Does the Fear of Needles Influence Jamaicans’ Willingness to be vaccinated against COVID-19?

Introduction: As of November 21, 2021, the vaccination rate in the world is 55% (fully-vaccinated, 43%) compared to 22% in Jamaica (17% fully vaccinated), 70% in the United States and Canada, 66% in Latin America, Asia-Pacific (64%), Europe (62%), Middle-East (45%), and 9.7% in Africa. A variable proportion of each country’s population is delaying or avoiding vaccination, which may hamper the success of vaccination programmes. The frequency of needle injections averaged from 2-11 per person each year in 10 major regions globally in a study conducted by the World Health Organization.

Aim & objectives: To explore whether the fear of needles influences Jamaicans’ willingness to be vaccinated?”The objectives are 1) To examine respondent’s perception of needle/injections, and 2) To determine whether the respondents had issues on COVID-19 Vaccines.

Methods and Materials: The study used an explanatory web-based cross-sectional design. A standardized questionnaire instrument consisting of fifteen closed-ended questions was disseminated via WhatsApp, Facebook, and face-to-face interaction in the fourteen parishes. The Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 25 for Windows 27.0 provided data analysis.

Findings: Most of the respondents were females living in Clarendon who were hesitant to take the vaccine due to trypanophobia. Of the total respondents, 62.6% (n=676) avoided medication requiring administration through needles. The majority of the respondents (31.2%, n=337) was three on a scale of 1-5 (with 5 being the highest level of fear). Most respondents (43.6%, n=471) answered “Yes” when asked, “If the needles were shorter would you take the vaccine?”When asked if the following statement referred to the: “My heart races when I think about getting an injection”, most of the respondents (31.9%, n=344) agreed. Age, fear of needles, and willingness to accept oral vaccination accounted for 21.6% (i.e., Nagelkerke R²) of the variance in vaccination status (-2Ll=744.023; Omnibus test of Model coefficients: ?²(8)=117.109, P < 0.001; Hosmer and Lemeshow test: ?²(8)=10.750, P-value = 0.216).

Conclusion: The influence of trypanophobia on COVID-19 vaccination rates in Jamaica must be considered when formulating future public media strategies, policymakers approach, and civic responsibility in reducing vaccine hesitancy among the population. Therapeutic healthcare provider and patient interactions are pivotal in increasing the patient’s confidence, willingness toward treatment, and the strength to overcome trypanophobia.

The Views of Jamaican Women on Menstrual Cycle and Reproductive Health Matters: Are Women using Contraceptive Method as a Pain Reliever against Menstrual Cycle Challenges?

This study investigated the relationship between menstrual cycle and reproductive matters among Jamaican women. Specifically, the study was conducted to 1) Find out the reproductive health matters of Jamaican women. 2). Determine the statistical relationship between the number of biological children and description of menstrual flow. 3). Determine whether there was any statistical association between ever experienced complications during late pregnancy and description of menstrual flow. 4.) Determine significant statistical relationship between menstrual flow and using a contraceptive method. 5). Find out reasons for using contraceptive methods and description of menstrual flow. 6). Find out whether there is any association between being pregnant and description of menstrual flow and, 7). Determine whether there is any association between women who have experienced a miscarriage and description of menstrual flow. The Study used correlational research design among 1,081 age 18-50+. The data for this research was collected using a questionnaire with a total of 19 questions. The study used purposive sampling procedure in the data collection phase. Data collected was analyzed by IBM Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 27.0 software for Windows. The study revealed that 28.7% of respondents have never been pregnant, 41.3% do not have any biological children, 53.8% used contraceptive method, 39.5% have experienced a miscarriage, 16.7% begun their menstrual period at 9-10 years. The findings revealed that women who indicated having experienced heavy menstrual flow were most likely to have at least a miscarriage (54.2%) compared to those whose menstrual flow is medium (18.1%) and those who had light menstrual flow (43.0%)-[?²(2)= 102.492, P < 0.001].Women who indicated having at least a biological child experienced heavy menstrual flow (69.4%) compared to those whose menstrual flow is medium (57.2%) and those who had light menstrual flow (52.6%)-[?²(2)= 18.184, P < 0.001]. Women who experienced heavy menstrual flow are more likely to use a contraceptive method to ease the pain of the flow (43.5%) compared to those with medium flow (24.6%) and those with light menstrual flow (28.8%). In fact, women who experienced heavy menstrual flow least likely to use a contraceptive method to prevent pregnancy (20.5%) compared to those with medium (49.2%) and light menstrual flow (44.2%) [?²(6)=50.508, P < 0.001]. The current study provides an in-depth understanding of the reproductive health matters of Jamaican women, and that fact that some of them are using contraceptive methods as a pain reliever, and this information must be brought into the public health discourse.

International Journal of Advanced Nursing Science and Patient Healthcare of Chronic Illness

Does the Fear of Needles Influence Jamaicans’ Willingness to be vaccinated against COVID-19?

The Views of Jamaican Women on Menstrual Cycle and Reproductive Health Matters: Are Women using Contraceptive Method as a Pain Reliever against Menstrual Cycle Challenges?