ORIGINAL_ARTICLE
Do Religiosity and Socio-demographic Factors Affect Adherence of Cancer Patients to Analgesics? An Egyptian Study
Background: Adherence of cancer patients to analgesics has not been adequatelyaddressed although nearly half of them in early stages and up to 80 % in later stages maysuffer from pain. Aim: to assess the adherence of cancer patients to analgesics as well asthe effect of religiosity and some selected socio-demographic factors among cancerpatients on coping with pain. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 92cancer patients attending pain clinics of Mansoura University Hospital and OncologyCenter, Egypt. An interview questionnaire was used as a data collection tool. Adherenceand religious commitment rates were assessed using the 8-item Morisky MedicationAdherence Scale and 10-item Religious Commitment Inventory. Results: The overallrates of analgesic adherence and religiosity among cancer patients were 67.4% and 64.1%respectively. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the most independent significantpredictors of adherence to analgesics were high religious commitment (OR = 29.7), age ≤47 years (OR = 24.2), marriage (OR = 23.4), and cancer with metastasis (OR = 6.5).Conclusions: The study indicates significant factors relating to analgesic adherence, thereligiosity was the dominating one and could be helpful to improve adherence amongcancer patients particularly in countries with strong religious believes including Egypt.Additional studies to improve adherence to pain medications among those desperate groupof patients are needed.
https://ejcm.journals.ekb.eg/article_22991_39848a16da94790515023712d45a7c10.pdf
2018-10-01
1
10
10.21608/ejcm.2018.22991
Cancer patients
Pain clinics
Analgesic adherence
Religiosity
Socio demographic characteristics
ORIGINAL_ARTICLE
Early Detection of Breast Cancer: Knowledge, Perception and Barriers among Females: A Cross Sectional Study at Zagazig District.
Background: Early detection of breast cancer can dramatically change the prognosis.Perception towards breast cancer and screening methods is a crucial determinant of earlydetection. Objectives: To assess women’s perception towards breast cancer and screeningmethods according to the subscales of health belief model and to identify the level ofknowledge about cancer breast, early detection methods and the barriers against adaptingscreening behavior and to assess the presence of screening services in PHC. Method: across sectional study was carried out on 270 women from 13 randomly selected primaryhealth care units at Zagazig district. Champion’s Health Belief Model Scale was used toassess perception. A structured questionnaire was used to assess knowledge about breastcancer. Results: More than 50% of the participants had a perception score less than themean in all health belief model subscales, except in perception of benefits and barriers.Educated, working women with enough income and positive family history had moreperception of susceptibility, severity, self-efficacy with lower perception of barriers. Only55.2% of participants had fair total knowledge score about breast cancer. 37 % and 35.2 %of them conducted breast self-examination and clinical breast examination respectively.The main perceived barriers were towards clinical breast examination; 66% found itcostly, 61% agreed that it is painful and 56% reported it as embarrassing behavior.Women with fair knowledge had higher perception in all scales of health belief modelexcept perception of barriers. 53.8% of primary health units conducted health educationsessions about breast cancer and mammogram was present in one urban center.Conclusion: More than half of the sample had low perception score and low totalknowledge score regarding breast cancer and screening methods. The reported barrierswere pain, embarrassment and expensive cost for clinical breast examination. Not allprimary health care units provide awareness campaign or clinical examination of breastcancer.
https://ejcm.journals.ekb.eg/article_22992_57d741f8a2154b1150fa9cec1330edd1.pdf
2018-10-01
11
22
10.21608/ejcm.2018.22992
health belief model
breast cancer
Screening
perception
ORIGINAL_ARTICLE
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in A Rural Area of Sohag Governorate
Background: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a rising public healthproblem affecting child quality of life. Objectives: To estimate the prevalence andidentify socio-demographic risk factors of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)among primary school children in a rural area of Sohag governorate. Methods: A crosssectionalcommunity based study design was carried out in two villages of Sohaggovernorate using structured interview questionnaire. To identify children with probableADHD a validated questionnaire based on Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mentaldisorders, 4th Edition (DSM IV) was used. It includes a parent's and a teacher's copy.Results: This study included 854 primary school students in two villages of Sohaggovernorate. The prevalence of probable ADHD was 9.6%. The prevalence of ADHD wassignificantly associated with low socioeconomic level, higher birth order, male gender,smoker father, consanguineous parents, family history of ADHD, low birth weight,artificially fed children and pupils living with single parent. Conclusion andrecommendations: ADHD is prevalent among primary school pupils in rural areas ofSohag governorate. Efforts are required to control associated risk factors of ADHD andreduce its prevalence.
https://ejcm.journals.ekb.eg/article_22994_f26302adca70ac299ca48110bc3bd70e.pdf
2018-10-01
23
32
10.21608/ejcm.2018.22994
ADHD
prevalence
risk factors
Rural Sohag
ORIGINAL_ARTICLE
Patient Safety: Perception among Medical Students of Tanta Faculty of Medicine, Egypt
Background: Patient safety became a global health issue to insure high quality health careservices and with minimal medical errors. WHO developed Patient Safety CurriculumGuide for Medical Schools to be used as a requisite in medical curricula standard.Objectives: to assess medical students' perception as regard patient safety issues and tofind out their opinions towards its inclusion in the medical curricula. Methodology: Adescriptive cross-sectional study was executed at Tanta faculty of medicine for 3 monthsusing self-administered questionnaire for 5th, 6th years` students and house officers.Students’ self-ratings of knowledge and attitude towards patient safety were measured,and their opinion about its inclusion into curriculum was described. Results: 418participants were included in the study, 85.2% of them had no previous training on patientsafety & 57.2% of them had an average total self-rated knowledge level. 53.1% had apositive attitude toward patient safety, a majority agreed that patient safety is a globalproblem & 86.4% of them admit that teaching patient safety issues in medical curriculumis a priority. Conclusion: The study revealed deficient perception of medical studentsregarding patient safety issues, and demonstrated the urgent need of its inclusion intomedical curricula.
https://ejcm.journals.ekb.eg/article_22995_d23d68d7ef4bd1bdc00ed9b70ccb435a.pdf
2018-10-01
33
46
10.21608/ejcm.2018.22995
Patient Safety
perception
Attitude
Medical students
Tanta
ORIGINAL_ARTICLE
Assessment of Food Safety in Hospital Kitchens in Tanta City Gharbia Governorate, Egypt
Background: Food borne infections in health care settings have been represented as animportant public health problem worldwide. They are a leading cause of morbidity andmortality and economic losses in both developed and developing countries. Objective: Toassess food safety in hospital kitchens (university and other governmental hospitalkitchens) in Tanta city, Gharbia Governorate, Egypt. Methods: A cross sectional studywas conducted in 9 hospital kitchens (3 university kitchens and 6 governmental kitchens)and all food handlers in these kitchens (175) were included in the study. Two tools weremodified by the researcher to collect the needed data. A Modified kitchen observationalchecklist and Food handlers' observational checklist were used. Results: All universitykitchens had insufficient application of food safety measures in both morning and eveningshifts. Regarding governmental kitchens food safety requirements; 40% were insufficientand 60% were somewhat sufficient in morning shift, but in the evening shift 60% ofkitchens were insufficient and 40% of them were somewhat sufficient. The majority ofboth university and governmental food handlers had insufficient practice regardingapplication of food safety measures (94.9% and 84.2%) respectively. Conclusion:Insufficient conduction of food safety measures in university and governmental hospitalkitchens as well as insufficient application of food safety measures by food handlers wereencountered putting patients are at risk of getting food borne infections
https://ejcm.journals.ekb.eg/article_22996_0cf591a0b0d19ac4f091743b4cd99a92.pdf
2018-10-01
47
58
10.21608/ejcm.2018.22996
Assessment
food
safety
Kitchens
hospitals
Egypt
ORIGINAL_ARTICLE
Adaptation and Reliability of the Arabic Version of Alzheimer’s Disease Knowledge Scale (ADKS) among Sample of Middle aged and Elderly Egyptians Attending Outpatient Clinics in Mansoura University Hospital
Background: As Egypt is expected to maintain the highest rank of old populations in theregion; the increased understanding of public views to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) becomesa priority. Objective: To assess the reliability of Alzheimer’s disease Knowledge Scale(ADKS) and the level of knowledge about the disease among a sample of middle aged andelderly people in Mansoura, Egypt. Methods: A cross-sectional survey conducted in twostages. The first stage was the adaptation of the Arabic Alzheimer’s disease KnowledgeScale (ADKS-A) from the original English form by the translation process followed by apilot testing. The second stage was to test the reliability of the ADKS-A among a sampleof 442 apparently healthy middle aged and elderly in Mansoura, Egypt. Results:reliability statistics for the overall scale were accepted: Cronbach’s alpha = 0.710 and theinterclass correlation for the test-retest statistic was statistically significant (p=0.01). Thecorrected inter-item correlation for the test–retest scores ranged from 0.31-0.77. Itemanalysis didn't necessitate any omissions. The overall mean score of knowledge among thestudied elderly was 11.7±3.02 ranging from 3-28 with 38.9% accuracy on the scale.Younger age, urban residence, higher education and living with family were significantpredictors for better knowledge on ADKS in Linear regression model (F=12.2, R2=0.406,P<0.001). Conclusions: The ADKS-A was found to be reliable and acceptable tool.Further study to complete validation of this scale was needed. Also, poor generalknowledge about AD among Egyptian middle aged and elderly points to an urgent needfor educational outreach programs and campaigns to improve AD knowledge.
https://ejcm.journals.ekb.eg/article_22997_c92996e14bdd87140faf202b0f900c90.pdf
2018-10-01
59
69
10.21608/ejcm.2018.22997
Knowledge
Socio-demographic characteristics, Healthy older Egyptians
Alzheimer disease
ORIGINAL_ARTICLE
Determinants of Computer Vision Syndrome among Bank Employees in Minia City, Egypt
Background: There is growing body of evidence that use of computers can adversely affectthe visual health. Objective: To study the frequency and risk factors of computer visionsyndrome (CVS) among bank employees in Minia. Method: Community-based crosssectionalstudy of 218 bank employees who work on computer for at least one year precedingthe date of the study. Two hundred and eighteen (218) computer workers working in sevendifferent banks were selected randomly. Subjects were asked to fill a pre-tested structuredquestionnaire, and other relevant information was obtained by personal interview andinspection of workstation. Results: Among the 218 subjects studied, 85.2% suffer from ocularcomplaints. Headache (24.8%), eye strain (20.2%), diminution of vision (16.9%) were themost common ocular complaints and they have significant associations in subjects workingfor more than 4 hours, keeping a distance less than 20 inch from the computer, who do nottake breaks and do not adjust the brightness. Conclusions: Prevalence of CVS was noted tobe quite high among bank employee. Headache, eye strain, diminution of vision, blurredvision, double vision, itching and burning sensation were the factors independently associatedwith CVS.
https://ejcm.journals.ekb.eg/article_22998_c7ad6f2d35a7700864b578a8ad840ea9.pdf
2018-10-01
70
76
10.21608/ejcm.2018.22998
computer vision syndrome
bank employees
prevalence
Minia
ORIGINAL_ARTICLE
Respiratory Symptoms, Pulmonary Function and The Role of Interlukin-1Β in The Inflammatory Reaction among Workers at a Cement Factory in Cairo, Egypt
Background: Cement workers are exposed to various workplace factors that may affect theirhealth. These health effects depend on the duration, level of exposure and individualsensitivity. Objective: The aim of the study was to determine the effect of exposure to cementdust on lung function of workers in a national cement production factory at North Cairo andto identify the possible association between such findings and interlukin-1β in addition topersonal and work-related factors. Method: It included 96 workers from differentdepartments of cement factory (exposed group) and 100 workers group from an Egyptianpublic institution (control group). Data collected included personal data, occupational andmedical history, clinical chest examination and body mass index. Pulmonary function testswere performed to suspected 60 subjects from the exposed group and all subjects from thecontrol group. Interleukin-1β, liver function tests and kidney function tests were measured in67 exposed workers who agree to provide a blood sample. Results showed that cementworkers and controls were matched for age, gender and smoking status. Chronic cough andexpectoration were significantly higher among the exposed group. Moreover, the percentageof cement workers with reduced FEV1, FVC was significantly higher than control group. Themean work duration of the exposed group was 24 years, small percentage of workers reportedwearing personal protective devices as none reported they were informed about possiblehazardous exposures before starting work. Most of the participants had normal interleukinlevels and normal liver and kidney function tests. However, 8.8% of cement workers haveelevated serum creatinine, 23.5% have elevated blood urea nitrogen, 13.2% have elevatedserum ALT and 19.1% have elevated serum AST. The current study showed a significanthigher proportion of cement workers with reduced FEV1/FVC among those working for ≥ 20years duration compared to workers with those working for < 20 years duration.
https://ejcm.journals.ekb.eg/article_22999_83f596237058935482497eb63624a7d8.pdf
2018-10-01
77
86
10.21608/ejcm.2018.22999
Cement industry
pulmonary function
forced expiratory volume in the first second
forced vital capacity
interleukin
ORIGINAL_ARTICLE
Relation between Health Care Providers´ Compliance with Central Venous Catheter Care Bundle Elements and The Length of Stay in Cardiac Care Units, National Heart Institute.
Background: Catheter related blood stream infection (CRBSI) is the main complicationof central venous catheter (CVC) use which increases the duration of hospital stay andincreases the costs of applied health services. Objective: (1) Estimating incidence rate ofCRBSI in the National Heart Institute over six months. (2) To identify the relationbetween the compliance of health care providers to care bundle elements of CVCrecommended by CDC and hospital LOS. Methods: A Prospective cohort study wasconducted on one hundred and eleven cardiac patients in cardiac care units, (NHI) fromAugust 2017 to January 2018. All patients subjected to central venous catheter (CVC) incardiac care units, NHI, were included except: Patients with obvious source of infection,patients having infective endocarditis and patients whose catheter was put outside theNHI. Results: Noncompliance of health care providers to care bundle elements of CVC ofCenters for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and CRBSI occurrence are statisticallysignificant factors which increase hospital length of stay (LOS). Conclusion: This studyrevealed that noncompliance to care bundle elements through insertion and handling ofCVC leads to increase length of hospital stay. Recommendation: Health care providersshould adhere to care bundle elements recommended by CDC during insertion andhandling of CVC.
https://ejcm.journals.ekb.eg/article_23000_575bdaedbbdf7c71f825717bc7ac6f0b.pdf
2018-10-01
87
93
10.21608/ejcm.2018.23000
Central venous catheter
Length of stay
Blood stream infection
ORIGINAL_ARTICLE
Knowledge, Practice and Barriers of Foot Self-Care among Diabetic Patients at Tanta University Hospitals, Egypt
Background : Diabetes related foot disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality indiabetic patients. Interventions to reduce the burden of diabetic foot disease are highly costeffective. An estimated 15% of patients with diabetes develop foot ulcer. Good knowledgeand practice regarding diabetic foot care will reduce the risk of diabetic foot complicationsand ultimately amputation. Objective: This study is conducted to assess patients’ knowledge,practice and barriers of foot self-care among diabetic patients attending Tanta UniversityHospitals. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in 2016, included 264diabetic patients attending outpatients clinics at Tanta University hospitals. Data wascollected through interviewing patients using a questionnaire based on recommendations ofthe American Diabetes Association. Results: 42.0% of the participants were males and 58.0%were females. Half of them had good knowledge level (51%), while (62.2%) had inadequateself-foot care practice. There was a significant association between level of education with thelevel of diabetic foot care knowledge and practice. Poor communication between patients andhealth care providers (54.7%) and lack of adequate knowledge (50.2%) were the mostreported barriers. Conclusion: The overall practice score of studied patients, was inadequateand they were not adequately caring for their feet in spite of their good knowledge.
https://ejcm.journals.ekb.eg/article_23001_7a3fb1a112817c8e0670bd2981feea92.pdf
2018-10-01
94
102
10.21608/ejcm.2018.23001
Diabetic foot
Self-Care
Knowledge
Practice