ABSTRACT
Purpose: The aim of this manuscript was to assess the epidemiology and clinical features of Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF-1) based on the newly published revised NF-1 diagnostic criteria and to evaluate complications of NF-1 including neurodevelopmental disorders. Patients and methods: A retrospective cross-sectional observational study was conducted in the Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs (MNGHA) healthcare organization branches including four tertiary hospitals and 51 primary health care centers in different regions in Saudi Arabia. This study included all patients diagnosed with NF1 using the revised NIH diagnostic criteria published in 2021 that were registered at the electronic medical records (EMR) from 2015 to 2021. Results: A total of 184 patients fulfilled the diagnostic criteria and were included in this study. The median age at diagnosis was 11 years (IQR: 4.00-20.25). The most encountered diagnostic criteria in this study were Café-au-lait macules (85.3%), and (42.9%) were found to have two or more neurofibromas with plexiform neurofibroma being the most common subtype (23.36%), approximately (36.4%) of the patient with optic pathway glioma. Nearby (26.6%) of the patients displayed different type of tumors. Iris Lisch nodules were presented in 36.4% of patients at a median age of 12 years (IQR: 9.0-21.8). Cardiovascular abnormality was encountered in 9.8% of the patients. Around 27.7% of the patients reported headache and 11.4% of the patient suffered from different type of epilepsy. Besides, 10.5% of the patients had intellectual disability, 33.8% suffered from communication disorders, and 4.9% patients had ADHD. Conclusion: The results of this study will enable practitioners to adopt a more holistic approach and prioritize numerous attributes, which they can subsequently incorporate into their therapeutic methodologies. Furthermore, the identification of these attributes will facilitate an expeditious and accurate diagnosis. Hence, the implementation of intervention during its nascent phase may result in a more advantageous consequence.
ABSTRACT
CONTEXT: Headaches can negatively impact children's quality of life. Nevertheless, data on the parental awareness of childhood headache is very limited. AIM: The objective was to estimate the prevalence of childhood headaches and parental awareness of headaches among their elementary school children. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A cross-sectional study was conducted among parents who were shopping in five malls in Riyadh between March and July 2019. METHODS AND MATERIAL: Data were collected using a self-completed questionnaire, which included data on socio-demographic characteristics of the parents and their children, the presence of headache in children, and parental awareness about headache susceptibility, possible causes, associated symptoms, and management. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed as appropriate using the software SPSS. RESULTS: A total of 292 parents were included. The majority were mothers (75.3%) in the age range of 26-45 years (83.2%). Approximately 62.3% of the parents reported headaches in their children. Approximately 47.6% of the headaches were attributed to "the use of electronic devices". The overall parental awareness of headaches was 55.1%, with scores being highest for management questions (67.0%) and lowest for susceptibility questions (45.4%). In a multivariate logistic regression analysis adjusted for socio-demographic characteristics, parental awareness was positively associated with the presence of children with headaches in the family and negatively associated with Saudi nationality of the children. CONCLUSIONS: Parental awareness of childhood headache is insufficient. There is a need to increase the awareness of parents about childhood headaches and the problems associated with heavy electronic device use.
