Road traffic injuries in Rawalpindi city, Pakistan

Data on road traffic accident [RTA] injuries and their outcome are scarce in Pakistan. This study assessed patterns of RTA injuries reported in Rawalpindi city using standard surveillance methods. All RTA injury patients presenting to emergency departments of 3 tertiary care facilities from July 2007 to June 2008 were included. RTA injuries [n=19 828] accounted for 31.7% of all injuries. Among children aged 0-14 years females suffered twice as many RTA injuries as males [21.3% versus 11.4%], whereas this trend reversed for the age group 15-24 years [41.9% versus 21.7%]. One-fifth of injuries were either fractures or concussion. Severity and outcome of injuries were worse for the age group 45 years and older. For every road traffic death in Rawalpindi city, 29 more people were hospitalized and 177 more received emergency department care. These results suggest the need for better RTA injury surveillance to identify preventive and control measures for the increasingly high road disease burden in this city

clinical utiliy of serum uric acid measurement in pre-eclampsia

To evaluate the accuracy of serum uric acid to predict maternal and fetal complications in women with pre-eclampsia. Prospective study. Setting: Tikrit Teaching Hospital. Fifty normtensive and forty-three pre-eclamptic pregnant women at [20-24] weeks of gestation were the study subject, serum concentrations of uric acid were measured and examine the correlations, between serum uric acid level with fetal and maternal complicatipons. Serum concentration of uric acid in pre-eclamptic women significantly highr than in gestrational age match normotensive pregnant women, and women with pre-eclampsia and elevated uric acid concentration at increased risk of low birth weight, preterm delivery and cesarean, delivery compared with each condtion an absence of hyperuricemia. Hypervricemia consider a good predictor to select group of pre-eclamptic women with high risk for fetal and maternal complications

Risk factors in schizophrenia - A case control study

to examine local risk factors attributed to the development of schizophrenia in northern Iraq; which will be essential for planning an effective programme. Study design: A case control study. Setting: Al-Zahrawy hospital in Mosul. Iraq Study period: from 1st January to 30th June 2000. Participants: Cases are schizophrenic patients of both sexes who were attending the Psychiatric Clinic of the hospital. Controls are patients attended the same hospital for diseases other than psychiatric illnesses. A total of [104] cases and [116] control were selected. The disease was significantly prevalent among males In the age group of < 25 years, and among females in the age group of [25-44] years. Family history among parents, brothers, sisters and relatives was significantly common in cases than controls. Early age of onset was significantly among those with a positive family history. Pre-eclampsia and difficult labour are significantly associated and strongly related to the disease development; while no association was observed regarding cesarean section. Childhood and developmental abnormalities, CNS infections and accidents were significantly associated with schizophrenia. Also stressful life events, being single or divorced, were also strongly related to the development of the disease. Conclusions: Various risk factors were found to be significantly reated to the development of schizophrenia. Other factors were either not related to the disease development like cesarean section or act as a protective factor to it, like marriage. Futher investigations of these factors are required to evaluate their role in the disease development in locality