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From
the Editor
This issue is rich with papers spanning the
World from Bangladesh to Australia to UK, Qatar,
Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Jordan, Nepal
and others.
AlDughaither, & AlMutairi assessed the
knowledge and practice of breastfeeding and
contraception for post-partum women. They used
a Questionnaire based cross-sectional study
for postpartum women in 3 primary health care
centers, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Only 12.8% were
exclusively breastfeeding their babies, while
others were on mixed feeding (45%) or formula
milk alone (42.2%). The authors concluded that
the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding was
low(12.8%) despite the good knowledge in 67.8%
of the participants. Higher knowledge about
breastfeeding and contraception were found with
older age, having more than 3 children and receiving
antenatal clinical advices.
Alsharafi et al did a cross-sectional study
was carried out among a sample of Saudi family
physicians at primary health care (PHC) centers
belonging to the Ministry of Health (MOH)in
Abha City. The objective was to determine the
difficulties facing family physicians in Abha
City, Saudi Arabia and to assess their satisfaction
regarding their workplaces.
The study included 87 Saudi family medicine
physicians.The authors concluded that family
physicians working at PHC centers in Abha city,
face several difficulties, which significantly
affect their satisfaction with workplace and
could impair quality of care delivered to patients.
BADAWY, et al., did an institutional based
cross-sectional study was conducted among medical
students at Ibn Sina National College of Medical
Science of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The presence
of depression and its severity was based on
PHQ depression scale (PHQ-9) 19, using Google
form link . and factors associated with depression
among medical students in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Depression was detected in 75.31% of the studied
population , considering 10 score as a cut off
point for depression. The authors concluded
that depression is highly prevalent among medical
student populations. Implication of depression
is of serious concern that could result in loss
of potential to handle various stressors at
college, impairment of functioning in classroom
performance and later in clinical practice.
Jaffar et al., did a cross sectional, questionnaire-based
survey was conducted at Jinnah Sindh Medical
University from June to September 2019. A total
of 162 MBBS, BDS and PHARM D students were included
in the study. The aim was to observe the trend
of genetic counseling and screening tests in
subjects with documented positive family history
of cancers and to identify the knowledge of
familial cancers and related hereditary mutations
among MBBS, BDS and Pharm D students. The authors
concluded that most common reported familial
malignancy was breast carcinoma and least frequent
was retinoblastoma. Documentation of family
history of cancer, advised screening and genetic
counselling was found to be inadequate in our
clinical setup. Students of MBBS had a good
knowledge of familial cancer and related hereditary
mutations in comparison to dentistry and pharmacy
students.
Malik & Sadler stressed that the Covid-19
pandemic has hurried the need for health services
to consult remotely; this is to ensure the safety
of health professionals and patients by reducing
disease transmission rates. This review and
useful guide will increase confidence with remote
consulting. A health professional can feel overwhelmed
and worry about risks to consulting on the telephone
or via videocall. Most clinicians have experience
in telemedicine and virtual consults, there
are many benefits which range from convenience,
less time consuming and cost effectiveness.
Shehata et al., tried to assess Prevalence
of primary headache among King Khalid University
students in 2019. He used a descriptive cross-sectional
approach. Data were collected from participants
using electronic pre-structured questionnaire.
The study included 421 students whose ages ranged
from 18 to 30 years with mean age of 21.7 ±
1.9 years old. The authors concluded that ,
more than three quarters of the students complained
of moderate to severe headache attacks which
was mainly related to sleeping disturbance,
studying hours, and stressful lifestyle. Students
should be learned strategies for stress management
training for headache
Malik & Khan stressed that good interpersonal
communication has always been a part of everyday
life, and is imperative for an effective doctor-patient
relationship, not least for those practising
Family Medicine. The aim of their review is
to focus on the Arabian Gulf, was to see the
potential communication challenges faced between
expatriate doctors and patients of an Arabic-speaking
background. Their review has added to the existing
literature by finding that language-barriers
are just the beginning of the communication
challenges that can inhibit the relationship
between health professional and patient. Although
there is enough to highlight awareness of the
problem, among a lack of research, there is
a lack of perspective found from expatriate
doctors. Future research, best directed across
the Arab-speaking world, can guide the implementation
of improved language and communication skills
training, leading to the delivery of better
quality healthcare across the region.
Shehata et al., followed a descriptive cross-sectional
approach was used targeting all accessible population
in Aseer region, Southern of Saudi Arabia. The
aim was to assess population awareness regarding
colorectal cancer and its risk factors in Aseer
region. A total of 513 participants completed
the study survey. Participant's ages ranged
from 18 to 75 years old with mean age of 27.3
± 10.9 years. Exactly 383 (74.4%) participants
heard about colorectal cancer. The authors concluded
that , the study revealed that public awareness
regarding CRC in Aseer region was poor specially
for check-up timing and frequency. Also, check-up
behaviour to screen for CRC was poor and majority
of the population recorded their need to improve
their awareness level.
Baig et al., did a Cross sectional study was
conducted using a non-probability sampling technique
to select the diabetic patients. A total of
244 diabetic patients were interviewed, coming
to the medical OPD at Jinnah Post Graduate Medical
Center. The data was collected via interviews
using a structured questionnaire. A total of
220 individuals participated in this study with
ages ranging from 10 years to 78 years with
highest number of individuals, 21(9.5%) in 50
year old age group. The authors concluded that
the majority had good overall knowledge and
attitude towards their disease. Despite that,
self-care practices were mediocre. We still
have miles to go in ensuring that every patient
regardless of their education not only fully
comprehends but also implements their self-care
practices rigorously via educational and awareness
programs.
Binod & Sushil followed a cross-sectional
study to assess level of awareness and pattern
of utilizing family planning methods among married
women (20-45 years) of reproductive age in Duwakot,
Bhaktapur. Knowledge about different contraceptive
methods was present among majority (88.89%)
of respondents. 73.75 % respondents were using
contraceptive method at the time of study. The
authors concluded that good number of women
was aware about the contraceptive methods but
the practice of contraception in the Duwakot
and utilization of family planning services
were low. The gap between knowledge and implementation
in contraceptive methods was found in the study
population. This shows the need for more informative
awareness campaigns for promoting contraceptive
utilization.
Dr Ansary, outlined an approach to help with
diagnosis and assessment, of elderly patients
with depression in the primary healthcare setting.
He stressed that recognizing depression in old
people is not always easy as its presentation
may differ from that of younger people. Older
people tend to underreport depressive symptoms
and may not concede that they are depressed.
This could be due to age, lack of cognizance
of the disorder, shame or a belief in not talking
about depression or admitting to not coping
- it may also be embedded in their culture.
As a result, depression in old age may go undetected
and untreated for a long time. An assessment
process which is less time consuming but has
high sensitivity leading to the direct diagnosis
of depression can help general practitioners
in their busy general practice to facilitate
management tailored to individual needs.
Arshad et al., did a Cross sectional study
was conducted to determine the perceptions of
parents regarding polio vaccination at National
Institute of Child Health in Karachi. The author
concluded that Pakistan is among three countries
in which polio is still endemic. Most of the
cases sprouting up in the city are from slum
areas where majority of population is uneducated.
Several religious and fictional beliefs and
misconceptions have been playing a pivotal role
in keeping polio endemic in the area despite
many sincere efforts of government. More efforts
are needed to be done in this respect particularly
in educating parents of children and carrying
out social campaigns to spread awareness among
every single parent and make them affirm that
polio is preventable and by only vaccinating
their children they can save them from this
disease
Shehata et al., tried to assess Prevalence
of primary headache among King Khalid University
students in 2019. He used a descriptive cross-sectional
approach. Data were collected from participants
using electronic pre-structured questionnaire.
The study included 421 students whose ages ranged
from 18 to 30 years with mean age of 21.7 ±
1.9 years old. The authors concluded that ,
more than three quarters of the students complained
of moderate to severe headache attacks which
was mainly related to sleeping disturbance,
studying hours, and stressful lifestyle. Students
should be learned strategies for stress management
training for headache
Dr Razan did a descriptive cross-sectional
survey to assess knowledge, attitude and practice
of school teachers regarding T1DM and its acute
complications. She included 499 teachers. With
regards to teachers' awareness regarding T12DM
among students, 91.2% of the teachers mentioned
that T1DM leads to polyuria in diabetic student,
89.6% reported that DM leads to polydipsia,
and 77.6% told that tremors and sweating means
hypoglycaemia in diabetic student. The authors
concluded that good level of knowledge, practice
and positive attitude of school teachers towards
T1DM students. It is suggested to increase the
role of schools by establishing educational
and training programs for teachers, especially
teachers who showed their willing to join such
programs. More trained personnel should be present
in schools to deal with T1DM students.
Awan et al., did a qualitative study involving
semi-structured interviews in which ten people
diagnosed with mental illness from a Lancashire
practice and ten GPs including stakeholders
within the Clinical Commissioning Group were
interviewed. Interview data was subject to thematic
analysis. The purpose of this study was to explore
the barriers and facilitators of the Making
Every Contact Count (MECC) approach, an opportunistic
health promotion strategy for improving the
physical health of patients with diagnosed mental
illness in primary care. The authors concluded
that Poor physical health of patients diagnosed
with mental illness can be addressed using a
'making every contact count'-based approach.
MECC is a low-resource approach based on building
a relationship of trust and casually introducing
physical health as a topic of conversation as
the opportunity arises. The research highlights
barriers and facilitators to doing this within
primary care from both patient and clinician
perspectives.
Dr Ansary report a case of CADASIL (Cerebral
Autosomal Dominant Arteriopathy with Subcortical
Infarcts and Leukoencephalopathy) in a young
adult with migraine. The patient is A 44-year-old
female presented to our practice with the complaints
of sudden onset of severe headache and migraine
associated with visual aura, dizziness and fogginess
in her head. This was her first episode of the
kind and she could only see through half of
her vision. She was having daily headaches and
migraine in the lead up to this episode.
Chief Editor:
A. Abyad
MD, MPH, AGSF, AFCHSE
Email: aabyad@cyberia.net.lb
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