Workplace violence toward resident doctors in public hospitals of Syria: prevalence, psychological impact, and prevention strategies: a cross-sectional study.

INTRODUCTION: Workplace violence (WPV) against healthcare workers is a common and daily problem in hospitals worldwide. Studies in different countries indicated that exposure to WPV potentially impacts the psychological status of healthcare workers. However, there is a paucity of studies approaching this issue in the Syrian healthcare system. OBJECTIVES: This study had three objectives: (1) to estimate the prevalence of violence against resident doctors in Syria, (2) to examine the association between WPV and resident doctors' psychological stress, sleep quality, depression, and general health and (3) to suggest approaches to tackle this problem from the resident doctors' perspectives. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 8 out of 14 provinces, and covered 17 out of 56 accessible functioning hospitals in Syria. Data were collected using anonymous, self-administered questionnaires during February 2020. A total of 1226 resident doctors volunteered to participate in the study. Finally, 1127 valid questionnaires were used in the final data analysis. The overall response rate was 91.92%. RESULTS: A total of 955 participants (84.74%) reported exposure to WPV in the 12 months prior to the study. In specific, 84.74% exposed to verbal violence and 19.08% to physical violence. Patients' associates were the predominant aggressors in both verbal and physical violence (n = 856; 89.63%, n = 178; 82.79%, respectively). Most resident doctors (87.31%) suggested enacting more legislation to protect doctors as the best solution to reduce WPV. Verbal and physical violence showed a significant positive correlation with each item of depression and stress, and a significant negative correlation with both subjective sleep quality and subjective health. CONCLUSION: Workplace violence against resident doctors in Syria is highly common. Therefore, policymakers, hospital managers, and supervisors should work collaboratively in order to minimize WPV and ensure resident doctors' safety and psychophysical stability.

Diffuse Idiopathic calcinosis cutis: a case report in a 13-year-old Syrian boy.

Calcinosis cutis is characterized by the deposition of calcium salts in the skin and subcutaneous tissue. It is divided into the following subtypes: dystrophic, metastatic, iatrogenic, idiopathic and calciphylaxis. In this case, we report a 13-year-old Syrian boy with idiopathic calcinosis cutis, the lesions were unusually widespread, unlike the common condition which is usually localized to one area. The case was unrelated to any systemic or local disorders, and the patient had no complications, so no treatment was planned. As the best of our knowledge, there are very few cases of diffuse or widespread idiopathic calcinosis cutis. We analyzed the clinical, laboratory, radiographical and pathological characteristics of our patient, which helped us to reach the final diagnosis. We will discuss the pathogenesis, investigation and management of this disease.

The substantial awareness role of web-based and social media platforms in developing countries during a pandemic scenario: the example of COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: During the outbreak of coronavirus COVID-19, social media platforms have shown effectiveness in information dissemination. Delivering evidence-based medical knowledge and trustworthy recommendations is a difficult mission for classical entities, especially in a war-torn country with a fragile health system. In this context, the role of non-governmental scientific organizations was proven, filling the gap between original scientific sources and a non-English speaking population. METHODS: We reviewed an example of an organization named Syrian Researchers, which publishes based-on-reliable-sources of scientific content and has massive reachability across Middle East and beyond. RESULTS: We strongly believe that this model is a simple and suitable approach that may be helpful for other low-income or war-torn countries in the context of health-related disasters. CONCLUSIONS: This subject is of high importance and we believe that this approach may ameliorate public health knowledge, thus, participate in defying the COVID-19 consequences.

Ollier disease: the first report in Syria.

Ollier disease is a rare nonhereditary skeletal disorder, characterized by multiple enchondromas, which are noncancerous growth of cartilage. In this report, we present a case of Ollier disease in a 10-year-old Syrian boy. The patient presented with multiple boney masses on hands; he had a history of pathological fractures when he was 5, which caused crippling. We analyzed the clinical, radiographical and pathological characteristics of our patient, which helped us to reach the final diagnosis. Ollier disease is a benign bone tumor, but it has a risk of malignant transformation into chondrosarcoma. The aim of this report is to document the presence of Ollier disease in Syria to help other Syrian physicians considering this disease in the differential diagnosis if they face similar presentations.