The road towards sustainable control of schistosomiasis in the Democratic Republic of Congo:Pre-assessment of staff performance and material resources in endemic regions

Objective: To improve knowledge and practice of health staff as well as the availability of material resources for diagnosis and management of schistosomiasis in two endemic provinces of DRC(Kinshasa and Bas-Congo).Methods: Structured interviews were performed using questionnaires with staff from 35 healthcare facilities in 9 health zones(HZ) of Kinshasa and 2 HZ in Bas-Congo.Results: Schistosomiasis was reported to be present in all the included HZ.Health staff knew the most important symptoms of schistosomiasis, but advanced symptoms were more accurately reported in Bas-Congo.Knowledge of symptoms related to schistosomiasis such as anemia(P = 0.0 115) and pollakiuria(P = 0.0 260) was statistically different in both two provinces.Kato-Katz technique and urine filtration were unavailable in both provinces.Parasitological diagnosis was mostly performed using the direct smear method.PZQ was available in 70% of the health facilities, all situated in Bas-Congo.Diagnosis and treatment mostly relied on symptoms and cost more in urban area than in rural.Conclusions: Though knowledge on schistosomiasis among health staff appears sufficient, substantial efforts still must be made to improve the availability of diagnostic tools and treatment in the health facilities in DRC.

Perception of Effects of Shiftwork Questionnaire (PESQ) among Ambulance Service Staff in Saudi Arabia: An Exploratory Factor Analysis

Objective: Despite efforts in describing the impact of shiftwork on the performance of health care workers, the perception of ambulance service staff is largely unexplored. This study attempted to develop the Perception of Effects of Shiftwork Questionnaire (PESQ) using a factor analysis approach to determine the underlying dimensions. Methods: A 16-item Likert scale research instrument, designed to gather information about the perceived effects of shiftwork on the respondents’ health, social relationships, and career quality, was floated to 375 ambulance services personnel in Saudi Arabia during March and April 2021. Results: Based on factor analysis, the questionnaire has three dimensions with varying reliability, namely “perceived effects on social relationship” (α = 0.815), perceived effects on health (α = 0.787) and “perceived effects on career quality” (α = 0.602). Over-all, the research instrument had an acceptable internal consistency (α = 0.829). Conclusion: The three-dimension model was analyzed simultaneously using parallel analysis and confirms that the three-factor model is the most ideal for the research instrument. Further research, however, is recommended to improve the internal consistency of the items which measure the perceived effects on career quality.