What Do They Know? Comparing Public Knowledge and Opinions about Rodent Management to the Expectations of Pest Controllers.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Burt SA
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8698193 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Similar Datasets
Project description:Despite the important role of antimicrobial use in companion animals in the global challenge presented by antimicrobial resistance (AMR), very few studies have quantified pet owner factors that can contribute to suboptimal veterinary antimicrobial use. We conducted an online survey of pet owners, asking about their experiences with veterinarians, their opinions on antibiotic use and knowledge of antibiotics, and their communication preferences regarding judicious prescribing. Just over half (54%) of the 558 pet owners had received antibiotics for their pet at their last non-routine veterinary consultation and most owners were happy (83%) with the antibiotic prescribing decision of their veterinarian. A quarter (25%) indicated that they had been surprised, disappointed or frustrated when a veterinarian had not given their pet antibiotics; 15% had explicitly requested them. Owners placed a higher priority on their pet receiving the most effective treatment than on treatment being cheap or convenient. Most respondents recognized the limitations of antibiotic therapy and the risks associated with antibiotic use, but 50% believed the risks were confined to the treated animal; only a minority was aware of inter-species transfer of bacteria. Pet owners indicated that they would find judicious prescribing messages focused on the direct risks of antibiotics to their pet more compelling than those about public health. Our findings suggest that veterinary communications about responsible antibiotic use should focus on pet owners' priorities and address or bypass their gaps in understanding regarding antibiotic resistance.
| S-EPMC8615269 | biostudies-literature
Project description:When non-human animals are labeled as 'pests', their moral status and welfare seem relatively unimportant. In a multi-stakeholder project, we develop an assessment frame for a more responsible rodent management that includes animal welfare. An online survey among 129 Dutch pest controllers was carried out in order to find out more about pest controllers' attitudes about animal welfare. Respondents indicate to consider animal welfare in their job. They see differences in the welfare impact of different rodent control methods. A dilemma may occur when methods with a high impact, such as rodenticides, are ofttimes used in practice. Respondents also indicate that in different real-life scenarios (the hospital kitchen vs. the private backyard), a different weight may be attributed to the importance of animal welfare. Almost half of the respondents encounter difficulties when weighing animals against human interests. The problems are mainly related to clients who are not willing to invest sufficient money in preventive methods, where respondents do believe in. Some differences were found between respondents depending on membership of a professional association for pest controllers. The results of this study are relevant input for focus groups with pest controllers and their clients and for the development of the aforementioned assessment frame.
| S-EPMC7552245 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectiveTo assess the knowledge, opinions and expectations of persons with and without obesity concerning personalised genotype-based nutrition.DesignQuestions about nutrition, weight management and personalised genotype-based dietary recommendations were asked via standardised telephone-based interviews. Sociodemographic and anthropometric data were collected. The data were statistically weighted by age, gender, education, domicile and BMI.SettingGermany.ParticipantsRepresentative sample of the German population (n 1003) randomly sampled via a scientific Random Digit dial method plus 354 adults with a BMI ≥ 30·0 kg/m2 to enlarge the sample.ResultsData of 1357 participants were analysed (51·1 % female, age: 50·5 ± 18·5 years, 15·9 % adults with a BMI ≥ 30·0 kg/m2). About 42 % or 19 % of the survey participants stated to know the terms personalised dietary recommendation or genotype-based dietary recommendation, respectively. Of those, 15·8 % indicated to have an experience with a personalised or genotype-based dietary recommendation. Almost 70 % of the survey participants believed that a genotype-based dietary recommendation is a reasonable measure for weight management. About 55 % of the survey participants pointed out that a genotype-based dietary recommendation is an effective concept in general. One-third of the survey participants (34·6 %) indicated to conceive the usage of a genotype-based dietary recommendation.ConclusionMost of the survey participants did not know the term personalised or genotype-based dietary recommendation. One-third of the study participants are interested to use a genotype-based dietary recommendation. Therefore, more education of the public is necessary to properly help people making informed and serious decisions and assessing commercially available direct-to-consumer genetic tests.
| S-EPMC8094433 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Rodent control tends to involve methods that cause animal suffering, but little attention has been paid to the animal welfare implications of rodent control. The aim of the current study was to gain insight into the opinions and attitudes of clients of Dutch pest controllers, regarding liminal rodents, rodent control, and rodent welfare. A better understanding of their attitudes may contribute to more ethical rodent management programmes. An online survey among 248 clients of Dutch pest controllers was carried out. Respondents, especially those within the agricultural sector, have a relatively negative attitude towards rats and mice. Respondents in the agricultural subgroup do not consider the welfare of liminal rodents important. They also think that the welfare impact of commonly used control methods is limited, and they have low tolerance levels for the presence of rodents. Respondents from other sectors have a far more positive attitude towards rats and mice, consider their welfare to be of greater importance, have a greater estimation of the welfare impact of control methods and show greater tolerance levels towards rodents. The respondents from the latter subgroup have a similar attitude compared to Dutch pest controllers participating in a previous survey. The findings of the current study firstly provide useful information for the further development and practical implementation of preventive control methods. Secondly, they provide input for a more animal-friendly rodent control and for the development of an assessment framework to support ethical decision-making. Finally, they can be helpful for further research and the communication and co-operation between professional pest controllers and their clients.
| S-EPMC10936359 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundDespite evidence about the "modern epidemic" of overdiagnosis, and expanding disease definitions that medicalize more people, data are lacking on public views about these issues. Our objective was to measure public perceptions about overdiagnosis and views about financial ties of panels setting disease definitions.MethodsWe conducted a 15 minute Computer Assisted Telephone Interview with a randomly selected community sample of 500 Australians in January 2014. We iteratively developed and piloted a questionnaire, with a convenience sample (n=20), then with participants recruited by a research company (n=20). Questions included whether respondents had been informed about overdiagnosis; opinions on informing people; and views about financial ties among panels writing disease definitions.FindingsOur sample was generally representative, but included a higher proportion of females and seniors, typical of similar surveys. American Association for Public Opinion Research response rate was 20% and cooperation rate was 44%. Only 10% (95% CI 8%-13%) of people reported ever being told about overdiagnosis by a doctor. 18% (95% CI 11%-28%) of men who reported having prostate cancer screening, and 10% (95% CI 6%-15%) of women who reported having mammography said they were told about overdiagnosis. 93% (95% CI 90%-95%) agreed along with screening benefits, people should be informed about overdiagnosis. On panels setting disease definitions, 78% (95% CI 74%-82%) felt ties to pharmaceutical companies inappropriate, and 91% (95% CI 82%-100%) believed panels should have a minority or no members with ties. Limitations included questionnaire novelty and complexity.ConclusionsA small minority of Australians surveyed, including those reporting being screened for prostate or breast cancer, reported being informed of overdiagnosis; most believed people should be informed; and a majority felt it inappropriate that doctors with ties to pharmaceutical companies write disease definitions. Results suggest strategies to better inform people about overdiagnosis, and review disease definition processes, have significant public sympathy.
| S-EPMC4439083 | biostudies-literature
Project description:While human walking has been well studied, the exact controller is unknown. This paper used human experimental walking data and system identification techniques to infer a human-like controller for a spring-loaded inverted pendulum (SLIP) model. Because the best system identification technique is unknown, three methods were used and compared. First, a linear system was found using ordinary least squares. A second linear system was found that both encoded the linearized SLIP model and matched the first linear system as closely as possible. A third nonlinear system used sparse identification of nonlinear dynamics (SINDY). When directly mapping states from the start to the end of a step, all three methods were accurate, with errors below 10% of the mean experimental values in most cases. When using the controllers in simulation, the errors were significantly higher but remained below 10% for all but one state. Thus, all three system identification methods generated accurate system models. Somewhat surprisingly, the linearized system was the most accurate, followed closely by SINDY. This suggests that nonlinear system identification techniques are not needed when finding a discrete human gait controller, at least for unperturbed walking. It may also suggest that human control of normal, unperturbed walking is approximately linear.
| S-EPMC8692963 | biostudies-literature
Project description:To analyse stakeholder opinions and expectations of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, and to discuss their potential economic and financial implications.The Global Fund commissioned an independent study, the '360 degrees Stakeholder Survey', to canvas feedback on the organization's reputation and performance with an on-line survey of 909 respondents representing major stakeholders worldwide. We created a proxy for expectations based on categorical responses for specific Global Fund attributes' importance to the stakeholders and current perceived performance.Using multivariate regression, we analysed 23 unfulfilled expectations related to: resource mobilization; impact measurement; harmonization and inclusion; effectiveness of the Global Fund partner environment; and portfolio characteristics. The independent variables are personal and regional-level characteristics that affect expectations.The largest unfulfilled expectations relate to: mobilization of private sector resources; efficiency in disbursing funds; and assurance that people affected by the three diseases are reached. Stakeholders involved with the fund through the country coordinating mechanisms, those working in multilateral organizations and persons living with HIV are more likely to have unfulfilled expectations. In contrast, higher levels of involvement with the fund correlate with fulfilled expectations. Stakeholders living in sub-Saharan Africa were less likely to have their expectations met.Stakeholders' unfulfilled expectations result largely from factors external to them, but also from factors over which they have influence. In particular, attributes related to partnership score poorly even though stakeholders have influence in that area. Joint efforts to address perceived performance gaps may improve future performance and positively influence investment levels and economic viability.
| S-EPMC2810424 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Directly eliciting individuals' subjective beliefs via surveys is increasingly popular in social science research, but doing so via face-to-face surveys has an important downside: the interviewer's knowledge of the topic may spill over onto the respondent's recorded beliefs. Using a randomized experiment that used interviewers to implement an information treatment, we show that reported beliefs are significantly shifted by interviewer knowledge. Trained interviewers primed respondents to use the exact numbers used in the training, nudging them away from higher answers; recorded responses decreased by about 0.3 standard deviations of the initial belief distribution. Furthermore, respondents with stronger prior beliefs were less affected by interviewer knowledge. We suggest corrections for this issue from the perspectives of interviewer recruitment, survey design, and experiment setup.
| S-EPMC8041053 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundKnowledge exchange portals are emerging as web tools that can help facilitate knowledge management in public health. We conducted a review to better understand the nature of these portals and their contribution to knowledge management in public health, with the aim of informing future development of portals in this field.MethodsA systematic literature search was conducted of the peer-reviewed and grey literature to identify articles that described the design, development or evaluation of Knowledge Exchange Portals KEPs in the public health field. The content of the articles was analysed, interpreted and synthesised in light of the objectives of the review.ResultsThe systematic search yielded 2223 articles, of which fifteen were deemed eligible for review, including eight case studies, six evaluation studies and one commentary article. Knowledge exchange portals mainly included design features to support knowledge access and creation, but formative evaluation studies examining user needs suggested collaborative features supporting knowledge exchange would also be useful. Overall web usage statistics revealed increasing use of some of these portals over time; however difficulties remain in retaining users. There is some evidence to suggest that the use of a knowledge exchange portal in combination with tailored and targeted messaging can increase the use of evidence in policy and program decision making at the organisational level.ConclusionsKnowledge exchange portals can be a platform for providing integrated access to relevant content and resources in one location, for sharing and distributing information and for bringing people together for knowledge exchange. However more performance evaluation studies are needed to determine how they can best support evidence-informed decision making in public health.
| S-EPMC4046147 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Global change calls for more active approaches to forest risk management. To avoid unforeseen backlashes, it is necessary to examine the general public's acceptance of the risk management strategies. By drawing on different theoretical approaches (threat and prevention, performance evaluations, and forest cognitions), the present study examines predictors of acceptability in the general public in three counties in Sweden (N = 1,026). As expected, appraisals of threat mediated the effect of threat awareness on belief in risk prevention, and when examining performance evaluations, trust in responsible actors influenced acceptability via procedural satisfaction. However, the threat and prevention approach and the performance evaluation approach only explained low levels of the variance in acceptability of the examined strategies. Nevertheless, stronger ecological forest values, and favoring broadleaved forests, were found to be important to the acceptability of proactively implementing a more diverse forest to meet the expected challenges associated with global climate change.
| S-EPMC5758928 | biostudies-other