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Akyel, Salih/0000-0001-7996-6016; Bener, Abdulbari/0000-0002-7902-5803; Morgul, Ebru/0000-0002-8298-5784 WOS:000548608100001 PubMed ID: 32650681 Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between the COVID-19 pandemic and psychological fatigue as a mental health issue among the population of Istanbul, Turkey. Participants and methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted in Istanbul, Turkey, between March and June 2020, where a total of 4,700 persons were approached and 3,672 (78%) of participants (64.4% males and 35.6% females ) completed the Knowledge Attitude Practices (KAP) and Fatigue Assessment Scale (FAS) questionnaires. Results: In this study, 64.1% of participants were categorized as psychologically fatigued and 35.9% as normal. There was a significant difference between fatigued and normal participants with respect to age, educational level, occupational status, place of residence and number of family members (p < .001). Other differences related to knowledge of COVID-19 were symptoms, treatment, ways of spreading (p < .001), prevention by avoiding crowded places (p =.008) and isolation (p =.002). For attitudinal items, normal participants generally showed more positive attitudes than the fatigued in believing that COVID-19 will finally be controlled, satisfaction with preventive measures taken by the authorities, reporting suspected cases with symptoms and trusting that Turkey can overcome the COVID-19 pandemic (p < .001). Multivariate stepwise regression analysis indicated that level of education, avoiding going to crowded places, eye, nose and mouth organs are sensitive organs to the virus, keeping physical distance due to epidemic affect by COVID-19 virus, isolation and treatment of people reduce the spread of COVID-19 virus and 14-days period of time, COVID-19 is mainly transmitted through contact with the respiratory droplets of an infected person, occupational status, health education programme needed and antibody treatment variables were significantly associated with fatigue after adjusting for age, gender and income variables. Conclusion: The current study provides valuable information for policymakers and mental health professionals worldwide regarding associations between the mental health of individuals and the ongoing outbreak, COVID-19. Istanbul Medipol University [10840098-604.01.01-E.14180] The authors thank the Istanbul Medipol University for their support and ethical approval (Research Protocol and IRB#10840098-604.01.01-E.14180).

Aim: The aim of the current study was to determine the efficacy of the 4 most commonly prescribed statins (rosuvastatin, atorvastatin, pravastatin, and simvastatin) for managing dyslipidemia among diabetic patients with and without metabolic syndrome (MetS). Material and Methods: This was a cohort observational population-based study conducted at Hamad Medical Hospital and Primary Health Care Centre. The participants were 1542 consecutive diabetes patients who were diagnosed with dyslipidemia and were prescribed any of the indicated statins. Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics were taken from medical records, and lipid profile at baseline and 2 years after the initiation of statin therapy were retrieved from electronic medical records database (EMR-viewer). Reduction in different lipid profile after 2 years of therapy was compared among different types of statins between patients with and without MetS. Results: Out of total 1542 subjects, 562(36.4%) were diagnosed with MetS using the criteria of International Diabetes Federation. Among those with MetS, 125 were prescribed with atorvastatin, 162 pravastatin, 177 rosuvastatin, and 98 simvastatin. Among those without MetS, 365 used atorvastatin, 172 pravastatin, 345 rosuvastatin, and 98 simvastatin therapies. Among patients with MetS, rosuvastatin therapy resulted in significantly higher low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and total cholesterol reduction (23%, P = .006; and 20.3%, P = .015, respectively) as compared with other statins. Similarly, significantly higher percentage of patients receiving rosuvastatin therapy were successful in achieving the target of total cholesterol

Objective: To assess the quality of diabetes care provided to patients attending primary care settings and hospitals in the State of Qatar. Design: Observational cohort study. Setting: The survey was carried out in primary health care centers and hospitals. Subjects and Methods: The study was conducted from January 2010 to August 2010 among diabetic patients attending primary health care centers and hospitals. Among the patients participating, 575 were from hospitals and 1103 from primary health care centers. Face-to-face interviews were conducted using a structured questionnaire including sociodemographic, clinical, and satisfaction score of the patients. Results: The mean age of the primary care diabetic patients was 46.1 ± 15.1 years and 44.5 ± 14.8 years for hospital patients ( P = .03). There was a significant difference observed in terms of age group, gender, marital status, occupation, and consanguinity of the diabetic patients in both medical settings ( P < .001). Overweight was less prevalent in primary care patients than in hospital diabetes mellitus patients (40.4% vs 46.4%). A significant variation was observed in the mean values of blood glucose (−0.76), HbA1C (−0.78), LDL (−0.01), albumin (−0.37), bilirubin (−0.76), and triglyceride (−0.01) in primary care patients compared to the mean values of the preceding year. Overall, complications were lower in primary care diabetic patients, and patients attending primary care were more satisfied with the diabetes care. Conclusion: The present study revealed that in general, primary health care provided a better quality of care to diabetic patients compared to that of hospitals. Also, primary care patients had a better satisfaction score towards diabetes care.

The aim of this study is to determine whether excessive internet use, television viewing and the ensuing poor lifestyle habits affect low vision in school children in a rapidly developing country. This is a cross-sectional study and 3000 school students aged between six and 18 years were approached and 2467 (82.2%) students participated. Of the studied school children 12.6 percent had low vision. Most of the low vision school children were in the 6—10 years age group and came from middle income backgrounds (41.8%; p = 0.008). A large proportion of the children with low vision spent ≥ 3 hours per day on the internet (48.2%; p< 0.001) and ≥ 3 hours reclining (62.4%; p < 0.001). A significantly smaller frequency of studied children with low vision participated in each of the reviewed forms of physical activity ( p < 0.001) yet a larger proportion consumed fast food (86.8%; p < 0.001). Highly significant positive correlations were found between low vision and BMI, hours spent reclining and on the internet respectively. Blurred vision was the most commonly complained of symptom among the studied children ( p < 0.001). The current study suggested a strong association between spending prolonged hours on the computer or TV, fast food eating, poor lifestyle habits and low vision.

Background: Mental disorders are common in all countries and cause immense suffering. Both gender and low socioeconomic status have been related to depression and other common mental disorders, but their possible relationship to mental health literacy remains uncertain. Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the gender differences in knowledge, attitudes and practices towards mental illness in a sample of Qatari and other Arab expatriates residing in the State of Qatar. Design: This is a cross-sectional survey. Setting: Primary healthcare centres in the State of Qatar. Subjects: A multi-stage sampling design was used and a representative sample of 3,300 Qatari and other Arab expatriates above 20 years of age were surveyed during the period from October 2008 to June 2009. Of the study sample of 3,300, 2,514 subjects (76.2%) expressed their consent to participate. Methods: A questionnaire was designed to assess the gender difference in knowledge, attitudes and practice towards mental illness.This questionnaire was administered to the Arab adult population above 20 years of age who were attending primary healthcare centres for various reasons other than mental illness. Face-to-face interviews were based on this questionnaire, which included variables on socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge, attitude and practice towards mental illness. Results: Of the study sample, 49.2% were men and 50.8% were women. Overall, the studied women held more to the cultural beliefs related to some aspects of mental illness. For example, more women than men believed that mental illness is due to possession by evil spirits. Also, nearly half of the women thought traditional healers can treat mental illness; this belief was significantly lower in men. Some of the women considered people with mental illness as dangerous; a belief also significantly lower in men. Men had a better attitude towards mental illness than women. Men were more willing to visit a psychiatrist for their emotional problems, while women preferred a traditional healer. Women were more afraid than men to talk to the mentally ill. Knowledge of common mental illnesses was generally poor, and it seemed to be lower among women. Men obtained more information than women from the media; women favoured healthcare staff more than men did. Conclusion: The study reveals that men had better knowledge, beliefs and attitudes towards mental illness than women. Most of the women were afraid and not willing to keep friendships with the mentally ill. The results of this study underline the importance of information in changing people’s attitude towards mental illness. Recognition of common mental disorders was very poor in men and women.

The aim of this study was to examine the knowledge, attitudes, and practices concerning mental illness among Qatari and other Arab expatriates. Method: This is a cross-sectional survey conducted from October 2008 to March 2009. A questionnaire was designed to assess knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding mental illness. Results: Of 2254 subjects surveyed, 49.6% were Qataris, 50.4% other Arab expatriates, 54.8% males, and 45.2% females. A majority of the respondents thought that substance abuse like alcohol or drugs could result in mental illness (84.7%). Fewer than half of the subjects believed that mentally ill people are mentally retarded (40.6%). 48.3% believed that mental illness could result from punishment from God. The most common information source on mental illness was media (64.2%). Recognition of common mental disorders in the studied population was poor (72.5%). Conclusion: Knowledge of mental illness among the Arabic-speaking population of Qatar was quite poor.

Aim: The present research aimed to determine the relation between metabolic syndrome (MetS) and thyroid volume and nodule prevalence among Turkish population patients. Methods: This retrospective cohort study was carried on 850 patients between the ages of 20 and 65 who visited the diabetic, endocrinology, and general surgery outpatient clinics in the Mega Medipol and Medipol Hospital between January 2014 and December 2017. This study included sociodemographic information, body mass index (BMI), diabetes mellitus (DM), systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressures, and clinical biochemistry results such as serum triglyceride, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), fasting blood glucose levels, thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), T3, T4, and other MetS parameters. Thyroid fine needle aspiration biopsy was suggested to patients whose thyroid nodules were greater than 1.00 cm. The definition and diagnostic of MetS used as proposed by the National Cholesterol Education Program—Third Adult Treatment Panel. Results: There were statistically significant differences between patients with thyroid nodules and those without regarding age, gender, BMI, physical activity, cigarette smoking, shisha smoking, family history of diabetes, hypertension, and thyroid. Meanwhile, statistically significant differences were found between with and without MetS for calcium ( P = .028), magnesium ( P < .001), potassium ( P < .001), fasting blood glucose ( P = .047), HbA1c ( P < .001), HDL ( P < .001), LDL ( P < .001), albumin ( P = .008), bilirubin ( P = .002), triglyceride ( P = .011), SBP ( P = .001) and DBP ( P = .011), TSH ( P = .005), T3 ( P < .001), and T4 ( P < .001). Furthermore, there were statistically significant differences between participants with and without thyroid nodules for calcium ( P < .001), magnesium ( P < .001), potassium ( P < .001), fasting blood glucose ( P = .010), HbA1c ( P = .019), HDL ( P < .001), LDL ( P = .012), albumin ( P = .002), bilirubin ( P < .001), triglyceride ( P < .001), SBP ( P < .001) and DBP ( P = .004), TSH ( P = .015), T3 ( P < .001), and T4 ( P < .001). Multivariate stepwise logistic regression analysis used for independent predictors for the presence of thyroid nodules which TSH ( P < .001), family history of thyroid and DM ( P < .001), age in years ( P = .025), DBP and SBP ( P < .001), BMI ( P = .014), HDL-C ( P = .034), and waist circumference (in cm; P = .044) were considered at higher risk as a predictors of thyroid with patients with MetS. Conclusion: The results of the current study confirm a strong positive association between MetS and thyroid nodules risk among patients with MetS. This study suggest that the patients with MetS can be considered as a marker to have moderately increased risk of future thyroid nodules and cancer. Meanwhile, MetS, obesity, and hyperglycemia could be a qualifiable and modifiable risk factor for thyroid nodules. The regularly glycemic control may be the most important treatment for the reduction of incidence or the prevention of thyroid.

Objective: The aim of this study is to identify Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders among primary school children in the State of Qatar. Method: A cross-sectional descriptive study is conducted from March 2004 to February 2005. A total of 2,000 primary school students, ages 6 to 12, are selected, and 1,541 students (77.1%) give consent to participate in this study. An Arabic questionnaire is used to collect the sociodemographic variables and a standardized Arabic version of the Conners’ Classroom Rating Scale for ADHD symptoms. Of the students surveyed, 51.7% are males and 48.3% females. Results: The data reveal that 112 boys (14.1%) and 33 girls (4.4%) scored above the cutoff for ADHD symptoms, thus giving an overall prevalence of 9.4%. Children who have a higher score for ADHD symptoms have school performance poorer than those with lower scores ( p = .003). Conclusion: The study reveals that ADHD is found to be a common problem among school children in Qatar.

The present study examined the pattern of Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) in relation to the source of advice. Ten community pharmacies in the United Arab Emirates were randomly selected and patients visiting these sites were interviewed using a standard questionnaire. The interview covered “source of advice,” “name of medicine,” “type of disease,” “duration of disease,” and “knowledge of adverse effects and drug interactions.” After a month the patients were contacted. On average 22.7% of prescriptions contained NSAIDs and 17.5% of visits were for these drugs. Advice from physicians was given to 33.3%, from pharmacists 32.5%, from friends 18.8%, and 15.4% depended on themselves. Other medicines were taken by 14.5% and 12% suffered from gastrointestinal upsets. Paracetamol followed by ibuprofen and diclofenac were the most frequently utilized agents. Headache, fever, and musculoskeletal pain were the common complaints. A month later, 50.7% of the patients continued taking their medications. This study revealed an association between the source of advice and knowledge of side effects. It is argued that, although self-care is important, professional advice in its support is essential since unsupervised self-medication exposes the patient to harmful consequences.

The aim of this cross-section study was to determine the habits, practices, attitudes and knowledge about cigarette smoking among high school boys aged 15-19 years in the United Arab Emirates, and to provide a basis for comparisons with international data. The World Health Organisation questionnaire was used, together with a multi-stage stratified cluster sampling technique; 1,700 subjects aged 15 years and above were randomly selected. A total of 1,486 individuals (87.4%) from among the populations of Al-Ain City, Abu-Dhabi and Dubai Emirates participated in the study. The prevalence of smoking among the studied group was 19%; 28.2% admitted that they had smoked before but had now given up, and the remaining 52.9% denied having ever smoked. Among 18-year-olds (or older) 30.3% smoked. In 70.8% of cases a friend was reported as having been the first source of their cigarette. Fifty-four percent of smokers started between the age of 10 and 15 years. The families of 15.7% of those studied approved of their smoking, while 78.3% did not: 6% did not have an opinion. Nearly two-thirds of the smokers (66.5%) wanted to stop smoking, while the remaining third (33.5%) did not. Differences in parental education (specifically that of the father) were found to have a significant effect on attitudes towards smoking. Contrary to expectations, the highest prevalence of smoking was found among sons of university graduates, and the lowest among sons of illiterate fathers (12.6% and 24.3%, respectively). There was a statistically significant difference in respect to family income and smoking. Among the ex-smokers, religion (40%) and health (26%) were important reasons for giving up smoking. Of the smokers, 33% claimed that stress is the most important factor which makes people smoke. The source of the student's information regarding smoking hazards was lowest from doctors (17-19%), and highest from the media (35%). All student groups were equally aware that smoking is a risk factor for lung cancer, respiratory diseases, and ischaemic heart diseases, but among the smokers only 28.9 % were very concerned about the harmful effects of cigarettes. At the time of their graduation (18 years or older), one-third of the students were already regular smokers, a figure liable to increase as they start university or work.

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of some respiratory symptoms and possible diseases among occupationally-exposed garage workers and taxi drivers. This study involved 158 garage workers and 165 taxi drivers, matched for age, sex, nationality and duration of employment. The mean age of 158 Indian subcontinent garage workers was 34.4±10.4 years; their mean height and weight were 167.7±6.6 cm and 72.0±12.3 kg respectively, and the mean duration of employment garage workers was 8.8± 7.6 years. The mean age of 165 Indian subcontinent male taxi drivers was 34.5±7.7 years; their mean height and weight were 168.7±6.1 cm and 71.3±12.6 kg respectively; and the mean duration of employment was 7.5±5.4 years. The data on chronic respiratory symp toms showed that garage workers had higher prevalence of symptoms than taxi drivers, being significantly greater for chronic phlegm, (p

Background: The effects of shift work on coronary heart diseases (CHD) are well described. Most of the studies on coronary events in shift workers are supportive of the hypothesis that they are at increased risk. Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the relation shift work has to risk of CHD in a cohort of men from different Asian races working in a fertilizer plant in the Middle East. Design: This is a case series of cohort study. Subjects: The medical records for 2562 staff employed at the plant, from the start of the company in 1972 till 2003, were surveyed. Of these, 648 were shift workers and 1914 were daytime workers. A total of 223 employees had cardiovascular event. Methods: For each case we recorded the date and age at start of employment, and the age at the time of diagnosis. Data from their last medical examination in the company were used to calculate their BMI, and to register whether they were smokers, had diabetes, or were senior or intermediate staff. Univariate and multivariate statistical analyses were performed. Results: The incidence of CHD is significantly higher in shift workers (13.5%) compared with the daytime workers (7.1%). Also, there was a statistically significant difference between shift workers and daytime workers concerning hypertension and cerebrovascular incidents. Conclusion: Our results suggest the possibility of an overall relationship between shift work and cardiovascular diseases.

This study reports on findings of a survey of smoking behavior and attitudes of approximately 1500 public secondary school boys in three major cities of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), one of the most rapidly developing societies in the world. Using an adaptation of the World Health Organizations Smoking Questionnaire and a multi-stage cluster sample of public schools and classes, the survey determined that 18.9 percent were current smokers and another 28.2 percent had smoking experience but were not active at the time of the study. The majority of smokers were not UAE nationals and had begun smoking between the ages of ten to fifteen. Almost 60 percent of current smokers reported modest consumption of one to six cigarettes daily and nearly two-thirds reported a desire to stop their smoking. Smokers also were much more likely to come from families in which other family members smoked. Implications of findings for prevention programs point to a broad public and school-based effort for the UAE.

A prospective study was carried out between December 1991 and October 1992 to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices of hospitalized drivers regarding seat belt usage in United Arab Emirates (UAE). During this period, a total of 800 vehicle drivers were seen and treated in the Accident and Emergency Departments of two general hospitals. A total of 706 (88%) drivers gave consent for the study. The study showed that the rate of constant seat belt usage among drivers was 10.5%, and the rate of frequent seat belt usage was 5.8%. There was a statistically signifi cant difference between seat belting and age groups (p=0.0051). However, there were no significant statistical differences between seat belt usage versus non usage by sex, nationality and marital status. There were statistically significant differences between user and non-users of seat belts concerning their educational level and occupation. The results showed a reduction in the number of injuries due to usage of seat belts. Those patients who were not wearing seat belts were at risk twice as often as drivers who were restrained by belts. There was a statistically signifi cant difference between the number of persons injured wearing and not wearing seat belts, (p=0.032). It was observed that the majority of patients stated that seat belts are the best protective measure against all injuries (62.1%) and severe injuries (29.1%) of road traffic accidents. Also, there was strong support for the mandatory use of safety seat belts (56%). We may conclude that these data are encou raging, and would suggest general acceptance of seat belt legislation in the United Arab Emirates.