Insomnia among community dwelling elderly in Alexandria, Egypt

Insomnia is a common problem in the elderly population. Poor sleep quality is associated with decreased memory and concentration, increased risk of falls, cognitive decline, and higher rate of mortality. Inadequate sleep hygiene such as irregular sleep schedules, use of stimulants, and daytime naps may predispose to insomnia. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of insomnia among community dwelling elderly in Alexandria and to assess some of the risk factors and comorbid conditions related to insomnia. This is a cross-sectional study conducted among 380 elderly people taken from different clubs in Alexandria using a predesigned structured interview questionnaire. Data on sociodemographic characteristics, medical history, and personal and sleeping habits were collected. The Insomnia Severity Index was used to assess insomnia and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale was used to measure depression, anxiety, and stress. One-third [33.4%] of the elderly suffered from insomnia. On logistic regression, the most independent factors that were significantly associated with insomnia were number of chronic diseases [odds ratio [OR] = 7.25 for having >5 diseases], being female [OR = 2.37], anxiety [OR=1.91], watching television in bed before sleeping [OR=1.90], depression [OR=1.74], nocturia [OR=1.13], and daily sunlight exposure [OR=0.57]. Insomnia is a common problem among the elderly in Alexandria. Female sex, chronic diseases, mental health problems, and bad sleep hygiene practice increase the risk for insomnia. Improving knowledge among the elderly about the prevalence and risk factors of insomnia could help the development of effective public health prevention and intervention programs for better sleep quality

Sociodynamic profile of the elderly living in geriatric institutes in Alexandria

Living in geriatric institutes is not the optimum for the elderly. But under certain circumstances there will be no safe home for the elderly to live in. So they resort to living inside such institutes. The present study showed that the majority of residents at Bar Al Saada and Bar Al Hanaa were missing outside care giver. They showed economic dependency with a higher rate among females. Also, they did not have good original relation with their off springs. Most of the group were physically dependent. They restricted their outside movement after admission. The sociodynamic interaction inside the institute was found to be good. It was a compensation for lost companionship and enjoying shared life

Iron deficiency anemia in Dubai medical college for girls: a preliminary study

Iron deficiency anemia is still one of the major public health problems all over the world. Particularly in developing countries the complete ecological picture is not well established. All students in the first and second academic years of Dubai Medical College for Girls were included in the present study. The mean Hb was 12.83 +/- 1.49 and that for serum iron was 13.73 micro mol/L +/- 4.79. Anemia was detected among 24.62% of the group among which Arab Gulf Nationalities constituted 31.25%. Egyptians showed the highest prevalence of anemia [50%]. The study showed a significant effect of chronic blood loss whether menstrual or from any other cause upon the Rb level. Also living in the hostel away from parents and families was reflected upon their diet habits and had a significant reflection upon. the prevalence of anemia among the studied group

study of ecological factors affecting physical growth among urban and rural preschool children in Alexandria

The present study aimed at delineating the differences in the ecological factors that may predispose to malnutrition in urban and rural areas. This study was a cross-sectional study which was carried out in 3 day care centers in Alexandria showing 3 different socioeconomic standards and in Abbis 2 Health Centre after calling the children from their houses according to a statistical design. A group of 300 children aged 1-6 years were examined, 153 children from urban day care centers in Alexandria and 147 children from Abbis [2] village. The following results were observed: * High illiteracy rates among fathers and mothers in the rural area. * Among the urban group, 71.9% have pure water supply, compared only to 55.8% among the rural group. * Among the urban group, 100% have latrines and handwash basins compared to 78.9% in rural area. * Malnutrition started in the youngest age group [1-, 2- years] and decreased as the child gets older. * Urban group has higher rates of immunization than rural group. * PCM was more prevalent among rural group than urban group. * Improvement of socioeconomic level decreases cases of PCM in both groups. * The urban group has a lower rate of affection by nutritional deficiency diseases than rural group. Gastroenteritis and ear discharge were only found among the rural group during clinical examination. Mucopurulent conjunctivitis and skin infection highly affected the rural group. * Feeding practices were not favourable for good nutrition more in rural group than urban group

Determinants of food behaviour of old people in Alexandria

Cases were subjected to questionnaire interviewing and scoring of the answers was done. It was found that males had better knowledge than females, knowledge increases with increase level of education and with increase income per capita per month. Attitude towards food was better among males, better among cases living in smaller families and better with increase income per capita per month. The food intake practice was better among males, among cases with higher degree of education and among cases living in small families and among cases with higher income/capita/month. Knowledge, attitude, level of education, income/capita/month and state of denture constituted 67% of the overall factors that significantly [P< 0.01] affect the food intake practice as shown by the stepwise multiple regression analysis