Body mass index and type 1 diabetes mellitus in United Arab Emirates university students: a pilot study

To assess the body mass index [BMI] and the prevalence of diabetes mellitus type 1 among the United Arab Emirates [UAE] university students. A cross-sectional study was carried out involved 98 randomly selected students in the United Arab Emirates University during the academic year 1996-1997. An anonymous self-administered questionnaire was used to collect personal data, some lifestyle aspects, and whether they suffer from diabetes mellitus. Anthropometric measurements [weight and height] were performed to the students and their parents. About one fifth of the sample was suffering from diabetes mellitus type 1 with a significantly-higher distribution among females [27.4% and 8.3%, respectively]. Underweight was significantly prevalent more among females [19.3%] than for males [5.3%]. More than one fifth of the males were significantly overweight and obese compared to only 8% of the females. About one third of the female students reported significant low level of life satisfaction, compared to none of the males. In conclusion the UAE female university students showed higher prevalence of underweight, type 1 diabetes mellitus, and reported lower level of life satisfaction than male students

Role of gender in coping capabilities among young visually disabled students

This study aims to detect the role of gender in coping capabilities among young visually disabled students attending two schools for blindness. The WHO Disability Assessment Schedule [WHODAS II], 36-Item Interviewer Administered translated Arabic version was used. It evaluates six domains of everyday living in the last 30 days. These domains are: understanding and communicating, getting around, self care, getting along with people, household activities and participation in society. Data were collected by face-to-face interviews of 200 students who represented the target population of the study. Binary logistic regression analysis of the scores of the six domains revealed that in almost all the domains except for getting around with people and coping with school activities, females significantly faced more difficulties in coping with daily life activities than did their male counterparts. Getting older was a significant factor in increasing difficulties in coping with school activities. Genetic factor was a dominating factor in causing and increasing the difficulties score. Conclusion and recommendations: Female gender was more susceptible to facing more difficulties in coping with visual disability than males. Early rehabilitation measures should be applied to assist the coping and adaptation of the visually disabled in all aspects of everyday living activities

Quality of life and perceived parental rearing styles of epileptic children and their mothers' psychological well-being

The aim of this work was to assess QOL of school children with epilepsy and to investigate some of its determinants. In addition, perceived parental rearing styles and maternal psychological morbidity of epileptic children were identified using case-control study design. Research subjects were 100 child-mother pairs of epileptic children recruited from the neuropsychiatric outpatient clinic at the Student's Hospital in Alexandria. A matched control group for age and sex was recruited from the ENT clinic of the same hospital. The parental rearing style scale [PRSS], the brief Arabic version of The quality of life in epilepsy questionnaire [QOLIE-14 items] and the general health questionnaire [GHQ] were applied. The results revealed that 13% of children with epilepsy experienced poor overall QOLIE, while 46% had moderate one. Major concerns of patients were mainly: Seizure worry [65%], frequent difficulties with attention/concentration [26%] and language [24%]. Though, 90% of subjects had good social support, yet more than 40% of them experienced social isolation and/or difficulties in social functioning. Emotional warmth and favoring subject were the parental rearing styles more significantly perceived by epileptic children compared to controls. The challenge for school health physicians is to incorporate QOL concepts into the medical care of children with epilepsy to satisfy both patient and family needs

study of visually handicapped children in the institutes of blindness in Alexandria

The present study was aimed to study the different ecological factors contributing for visual handicap among children of the two blind Institutes of Alexandria, one for boys and the other for girls, and to determine the effect of the handicap upon those children. An interview questionnaire was constructed to collect personal and family data from the visually handicapped children, and a control group of children from governmental schools matching them in sex and educational level. These data were analysed using the relative risk. The results of the study revealed that heredity was the main cause of the handicap. Acquired causes such as eye infections, measles, accidents still played an important role. Other risk factors include; lack of antenatal care, exposure to hazards during pregnancy, prematurity, home delivery and delivery by day-a. Also some postnatal factors such as the need for intensive neonatal medical care, lack of regular medical checkup and lack of vaccination during infancy period presented a role. Difficulties inmoving in the surrounding environment was the main problem for those handicapped children. However, they were more or less socially active and tend to be in groups of friends. Training programmes for teachers, administrators and social workers of the blind Institutes were recommended regarding the effect of the handicap, its causes and modern methods of rehabilitation