Risk factors of urinary tract stone formation in Assiut city Public Hospitals

The prevalence of urinary calculi is estimated to be 1-5% worldwide and it is the third most common problem in urology clinics after urinary tract infection and prostate diseases. To identify the different risk factors of urinary stone disease among a sample of patients attended the public urological clinics in Assiut city. Case - control study of 500 patients with different stone burden matched with 500 controls between August 2009 and August 2010 at the departments of urology of Assiut City public Hospitals. Mean age of cases was 46.39 +/- 17.40 years while it was 43.68 +/- 20.67 years for controls. 56.2% of cases and 55.8% of controls were males, with no significant difference between cases and controls [P> 0.05]. 78.0% of cases and 85.2% of controls were rurals with significant difference [P = 0.002]. On the other hand 89.2% of cases and 78.2% of controls were consuming < 2 liters water /day with significant statistical difference between them [P = 0.001]. There was a high significant difference between cases and control regarding consumed food stuff rich in calcium salts and proteins [P= 0.000]. More than half of cases [55.2%] and 2.8% of controls had family history of urinary stone [P< 0.000]. 33.0% of cases were obese, versus 17.0% of controls, [P = 0.000]. There was a high significant difference between cases and controls regarding medications with aspirin, calcium, vitamin D, parathyroid hormone [P<0.000]. There was no significant difference between cases and control regarding regular intake of vitamin C [P=0.675]. There was a highly significant difference between both groups in having previous history of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, arthritis, atherosclerosis [P=0.000]. There was no significant difference between both groups regarding history of urinary tract inflammations, gout, liver disease, and history of bilharziasis [P>0.05]. regarding the anatomical sites of stone; 50.0% of stones were renal, 23.8% ureteric, 9.6% vesical and 16.6% were in more than one site. The majority of cases 74.7% had recurrence stone formation [1-3 times]. A complete profile of the risk factors leading to the cause of a particular patient's stone-formation can be identified and corrected. Increased water intake reduces the risk of recurrence of urinary calculi and prolongs the average interval between recurrences. A low-salt, low-meat, moderate-calcium diet is more effective at limiting stone recurrence.

Perceptions of secondary technical schools students in Assiut, upper Egypt, about AIDS: effect of an educational intervention

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome [AIDS] is a great threat to the youth. The aim is to assess the knowledge of secondary technical schools students on AIDS, identify related misconceptions, and measure the effect of a short health education program on their level of knowledge. This quasi-experimental study was done on 575 secondary technical schools students in Assiut City, recruited through a two-stage stratified cluster sampling. A self-administered anonymous questionnaire was used to collect data. A health education program was implemented, and its effect assessed through pre-post testing. The age range of the students was 16 to 20 years, with more girls [57.0%]. Only 30.8% had satisfactory knowledge about AIDS in the pretest. Statistically significant improvements in knowledge were revealed after program implementation [P<0.001]. Students who were Muslim, of urban residence, and had mobile phones had significantly higher scores [P=0.037, 0.004, 0.038 respectively]. The most common misconceptions were the definition of AIDS according to transmission, and phobias related to transmission, which decreased after the intervention. Multivariate analysis showed that the statistically significant independent predictors of the change in knowledge score after the intervention were age, religion and the health education program. Secondary technical schools students in Assiut city have a major deficiency in knowledge and many misconceptions regarding AIDS. The educational intervention had a positive impact on their knowledge, but a less marked effect on misconceptions. Knowledge was affected by age and religious belief. It is recommended that more health educational efforts tailored to needs and with approaches suitable to community cultures and values be introduced

Epidemiology of diabetes mellitus in a rural of Assiut governorate

The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of DM AND IGT in a rural population in Upper Egypt and to determine the associated risk factors for DM in this population. Individuals aged >/20 years in two rural villages in the Southeast of Assiut City, Upper Egypt, during the period of 2002. The mean outcome measures included age standardized prevalence rate of DM and IGT in rural Upper Egypt, the prevalence of previously diagnosed, newly discovered diabetic cases and IGT and the predictive risk factors for diabetes in that area. The study concluded that the age standardized prevalence rate of DM and IGT is slightly higher than that reported in other rural agricultural areas. About one third of all diabetic cases were undiagnosed at the time of the study and consanguinity emerged as the most powerful predictor of diabetes risk in in the study area