Assessment and referral of patients with short stature by primary care physicians in the Arabian gulf region: Current perspectives from a regional survey.

Children with short stature are frequently referred late to pediatric endocrinologists in the Arabian Gulf region. This is likely a contributing factor to late initiation of treatment despite current evidence suggesting that children with short stature have better outcomes with earlier treatment. This delay in referral could be due to a lack of identification or proper assessment of short stature by front-line physicians. To analyze the assessment and perception of short stature in this group of physicians, an expert group of pediatric endocrinologists developed and disseminated an anonymous online survey of 22 multiple choice questions amongst general pediatricians, pediatric subspecialists, and family medicine physicians in the Arabian Gulf region. Of the 640 respondents, 450 completed the survey (70.3% completion rate). While most surveyed physicians use the correct definition for short stature in children, only 24% reported a consistent use of a wall-mounted stadiometer. Of the respondents, 50% or less would consider referring clinical conditions other than growth hormone (GH) deficiency or idiopathic short stature, 41% would refer a child with short stature as soon as height dropped below the 5th percentile, 57% considered GH a treatment option for short stature, and only 60% consider GH treatment safe. The results of this survey demonstrate knowledge gaps in short stature assessment and referral that need to be addressed through education on short stature amongst target physicians, and lay groundwork for future recommendations to address those gaps in the Arabian Gulf region.

The effect of home-based aerobic training and vitamin D supplementation on fatigue and quality of life in patients with multiple sclerosis during COVID-19 outbreak.

Objectives: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common neurological disease that causes disability in the nervous system, which reduces the quality of life (QoL). Studies have shown positive effects of therapeutic exercise with supplementation on motor- and cognitive function, fatigue, and QoL in individuals with MS. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of home-based aerobic training (AT) and vitamin D (Vit D) supplementation on fatigue and QoL in patients with MS during the COVID-19 outbreak. Equipment and methods: We recruited 40 females (20-40 years) with MS (EDSS: 3-5). The subjects were then randomly assigned to one of four groups: AT (n = 9; 50-75 percent, 20-40 minutes per day, three days per week), Vit D supplementation (Vit D; n = 9; 50,000 IU one day per week), AT plus Vit D supplementation (AT + Vit D; n = 10), and sedentary control (C; n = 10 placebo). The data were analyzed using paired t-test and one-way analysis of variance and Tukey's post hoc test using SPSS 26 at a significance level of P < 0.05. Results: After eight weeks of intervention, fatigue grade markedly reduced in the AT + Vit D, AT, and Vit D groups); However, fatigue increased in the control group. QoL increased significantly in AT + Vit D, AT, and Vit D compared to C. Also, the results show that the AT + Vit D had significantly higher QoL than AT and Vit D. These findings suggest that therapeutic AT and Vit D supplementation effectively reduces fatigue and improves the QoL in female MS patients.

Objectifs: La sclérose en plaques (SEP) est la maladie neurologique la plus courante, et elle entraîne des troubles neurologiques qui impactent négativement la qualité de vie (QdV). Des études ont montré des effets positifs de l'exercice associé à une supplémentation sur les fonctions motrices et cognitives, la fatigue et la qualité de vie chez les personnes atteintes de SEP. Le but de cette étude était d'étudier l'effet d'un entraînement aérobie réalisé à domicile (AT) et d'une supplémentation en vitamine D (Vit D) sur la fatigue et la qualité de vie de patientes atteintes de SEP pendant l'épidémie de COVID-19. Matériel et méthodes: Nous avons recruté 40 femmes (20 à 40 ans) atteintes de SEP (EDSS: 3­5). Les sujets ont ensuite été répartis au hasard dans l'un des quatre groupes: AT (n = 9; 50­75 %, 20­40 minutes par jour, trois jours par semaine), supplémentation en vitamine D (Vit D ; n = 9 ; 50 000 UI un jour par semaine), AT plus vitamine D (AT + Vit D ; n = 10) et contrôle sédentaire (C ; n = 10 placebo). Les données ont été analysées à l'aide d'un test t pour valeurs appariesé, d'une analyse de variance à un facteur complété par un test post hoc de Tukey à l'aide de SPSS 26 avec un niveau de signification fixé à p < 0,05. Résultats: Après huit semaines d'intervention, le degré de fatigue est nettement réduit dans les groupes AT + Vit D, AT et Vit D) ; Par contre, la fatigue a augmenté dans le groupe témoin. La qualité de vie a augmenté de manière significative dans AT + Vit D, AT et Vit D par rapport à C. De plus, les résultats montrent que l'AT + Vit D avait une qualité de vie significativement meilleure que AT et Vit D. Ces résultats suggèrent que la supplémentation thérapeutique en AT et Vit D réduit la fatigue et améliore la qualité de vie chez les femmes atteintes de SEP.

Effect of final evaluation on job motivation from the perspective of nurses in Ahvaz Hospitals in 2012.

Background: Increasing nurses' motivation is among the most important and complex nursing duties. Performance evaluation system could be used as a means to improve the quantity and quality of the human resources. Therefore, current research objected to evaluate the effect of final evaluation on job motivation from the perspective of nurses in Ahvaz hospitals according to Herzberg scheme. Methods: This investigation conducted in 2012. Research population included nurses in Ahvaz educational hospitals. The sample size was calculated 120 and sampling was performed based on classification and random sampling. Research instrument was a self-made questionnaire with confirmed validity through content analysis and Cronbach's alpha calculated at 0.94. Data examined utilizing ANOVA, T-Test, and descriptive statistics. Results: The nurses considered the final evaluation on management policy (3.2 ± 1.11) and monitoring (3.15 ± 1.15) among health items and responsibility (3.15 ± 1.15) and progress (3.06 ± 1.24) among motivational factors relatively effective. There was a significant association between scores of nurses' views in different age and sex groups (P = 0.01), but there was no significant association among respondents in educational level and marital status. Conclusion: Experienced nurses believed that evaluation has little effect on job motivation. If annual assessment of the various job aspects are considered, managers could use it as an efficient tool to motivate nurses.

Home-based versus center-based care in children with cerebral palsy: a cost-effectiveness analysis.

The rehabilitation services for children with cerebral palsy are provided in two forms: home-based care and center-based care. The aim of this research was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the home-based accordance with the center-based care for kids with cerebral palsy. In this cost-effectiveness research, 56 children under 12 years old were assigned randomly to two rehabilitation programs: (1) clinic-based rehabilitation services (CBRS); and (2) home-based rehabilitation services (HBRS). Data were collected by two questionnaires: a strong life quality survey of children with cerebral palsy (CP QOL-Child) and medical and non-medical costs' checklists. Finally, the incremental expense-efficacy rate (ICER) was used to determine the further expenses of one unit of the quality of life gained by CBRS compared with HBRS. The mean costs per patients for the home-based care group were less than the ones for the clinic-based care unit (US$ 660.3 vs. US$ 933.8). The costs of the rehabilitation services and transportation were the main costs in the two patients' groups. The quality of life for cases in the home-based care group was better than the one of the clinic-based care team. The results showed that the home-based care method was more cost-effective than the centre-based care approach in children with cerebral palsy. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was calculated at about US$ 2.6. The conclusion was that home-based care centers were more cost-effective than the centre-based care centers for children with cerebral palsy. Therefore, it was suggested that the health policy makers pay more attention to developing home-based care strategy in physically challenged children.

Evaluation of epididymal sperm quality following experimentally induced copper poisoning in male rats.

The trace element copper has been identified as a highly toxic element for spermatozoa. Our goal in this study was to assess relationship between copper poisoning and semen quality parameters. In this study, sixty male Wistar albino rats weighing 200-240 g (3.5-4 months old) were divided into three different groups of twenty rats as follows: the first group (Group 100), which was treated by gavage with copper sulphate at a dose of 100 mg kg(-1) day(-1) for 8 weeks; the second group (Group 200), which received 200 mg kg(-1) day(-1) copper sulphate by gavage during experimental period (56 days); and the control group (Group C), which received the same volume of distilled water by gavage during experimental period. The blood, semen and histopathological samples were obtained from five cases of 20 animals of each group every 2 weeks at 2, 4, 6 and 8th week. Results showed that sperm concentration, motility and viability in group 100 and 200 were significantly decreased (P < 0.05) in comparison with group C. A significant decrease in sperm concentration, motility and viability indicates the possibility of adverse effect of copper poisoning on male fertility. Copper might be mediator of the effect of oxidative damage and play an essential role in spermatogenesis and male infertility.