Arabic version of the Major Depression Inventory as a diagnostic tool: reliability and concurrent and discriminant validity

The Major Depression Inventory [MDI] is a brief questionnaire to assess the presence of a depressive disorder. We prepared an Arabic version of the MDi and tested its reliability and concurrent and discriminant validity as a diagnostic tool of major depressive disorder. A group of 50 Egyptian outpatients with major depressive disorder [assessed clinically and with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-TR Axis 1 Disorders] were compared with 50 healthy controls using the MDI-A, Beck Depression Inventory [BDI] and Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory [STAI]. Cronbach a was 0.91 and intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.98 [95% Cl: 0.97-0.99]. Scores on the MDI-A strongly correlated with BDI scores [r - 0.81] but insignificantly correlated with STAI scores. Using the MDI scoring algorithm, the sensitivity was 88.4% and specificity 78.9%. We conclude that the MDI-A has an excellent reliability and an acceptable concurrent and discriminant validity

Methemoglobin level in infants and its relation to nitrate content in drinking water

Methemoglobin level in various infant age groups was determined Infant [1-18 months of age] living in Al-Haram area with a nitrate concentration in drinking water up to 65mg/L [as NO3-N] were examined for their methemoglobin level. Their methemoglobin levels ranged from 2.23% -10.33% of their total hemoglobin, compared to 0.35% -1.85% in case of controls.The increase in methemoglobin was associated with a low hemoglobin level. This was more prominent in infants under 6 months of age. Significant decrease in methemoglobin levels were noticed after administration of Vitamin C

Type of early feeding and IQ of children

I.Q.'s were measured in a sample of 185 children, aged three to six years, and in their parents, from middle social classes in an Egyptian governorate [Sharkiah]. The sample was composed of two groups, according to the type of the early feeding of children. Artificially-fed children [N=85] had a mean I.Q. score inferior to that of the breast-fed children [P< 0.001]. It was also inferior to their parental mean I.Q. score [P< 0.005]. Results are discussed, with an emphasis on the significance of the biochemical composition of milk

Anxiety in hysteria: an Egyptian clinical study

Conversion symptoms are traditionally thought to protect or defend the sufferer from anxiety. However, in this study, which was carried out in Zagazig, the capital of Sharkeyah Governorate, Egypt, 50 patents with hysterical neurosis were subjected to a detailed clinical study and assessed by the 'Anxiety and Depression Scale' [Shaheen and Rakhawy, 1970] before and one year after treatment of hysterical symptoms, and results showed that patients were experiencing anxiety, which was significantly more marked in these who would develop a sustained rather than episode hysteria. Thus, detection of severe anxiety in a case of hysteria is suggested to be of predictive importance. The suggestion to classify this series of patients with hysterical neurosis into two types, 'sustained' and 'episodic' derives a support from the statistical analysis which demonstrates a significant difference between 'sustained hysteria' group on a number of demographic and other variables. The level of anxiety and inadjustment in general, as assessed by the 'Anxiety and Depression Scale' was not improved by attempts to remove the hysterical symptoms. This suggests that, such management of hysteria seems not to "cure the disease" as advocated by other workers but to uncover the patient's anxiety