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Knowledge deficit and fear of COVID-19 among higher education students during the first wave of the pandemic and implications for public health University of Antwerp

Neamin M. Berhe, Sarah Van de Velde, Fatemeh Rabiee-Khan, Claudia van der Heijde, Peter Vonk, Veerle Buffel, Edwin Wouters, Guido Van Hal
Background Public health measures such as physical distancing and distance learning have been implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 related knowledge deficit can increase fear that leads to negative mental health and COVID-19, especially among adolescents. Therefore, our study aimed to assess COVID-19 related knowledge deficit and its association with fear among higher education (HE) students during the first wave of COVID-19. ...

From physical distancing to social loneliness among gay men and other men having sex with men in Belgium University of Antwerp Institute of Tropical Medicine

Estrelle Thunnissen, Veerle Buffel, Thijs Reyniers, Christiana Nostlinger, Edwin Wouters
Since the start of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, levels of loneliness have increased among the general population and especially among sexual minorities, such as gay men and other men who have sex with men, who already experienced more problems with social isolation before the pandemic. We analyzed how the disruption of the social network and social support structures by containment measures impact loneliness among gay and other men having sex with ...

How do family physicians perceive their role in providing pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV prevention? An online qualitative study in Flanders, Belgium University of Antwerp Institute of Tropical Medicine

Jef Vanhamel, Thijs Reyniers, Edwin Wouters, Josefien van Olmen, Thibaut Vanbaelen, Christiana Nöstlinger, Heleen Van Mieghem, Ella Van Landeghem, Anke Rotsaert, Marie Laga, et al.
Introduction: In Belgium, the provision of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention is centralized in specialized HIV clinics. Engaging family physicians in PrEP care could help scale-up its delivery and reach underserved populations. The objective of this study was to gain insight into family physicians' self-perceived roles in providing PrEP. Methods: We conducted 16 online group discussions with a total of 105 Flemish family ...

Increased anxiety and depression among Belgian sexual minority groups during the first COVID-19 lockdown-results from an online survey University of Antwerp Institute of Tropical Medicine

Thijs Reyniers, Veerle Buffel, Estrelle Thunnissen, Bea Vuylsteke, Magdalena Siegel, Christiana Noestlinger, Edwin Wouters
The COVID-19 pandemic most likely had a negative impact on mental health. Sexual minorities are at higher risk for adverse mental outcomes such as depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation. Such mental health disparities may have exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic, due to restricted real-life social contact. The study aim was to examine changes in depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation among Belgian sexual minority adults between the ...

Personal, social and cultural predictors of intention to misuse prescription stimulants among medical students University of Antwerp Ghent University

Sara De Bruyn, Koen Ponnet, Robert Tholen, Guido Van Hal, Edwin Wouters
Objective The misuse of prescription stimulants among students has been identified as a public health problem. To date, most research has focused on individual-level determinants of stimulant misuse, making research on the socio-cultural context of students' misuse a priority. This study aims to test the applicability of the Theory of Triadic Influence, capturing three influence streams (personal, social and cultural) and three causational ...

The knowledge, attitude and practice of community people on dengue fever in Central Nepal University of Antwerp Institute of Tropical Medicine

Parbati Phuyal, Isabelle Marie Kramer, Ulrich Kuch, Axel Magdeburg, David A. Groneberg, Mandira Lamichhane Dhimal, Doreen Montag, Harapan Harapan, Edwin Wouters, Anjani Kumar Jha, et al.
Background Since 2006, Nepal has experienced frequent Dengue fever (DF) outbreaks. Up to now, there have been no knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) studies carried out on DF in Nepal that have included qualitative in-depth and quantitative data. Thus, we aimed to explore and compare the KAP of people residing in the lowland (< 1500 m) and highland (> 1500 m) areas of Nepal. Methods A cross-sectional mixed-method study was conducted in ...

Awareness of, willingness to take PrEP and its actu al use among Belgian MSM at high risk of HIV infection University of Antwerp Institute of Tropical Medicine

Veerle Buffel, Thijs Reyniers, Caroline Masquillier, Estrelle Thunnissen, Christiana Nöstlinger, Marie Laga, Edwin Wouters, Wim Vanden Berghe, Jessika Deblonde, Bea Vuylsteke, et al.
We examined PrEP awareness, willingness to take it and early PrEP use among men who have sex with men (MSM) at increased risk of HIV acquisition in Belgium. This analysis of the Belgian EMIS online data of 2017–2018 adopts a cascade approach, with the following steps quantified as conditional probabilities: being eligible for, aware of, willing to take PrEP, and PrEP use. One out of three MSM was eligible to use PrEP according to the ...

Determinants of the continuum of maternal health care in Cambodia University of Antwerp

Savina Chham, Emma Radovich, Veerle Buffel, Por Ir, Edwin Wouters
IntroductionCambodia has achieved significant progress in maternal health, yet remains in the group of countries with the highest maternal mortality ratio in South-East Asia. Extra efforts are needed to improve maternal health through assessing the coverage of maternal health services as a continuum of care (CoC) and identifying the gaps. Our study aims to explore the coverage level of the Optimal CoC by (1) measuring the continuity of optimal ...

Obstacles and opportunities University of Antwerp

Leen De Kort, Edwin Wouters, Sarah Van de Velde
The COVID-19 pandemic and corresponding measures impacted the organisation of services for abortion on request in Flanders, Belgium. This study describes abortion centre staff’s perceptions of the influence of protective measures on abortion consultations and procedures, and aims to identify obstacles and opportunities that arose from this situation. Through the anonymised patient records of one Flemish abortion centre, we compared the number of ...

What makes integration of chronic care so difficult? A macro-level analysis of barriers and facilitators in Belgium University of Antwerp Institute of Tropical Medicine

Katrien Danhieux, Monika Martens, Elien Colman, Edwin Wouters, Roy Remmen, Josefien van Olmen, Sibyl Anthierens
Introduction: Although many countries have been implementing integrated care, the scale-up remains difficult. Macro-level system barriers play an important role. By selecting three key policies, which have implemented integrated care in Belgium over the last 10 years, we aim to go beyond the identification of their specific barriers and facilitators to obtain an overarching generic view. Methods: 27 participants were purposefully selected, to ...