Knowledge, attitudes and prevalence of tobacco use among physicians and dentists in Oman.

Tobacco use among Omani physicians and dentists has not been studied, so we conducted a crossectional survey using a WHO questionnaire to measure prevalence and to learn about smoking practices among this population and about their knowledge and attitudes of the health effects of tobacco use and tobacco control. The 1191 subjects who participated (787 men and 404 women) ranged in age from 24 to 65 years with a mean (SD) of 41.7 (6.8) years for men and 38.1 (6.9) years for women. The prevalence of tobacco use was 16.4% among males and less than 1% among females. Manufactured cigarettes were the most common form of tobacco used (14.7%), followed by smokeless tobacco (2.2%) and waterpipes (1.7%). Tobacco users were significantly less favorable to strict control and policy measures than never tobacco users and had less knowledge of some of the health effects of tobacco use. Tobacco use among physicians and dentists in Oman is lower than in other countries in the region, but remains a cause of concern. Programs and policies should strive to maintain the low level of tobacco use or reduce it further.

Optimal cut-points for body mass index, waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio using the Framingham coronary heart disease risk score in an Arab population of the Middle East.

We aimed to determine the gender-specific optimal cut-points for body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) associated with risk of cardiovascular disease, using Framingham risk score and receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, among Omani Arabs. Nine percent of men, compared to 3% of women, had a 10-year total coronary heart disease (CHD) risk > or = 20%. In both genders, WHR was a better predictor of CHD (area under the ROC curve 0.771 for men and 0.802 for women), followed by WC (0.710 and 0.727) and BMI (0.601 and 0.639), respectively. For a 10-year CHD risk of > or = 20%, the optimal cut-points to assess adiposity in Omani men and women were > 22.6 and 22.9 kg/m2 for BMI, > 78.5 and 84.5 cm for WC, and > 0.96 and > 0.98 for WHR, respectively. To identify obesity among Omani Arabs, different cut-points for BMI, WC and WHR than the currently recommended ones are needed.

HbA1c Levels among Primary Healthcare Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Oman.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether younger patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus have higher glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels compared to older patients, and to determine the factors associated with higher HbA1c levels. METHODS: Data from 1,266 patients from all over Oman were used to obtain the mean HbA1c level, odds ratios (OR), and 95% confidence intervals (CI) from multiple logistic regression models with age groups, sex, duration of diabetes, diabetes treatment, body mass index, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), tobacco use, and healthcare index as predictors of good (HbA1c <7%) vs. poor (≥7%) glycemic control. RESULTS: Mean HbA1c levels were 8.9, 8.3, and 7.8 in the age groups 20-39, 40-59 and 60+ years, respectively. After controlling for all other covariates, the OR of good glycemic control increased with age, 40-59 years old (OR=1.7; 95% CI 1.1 to 2.6) and 60+ year (OR=2.5; 95% CI 1.6 to 4.0), female gender (OR=1.5; 95% CI 1.2 to 2.0) and in patients with eGFR ≥60 mL/min/1.73 m(2) (OR=1.9; 95% CI 1.1 to 3.3). Longer duration of diabetes (≥5 years) and treatment with oral agents or insulin were inversely related to good glycemic control. CONCLUSION: Younger Omani adults exhibit worse glycemic levels compared to older adults posing a formidable challenge to diabetes care teams.