[Frequency, types and determinants of degenerative complications of type 2 diabetes in Morocco: "EpiDiaM" cohort inclusion data]

Degenerative complications as a result of diabetes impose a heavy disease burden and increase mortality. This study presents epidemiological and clinical profiles of diabetic patients in the EpiDiaM cohort study, which include 1196 diabetic cases recruited from the basic health care network in the city of Fez. The mean age of the participants was 57.5 [SD 10.4] years with 47.1% aged between 50 and 60 years. The majority [77.7%] were women. The mean duration of diabetes was 8 [SD 6.6] years. Hypertension was found in 49.3% of the cohort, 77.9% were overweight or obese and 63.8% had one or more complications. Among those with complications, retinopathy was the most common [69.4%], followed by heart conditions [50.8%], neuropathy [45.6%] and renal disease [4.8 %]. The high prevalence of complications emphasizes the need to address the avoidable risk factors and prevent complications

[Assessment of the methodological quality of these submitted to the faculty of medicine Fez]

A thesis in medicine is a scientific work which allows a medical student to acquire a Doctor of Medicine degree. It is therefore recommended that theses presented by students fulfill essential methodological criteria in order to obtain scientifically credible results and recommendations. The aim of this study was to assess the methodology of thesis presented to the Faculty of Medicine in Fez in 2008. We developed an evaluation table containing questions on the different sections of the IMRAD structure on which these theses were based and we estimated the proportion of theses that conformed to each criterion. There were 160 theses on various specialties presented in 2008. The majority of the theses [79.3%] were case series. Research questions were clearly expressed in 62.0% but the primary objectives were pertinent in only 52.0%. Our study shows that there were important deficiencies in the methodological rigor of the theses and very little representation of the theses in publications

[Diabetes and erectile dysfunction in Morocco: epidemiological study among outpatients]

We studied the relationship between erectile dysfunction [ED] and diabetes among 189 men [> 40 years] attending primary health care centres in Morocco. Of the 89 diabetic men, 82% had ED while only 17% of the 100 non-diabetic men had ED. The frequency of ED among diabetic men increased with age, from 60% in those aged 40-49 years to 94.95% in those aged >/= 60 years [from 6.3% to 35.4% in men without diabetes for similar ages]. ED was reported by 93.3% of diabetic men who had had diabetes for > 15 years. The frequency of ED did not differ with type of diabetes but it was significantly commoner in diabetic men with a low level of education and with hypertension