Minimal Contribution of the Social Determinants of Health to the Prevalence of Hypertension among Egyptian Public Servants.

BACKGROUND: Previous research suggests the role of social determinants of health (SDH) in the prevalence of hypertension. OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to estimate the contribution of SDH to the prevalence of hypertension. METHODS: We recruited 3072 Egyptian public servants who answered a self-administered questionnaire, including hypertension history. We measured the participants' blood pressure with standardized procedures. The logistic regression models were used to assess the associations between SDH and hypertension. RESULTS: The prevalence of hypertension was 28.2% (34.2% in males and 22.5% in females). The prevalence of undiagnosed hypertension was 16.3% (23.9% and 9.2%, respectively); thus, 57.8% of the hypertensive subjects were unaware of their high blood pressure status. SDH were associated with the odds of having hypertension in the unadjusted analyses. Higher education, being single, and having minor family members were associated with low odds of hypertension. On the other hand, non-professional occupations, job hours, household income, total family members, and work-family conflicts were associated with higher odds of hypertension. However, in the multivariable analyses, which included all SDH and adjusted for age, gender, smoking, physical activity, body mass index, medical history of chronic diseases, and family history of hypertension, only job hours were associated with the odds of having hypertension and undiagnosed hypertension: odds ratio (95% CI) = 1.07 (1.01-1.14) and 1.11 (1.02-1.20), respectively. CONCLUSION: SDH contributed minimally to the odds of having hypertension among public officials in Minia, Egypt. Civil servants with long working hours should be tracked with regular blood pressure monitoring as a high-risk group for hypertension.

Neurologists' Knowledge, Practice, and Attitudes towards Pharmacovigilance and Adverse Drug Reactions Reporting Process in Epileptic Patients-Comparative Analysis from Poland and Egypt.

OBJECTIVES: To compare neurologists' knowledge, practice, and barriers of pharmacovigilance (PV) process among patients with epilepsy in Poland and Egypt. METHODS: It was an international study that used an online questionnaire e-mailed to neurologists registered to practice in Poland and Egypt. RESULTS: Most of the neurologists were familiar with the definition of PV and adverse drug reactions (ADRs), but relatively few neurologists knew where to report ADRs, especially the Egyptian neurologists. Only 31.11% of the neurologists from Egypt and 39.90% neurologists from Poland declared that they had reported ADRs at least once during their professional practice, and few of them declared the regular reporting of such incidents. The main reason for the neurologists not reporting ADRs was the lack of time and a conviction that reporting ADRs would be an additional burden that would generate extra work. CONCLUSION: The standards of pharmacovigilance process, safety control, and quality are not the same throughout the world. System-regulated PV stabilization in a country translates into the practice of maintaining PV. Monitoring the safety of pharmacotherapy and knowledge of risks associated with ADRs should be included in the academic curricula of physician courses.

Determinants of Problematic Internet use and its Association with Disordered Eating Attitudes among Minia University Students.

BACKGROUND: To determine the association between problematic Internet use (PIU) and disordered eating attitudes (DEAs) and to detect the potential risk factors for PIU among University students in Minia, Egypt. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out among a random sample (n = 2365) of Minia University students. PIU was assessed using The Problematic Internet Use Scale (PIUS), and the DEAs were assessed using eating attitudes test-26 questionnaire. RESULTS: Of the 2365 students, 424 (17.9%) had DEAs, and it was more in females than males (22.3% and 14.5%, respectively). The mean of the PIUS score also was significantly higher in males than females (120.3 ± 30.5, and 117.5 ± 30.6, respectively). A positive moderate correlation (r = 0.48, P < 0.05) was detected between PIU and DEAs. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study indicate that PIU is significantly correlated with DEAs among University students in Minia, Egypt, and further studies are needed to identify the association between DEAs and PIU.