Premature and early menopause: risk factors is Jordanian women

To identify risk factors associated with the onset of premature [<40 years] and early [40-45 years] menopause in a sample of Jordanian women. This prospective study was undertaken at Princess Aisha Medical Complex, Amman between August 2007 and February 2008. A total of 1,000 postmenopausal women were included. Factors taken into consideration were age at menarche, age at first delivery, parity, number of miscarriages, history of gynaecological or obstetric surgeries [ovarian, tubal and /or uterine], smoking status and history of premature menopause in first-degree relatives. Out of the 1,000 women, 129 [12.9%] had had menopause before the age of 46 years: 27 [2.7%] before the age of 40 and 102 [10.2%] before the age of 46 years. In these groups, the only statistically significant factor was history of premature menopause in fist-degree relatives. Interestingly, in women who had had menopause after the age of >/= 46 years, the rate of hysterectomies was statistically higher. Early and premature menopause is strongly associated with history of premature menopause first-degree relatives. No other factors studied proved to have any statistical significance

Awareness of blindness related to smoking

To explore the level of knowledge about the relation between smoking and eye disease. Across sectional survey using an interview questionnaire in an out-patient department at Queen Alia Military Hospital attending general medicine, general surgery, ophthalmology and family medicine clinics. The questionnaire included information about age, gender, academic level and awareness of relation of smoking to three well known diseases [lung cancer, coronary artery diseases, stroke] in addition to blindness. Deafness was added as a distracter condition. Four hundred and twenty eight attendees participated in the study, 200 of them were in the waiting area of ophthalmology clinic and 228 were in the waiting area of the other clinics, 62% were males and 38% were females. The age of attendees ranged between 19 years and 85 years. The mean age was [39.2 yrs]. About 31% were smokers and 69% were non-smokers. A total of 95%, 93%, 73% participants stated that smoking can cause cancer, heart disease and stroke respectively. Only 18% and 14.4% of patients stated that smoking may cause blindness and deafness respectively. A total 52% of patients were having lung cancer as the most fearful related disease to smoking followed by heart disease [18.6%], then stroke [15%]. The least fearful related diseases were blindness in!4% of patients, followed by deafness in 2.3% of patients. Our results showed that people are aware that smoking can cause lung cancer, heart disease, and stroke; however awareness of the risk of blindness from smoking is relatively low. Public information campaigns and new pack warning that are novel and specific for blindness should be included on cigarette packs

Subdiaphragmatic ectopic kidney: a case report

This is a report of a 14-year-old female patient who presented with non-specific abdominal pain. A thorough examination, laboratory, and radiological investigations including ultrasonography, plain chest X-ray, intra-venous urogram, and computerized tomography revealed left sided subdiaphragmatic ectopic kidney

Classification and mangement of uncomplicated urinary tract infection in children

The medical files of 92 patients, age between 0-14 years, with a diagnosis of urinary tract infection [UTI] from June 2000 until June 2002 were reviewed and studied. Four patients were excluded due to the incomplete data. The diagnosis was based on the presence of positive urine culture with a bacterial count of >105/ml. All children were divided into two groups either having definite UTI or probable UTI according to culture results. A definite diagnosis of UTI was obtained in 88 patients. Forty-five patients were below the age of three years and male to female ratio was 1:6.3. Fever was the most common symptom, while abdominal pain was the second most common presentation but in the age group 3-14 years. Escherichia coli [E. coli] was the most common microorganism isolated in the culture results, followed by Klebsiella. More than half of the cultures were sensitive to cefuroxime, followed by cotrimoxazole

Use and misuse of accident and emergency services at Queen Alia military Hospital

To determine the characteristics of attenendees and to assess the misuse of the Accident and Emergency department at Queen Alia Military Hospital. The records of 29463 attendees to the Accident and Emergency Department at a general military hospital during the period January-June 2002 were retrospectively reviewed. For each attendee the following information was recorded: age, sex, day of the week, hour of attendance, required emergency service, class of urgency and disposition. Patients were classified according to their presenting problems to life-threatening, very urgent, urgent and trivial conditions. They were classified according to age into three groups: Below 30 years, 30-60 years and above 60 years. Data were retrieved and analyzed. From the total of 29463 attendees, 15207 [51.6%] were males and 14256 [48.4%] were females. The month of May generated visitls more than any other month. Saturday and Thursday were the busiest days of the week. The majority of the patients [88.7%] were classified as trivial conditions. A large percentage [47%] was of the age group 14-30 years, but elderly [above 60 years] represented a considerable number [32%]. Most of the patients visited Accident and Emergency Department in the second and first shifts [39% and 37%] respectively. Fifteen hundred and thirteen patients were admitted, of them 832 [55%] were males and the rest [45%] were females. The admission rate was 5.1%. About half the patients [51%] sought medical emergency services and [49%] were seeking surgical emergency services. The increasing number of attendees, especially elderly patients, has its implications on future planning of Accident and Emergency Department. We observed that the Accident and Emergency Department is largely misused, thus, non-urgent visitls adversely affect the quality of provided emergency care and patients' satisfaction