Physician satisfaction with hospital clinical laboratory services in Aden Governorate, Yemen, 2009

To evaluate the level of physicians' satisfaction with hospital clinical laboratory services and related factors in Aden Governorate, we carried out this cross-sectional study during September 2008-September 2009. Satisfaction with laboratory services of 3 public and 3 private hospitals was assessed. The overall physician satisfaction was 3.30 out of 5.00. The highest mean score [3.40] was observed for phlebotomy services, while the lowest mean score [1.95] was for esoteric test turnaround time. The most important laboratory service category for the physicians was quality and reliability of the results [54.4%]. An association was observed between physician satisfaction and institution type in 11 categories, with lower satisfaction for public compared to private institutions for all services. No statistically significant association was observed between physician satisfaction and experience in the field. Lower satisfaction was observed among those with more than 20 years experience. Our findings may help to improve the quality of clinical laboratory services

Overweight/obesity and hypertension in schoolchildren aged 6-16 years, Aden governorate, Yemen, 2009

Hypertension and obesity in children are increasing concerns worldwide. A cross-sectional study of hypertension in relation to overweight/obesity was conducted in 2009 among schoolchildren aged 6-16 years in Aden, Yemen. Using multistage stratified random sampling 1885 children were classified into wasted, normal weight, overweight and obese according to body mass index. The prevalence of wasting was 10.1%, normal weight 69.2%, overweight 12.7% and obesity 8.0%. The rate of high blood pressure [World Health Organization criteria] was 8.2% for prehypertension and 2.4% for hypertension and was significantly related to the presence of overweight or obesity. Child's body mass index combined with age was a predictor for systolic and diastolic blood pressure. The study provides further evidence that overweight/obesity is associated with hypertension in these schoolchildren