Background: ChatGPT is a conversational large language model that has the potential to revolutionize knowledge acquisition. However, the impact of this technology on the quality of education is still unknown considering the risks and concerns surrounding ChatGPT use. Therefore, it is necessary to assess the usability and acceptability of this promising tool. As an innovative technology, the intention to use ChatGPT can be studied in the context of the technology acceptance model (TAM). Objective: This study aimed to develop and validate a TAM-based survey instrument called TAME-ChatGPT (Technology Acceptance Model Edited to Assess ChatGPT Adoption) that could be employed to examine the successful integration and use of ChatGPT in health care education. Methods: The survey tool was created based on the TAM framework. It comprised 13 items for participants who heard of ChatGPT but did not use it and 23 items for participants who used ChatGPT. Using a convenient sampling approach, the survey link was circulated electronically among university students between February and March 2023. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to assess the construct validity of the survey instrument. Results: The final sample comprised 458 respondents, the majority among them undergraduate students (n=442, 96.5%). Only 109 (23.8%) respondents had heard of ChatGPT prior to participation and only 55 (11.3%) self-reported ChatGPT use before the study. EFA analysis on the attitude and usage scales showed significant Bartlett tests of sphericity scores (P<.001) and adequate Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measures (0.823 for the attitude scale and 0.702 for the usage scale), confirming the factorability of the correlation matrices. The EFA showed that 3 constructs explained a cumulative total of 69.3% variance in the attitude scale, and these subscales represented perceived risks, attitude to technology/social influence, and anxiety. For the ChatGPT usage scale, EFA showed that 4 constructs explained a cumulative total of 72% variance in the data and comprised the perceived usefulness, perceived risks, perceived ease of use, and behavior/cognitive factors. All the ChatGPT attitude and usage subscales showed good reliability with Cronbach α values >.78 for all the deduced subscales. Conclusions: The TAME-ChatGPT demonstrated good reliability, validity, and usefulness in assessing health care students’ attitudes toward ChatGPT. The findings highlighted the importance of considering risk perceptions, usefulness, ease of use, attitudes toward technology, and behavioral factors when adopting ChatGPT as a tool in health care education. This information can aid the stakeholders in creating strategies to support the optimal and ethical use of ChatGPT and to identify the potential challenges hindering its successful implementation. Future research is recommended to guide the effective adoption of ChatGPT in health care education.

Background: The use of ChatGPT among university students has gained a recent popularity. The current study aimed to assess the factors driving the attitude and usage of ChatGPT as an example of generative artificial intelligence (genAI) among university students in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).Methods: This cross-sectional study was based on a previously validated Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)-based survey instrument termed TAME-ChatGPT. The self-administered e-survey was distributed by emails for students enrolled in UAE universities during September–December 2023 using a convenience-based approach. Assessment of the demographic and academic variables, and the TAME-ChatGPT constructs’ roles in ChatGPT attitude and usage was conducted using univariate followed by multivariate analyses.Results: The final study sample comprised 608 participants, 91.0% of whom heard of ChatGPT while 85.4% used ChatGPT before the study. Univariate analysis indicated that a positive attitude to ChatGPT was associated with the three TAME-ChatGPT attitude constructs namely, lower perceived risks, lower anxiety, and higher scores on the attitude to technology/social influence. For the ChatGPT usage, univariate analysis indicated that positive attitude to ChatGPT use was associated with being male, Arab in nationality, and lower point grade average (GPA) as well as the four ChatGPT usage constructs namely, higher perceived usefulness, lower perceived risks of use, higher scores on the behavior/cognitive construct and higher scores on the ease-of-use construct. In multivariate analysis, only TAME-ChatGPT constructs explained the variance in attitude towards ChatGPT (80.8%) and its usage (76.9%).Conclusion: The findings indicated that ChatGPT usage is commonplace among university students in the UAE. The determinants of use included the perceived usefulness, lower perceived risks, cognitive and behavioral factors, perceived ease of use, while the attitude was determined by lower perceived risks, lower anxiety, and higher scores for attitude to technology/social influence. These factors should be considered for understanding the motivators for successful adoption of genAI including ChatGPT in higher education.

Hospitalized patients initially on intravenous antibiotics can be safely switched to an oral equivalent within the third day of admission once clinical stability is established. This conversion has many advantages as fewer complications, less healthcare costs and earlier hospital discharge. The three types of intravenous to oral conversion include sequential, switch, and step-down therapy. The aim of the study was to evaluate the practice of switching from intravenous to oral antibiotics, its types and its impact on the clinical outcomes. This was a retrospective observational study conducted in three Lebanese hospitals over a period of six months. Adult inpatients on intravenous antibiotics for 2 days and more were eligible for study enrollment. Excluded were patients admitted to care or surgery units, or those with gastrointestinal diseases, infections that require prolonged course of parenteral therapy, or malignancies. The study showed that among 452 intravenous antibiotic courses from 356 patients who were eligible for conversion, only one third were switched and the others continued on intravenous antibiotics beyond day 3 (P <0.0001). The mean duration of intravenous therapy of converted patients was markedly shorter than the non-converted (P <0.0001) with no significant change in the mean length of stay. Fluoroquinolones and macrolides were the most commonly converted antibiotics. However, the sequential therapy was the major type of conversion practiced in this study. Based on the study findings, a significant proportion of patients can be considered for switch. This emphasizes an important gap in the field of conversion from intravenous to oral antibiotic therapy and the need for integration and reinforcement of the appropriate Antibiotic Stewardship Programs in hospitals.

The emergence of a monkeypox (MPOX) outbreak in 2022 represented the most recent recognizable public health emergency at a global level. Improving knowledge and attitude towards MPOX, particularly among healthcare workers (HCWs), can be a valuable approach in public health preventive efforts aiming to halt MPOX virus spread. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the knowledge and attitude of HCWs in Lebanon towards MPOX and to assess their conspiratorial attitude towards emerging virus infections (EVIs). The current study was based on a cross-sectional online survey distributed via Google Forms during September–December 2022 implementing a convenience sampling approach. The final study sample comprised a total of 646 HCWs: physicians (n = 171, 26.5%), pharmacists (n = 283, 43.8%), and nurses (n = 168, 26.0%), among others (n = 24, 3.7%). Variable defects in MPOX knowledge were detected, with a third of the participants having MPOX knowledge above the 75th percentile (n = 218, 33.7%). Satisfactory attitude towards MPOX (>75th percentile) was observed in less than a third of the participants (n = 198, 30.7%), while a quarter of the study sample endorsed conspiracy beliefs towards EVIs at a high level (>75th percentile, n = 164, 25.4%). Slightly more than two thirds of the participants agreed that MPOX vaccination should be used in disease prevention (n = 440, 68.1%). Better levels of MPOX knowledge and attitude were significantly associated with postgraduate education and older age. Physicians had significantly higher MPOX knowledge compared to other occupational categories. Less endorsement of conspiracies towards EVIs was significantly associated with male sex, occupation as a physician, and postgraduate education. Higher MPOX knowledge was associated with better attitude towards the disease. The current study showed unsatisfactory MPOX knowledge among Lebanese HCWs. Educational efforts can be valuable to improve the attitude towards the disease. Despite the relatively low level of embracing conspiracy beliefs regarding EVIs among HCWs in this study compared to previous studies, this area should be considered based on its potential impact on health-seeking behavior.

Background: Asthma is a prevalent hyperactive airway disease with physical and emotional impact. Severe asthma is associated with considerable health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The aim of this study is to assess the quality of life through physical, emotional, social and occupational aspects and evaluate the factors affecting HRQoL in patients with asthma.Methods: This is a cross-sectional multicenter study conducted on adult asthmatic patients enrolled from community pharmacies across different Lebanese geographic areas.Results: Having wheezing sometimes and most of the time (Beta = −0.144 and −0.552), experiencing anxiety sometimes and most of the time (Beta = −0.205 and −0.573), encountering sleep problems sometimes and most of the time (Beta = −0.270 and −0.553), having previous chest discomfort sometimes and most of the time (Beta = −0.421 and −0.713), and having depression most of the times (Beta = −0.415) were associated with higher lower quality of life scores. On the other side, holding a secondary level of education was associated with a higher quality of life score (Beta = 0.192).Conclusion: This study highlights that asthma affects adults' quality of life through social, emotional, physical, and occupational impacts. Improved follow-up and patient education may be essential in the future to stop disease progression and achieve ideal therapeutic outcomes.