Trends of Obesity and Overweight among College Students in Oman : A cross sectional study

Objectives: Body mass index (BMI), total body fat (TBF), and physical activity in relation to obesity and overweight prevalence among Omani students were studied. Methods: A cross-sectional study of 202 Omani students (101 males and 101 females) from Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) was carried out. Data were collected by interview using a structured questionnaire. Weight, TBF and physical activity score (PAS) were measured using TANITA scales, and height measured using a standardised measuring tape. Results: Subjects were classified based on BMI as: underweight (2.48%), normal weight (69.31%), overweight (26.73%) and obese (1.49%). According to TBF, 32.67% of students had low body fat scores (BFS), 26.73% high BFS and 22.28% very high BFS. Low BFS was insignificantly less likely with the increase in the mean hours of weekly exercising, (odds ratio [OR] = 0.708; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.448, 1.119) and the PAS (OR = 0.728; 95% CI= 0.562, 0.944). Among high and very high BFS students, the mean hours of weekly exercising (6.73±1.20) and physical activity scores (7.51±1.67) were higher than those of healthy students. Nutrition knowledge was higher among healthy students compared to low BFS, and high and very high BFS subjects. Higher nutrition knowledge was associated with a non-significant lower risk of low BFS (OR = 0.986; 95% CI = 0.958, 1.015), high and very high BFS (OR = 0.984; 95% CI = 0.961, 1.008). Conclusion: High and very high BFS were prevalent among subjects with sedentary lifestyles. Nutritional and physical activity interventions should be introduced to combat the problem of overweight students

EFL Teachers’ Phonological Awareness Beliefs and Practices: Help or Prevent EFL Children Developing Reading

EFL teachers’ proficiency seems to contribute to the reading difficulties that early graders encounter. This paper investigates the knowledge, beliefs, practices and awareness in phonological awareness (PA) of two-hundred and ten ramdonly selected EFL in-service teachers and then examines the impact of teachers’ experiences, qualifications, and gender on shaping teachers’ instruction. The researchers used a four-section survey to collect teachers’ demographic information, perceived and actual knowledge of phonological awareness and classroom practices related to PA, phonics, and syllabication. The results reported teachers as moderate level in the beliefs, practice and awareness of PA. In terms of teachers’ knowledge in PA, however, results showed teachers lacking the basics in teaching reading. Implications for EFL teacher education and preparation are highlighted. Keywords: EFL, in-service teachers, deficits, reading, phonological awareness. DOI: 10.7176/JEP/10-12-09 Publication date: April 30th 201

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

Summary Background Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. Methods We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung’s disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. Findings We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung’s disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middleincome countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in lowincome countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. Interpretation Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between lowincome, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030

STUDENT WELLBEING & OVERALL PERFORMANCE IN HIGHER EDUCATION A study of undergraduate students in Kuwait

Purpose: This exploratory research aims to investigate indicators of student wellbeing amongst undergraduates in higher education. By using the College Student Subjective Wellbeing Questionnaire (CSSWQ) the research hopes to gain insight on possible psychological implications and correlations between wellbeing and grades. Although there is a plethora of information on the matter – some of which insinuates that a positive correlation is likely, there is a dearth of research conducted on students in the Middle East when it comes to psychology and overall wellbeing particularly throughout their higher education journey. Research Contribution: This research is the first of its to investigate a possible correlation between scores of CSSWQ and performance measured by grades. When it comes to mental health and overall wellbeing, little attention is given as the region generally falls behind in awareness and investigation. Moreover, the unfolding stress of the pandemic not only calls for this type of research, but also makes it essential for policy makers &amp; managers in the education field. Assessment Tool: The CSSWQ, a 15-item self-report instrument for assessing youths’ subjective wellbeing at school, includes four constructs: school connectedness, academic efficacy, college gratitude &amp; academic satisfaction – along with a second order construct (college student covitality). Findings: From the research findings, it can be concluded that the CSSWQ survey grades are not correlated with final grades. The findings are important in that they dispel some preconceived notions that students who obtain better grades are considered as having a better overall wellbeing. It is essential for policy makers and educators to consider these findings in order to provide the proper support for students who need it. Also, psychologists can benefit from the findings as they shed the limelight on educational cognitive behavior

Public Health Surveillance Systems in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: Bibliometric Analysis of Scientific Literature

BackgroundThe Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) hosts some of the world’s worst humanitarian and health crises. The implementation of health surveillance in this region has faced multiple constraints. New and novel approaches in surveillance are in a constant state of high and immediate demand. Identifying the existing literature on surveillance helps foster an understanding of scientific development and thus potentially supports future development directions. ObjectiveThis study aims to illustrate the scientific production, quantify the scholarly impact, and highlight the characteristics of publications on public health surveillance in the EMR over the past decade. MethodsWe performed a Scopus search using keywords related to public health surveillance or its disciplines, cross-referenced with EMR countries, from 2011 to July 2021. Data were exported and analyzed using Microsoft Excel and Visualization of Similarities Viewer. Quality of journals was determined using SCImago Journal Rank and CiteScore. ResultsWe retrieved 1987 documents, of which 1927 (96.98%) were articles or reviews. There has been an incremental increase in the number of publications (exponential growth, R2=0.80) over the past decade. Publications were mostly affiliated with Iran (501/1987, 25.21%), the United States (468/1987, 23.55%), Pakistan (243/1987, 12.23%), Egypt (224/1987, 11.27%), and Saudi Arabia (209/1987, 10.52%). However, Iran only had links with 40 other countries (total link strength 164), and the biggest collaborator from the EMR was Egypt, with 67 links (total link strength 402). Within the other EMR countries, only Morocco, Lebanon, and Jordan produced ≥79 publications in the 10-year period. Most publications (1551/1987, 78.06%) were affiliated with EMR universities. Most journals were categorized as medical journals, and the highest number of articles were published in the Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal (SCImago Journal Rank 0.442; CiteScore 1.5). Retrieved documents had an average of 18.4 (SD 125.5) citations per document and an h-index of 66. The top-3 most cited documents were from the Global Burden of Diseases study. We found 70 high-frequency terms, occurring ≥10 times in author keywords, connected in 3 clusters. COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, and pandemic represented the most recent 2020 cluster. ConclusionsThis is the first research study to quantify the published literature on public health surveillance and its disciplines in the EMR. Research productivity has steadily increased over the past decade, and Iran has been the leading country publishing relevant research. Recurrent recent surveillance themes included COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2. This study also sheds light on the gaps in surveillance research in the EMR, including inadequate publications on noncommunicable diseases and injury-related surveillance

A Semantic Representation of Online Teaching Business Process Architecture

A Business process architecture (BPA) is one of the significant assets in educational systems as it helps to understand and optimize educational processes by focusing on the key processes rather than the organizational specific details. The semantic, Riva-based business process architecture (srBPA) ontology is an abstract ontology that semantically conceptualizes the business process architecture’s components and the relationships between them. This ontology can be instantiated for a specific domain to provide a general semantic-based BPA for organizations working in that domain. This paper instantiates the srBPA ontology for online teaching to provide a general semantic architecture for online teaching process that can be used as a reference by educational systems. This ontology was evaluated for completeness by referring to the national quality standards for online teaching and online courses. The evaluation has revealed that all quality standards were covered in the instantiated ontology through the classes, individuals, attributes and semantic rules that were defined

HIV- related knowledge, attitude, practices, and stigma among healthcare providers caring for HIV in Jordan: Identification of several organizational challenges

Background: There is a paucity of data on Healthcare Providers (HCPs) caring for people living with HIV in Jordan. Objective: We aimed to understand HCPs’ knowledge, attitude, stigma, and practices, to assess the gaps in HIV care in Jordan. Methods: We conducted recorded in-depth interviews with all five HCPs working at the only HIV Service Center in Jordan, using semi-structured questions in 2021. Content analysis was performed. Results: Several organizational challenges were identified. Only one had received HIV training. All were uncertain of updated recommendations with little knowledge of international guidelines, vertical transmission, contraception, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and prophylaxis. Four HCPs perform counseling, focusing on easing anxieties, risk modification, and the importance of treatment adherence. However, their counseling on contraception, risk of transmission, STIs, and NCDs is inadequate, and they have little-to-no experience with prophylaxis. Most had a positive attitude towards people living with HIV, especially HCPs working at the center the longest, encouraging marriage and reproduction. Most do not approve of mandatory testing, or of breaching patient confidentiality. They repetitively described risky behavior as ‘immoral behavior’, empathizing more with patients who caught HIV through blood transfusion or birth, and demonstrating embedded stigmatized beliefs. They reported people living with HIV experience anticipated stigma and stigma by their general community including by other HCPs. Conclusion: This is the first study on HCPs caring for people living with HIV in Jordan. It highlights the suboptimal knowledge, practices, and stigma which improve with greater participatory exposure to HIV care. HCPs had an overall positive attitude, more evident in HCPs working at the clinic the longest