[Level of knowledge on occupational asthma and asthmagens: Assessment among healthcare workers by a validated questionnaire]. / Niveau de connaissance sur l'asthme professionnel et les agents asthmogènes : évaluation auprès du personnel de santé par un questionnaire validé.

INTRODUCTION: The health system is one of the professional sectors perhaps most at risk of occupational asthma. The aims of this study were to evaluate the level of knowledge of health care workers (HCWs) on occupational asthma and asthmogenic agents and to pave the way to effective educational action on the subject. METHODS: A multicenter transversal study including 180 HCWs was carried out between July and December 2020. A validated questionnaire addressed four dimensions: knowledge of asthmatic disease, knowledge of occupational asthma, knowledge of prognosis of occupational asthma and knowledge on the prevention of occupational asthma. RESULTS: The average total score was 13.71/18 (76.17%). There was no correlation between average total score and age, educational level, seniority or status of paramedical staff. Mean total scores were significantly higher for participants with no fixed work schedule and those practicing in non-university structures. The difficulty indexes for the four aforementioned dimensions were 82.22%, 77.56%, 53.52% and 66.67% respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Knowledge gaps affect all professional categories but to different degrees. A review of the level of knowledge of persons in each category would be the first step on the road to planned educational action.

[A questionnaire assessing knowledge level concerning occupational asthma]. / Questionnaire d'évaluation du niveau de connaissances sur l'asthme professionnel.

INTRODUCTION: Screening for occupational asthma is should still be promoted. In order to improve the efficiency of any educational intervention we need to evaluate the patient's knowledge of the disease. OBJECTIVES: The aims were to evaluate objectively the knowledge level of Tunisian asthmatic patients concerning occupational asthma using a self-questionnaire in Arabic Tunisian dialect, then to conduct a validation process of the questionnaire. METHODS: We followed De Vellis's rules during all stages of redaction of the self-questionnaire. It contained 18 items allocated in 4 dimensions: knowledge about asthma; knowledge about occupational asthma; prognosis of occupational asthma; prevention of occupational asthma. A pre-test was conducted on 18 asthmatic patients to assess the clarity and comprehensibility of all the questions. The questionnaire was then applied to 107 asthmatic patients. RESULTS: The statistical analysis proved the discrimination value in 14 of the 18 items. The internal consistency of the questionnaire was demonstrated by a KR20 index of 0.731. Factorial analysis of the principal components showed the reliability of the questionnaire and of its uni-dimensional structure. The statistical findings proved the positive correlation between the mean scores of all its dimensions. CONCLUSIONS: Using this questionnaire in daily practice should inform health care providers about the level of knowledge of occupational asthma in the targeted population and improve the effectiveness of any further educational intervention.

Comparison of Sleep Quality before and after Chemotherapy in Locally Advanced Nonsmall Cell Lung Cancer Patients: A Prospective Study.

BACKGROUND: Preservation of sleep quality is a modifiable and treatable factor, which may enhance the patient's adherence to other supportive and palliative care procedures. The outcome of sleep disturbances in lung cancer patients before and after treatment aren't reported. The aim of this study was to investigate changes in sleep quality before and after chemotherapy in locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC patients. METHODS: It was a prospective study including 64 patients with stage III or IV nonsmall-cell lung cancer. Patients answered the Tunisian dialectal version of the following questionnaires: PSQI and QLQ-C30 in order to evaluate, respectively, the sleep quality and the quality of life. The assessments took place before chemotherapy and then repeated after the chemotherapy course was over. RESULTS: The mean age was 62.9 years. All patients were active smokers. Before chemotherapy, there were 10 patients (15%) with poor sleep quality. The most frequent complaints were daytime sleepiness (70%) and nocturnal arousals (100%). After chemotherapy, the mean PSQI score increased from 2.9 to 5.4, and 45% of all patients had poor sleep quality. Most frequent complaints were the extension of sleep latency (69%), daytime sleepiness (98%), and nocturnal arousals (100%). Predicting factors of sleep disturbance according to statistical univariate analysis were delayed diagnosis confirmation (p = 0.05), delayed treatment onset (p < 10-3), depressive mood (p = 0.001), and anxious mood (p = 0.001). Multivariate analysis had shown a significant and independent correlation between sleep quality and shortened diagnosis and treatment delays. Sociodemographic parameters, clinical parameters, and factors related to treatment procedure had no correlation with sleep quality. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates the persistence and potential intensity worsening of sleep disturbances in advanced stage nonsmall-cell lung cancer patients. We, hereby, reported a statistical correlation between sleep quality and quality of life in our patients.