ABSTRACT
Background: Being an important physiological and clinical tool in assessing respiratory conditions, it is common knowledge that Peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) may be affected by some factors affecting the normal function of the respiratory system. Such factors include the body constitution such as height, built, sex, age etc.; The trunk-leg ratio (TLR) was used in apparently normal young adults. A better understanding of the association between Trunk-leg ratio and PEFR may identify those with elevated risk of respiratory diseases. Methods: The study was an analytical cross-sectional design, involving 83 Level 200 MBBS/BDS students of Bayero University, Kano. There were a total of 39 males and 44 females. A peak flow meter and a measuring tape to scale were used to measure the PEFR, trunk length and leg length respectively. A questionnaire was used to determine any history of cardio-respiratory disease A consent of the participants and ethical approval was obtained before the commencement of the study. Results: The males had higher PEFR value (491.79±67.19L/min) while the females had a lower PEFR of 366.82±43.28L/min and the difference was statistically significant. The males had higher values of trunk length, leg length and TLR and there was no significant different between that male and female trunk length ratio. There was A significant correlation between PEFR and leg length indicating that the longer the leg length, the higher the PEFR. Conclusion and Recommendation: Significant correlation was found between the TLR, which is an anthropometric parameter and the PEFR which is an important diagnostic tool in determination of some types of respiratory diseases. This relationship signifies that the taller the person, irrespective of the trunk length, the higher the PEFR. It is recommended that further studies should be explored involving other anthropometric parameters like trunk-leg volume in future studies.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Diabetes-related distress (DRD) refers to patient’s concerns about diabetes mellitus, its management, need of support, emotional burden and access to healthcare. The aim of this study was to translate and examine the psychometric properties of the Malay version of the 17-item Diabetes Distress Scale (MDDS-17) in adult patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D). Methods: A standard procedure was used to translate the English 17-items Diabetes Distress Scale into Malay language. We used exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with principal axis factoring and promax rotation to investigate the factor structure. We explored reliability by internal consistency and 1-month test-retest reliability. Construct validity was examined using the World Health Organization quality of life-brief questionnaire, Morisky Medication Adherence Scale, Patient Health Questionnaire and disease-related clinical variables. Results: A total of 262 patients were included in the analysis with a response rate of 96.7%. A total of 66 patients completed the test–retest after 1 month. EFA supported a three-factor model resulting from the combination of the regimen distress (RD) and interpersonal distress (IPD) subscales; and with a swapping of an item between emotional burden (EB; item 7) and RD (item 3) subscales. Cronbach’s α for MDDS-17 was 0.94, the combined RD and IPD subscale was 0.925, the EB subscale was 0.855 and the physician-related distress was 0.823. The test– retest reliability’s correlation coefficient was r = 0.29 (n = 66; p = 0.009). There was a significant association between the mean MDDS-17 item score categories (<3 vs ≥3) and HbA1c categories (<7.0% vs ≥7.0%), and medication adherence (medium and high vs ≥low). The instrument discriminated between those having diabetes-related complication, low quality of life, poor medication adherence and depression. Conclusion: The MDDS-17 has satisfactory psychometric properties. It can be used to map diabetes-related emotional distress for diagnostic or clinical use.
ABSTRACT
The relative merit of operation in the treatment of Graves' ophthalmopathy as well as the extent of surgical resection is still a matter of debate. This work aimed at reporting the assessment of the impact of near-total thyroidectomy on the course of ophthalmopathy including exophthalmos. A total of 20 patients, with thyrotoxic goiters suffering from mild to moderate exophthalmos were enrolled onto this prospective study. Preoperative evaluation of ophthalmopathy was accomplished through the NOSPECS classification, MRI scanning for measuring the extraocular muscle diameters and measurement of the exophthalmos using Hertel's exophthalmometer. Six months postoperatively, ophthalmopathy including exophthalmos was re-evaluated using the same parameters mentioned before. Clinical activity evaluation, exophthalmometry and extraocular muscles measurement by MRI revealed that the majority of the cases experienced improvement of their ophthalmopathy [65%]. This improvement was statistically significant In addition, no major postoperative complications were observed. However, the study, unlike a number of reported retrospective ones, failed to specify any statistically significant prognostic factors affecting the course of ophthalmopathy possibly due to the limited number of cases in general In addition, all of the cases were of relatively young age and thyrotoxic, and the majority were females and non-smoking. Beside the fact that near-total thyroidectomy adds the advantages of total thyroidectomy [no recurrence] to those of subtotal thy-roidectomy [low incidence of temporary and permanent hypoparathyroidism], it has a significant positive impact on thyroid-associated orbitopathy