ABSTRACT
The United Arab Emirates [UAE] has a high coverage of childhood immunizations, but since coverage highly depends on the knowledge and attitude of mothers, it is important to assess these in a rapidly developing and changing society. The survey enrolled 217 women attending maternity clinics in Al Ain, a traditional desert city in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, UAE and estimated the prevalence of a positive attitude towards immunizations. Knowledge and attitude variables as well as factors related to these variables were explored. Having a positive attitude towards immunizations was prevalent in 93% of mothers. Three factors significantly related to a positive attitude arose: knowledge, education and Arab nationality. Three factors associated with knowledge also arose: education, receipt of information on immunizations from health professionals and, again, Arab nationality. Despite the currently highly prevalent positive attitude towards immunizations in the United Arab Emirates, information by health professionals should focus more on parents with lower education and those of non- Arab nationality
ABSTRACT
There is limited research on nutrition knowledge related to diabetes management in persons with diabetes in the United Arab Emirates and other Arabian Gulf countries. Carbohydrate - containing foods have the greatest impact on post-meal blood glucose levels. The purpose of this exploratory study was to determine nutrition knowledge related to carbohydrate- containing foods of adults with diabetes in Oman and the United Arab Emirates. A culturally-appropriate questionnaire was used to assess carbohydrate - food knowledge in a convenience sample of 94 Emirati and Omani men and women with diabetes [age [mean +/- s.d.]: 50 +/- 13.5 years] residing in the cities of Al Ain and Al Bureimi. Carbohydrate-food knowledge score [mean +/- s.d.] was 6.3 +/- 2 [maximum 14], reflecting low knowledge of food sources of carbohydrate. Ninety-three percent of the study participants believed that whole wheat bread does not increase their blood glucose levels and 88% of them did not think that unsweetened fruit juices can increase blood glucose levels. Further, scores for the Omani citizens were significantly lower than those of Emirati counterparts, mean difference 2.3 [95% confidence interval:1.5-3.1]. Significant [p < 0.05] differences in carbohydrate food knowledge scores between the 2 groups were found for 5 of the 14 food items assessed. The results of this study underscore the importance of nutrition education programs for persons with diabetes in these 2 communities