ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To study the role of gender in coping with disability in young visually impaired students attending two schools for blindness. METHODS: The WHO Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS II), 36-Item Interviewer Administered translated Arabic version was used. It evaluates six domains of everyday living in the last 30 days. These domains are: understanding and communicating, getting around, self care, getting along with people, household activities and participation in society. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 200 students who represented the target population of the study. RESULTS: Binary logistic regression analysis of the scores of the six domains revealed that in all of the domains except getting along with people and coping with school activities, females significantly faced more difficulties in coping with daily life activities than did their male counterparts. Increasing age significantly increased difficulties in coping with school activities. Genetic causes of blindness were associated with increased difficulties. CONCLUSION: Females face more difficulties in coping with visual disability. Genetic counselling is needed to decrease the prevalence of visual disability. Girls with blindness need additional inputs to help cope with blindness. Early intervention facilitates dealing with school activities of the visually impaired.
Subject(s)
Blindness/rehabilitation , Disabled Persons/rehabilitation , Activities of Daily Living , Adaptation, Psychological , Adolescent , Blindness/etiology , Blindness/psychology , Child , Cross-Sectional Studies , Disability Evaluation , Disabled Persons/psychology , Female , Humans , Male , Psychometrics , Regression Analysis , Sex Factors , World Health OrganizationABSTRACT
A cross-sectional multistage stratified cluster survey of 1798 Kuwaiti male adults investigated the relationship between health locus of control (HLC) beliefs, health beliefs about smoking and smoking status. Non-smokers had stronger external HLC and better health beliefs about smoking than smokers. Thus the Kuwaiti men who used tobacco believed themselves to be more in control of their own lives than did non-users. Stepwise logistic regression analysis revealed that low HLC, poor health beliefs about smoking, single marital status and low level of education were significant predictors of risk of smoking. Simple linear regression analysis showed a significant negative relationship between HLC and health beliefs about smoking among non-smokers and ex-smokers, but not among smokers.
Subject(s)
Attitude to Health , Internal-External Control , Men/psychology , Smoking/psychology , Adult , Analysis of Variance , Case-Control Studies , Cluster Analysis , Cross-Sectional Studies , Educational Status , Employment/psychology , Government , Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , Health Surveys , Humans , Kuwait , Life Style , Linear Models , Logistic Models , Male , Men/education , Models, Psychological , Smoking/adverse effects , Socioeconomic Factors , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
A cross-sectional multistage stratified cluster survey of 1798 Kuwaiti male adults investigated the relationship between health locus of control [HLC] beliefs, health beliefs about smoking and smoking status. Non-smokers had stronger external HLC and better health beliefs about smoking than smokers. Thus the Kuwaiti men who used tobacco believed themselves to be more in control of their own lives than did non-users. Stepwise logistic regression analysis revealed that low HLC, poor health beliefs about smoking, single marital status and low level of education were significant predictors of risk of smoking. Simple linear regression analysis showed a significant negative relationship between HLC and health beliefs about smoking among non-smokers and ex-smokers, but not among smokers