Journal of Health Scope
Volume:11 Issue: 2, May 2022

There is a high prevalence of suicidal behavior among Nigerian youths. However, the connections between suicidal behavior and precipitating factors, such as gambling disorder and emotional dysregulation (ED) in this population, are not well researched.

The present study examined the associations between gambling disorder, ED, and suicidal behavior in Nigerian university undergraduate students.

This study was carried out during October 2020 - April 2021 on 1338 undergraduates with a mean ± SD age of 19.84 ± 3.22 years selected using random and purposive sampling for the universities and participants respectively. Participants responded to the Attitudes Towards Gambling Scale, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, and Redeemer's University Suicidality Scale. Descriptive statistics (simple percentages) and inferential statistics (Pearson’s correlation and regression analysis) were used for data analysis.

The Pearson's correlation revealed that suicidal behaviour had significant positive correlations with the nonacceptance of emotional responses or distress (r = 0.22, P = 0), difficulties engaging in goal-directed behaviours (r = 0.21, P = 0), difficulties in impulse control (r = 0.27, P = 0), the lack of emotional awareness (r = 0.14, P = 0), limited access to emotional regulation strategies (r = 0.33, P = 0), the lack of emotional clarity (r = 0.32, P = 0), and difficulties in emotional regulation (r = 0.4, P = 0). Problematic gambling (PG) independently predicted suicidal behavior, while PG and ED dimensions jointly predicted suicidal behavior. The ED dimensions contributed 15% incrementally to the prediction of suicidal behavior and beyond the 2% variance accounted for PG in undergraduates.

Our results showed positive links between PG, ED, and suicidal behavior among Nigerian undergraduates. It suggests that the combination of PG and ED increases the severity of suicidal behavior among students.

The water crisis in different parts of the world forces people to manage water resources. Greywater can be used to reduce water stress. The annual rainfall average in Iran is hardly one-third of the world. In this study, the treatment of synthetic greywater at low, medium, and high organic load and real greywater (RGW) by a combined process of ozonation/granular activated carbon (GAC)/ultrafiltration (UF) have been investigated.

This study aimed to find a greywater treatment method that is effective, new, environment-friendly, and cost-effective.

Chemicals and commercial compounds were used to prepare synthetic greywater, and the research pilot was developed. After several preparation steps, the GAC was transferred to a GAC reactor. A continuous flow of synthetic greywater entered the treatment system with low: 6.1, medium: 12.2, and high: 18.3 gCOD/L.d organic loading rates for 6 months. Next, the RGW samples from a residential complex in Shiraz, Iran, entered the treatment system for two weeks. After chemical analysis, an analysis of variance was carried out to compare the removal efficiency of parameters: [chemical oxygen demand (COD), five-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), turbidity, and linear alkylbenzene sulfonates (LAS)] at various organic loads (low, medium, and high) of synthetic greywater and RGW.

We found the average COD removal in low, medium, and high organic loads of synthetic greywater and RGW as approximately 79.3%, 86.1%, 77.3%, and 97.3%, respectively. Moreover, the average BOD5 removal in the mentioned groups was about 69.6%, 48.9%, 42.7%, and 86.8%, respectively. The average of turbidity removal was 95.6%, 98.3%, 97.4%, and 97.9%, and average LAS removal was 90.1%, 88.9%, 88.3%, and 91.9%, respectively.

This treatment method is remarkable for real and synthetic greywater treatment. It can effectively remove COD, BOD5, turbidity, and LAS. In addition, it is a relatively low-cost and environment-friendly system. Therefore, it can be recommended as a greywater treatment method, especially in countries with inadequate water supplies, such as Iran.

Studies show that weakness in hazard perception is a major cause of traffic accidents, leading to high consequences.

This study aimed to design a valid and reliable driver’s Hazard Perception Test (HPT) based on neural imaging, reaction time, and miss rate in two groups of experienced and inexperienced drivers.

Different roads, including urban, intercity, and rural, were filmed from drivers’ visual angles to examine the real road conditions. All videos were screened according to some quality factors. Then, hazard onset was determined for screened videos. The validity of the test was performed in three steps. Miss rates and reaction times to hazardous situations were measured. In the second step, 35 selected videos were broadcasted to 16 experienced and 16 novice drivers on a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Finally, using 18 videos with statistically significant differences in neuro-cerebral neuronal activity, miss rate and reaction time were picked up for driver’s HPT.

The mean differences in reaction time, miss rate, and active neurons in the task of perceiving hazards in two groups of drivers were equal to 1.58 seconds, 29.55%, and 5248 neurons, respectively. There was a significant correlation between active neurons and miss rate (r = 0.556, P < 0.001). Eventually, the 18-videos of the valid test became HPT software.

Application of this valid test is suggested for assessing the hazard perception of drivers, particularly those who are responsible for transporting staff and goods in the studied country.

Direct out-of-pocket (OOP) and indirect healthcare payments can limit the household budget and cause several financial problems for the household.

This study aimed to measure the financial protection and determinants of catastrophic health expenditures (CHEs) for cancer treatment in Shahid Rahimi Hospital, Khorramabad, located in western Iran.

This study was conducted on 220 households of cancer patients in Lorestan Province, Iran. The framework of data collection was based on the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Health Survey. Interviews were conducted with individuals who met the inclusion criteria of this study; they were selected using a simple random sampling method. Data were analyzed using Chi-square test in STATA.

The present results showed that the incidence of CHEs and the fair financial contribution index (FFCI) were 70% and 86%, respectively. There was a significant relationship between the household CHEs and variables, such as supplementary insurance coverage, household income status, educational level of the household head, household size, age of the household head, type of cancer, and type of cancer treatment.

More financial protection should be provided for the families of cancer patients due to the high incidence of CHEs and unfair financing of cancer care services. Moreover, healthcare systems should consider supportive policies for cancer patients and their household members by increasing the insurance coverage and expanding service packages to reduce cancer treatment expenditures.

Context:

 Educational interventions on type 2 diabetes can have life-saving effects. A closer analysis of studies in this area contributes to well-designed interventions.

 We surveyed the effectiveness of interventional studies on type 2 diabetes in the last decade.

Data Sources:

 The research papers were obtained from PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, SID, and Magiran for Persian and English language studies between 2010 and 2019. The PRISMA checklist was used to select the studies for systematic reviews.

Study Selection:

 The criteria for article selection were experimental studies, quasi-experimental studies, clinical trials, and pre-treatment and post-treatment observations. Also, the exclusion criteria were case studies, short articles, cross-sectional studies, descriptive and analytic studies, letters to the editor, and systematic review papers. Finally, 24 studies (out of 1,374) were entered in our study.

Data Extraction:

 An interventional study checklist was used to report the standard of studies: (1) consolidated standards of reporting trials with 25 items; (2) checklist for experimental design with nine items; (3) checklist for quasi-experimental studies with nine items; and (4) transparent reporting of evaluations with non-randomized designs with 22 items.

 Twenty-four research papers entered the final analysis. Most studies were clinical trials with the intervention period ranging from one to 12 months. Patients were usually selected as the participants. The education interventions in most studies were lectures, questions/answers, group discussions, brainstorming, photo/film/slide display, group teaching, individual training, individual counseling, and group counseling. The main focus of the interventions was on physical activity and diet, with positive effects.

 Most interventions made on type 2 diabetes variables had positive effects. Therefore, it is recommended that in addition to diet and physical activity, other factors of type 2 diabetes be considered in educational interventions. Also, the most effective and appropriate teaching methods should be considered to prevent and control this disease.

Sleep hygiene habits are essential to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Sleep deprivation is a prevalent problem worldwide. Multiple studies have shown a high prevalence of sleep insufficiency among medical students due to high academic load, caffeine intake, and high-stress levels.

This study explores the relationship between sleep quality, academic performance, and psychological distress among medical students at Alfaisal University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

This cross-sectional study was conducted on medical students of all academic years at Alfaisal University, Riyadh. Two popular surveys – the PSQI and K10 - were used to assess sleep quality and psychological distress, respectively. In addition, the survey contained questions on socio-demographics and academic performance. Sociodemographic characteristics were assessed across groups having poor and good sleep quality. In multivariate analysis, we employed conscious variable selection to develop models. All statistical tests were two-sided at P < 0.05 as statistically significant.

A total of 241 respondents participated in the study. Most respondents reported poor sleep quality (75.93%). The highest psychological distress was reported among respondents with poor sleep quality (48.63%). The relationship between Kessler's Psychological Distress score and sleep quality score was significantly positive and linear (P < 0.0001). The mean PSQI score was higher in students with lower GPAs (1.50 - 2.99) than in those with higher GPAs (3.00 - 4.00). This shows that those students who sleep well perform academically better.

The quality of sleep among medical students is poor, which is associated with psychological distress and poor academic performance. It is highly suggested that the awareness of sleep hygiene with healthy sleep habits be campaigned among medical students. Also, academic mentors, program directors, and coordinators play a crucial role in ensuring that medical students are not academically overwhelmed.

Although appendicitis is the most common emergency abdominal surgical pathology in the pediatric age group, there are a limited number of publications in the literature on how appendicitis has affected patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study examined the effects of fear of being infected with COVID-19 and isolation measures on complications and morbidity in pediatric appendicitis cases.

This study was performed in the Department of Pediatric Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Health Sciences University, Şişli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey. Patients aged 18 years and younger who were operated on for appendicitis between 11 March 2019 and 11 May 2019 were classified as group 1, and patients aged 18 years and younger who were operated on for appendicitis between 11 March 2020 and 11 May 2020 (during the pandemic) were classified as group 2. Both groups were compared in terms of age, gender, symptoms, duration of symptoms, surgical method, duration of operation, length of hospital stay, and postoperative complications.

There were 85 patients in group 1 and 49 in group 2. The mean age was 11.5 ± 3.5 years in group 1 and 12.2 ± 3.0 years in group 2. While the mean hospital admission time for group 1 was 52.2 ± 38.5 hours, it was 50.2 ± 40.0 hours for group 2. The complicated appendicitis rates were 37% and 25% in group 1 and group 2, respectively. In group 1, 94.1% of the operations were completed laparoscopically, whereas, in group 2, this rate was 88.6%. The mean operation time was 64.0 ± 24.4 minutes in group 1 and 69.0 ± 33.0 minutes in group 2. The mean length of hospital stay was 2.9 ± 2.0 days in group 1 and 3.1 ± 3.40 days in group 2. The complication rate was 8.2% in group 1 and 11.4% in group 2.

Despite the isolation measures and the risk of virus transmission, the psychosocial effects of the pandemic did not prevent real emergency cases with appendicitis from visiting hospitals.