ABSTRACT
Background Childhood obesity is a worldwide public health epidemic. Sedentary lifestyles and unhealthy dietary patterns increased the rates of overweight and obesity among children. This study aimed to (1) estimate healthy behaviors (including dietary patterns and physical activity) and (2) determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity among Saudi school-aged children in the Qassim region, Saudi Arabia. Methods A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted among Saudi schoolchildren aged between five and 16 years old. The study group consisted of 339 children including 237 males and 102 females. Data were collected using a questionnaire based on the Health Behavior in School-Aged Children (HBSC) survey. Body mass index (BMI) for age and gender was computed for each child using the AnthroPlus 2007 software (World Health Organization {WHO}, Geneva, Switzerland). Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.0 (IBM SPSS Statistics, Armonk, NY) was used for data analyses. Results The prevalence of overweight and obesity among Saudi children was 46 (13.6%) and 81 (23.9%), respectively. Males consumed more soft drinks and energy drinks, whereas females consumed more fruit juice. As children grew older, the consumption of unhealthy food and beverages increased. Males engaged in more daily physical activity compared to females. Conclusion Saudi schoolchildren (aged 5-16 years) demonstrated significant gender-specific variations in dietary patterns and levels of physical activity. A significant proportion of Saudi children were overweight or obese. The study highlighted the complex relationship between age, school class, gender, and health behaviors among Saudi school-aged children. Policymakers and parents could benefit from the understanding of such complex relationships to promote healthy behaviors among school-aged children.
ABSTRACT
The T-box 3 (TBX3) transcription factor has been shown to serve multiple roles in normal development. Recent findings have revealed that TBX3 is overexpressed in different types of carcinomas, including breast, cervical, ovarian, melanoma, pancreatic, lung, liver, bladder, head and neck. Therefore, the present study investigated the significance of TBX3 as a diagnostic marker of breast cancer. To achieve this aim, breast cancer samples and their adjacent normal tissues were collected from 51 breast cancer patients from the European Gaza hospital during 2015-2016. Sections from each sample were immune-stained by anti-TBX3 and suitable secondary and tertiary antibodies. TBX3 levels were evaluated in cancerous and normal samples. Clinicopathological data for each patient were documented. The correlation between TBX3 levels and the clinicopathological parameters were statistically tested. The results revealed that TBX3 is significantly overexpressed in breast cancer tissues when compared with normal tissues. Furthermore, TBX3 was mainly a cytoplasmic protein in normal and breast cancer tissues. Notably, TBX3 levels exhibited a sensitivity of 78.4%, specificity of 79.6%, accuracy of 79% and area under the curve of 0.791 (0.700-0.882) at a cut-off value=9 as breast cancer marker. However, no significant associations were observed between TBX3 levels and other breast cancer markers including oestrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, cancer antigen 15-3 and breast cancer stages. Altogether, these results suggested that TBX3 overexpression may be a potential biomarker for breast cancer.
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AIM: In this study, we aimed to assess the level of good glycemic control, to determine association between adherence to antidiabetic medications and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and to examine factors influencing good glycemic control. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional design was employed among 369 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) from four Ministry of Health health centers in 2016. A sample of 3 ml blood was taken to measure the HbA1c, and patients were asked to fill out a pretested questionnaire. Univariate and multivariate logistic regressions, to identify independent factors associated with good glycemic control, were conducted using SPSS software version 22 (IBM Corp, Armonk, NY, USA). RESULTS: Mean [±standard deviation (SD)] of HbA1c was 8.97 (2.02) and one fifth of patients had good glycemic control (HbA1c ⩽ 7%). Factors associated with good glycemic control were: older age [odds ratio (OR) = 0.96, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.933-0.988), high medication adherence (OR: 2.757, 95% CI: 1.308-4.693), and better health literacy (OR= 2.124, 95% CI: 1.917-4.921). Duration of diabetes mellitus (DM > 7 years) was inversely related to good glycemic control (OR = 2.255, 95% CI: 1.189-4.276). CONCLUSION: Our study showed that glycemic control was suboptimal, and factors associated with that were: older age, high medication adherence, and better health literacy. Knowledge of these factors could be an entry toward helping patients and targeting interventions to improve glycemic control and prevent diabetes-related complications.
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AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate the adherence to anti-diabetic medications among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) seeking medical care in the Gaza Strip, Palestine. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 369 primary care patients with type 2 DM from October to December 2016. Adherence to medications was measured using the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-4). Socio-demographic and clinical variables, provider-patient relationship, health literacy, and health belief were examined for each patient. Univariate, binary logistic regression and multiple linear regression were applied to determine the independent factors influencing adherence to anti-diabetic medications using SPSS version 22. RESULTS: Of all the respondents, 214 (58%), 146 (39.5%), and nine (2.5%) had high (MMAS score = 0), medium (MMAS score = 1 + 2), and low (MMAS score ≥ 3) adherence to anti-diabetic medications, respectively. Factors that were independently associated with adherence to anti-diabetic medications were as follows: female gender [odds ratio (OR): 1.657, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.065-2.578] and perception of disease's severity (OR: 1.510, 95% CI: 0.410-5.560). Elderly (t = 1.345) and longer duration of DM (t = 0.899) were also predictors of adherence but showed no statistical significance (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The level of complete adherence to anti-diabetic medications was sub-optimal. New strategies that aim to improve patients' adherence to their therapies are necessary taking into consideration the influencing factors and the importance of having diabetes educators in the primary care centers.
ABSTRACT
CONTEXT: The number of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is progressively increasing, and diabetic cardiovascular complications have become a public health problem. Brain or B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) is a cardiac hormone synthesized as a pre-pro-peptide. pro-BNP is produced by cleaving the signal peptide then two proprotein convertases, corin and furin cleave pro-BNP to form a biologically active hormone. Two corin single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been reported to alter corin protein conformation and impair its biological activity. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to investigate the potential role of corin and furin in comparison to BNP as biomarkers for predicting cardiovascular complications in T2DM patients. The association of corin gene SNPs with corin levels was also examined. METHODS: Seventy-five subjects were recruited in this study, including 25 T2DM patients with complications, 25 T2DM patients without complications as well as 25 healthy subjects. Plasma BNP, corin and furin levels were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Two corin SNPs were genotyped using allele specific oligonucleotide-polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: Both furin and BNP were found to be more sensitive than corin (80% versus 56%, p = 0.008), whereas furin showed higher specificity when compared to BNP (96% versus 84%, p = 0.041) and corin (96% versus 64%, p < 0.0001) in predicting cardiovascular complications in T2DM patients. Corin SNPs are not associated with corin levels, neither in the entire study cohort nor in the subgroup of T2DM patients with cardiovascular complications (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Furin may be useful, either alone or in combination with other biomarkers, for cardiovascular risk stratification assessment in T2DM patients.
