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Background: Problematic internet use has been identified in the last decade as a rising problem due to growing availability and impact of Internet use through social media, mobiles, and laptops are now a must in life, adolescents are most vulnerable for the misuse and its impacts. Aim: To assess the prevalence of problematic internet use, Facebook, and gaming addiction among Egyptian adolescents and its impact. Methods: The study assessed 700 adolescents aged from 14 to 18 years, both sexes, using Young internet addiction test, Internet gaming disorder scale, the Bergen Facebook addiction scale, the MINI international neuropsychiatry interview for children and adolescents and the socioeconomic status scale. Results: A total of 584 students continued the study to the end with response rate more than 75%, the mean age was 16.1 = 1.2, 65.6% were having internet addiction, 61.3% were gaming addicts, and 92.8% Facebook addicts. Depression, dysthymia, suicide, social anxiety panic, and phobias were common comorbidities in addicted adolescents. Conclusion: This study shows that a significant percentage of adolescents are having different patterns of problematic internet use which is negatively impacting their mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: World Health Organization (WHO) declared Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as a pandemic in March 2020. Such widespread outbreaks are associated with adverse mental health consequences. Aims: To evaluate mental health outcomes among Egyptian healthcare workers (HCW) treating patients with confirmed or suspected Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) to direct the promotion of mental wellbeing, by screening for symptoms of anxiety, insomnia, depression and stress, and analyzing potential risk factors. Methods: This cross-sectional, hospital-based survey study collected demographic data and mental health measurements from 502 HCW dealing with COVID-19. HCW were surveyed in 20 hospitals (Fever, Chest, and Quarantine hospitals) in different parts of Egypt, in April and May 2020. Results: Among the 502 HCW surveyed; 60.0% were physicians, 16.1% were specialized nurses, and 23.9% were non-specialized nurses. About 35.3% worked in chest hospitals, 17.5% in fever hospitals, and 47.2% in quarantine hospitals. A considerable proportion of HCW had symptoms of anxiety, insomnia, depression, and stress. Females were at higher risk of experiencing symptoms of severe anxiety (odds ratio [OR], 1.85; 95% CI, 1.12–3.05; p =.016), severe depression (OR, 2.013; 95% CI, 1.17–3.4; p =.011), and severe stress (OR, 2.68; 95% CI, 1.5–4.6; p <.001). Fever hospital workers were at higher risk of severe depression (OR, 1.52; 95% CI, 1.11–2.09; p <.01), compared to Quarantine hospital workers. Conclusion: Ensuring proper mental health support for HCW is an important component of public health measures for addressing the COVID-19 epidemic and safeguarding the continuity of appropriate medical service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The four-dimensional symptom questionnaire (4DSQ) is a Dutch self-administered screening tool that has been developed in primary care to differentiate non pathologic general distress from depression, anxiety and somatization. It has been validated in the English language as well as other languages yet it has not been validated in Arabic. For the sake of developing the appropriate Arabic version, linguistic validation has been sought with the guidance of cross cultural adaptation guidelines. Objective: To design the appropriate Arabic version of the 4DSQ that has linguistic and conceptual equivalence to its validated English version and that is appropriate for administration to Egyptian primary care attendees. Methods: The validated English version of the 4DSQ was translated by 5 translators (including specialist psychiatrist, internists and English language specialist) into Arabic (Egyptian spoken dialect) without mutual consultation. An expert committee that consisted of 2 professors of public health and family medicine and an associate professor of neuropsychiatry was formed. The consensus version was created after expert committee modification and approval of each questionnaire item using DELPHI method. After that the back translation to English was carried out by two independent bilingual physicians whose English is their mother tongue. A pilot study was carried out on 17 bilingual participants after answering the questionnaire in both languages to test its equivalence. The consensus Arabic version was updated based on the pilot study and the final version was developed. The final version was then tested on 278 Egyptian primary care attendees. Results: After the course of forward and back translation, expert committee’s review and developer’s comments, the final version of Arabic 4DSQ was developed for assessment of distress, depression, anxiety and somatization. There was no significant difference between results of Arabic and English questionnaire using paired T test. Final testing showed very good internal consistency of each of the 4 scales of the questionnaire. Conclusion: The Arabic 4DSQ linguistically and conceptually corresponds to the validated English 4DSQ. It has good structural validity and internal consistency reliability and thus could be used in primary care after further psychometric validation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]