Résumé
Background: The practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) is widespread in Sudan. Over the years, the government, civil society and the international community implemented multiple interventions to address the issue. However, due to a number of cultural and educational factors, this harmful practice continues.
Aims: This study aimed to assess the effects of a secondary school-based health education intervention on the knowledge and attitude of female students towards FGM in Sudan.
Methods: We conducted a quasi-experimental study in Karary Locality, Khartoum State, Sudan. A multistage sampling technique was used to determine targeted schools. Within the schools, students of two randomly selected classes received the intervention. The study included three phases; in the pre-intervention phase, data were collected from the totality of students (154 students) using a pre-tested questionnaire, after which students received health education sessions. The same questionnaire was used to re-collect the data in a post-intervention phase 6 weeks later.
Results: The participants were between 14 to 17 years old, 30.3% of which were subjected to FGM. The main source of information about FGM was family and friends (41.1%). The majority of participants had a negative attitude towards FGM. The means of knowledge and attitude scores increased from 8.63 (SD=2.562) and 5.76 pre-intervention (SD=1.937) to 11.99 (SD=2.264) and 6.53 post-intervention (SD=1.164), respectively.
Conclusions: School-based health education has a positive impact on both knowledge and attitude of female students towards FGM in Sudan. As such, introducing health education about the complications of FGM in curricula of secondary schools in Sudan has the potential to improve students knowledge and attitude. Ultimately, such interventions can help reduce the prevalence of the practice when students become responsible for future families
Résumé
Background: Excess lipids has been shown to be a risk factor for coronary artery disease, as well as cerebrovascular and peripheral vascular diseases. Hyperlipidemia has become an important public health problem; therefore, it is of great importance to know the level of its modifiable risk factors to prevent its occurrence in the population
Objective: to estimate the prevalence of hyperlipidemia and associated factors and complicationsamong the population aged over 21years in Arar city, Northern Saudi Arabia
Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out to find the prevalence of hypercholesterolemia among 480 residents of Arar city. Laboratory and physician diagnosed hyperlipidemia, body mass index; presence of complications among the studied cases was assessed. The significance of association of hyperlipidemia with age, sex, body mass index and hypertension was tested using the chi-squared test
Results: In the studied population, males were 54.2%, 35% were 60 years or more, 32.9% were 40-60 years old, 26.7% were 22-40 years old and only 5.4%were 21 years or less, With mean age [+/- SD] 51.9+/-21.1. The prevalence of Lab. diagnosed hyperlipidemiaamong studied populations was 53.8%. There was significant association between hyperlipidemia and age, sex, family history, smoking, fatty diet, defective muscular exercise including walking, high meat diet, diabetes and BMI group [P<0.05]. However there were no significant correlations with alcohol consumption [P>0.05]. Only 75.2% of cases asked medical advice, it was improvement after treatment in 61.2%. Complications of hyperlipidemia were reported in 34.1% of the studied cases. Ischemic heart was found in 20.2%, myocardial infarction in 7.8%, cerebrovascular stroke in 4.7%, low physical fitness in 1.6% and chronic headache in only 0.8%
Conclusion: The prevalence of hyperlipidemia was high in the studied population. Reported risk factors were age, sex, family history, smoking, fatty diet, defective muscular exercise including walking, high meat diet, diabetes and obesity. Reported complications were ischemic heart and myocardial infarction, cerebrovascular stroke, low physical fitness and chronic headache