Thesis (M.P.H.)--University of Queensland. / Includes bibliographical references.

published_or_final_version / Dentistry / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Public Health / Master / Master of Public Health

published_or_final_version / Community Medicine / Master / Master of Philosophy

Introduction: Hand hygiene, the most effective and economical way to prevent the transmission of many bacteria and viruses in healthcare settings, yet, its compliance rate remained unacceptably poor in many countries. Compliance with hand hygiene among healthcare workers increased substantially during outbreak of serious acute respiratory symptoms (SARS) in 2003 but decreased to the baseline after SARS, to improve compliance rate sustainable, many hand hygiene intervention programs have been established since 2003. However, the effectiveness of these programs were in big variations. The objectives of this review were to identify the effectiveness of these hand hygiene intervention programs. Methods: This review was conducted using the search engines – PubMed. The key words “hand hygiene”, “hand-washing”, “compliance”, “healthcare personnel”, and “program*” were used for searching literature published from 2003 to July 2012.. Forty-Seven articles were initially obtained. After screening and reviewing of these articles,9 articles met the requirements for inclusion and exclusion criteria were included in this review. The outcome measure was set as the differences and relative ratios in the observed hand hygiene compliance rate before and after intervention. Results: Results showed that 8 hand hygiene programs were effective while 1 programme was ineffective in improving hand hygiene compliance rates. Of the eight studies that reported improvement in compliance with hand hygiene, improvement in compliance rate after the interventions was ranged from (24% to 50%) while the relative ratio of compliance (after vs. before intervention) was ranged from 1.78 to 4. The study that reported no improvement in compliance with hand hygiene had a relative high naseline hand hygiene compliance rate of 61% Conclusion: Hand hygiene programs that improve compliance rate among healthcare workers were effective overall. The effectiveness of hand hygiene programs seemed to be positively associated with the numbers of intervention types involved. Research on non-compliance and intrapersonal behavior on hand hygiene was suggested for future investigation. / published_or_final_version / Public Health / Master / Master of Public Health

Introduction: Oral diseases such as dental caries and periodontal diseases are among the most common diseases in Hong Kong. Family as a basic societal unit has an important role to play in shaping the individual member’s behaviours and health status. However, most dental research studies focus on modifiable risk factors of individuals rather than those of a family. Objectives: 1. to describe the oral health behaviours and oral health status of family members in a selected sample of families in Hong Kong; 2. to assess the relationships between oral health behaviours and oral health status amongst the family members; 3. to assess the influence of socio-economic factors, lifestyle factors and oral health knowledge, attitudes, and behavioural factors on oral health status of the spouses; and 4. to assess the influence of parental factors on the child’s oral health behaviours and status. Methods: A cross-sectional survey using a combination of a random household and a purposive sampling was conducted. The study population was 5 to 7-year-old children and their parents in Hong Kong. A clinical examination and a questionnaire survey were conducted on the core family members (parents and children) of the recruited families. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was employed to test the hypothesized multivariate models which tried to investigate the complex relationships among different risk factors and oral health status. Results: A total of 432 families with targeted children, 373 fathers and 424 mothers were recruited. The mean DMFT/dmft score of the father, the mother, and their children were 7.2, 6.2, and 2.6, respectively. Around half (52%) of the fathers and one-third (35%) of the mothers had periodontal probing pocket(s) deeper than 3mm. In the structural equation models, strong positive correlations were found between the oral health behaviours of fathers and mothers (∅=0.98, p<0.05), mothers and children (∅=0.79, p<0.05), and fathers and children (∅=0.74, p<0.05). Positive correlations were also found between the oral health status of fathers and mothers (∅=0.43, p<0.05), mothers and children (∅=0.33, p<0.05), and fathers and children (∅=0.30, p<0.05). Fathers’ oral health status was directly affected by their oral health behaviours and smoking habit, and indirectly affected by their socio-economic status and oral health knowledge and attitudes. The explained variance of fathers’ oral health status was 47%. The mothers’ oral health status was only directly affected by their oral health behaviours and indirectly by their socio-economic status and oral health knowledge and attitudes. The explained variance of mothers’ oral health status was 53%. Children’s oral health status was only directly affected by their oral health behaviours and indirectly by their mother’s socio-economic status, mother’s oral health knowledge and attitudes, and mother’s oral health behaviours. The explained variance of children’s oral health status was 26%. Conclusion: Oral health behaviours and status are correlated among family members. Children’s oral health status is affected by their oral health behaviours, which may be affected by parents’ socio-economic status, oral health knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours. / published_or_final_version / Dentistry / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Clinical Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

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This item was digitized as part of the Million Books Project led by Carnegie Mellon University and supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Cornell University coordinated the participation of land-grant and agricultural libraries in providing historical agricultural information for the digitization project; the University of Arizona Libraries, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and the Office of Arid Lands Studies collaborated in the selection and provision of material for the digitization project.

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