Women health in Saudi Arabia: a review of non-communicable diseases and their risk factors

This is a review of the changing pattern of chronic diseases among women in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia [KSA]. Data from national surveys conducted in KSA, whose results were published between 1996 and 2011 were used. The results showed that over a period of ten years the prevalence of obesity increased in Saudi women from 23.6% to 44.0% and in men from 14.2% to 26.2%; self-reported physical inactivity worsened in both women [from 84.7% to 98.1%] and men [from 43.3% to 93.9%]; prevalence of smoking in women increased [from 0.9% to 7.6%], while it declined in men [from 21.0% to 18.7%]. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was significantly greater in women than men [42.0% versus 37.2%; p < 0.01]. In conclusion, Saudi women are potentially at a greater risk than a decade ago to develop cardiovascular diseases and diabetes mellitus, with a notable increase in obesity compared to men

Pulmonary function tests: normal values in non-smoking students and staff at the Aga Khan University, Karachi

To estimate normal values of peak expiratory flow rate [PEFR], forced expiratory volume in first second [FEV1], forced vital capacity [FCV] and ratio between FEV1/FVC among non-smoking staff and students at The Aga Khan University [AKU] Hospital, Karachi, and to study the effect of age, gender and body mass index [BMI] on these variables. A corss-sectional study. This study was conducted at the Multidisciplinary Laboratory [MDL] of AKUH, Karachi from May to November 2005. Two hundred forty-one healthy never smokers were approached through non-probability convenient sampling among the staff and students of AKU and were screened through a questionnaire. Data from 200 subjects was used for analysis. Subjects were excluded if pregnant, body mass index [BMI] not ranging from 17-25, FEV1/FVC% less than 70 or with non-reproducible results. The mean values of FVC, FEV1, FEV1/FVC% and PEFR among males and females in different ages were compared by 't' test. Linear regression was applied to study the effect of age and BMI on the outcome variables. Mean FVC, FEV1 and PEFR were found to be higher in males than the females in all the age groups, the difference in FVC was significantly higher in the age groups of less than 20 years and 20-29 years [2.09L, CI: 1.27 - 2.92] and [1.51 L, CI:1.29 - 1.73] respectively. The above spirometric values declined with age and increased with height. Increase in age by one year resulted in 0.051 L decline in FVC [CI: -0.056, -0.034] whereas increase in height by a centimeter improved the FVC by 0.044L [CI: 0.03, 0.056]. The mean FVC, FEV1 and PEFR were higher in males in each age group. Females had higher FEV1/FVC%. Height had positive linear relationship and age was inversely related whereas BMI was not significantly associated with these variables. In order to generalize these reference values, a larger study following the ATS criteria is needed

audit of the process of diabetic care in a large family practice in Riyadh

This audit was conducted to assess the standard of care for diabetes patients provided by the primary care physicians of a large family practice in Riyadh before a diabetic care protocol could be developed for a continuing audit, to promote improved future diabetic care. A total of 300 consecutive diabetic patient files were reviewed by two senior departmental physicians on 10 clinical and biochemical markers of performance used in a similar UK study. Patient characteristics including age, sex, smoking status; type of care and the therapeutic management were also noted. Some recommended markers of expected care such as blood pressure, weight and blood sugar were recorded in a high percentage of patients. In addition, areas where improvement in care is needed have been identified. Patients managed on insulin only, comprised 9.6%; 1.7% were prescribed oral hypoglycaemics plus insulin; 11.3% were prescribed diet alone. The rest [77.4%] were prescribed oral hypoglycaemics. Continuing audit of diabetes care in a primary care setting is a useful exercise for developing protocols and improving patient care