Research on psychosocial aspects of asthma in the Arab world: a literature review.

The importance of psychosocial factors in the management of bronchial asthma has long been recognized. This paper offers a review of research published in the English language related to psychosocial aspects of bronchial asthma in Arab countries. Several databases (PubMed, Science Direct, Springer Link, ERIC, and PsychInfo) were searched using the following keywords: bronchial asthma, Arab countries, Algiers, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine (West Bank, Gaza), Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Sudan, Somalia; United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Thirty-two studies were conducted in 9 Arab countries. Almost all studies found were published in the last fourteen years with an apparent increasing rate in the last five years. In descending order, these studies addressed: knowledge of and attitudes toward asthma, quality of life, behavioral and emotional problems and factors related to academic achievement. The main results of the studies reviewed were: (a) physicians', school staff's, and parents' knowledge of and attitudes toward asthma were generally unsatisfactory, (b) in-service asthma education programs significantly impacted parent and staff knowledge and attitudes, and asthma management practices, (c) quality of life in children and adolescents was significantly adversely affected by asthma, (d) asthma was a common cause of school absenteeism, and had a significant negative impact on academic achievement of students, and (e) students with asthma had significantly higher rates of behavioral and emotional difficulties compared to students without asthma. The paper concludes with a discussion about the implications of these results and a call for further research in this area.

Research on psychosocial aspects of epilepsy in Arab countries: a review of literature.

This study reviewed research conducted on the psychological aspects of epilepsy in Arab countries. Several databases (Medline, PubMed, Science Direct, Springer Link, and PsycInfo) were searched using the following two sets of search words: (1) Arab, Jordan, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Yemen, Tunisia, Libya, Morocco, Algiers, Palestine, Mauritania, Djibouti, Sudan, Comoros, and Somalia; and (2) epilepsy, seizure disorders, and convulsive disorders. Fifty-one studies were conducted in 12 Arab states. Social/emotional, employment, and other problems; knowledge and attitudes; and quality of life (QOL) were the most commonly measured parameters of psychosocial aspects of epilepsy in Arab countries. Results revealed elevated levels of depression and anxiety, a decline in cognitive function, various behavioral problems, sexual dysfunction, and underemployment among persons with epilepsy (PWE). Misconceptions about epilepsy were found to be prevalent. While many studies reported limited knowledge of epilepsy, some studies found an average knowledge. Negative attitudes toward epilepsy were reported in most studies, and moderately positive attitudes were reported in some studies. Finally, PWE showed low overall QOL scores in the majority of studies.