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From the
Editor
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Chief Editor:
A. Abyad
MD, MPH, AGSF, AFCHSE
Email: aabyad@cyberia.net.lb
At the beginning of the year, I would like
to wish everybody a peaceful and prosperous
year. I hope that this year will bring peace
to war torn areas in the Middle East and elsewhere.
Middle East Journal of Family Medicine did not
go where the path may lead, we went instead
where there is no path and left a trail. The
journal over the last fourteen years has inspired
others to dream more, to learn more. In addition
I would like to thank the production team in
Australia headed by Ms Lesley Pocock who accomplished
great things, through acting, dreaming, planning
and above all believing in the value of the
Journal. For our readers and contributor we
wish them to reach high, for the stars that
lie hidden in their soul.
In this issue a paper from Jeddah assessed the
perception of academic leaders on the importance
of capability, different approaches and criterion
for judging effective performance. The authors
did a cross-sectional online survey with 47
academic leaders at COM-J. In addition to demographic
data, information on academic leaders' perception
of the importance of three datasets (capabilities,
approaches and judging criteria) was collected
using a five-point Likert scale (1 - low to
5 - high). The response rate was 100% (47),
and the academic leaders perceived that a combination
of emotional intelligence (both personal and
interpersonal), cognitive capabilities and a
set of relevant skills and knowledge are necessary
for effective performance as an academic leader
at COM-J. The authors concluded that the produced
model for an ALD program at COM-J with the following
attributes: A set of capabilities and competencies
for effective leadership at COM-J. A set of
quality checkpoints (criterion for judging effective
performance) at COM-J. An online tool to enable
future leaders to complete the same survey and
compare their responses.
A prospective descriptive study conducted at
department of surgery Erbil Teaching Hospital
-Erbil, Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The objective
of the study is to compare new method of ganglion
management, efficacy of resolution, frequency
of complications and recurrence of managing
dorsal wrist ganglions with aspiration followed
by intra-cystic injection of Methylprednisolone
and surgical excision and our new procedure
Silk thread passed in cross manner. A total
of 785 patients were included in this study,120
cases had been excluded from study because they
lost follow-up. All patients were thoroughly
examined to exclude the other causes of wrist
swelling. The patients were divided into three
groups A, B &C according to their choice
of treatment. Group A were treated by surgical
excision, Group B were treated by aspiration
followed by steroid injection and group C by
Silk thread passed in cross manner. Patient's
satisfaction was higher in Group C after Silk
thread passed in crisscross manner followed
by surgical excision even if the ganglions recurred.
The recurrence rate was 4 % in Silk thread passed
and 24% surgical excision group and 43% in aspiration
with steroid injection in group B. The authors
concluded that Silk thread passed in cross manner
had better results compared to surgical excision
and to aspiration and injection.
A Cross sectional study of 646 adult Saudi patients
assess the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency
at both gender and age groups. 559 participants
out of 646 had vitamin D deficiency (86.5%)
(<50nmol/l), with more deficiency among males
than females (89.3% vs. 84.7%), however the
proportion of females who had severe deficiency
(<25 nmol/l) was higher than males (40.7%
vs. 32.4%) with P value = 0.006. The authors
concluded that in contrast to current concepts,
this study showed that male and younger patients
had higher rates of vitamin deficiency; the
exact reasons need to be carefully sought.
Measles, mumps, rubella and varicella are diseases
that are tracked by the World Health Organization
(WHO) as common and serious vaccine-preventable
diseases. A cross- sectional study conducted
on 180 children in Benha. All children included
in this study were subjected to -thorough history
taking and laboratory investigations; to measure
serum levels of specific measles, rubella ,mumps
and varicella immunoglobulins. The objectives
were to evaluate the immune status and susceptibility
against measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella
in primary school children and to study the
effects of some sociodemographic factors on
the seroprevalence. (88.9%) of the surveyed
children were seropositive to measles, (77.8%)
to mumps, (86.7%) to rubella and (38.9%) to
varicella. Seropositivity was higher in males
than in females for measles (57.7%), mumps (60.7%),
rubella (62.2%) and varicella (68.6%) with significant
difference for measles. Younger age groups were
less seropositive than older age groups for
measles (32.5% vs 35%), mumps (34.4 % vs 37.9%)
, rubella ( 30.8 % vs 39.7 % ) and for varicella
(21.4%) vs 48.6%). The highest level of seronegativity
was seen with regard to varicella specific antibodies
(61.1%). The authors concluded that there is
an urgent need for a planned program with different
strategies to prevent and control these diseases
is needed.
An extensive review is included in this issue
on Motivating People to Protect Their Sexual
Health . Sexually transmitted diseases (STD)
are among the most common causes of
illness in the world. It is estimated that there
is at least one new STD consultation per 100
persons per year in developed countries, while
is many developed nations STD rank among the
Tip few diseases for which health care services
are sought. In addition to the 20 or more microorganisms
that are predominately transmitted by sexual
activity have been joined during the last decade
by the human immune-deficiency virus (HIV),
which leads to AIDS. These diseases continue
to be an important threat to the human and economic
resources of communities.
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