Obesity and low back pain.

Obesity and low back pain (LBP) are common health problems among patients attending Primary Health Care (PHC) in general practice at the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The objective of this study was to determine whether obesity is associated with low back pain. A cross-sectional face-to-face interview questionnaire survey was conducted. The questionnaire was a modified version of the Roland-Morris Scale for evaluating back disability. The interviews were conducted in Arabic by qualified nurses. A multi-stage stratified sample 1,103 UAE national aged 25-65 years, who attended PHC clinics for any reason, were invited to participate but only 802 subjects were eligible to be included for the statistical analysis. The data were analyzed using univariate and multivariate statistical methods. Of the 802 subjects, 428 (53.4%) were males and 374 (46.6%) were females. The mean age of the males was 40.5 +/- 11.5 years and females was 38.2 +/- 10.5 years (p = 0.004). The mean BMI of the males was 26.4 +/- 7.4 and females was 27.8 +/- 5.6 (p = 0.002). The overall prevalence of LBP in the present study was 64.9% (95% confidence interval, 61.0-68.8) and respectively, 56.1% in males and 73.8% in females. The results revealed that there was association between BMI and some socio-demographic variables with the respect of with low back pain. Back pain had more influence on the life style habits on females than in males. Stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that only age (p < 0.0001), educational level (p = 0.001), gender (p = 0.002), place of living (p = 0.019), BMI (p < 0.0001), and housing condition (p = 0.02) had significant effect on the presence of LBP in patients. The present study showed that obesity is moderately associated with low back pain.

Seroprevalence of antibodies to repetitive domains of Plasmodium vivax circumsporozoite protein in United Arab Emirates children.

The aim of this study was to determine the exposure of child citizens of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Plasmodium vivax, and to elucidate if it was related to place of residence or previous international travel to malaria-endemic areas. Blood samples were collected from 1010 primary schoolchildren resident in 7 out of 9 districts of the UAE during October and November 1999. Plasma samples were tested for antibodies against MAP4 (DGQPAGDR)3P2P30, a multiple antigen peptide containing the repeat amino acid sequences of P. vivax circumsporozoite protein (CSP), conjugated to 2 T-helper epitopes, P2 (QYIKANSKFIGITE) and P30 (FNNFTVSFWLRVPKVSASHLE) from tetanus toxin. For confirmation of P. vivax-specific reactivity, positive samples were further tested against (AGDR)6, a synthetic peptide containing 6 copies of a protective epitope within the CSP, and against a recombinant CSP, designated as NS1(81)V20. Results indicated that 3.3% of the children were seropositive. The seropositivity rates differed significantly in relation to place of residence, whereas travel outside the UAE did not significantly affect the exposure rates to P. vivax.