ABSTRACT
Background: Mid-way through the 'Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030', many nations are spending time, money and effort to enhance their level of preparedness facing disasters, on the other hand communities, countries and even continents are being left behind. Objectives: This study was conducted aiming at evaluating the level of disaster preparedness and response of Tunisian University Hospitals. Methods: This is a cross-sectional nationwide study conducted in Tunisia, from November 2020 to April 2021. Including 9 Tunisian University Hospitals and using the Hospital Safety Index. The data were analysed using the 'Module and safety index calculator'. Results: This study showed that 7 out of the 9 University Hospitals were assigned the 'B' category of safety with overall safety indexes that ranges between 0.37 and 0.62. Also, 4 out of 9 University Hospitals had safety scores less than 0.20 regarding their emergency and disaster management. Conclusions: This is the first study to evaluate disaster preparedness and response of university hospitals in Tunisia and in north Africa. It showed that the lack of knowledge, resources and willingness, are the most important issues that needs to be addressed in order to enhance the preparedness of Tunisian hospitals
Subject(s)
Index , Disaster Preparedness , Safety-net Providers , Academic Performance , Tunisia , Hospitals, UniversityABSTRACT
Background: In contrast to the situation in developed countries, very few studies have been done on blood pressure (BP) determinants among Nigerian adolescents. Aim: To evaluate the relationship between basal BP and body mass index (BMI) in a group of healthy Nigerian secondary school students. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 1080 adolescent students selected by a two-stage multi-phase cluster sampling technique. The height, weight and BP of each student were taken using standard methods. Pearson correlation was used to describe the strength of association between variables. Multiple stepwise regressions were conducted to determine the individual or combined contribution(s) of some variables to the variation in BP levels.Results: Mean BMI for males and females were 17.63 ± 2.54 kg/m2 and 18.87 ± 1.81 kg/m2 respectively. Forty six students (4.3%) were overweight. Mean systolic and diastolic BPs were 113.13 + 11.44 mm Hg and 68.29 + 8.07 mm Hg respectively. Thirty-five subjects (3.2%) had systolic or diastolic BP above the 95th percentile for age and sex. Twenty-four (68.6%) of these subjects were also found to be overweight. A moderate positive correlation was observed between both systolic and diastolic BP and BMI. Regression analysis showed that weight, height and BMI were predictors of systolic BP. Height and BMI were the only predictors of diastolic BP. Conclusion: These findings suggest that there is a moderate association between basal BP and BMI