Breast Cancer in the United Arab Emirates Al-Shamsi, Humaid O; Abdelwahed, Nadia; Al-Awadhi, Aydah ...
JCO global oncology,
01/2023, Letnik:
9, Številka:
9
Journal Article
The prevalence of obesity is increasing worldwide, and the Middle East is not an exception to this increasing trend. Obesity increases the risk of multiple metabolic complications, such as diabetes ...mellitus. Measurement of obesity has primarily relied on the BMI to identify risk; however, both bedside and office-based anthropometric measures of obesity can provide more detailed information on risk.
This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of obesity-related diseases in a multidisciplinary weight management population and to determine its relationship with obesity anthropometric indices.
This cross-sectional study was conducted at Mediclinic Parkview Hospital (Dubai, the United Arab Emirates). In total, 308 patients have been evaluated from January to September 2019 as part of a multidisciplinary weight management program. Key demographics, anthropometrics, and clinical data were analyzed using SPSS (version 25, SPSS Inc).
Our cohort of 308 patients included 103 (33%) males and 205 (67%) females of 38 nationalities. The mean age of the cohort was 41 (SD 9.6) years, with a median BMI of 34.5 (IQR 6.7) and 33.7 (IQR 7.8) for males and females, respectively. The mean waist circumference (WC) was 113.4 (SD 23.3) cm and 103.5 (SD 16.2) cm, fat percentage was 33.7% (SD 11.6%) and 45% (SD 6.8%), fat mass was 41 (SD 15.2) kg and 41.1 (SD 14.1) kg, and visceral fat mass was 6.5 (SD 3.2) kg and 3.1 (SD 1.8) kg for males and females, respectively. There was a strong correlation between BMI and WC (r=0.65 and r=0.69 in males and females, respectively; P=.01) and visceral fat (r=0.78 and r=0.90 in males and females, respectively). Furthermore, visceral fat was significantly associated with WC in both sexes (r=0.73 and r=0.68 in females and males respectively; P=.01). Furthermore, WC was significantly associated with a risk of diabetes, hypertension, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
BMI and WC are the most representative measures of obesity in our population and correlate with abdominal adiposity- and obesity-related diseases. Further studies are required to assess the benefits of these measures during weight reduction interventions.
India, the second most populous country in the world, started its mass vaccination campaign on January 16th, 2021. With the aim to vaccinate 1.3 billion people, this vaccination programme was dubbed ...as the world's largest vaccination drive. However, with depleted blood stores due to the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown leading to reduced blood camps, the superposed regulations on blood donation deferral poses an impending risk of depletion of blood and its products. This will lead to the inability in meeting unpredictable patterns of demand in blood requirement post-pandemic. Hence to prevent avoidable risks of blood shortage in surgeries and lifesaving procedures, a secure storage system should be ensured.
With numbers of active COVID-19 cases in India falling in recent weeks and the healthcare system finally showing signs of coping with the mucormycosis epidemic, several new reports of COVID-19 cases ...linked to “white fungus” have emerged. This has led to rising concern with the potential to stretch the capacity of an already burdened healthcare system. Moreover, the implications of this disease in the COVID-19 population and its consequences on the health and socio-economic structure of the country have not been vastly studied. This commentary explores the need for government efforts in the context of containing candidiasis during the pandemic and provides key recommendations on combating this imminent public health challenge.
Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is a severe congenital anomaly that leads to herniation of abdominal viscera to the chest, which presents with respiratory distress shortly after birth. Spleen ...herniation is a rare finding, and kidney herniation is even more exceedingly rare. We hereby report a case of a neonate that developed severe respiratory distress secondary to CDH. After confirming the diagnosis with chest and abdominal X-ray and initial stabilization, the patient underwent laparotomy, which revealed a large diaphragmatic defect with herniation of the ileum, colon, spleen, and left kidney. Contents were reduced to the abdomen, and the defect was repaired. The patient had a complete recovery with no complications. After reviewing the literature, we noticed the paucity of data in the Middle East region regarding the disease burden and the increased rate of complications with delayed diagnosis. Therefore, we believe that this case, which was presented in the United Arab Emirates with kidney and spleen herniation and received prompt management, is a valuable addition to the literature.
Studies have revealed high rates of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric comorbid conditions among individuals diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, research on this ...topic in the Arab world has been limited. This study evaluates the medical, neurodevelopmental, and psychiatric comorbidities in children and adolescents diagnosed with ADHD in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). A total of 428 pediatric patients diagnosed with ADHD were included. Children and adolescents with ADHD had high rates of comorbid disorders. Twenty comorbid conditions were identified. More than 3 quarters of the study sample had at least 1 comorbid disorder. The most common comorbidity among children was autism spectrum disorder, and among adolescents was anxiety disorders. Comprehensive assessments are highly warranted to identify and manage associated comorbid conditions. Further research is needed in exploring the biopsychosocial factors contributing to the elevated rate of comorbidity in children and adolescents with ADHD.
ObjectiveTo provide insights into the nature, risk factors, impact and existing measures for reporting and preventing violence in the healthcare system. The under-reporting of violence against ...healthcare workers (HCWs) globally highlights the need for increased public awareness and education.MethodsThe Violence Study of Healthcare Workers and Systems study used a survey questionnaire created using Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) forms and distributed from 6 June to 9 August 2022. Logistic regression analysis evaluated violence predictors, including gender, age, years of experience, institution type, respondent profession and night shift frequency. A χ2 test was performed to determine the association between gender and different violence forms.ResultsA total of 5405 responses from 79 countries were analysed. India, the USA and Venezuela were the top three contributors. Female respondents comprised 53%. The majority (45%) fell within the 26–35 age group. Medical students (21%), consultants (20%), residents/fellows (15%) and nurses (10%) constituted highest responders. Nearly 55% HCWs reported firsthand violence experience, and 16% reported violence against their colleagues. Perpetrators were identified as patients or family members in over 50% of cases, while supervisor-incited violence accounted for 16%. Around 80% stated that violence incidence either remained constant or increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among HCWs who experienced violence, 55% felt less motivated or more dissatisfied with their jobs afterward, and 25% expressed willingness to quit. Univariate analysis revealed that HCWs aged 26–65 years, nurses, physicians, ancillary staff, those working in public settings, with >1 year of experience, and frequent night shift workers were at significantly higher risk of experiencing violence. These results remained significant in multivariate analysis, except for the 55–65 age group, which lost statistical significance.ConclusionThis global cross-sectional study highlights that a majority of HCWs have experienced violence, and the incidence either increased or remained the same during the COVID-19 pandemic. This has resulted in decreased job satisfaction.
On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) Emergency Committee declared the rapid worldwide spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) a global health emergency. By December 2020, ...the safety and efficacy of the first COVID-19 vaccines had been demonstrated. However, international vaccination coverage rates have remained below expectations (in Europe, at manuscript submission). Mandatory vaccination is currently being controversially discussed and has already been introduced in some countries (Austria, Greece, Italy). We used the Twitter survey system as a viable method to quickly and comprehensively gather international public health insights on mandatory vaccination against COVID-19.
The purpose of this study was to better understand the public's perception of mandatory COVID-19 vaccination in real-time utilizing Twitter polls.
Two Twitter polls were developed (in the English language) to seek the public's opinion on the possibility of mandatory vaccination. The polls were pinned to the Digital Health and Patient Safety Platform's (based in Vienna, Austria) Twitter timeline for one week in mid-November 2021, three days after the official public announcement of mandatory COVID-19 vaccination in Austria. Twitter users were asked to participate and retweet the polls to reach the largest possible audience.
Our Twitter polls revealed two extremes on the topic of mandatory vaccination against COVID-19. Almost half of the respondents (49% 1,246/2,545) favor mandatory vaccination, at least in certain areas. This attitude contrasts with the 45.7% (1,162/2,545) who categorically reject mandatory vaccination. 26.3% (621/2,365) of participating Twitter users said they would never get vaccinated, reflected by the current Western European and North American vaccination coverage rate. Concatenating interpretation of these two polls should be done cautiously as participating populations might significantly differ.
Mandatory vaccination against COVID-19 (in at least certain areas) is favored by less than 50%, whereas it is opposed by almost half of the surveyed Twitter users. Since (social) media strongly influences public perceptions and views and social media discussions and surveys are specifically susceptible to the "echo chamber effect", the results should be interpreted as a momentary snapshot. Therefore, the results of this study need to be complemented by long-term surveys to maintain their validity.
Background
Crowdsourcing is a low-cost, adaptable, and innovative method to collect ideas from numerous contributors with diverse backgrounds. Crowdsourcing from social media like Twitter can be used ...for generating ideas in a noticeably brief time based on contributions from globally distributed users. The world has been challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic in the last several years. Measures to combat the pandemic continue to evolve worldwide, and ideas and opinions on optimal counteraction strategies are of high interest.
Objective
This study aimed to validate the use of Twitter as a crowdsourcing platform in order to gain an understanding of public opinion on what measures can help to end the COVID-19 pandemic faster.
Methods
This cross-sectional study was conducted during the period from December 22, 2021, to February 4, 2022. Tweets were posted by accounts operated by the authors, asking “How to faster end the COVID-19 pandemic?” and encouraging the viewers to comment on measures that they perceive would be effective to achieve this goal. The ideas from the users' comments were collected and categorized into two major themes – personal and institutional measures. In the final stage of the campaign, a Twitter poll was conducted to get additional comments and to estimate which of the two groups of measures were perceived to be important amongst Twitter users.
Results
The crowdsourcing campaign generated seventeen suggested measures categorized into two major themes (personal and institutional) that received a total of 1,727 endorsements (supporting comments, retweets, and likes). The poll received a total of 325 votes with 58% of votes underscoring the importance of both personal and institutional measures, 20% favoring personal measures, 11% favoring institutional measures, and 11% of the votes given just out of curiosity to see the vote results.
Conclusions
Twitter was utilized successfully for crowdsourcing ideas on strategies how to end the COVID-19 pandemic faster. The results indicate that the Twitter community highly values the significance of both personal responsibility and institutional measures to counteract the pandemic. This study validates the use of Twitter as a primary tool that could be used for crowdsourcing ideas with healthcare significance.
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