of the three composite models, the model whose evaluation results were closest to the actual data was selected as the research result. The experimental results show that the evaluation result of the BPNN-FA model is the best, with an R value of 0.8842 and the highest prediction accuracy. At the same time, the influence of each characteristic parameter on the prediction result was analyzed. The results show that CGPA has the greatest influence on the evaluation results, which provides the evaluation direction and evaluation results for the evaluators to analyze the level of students’ scientific research ability, as well as providing impetus to continue to promote the combination of education and artificial intelligence. Full article

Parents’ work–life balance represents a major challenge, especially for those who have young children. The present article aims to identify the perceptions of parents relating to the purpose of early childhood education and care (ECEC) services, care responsibilities, and factors that affect the balance between caring responsibilities for children and the professional career of parents. Using a database with 825 parents, who have children aged between 0 and 6 years enrolled in the ECEC system (nurseries, kindergartens), we performed a descriptive statistical analysis and a logistic regression to identify factors that affect the balance between caring responsibilities and career. The results indicate an appreciation of the usefulness of ECEC services (nurseries/kindergartens) by parents and underline the importance of parents’ involvement in the activities of ECEC services. Results also show that three factors affect the balance between caring responsibilities for children and professional career as follows: the residence area, the educational level, and the proximity to ECEC services. The need to develop ECEC services in Romania is correlated with the work–family balance field. Policymakers should focus more on structural changes and the development of early childhood education and care services, as well as the expansion of such services in both rural and urban areas. Full article

The prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) is high among older adults worldwide, significantly affecting their quality of life and overall health. Understanding the prevalence of MSDs and their associated factors is crucial to developing effective preventive and management strategies in Thailand. In this study, we aimed to investigate the prevalence of MSDs and their associated factors among older patients at Walailak University Physical Therapy Clinic. In this retrospective study, we analyzed the medical records of 396 older patients. Data on demographics, underlying diseases, career types, and treatments were collected and analyzed using descriptive statistics chi-squared tests, and logistic regression analysis to determine their associations with MSD prevalence. The overall prevalence of MSDs was 89.90%. MSD prevalence was higher among female patients than among male patients (p < 0.001). The most commonly affected body regions were the lower back, shoulders, and knees. Career type (p < 0.001) had the highest impact on the presence of MSDs after controlling for sex, age, and underlying diseases as covariates in a logistic regression model. Manual labor and heavy industry workers as well as pensioners showed an increased risk of MSDs. While older age was associated with a higher MSD prevalence using chi-squared statistics, it was removed from the logistic regression models. Pensioners were the most likely to receive treatment, indicating the need for targeted interventions for individuals with physically demanding occupations. These findings underscore the importance of targeted interventions and further research on socioeconomic factors, lifestyle behaviors, and comorbidities to manage MSDs among older adults in Thailand. Full article

Burnout has negative consequences for the well-being of healthcare professionals and for the safety of patients. The prevalence of burnout varies among health professions and practice settings and across studies. Consequently, this cross-sectional study aimed to determine the prevalence and factors associated with burnout among community pharmacists in the Qassim region, Saudi Arabia. The study used the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) to assess the burnout. The CBI consists of three scales, including personal burnout, work-related burnout, and client-related burnout. A total of 226 community pharmacists participated in the study. Of these, 63.72% were male, and 44.25% had experience of 1–5 years as community pharmacists. The prevalence of personal burnout was 83.63%, while the prevalence of work-related burnout was 83.19%, and the prevalence of client-related burnout was 76.11%. The prevalence of burnout was higher among younger age, early-career pharmacists; staff pharmacists; pharmacists working ≥6 days per week; and those working in pharmacies with fewer pharmacy teams. Multivariable logistic regression showed that compared to five workdays, working six and seven days per week was an independent risk factor for developing personal burnout [(adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 3.60: CI = (1.29–10.05), p = 0.014) and (aOR = 4.72: CI = (1.17–19.08), p = 0.030), respectively]. Similarly, pharmacists working in pharmacies with one or two pharmacists were at higher odds of developing personal burnout compared to others working in a larger team (aOR = 3.41: CI = (1.09–10.66), p = 0.035). For work-related burnout, working six and seven days per week was also an independent risk factor [(aOR = 5.78: CI = (1.96–17.06), p = 0.001), and (aOR = 8.38: CI = (1.99–35.27), p = 0.004, respectively)]. For client-related burnout, staff pharmacists were at higher odds of developing client-related burnout compared to pharmacy managers [(aOR = 2.28: CI = (1.01–5.14), p = 0.046)]. Overall, the prevalence of burnout is alarmingly high among community pharmacists in Saudi Arabia. Consequently, it is crucial to urgently address it through robust initiatives, strategies, and interventions that support the well-being, quality of life, and resilience of community pharmacists. Full article

Economic mobility and career success for undergraduate students is enhanced by understanding students’ experiences and supports and addressing the barriers they face. This study explores how U.S. undergraduate transfer students described their career journeys and how they perceived contextual barriers and supports for their career-oriented experiences. This longitudinal narrative case study was conducted with undergraduate students who were transferring from a community college to a four-year college. They participated in a professional development program, which funded science/engineering internships within bioproducts and bioenergy sectors. The study drew from social cognitive career theory and analyzed data collected over two years, including student interviews, biographical mapping, and reflective writings. Students most frequently described supports they received from their professors and program staff (institutional), family (social), and their internship hosts. The barriers they identified were more variable, such as inadequate advising and communication issues, and were often resolved by program staff (institutional) and financial supports from the program and internship sites. Internship participation led to all of the participating students feeling a sense of job readiness. Programmatic supports, such as clear communication between the internship host and the academic program, funding the internships, and addressing barriers by providing adequate mentoring and logistical supports, were found to enhance the experiences of science and engineering transfer students. Full article

This study utilized nationally approved data from the 2022 Long-Term Care Survey of Korea to examine the factors associated with career disruptions and employment status among family caregivers of home-based care recipients. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, one-way ANOVA, and multinomial logistic regression analysis were employed to address the research questions. The results indicated that 19.39% of family caregivers of home-based care recipients experienced career disruptions due to informal caregiving. Demographic factors such as gender, age of family caregivers, and their relationship with care recipients predicted their employment status. Gender was a significant explanatory factor, as daughters/daughters-in-law were more likely to be in insecure employment positions than sons. Lower household income and older age were also associated with employment insecurity. Recommendations include coverage expansion, family support programs, and pension credit for family caregivers to meet the needs of care recipients and their families. Full article

This paper presents an analysis of survey data to examine the association between participating in one of the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) funded Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity Initiative (BUILD) program and students’ intent to pursue a career in science. Data were collected from students at California State University Long Beach (CSULB) to examine the effectiveness of the BUILD Scholars program. Both BUILD Scholars and non-BUILD students were surveyed. Propensity score matching was used to generate the non-BUILD comparison group. Multinomial logistic regression results revealed that students participating in the BUILD intervention were associated with significantly higher intent to pursue a career in science. Results also showed the importance of variables such as science identity and research participation when assessing interest in science careers. These findings have implications for STEM program evaluation and practice in higher education. Full article

Growing rates of childhood obesity globally create concern for individuals’ health outcomes and demands on health systems. While many policy approaches focus on macro-level interventions, we examine how the type of stability of a family structure might provide opportunities for policy interventions at the micro level. We examine the association between family structure trajectories and childhood overweight and obesity across three Anglophone countries using an expanded set of eight family structure categories that capture biological relationships and instability, along with potential explanatory variables that might vary across family trajectories and provide opportunities for intervention, including access to resources, family stressors, family structure selectivity factors, and obesogenic correlates. We use three datasets that are representative of children born around the year 2000 and aged 11 years old in Australia (n = 3329), the United Kingdom (n = 11,542), and the United States (n = 8837) and nested multivariate multinomial logistic regression models. Our analyses find stronger relationships between child overweight and obesity and family structure trajectories than between child obesity and obesogenic factors. Children in all three countries are sensitive to living with cohabiting parents, although in Australia, this is limited to children whose parents have been cohabiting since before their birth. In the UK and US, parents starting their cohabitation after the child’s birth are more likely to have children who experience obesity. Despite a few differences across cross-cultural contexts, most of the relationship between family structures and child overweight or obesity is connected to differences in families’ access to resources and by the types of parents who enter into these family structures. These findings suggest policy interventions at the family level that focus on potential parents’ education and career prospects and on income support rather than interventions like marriage incentives. Full article