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<p class="abstract"><strong>Background:</strong> With the increasing rate of COVID-19 cases and mortality across the globe, countries and most people have adopted precautionary and preventive measures to avoid been infected with the disease. However, several trending myths and misconceptions also floods the world during this era.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods: </strong>A cross-sectional study was conducted among 587 participants (53% males, 78% aged 18-30 years, and 74% having at least tertiary level education) in Ghana, using a convenience snowballing sampling approach. A self-designed questionnaire based on “World Health Organization (WHO) myth-busters” was used for data collection. A logistic regression model was developed to explore variables predicting misconceptions.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results: </strong>With about 75% of respondents believing they knew “a lot” about coronavirus, 41% (confidence interval: 37-45) reported a high level of knowledge on the new coronavirus misconceptions. Social media (87%), and television/radio (57%) were the major sources of knowledge. Masters/Ph.D. degree education, National democratic congress (NDC) political members, other political party members, excellent self-health ratings, social media, respondents that anticipate a remedy in 1-5 years, and the perception that the government is “not doing enough” in fighting the pandemic, were reported factors predicting knowledge in a multiple logistic regression model (p&lt;0.05). Region of residence, political affiliation, self-health ratings, predicted time of remedy, and level of knowledge on covid-19 misconceptions were also associated with the perception of government efforts (p&lt;0.05).</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Most Ghanaians have much belief in trending misinformation related to the pandemic. Public health education and campaigns should address these misconceptions and encourage the public to seek information from credible sources.</p>

Background Suicide attempt and opioid misuse continue to be major behavioral health challenges among American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN). The aim of the study is to evaluate the mediating and moderating role that social support (SS) plays in their association among AI/AN high-school students in New Mexico (NM). Methods An aggregated NM Youth Resiliency and Risk Survey (NM-YRRS, 2009-2019: odd years) dataset was used. Multivariable logistic regression modeling and mediation analysis were conducted while adjusting for confounding variables. Results Overall, 12.0 and 14.0% of AI/AN students reported opioid misuse and suicide attempt, respectively. The adjusted odds ratio of suicide attempt in students with high SS relative to low SS who misused opioids was 0.43 (p-value = 0.007). The effect of high SS relative to low SS among males who misused opioids was more pronounced (AOR = 0.24, p-value < 0.0001) compared to females (AOR = 0.43, p-value = 0.007). Relative to low SS, high SS was protective for suicide attempt among AI/AN students who misused opioids and attended school in off-reservation (AOR = 0.42, p-value = 0.012) communities, rural communities (AOR = 0.44, p = 0.040), and in communities that are both rural and off-reservation (AOR = 0.39, p = 0.035). Overall, 23.64, and 41.05% of the association between opioid misuse, and suicide attempt was mediated and moderated by SS, respectively. The mediation effect of SS was lowest for rural, on-reservation schools. Conclusion More resources need to be allocated to rural on-reservation schools to enhance social support. The study highlights key insights into the significant role SS plays in promoting health and mitigating the association between opioid misuse and suicide attempt.

Background American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth face stark inequities in opioid misuse, social support, and suicide attempt. This study examined trends in these behavioral measures among AI/AN students in New Mexico (NM). Methods Using the NM oversampled Youth Resiliency and Risk Survey (NM-YRRS, 2009 – 2019: odd years), prevalence estimates of opioid misuse, social support (SS), and suicide attempt for AI/AN high school students were generated. Trends over time were assessed via linear regression of weighted proportions according to Peter Armitage. Stratified trends by demographics were also employed. Results While the prevalence of suicide attempt did not change significantly over time, it was consistently higher among females (2011–2019), those who misused opioids, received low social support, had a mother with less than high school education, had a C, D, or F for academic performance, and non-straight students relative to their counterparts. In particular, the prevalence of suicide attempt among AI/AN students who reported opioid misuse in 2009 was significantly higher by 25.4% than their counterparts who did not report opioid misuse (35.8% vs. 10.4%.) A significant decreasing trend over time (2009–2017) was observed for opioid misuse (16.1%↓8.8%, p-value = 0.0033), including when stratifying by sex (males: 15.9%↓9%, p-value = 0.002; females: 16.2%↓8.6%, p-value = 0.012). Youth with high maternal education exhibited significant decline in opioid misuse (13.5%↓6.7%, p-value = 0.019; 2011–2017.) Opioid misuse increased significantly from 2017 to 2019 (8.8%↑12.9%, p-value < 0.0001.) For instance, in 2019 among AI/AN students who reported low social support, opioid misuse was roughly doubled (18.9% vs. 8.5%, p < 0.0001), and suicide attempt was tripled (21.3% vs. 7.0%, p < 0.0001) compared to students with high social support. Conclusion No significant trend was observed for suicide attempt. We observed a significant decreasing trend in opioid misuse between 2009 through 2017 but a significant increase from 2017 to 2019. A higher level of maternal education (college or above), and an A or B school grade performance were protective against both opioid misuse and suicide attempt.

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