Perspectives of patients on medical acupuncture in a primary care setting in Lebanon: a cross-sectional study.

INTRODUCTION: There is paucity of data on the knowledge of acupuncture and its use among patients in Lebanon and the Arab countries. OBJECTIVES: The primary objectives of this study were to determine the knowledge and attitude of patients in a primary care setting in Lebanon toward Western medical acupuncture and to determine factors that may affect their attitudes toward acupuncture use. The secondary objective was to compare the attitudes and knowledge of patients who had tried acupuncture with those who had not. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study about the perspectives of patients in a primary care setting in Lebanon on medical acupuncture. RESULTS: A total of 212 surveys were completed (78.5% response rate). 24% of participants had not tried and were unwilling to try acupuncture (group 1), 63.5% of participants had not tried but indicated they would be willing to try acupuncture (group 2), and 12.5% of participants had previously tried acupuncture (group 3). Most participants in group 1 (55.6%) stated they would be unwilling to try acupuncture even if referred for it by a physician. Participants who had tried acupuncture (12.5%) had done so for pain conditions. DISCUSSION: Group 3 scored higher on knowledge questions and had a more positive attitude toward the acupuncture procedure. Most patients who had tried it had done so to treat pain complaints. CONCLUSION: Patients in groups 2 and 3 were more knowledgeable about acupuncture, had tried more complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) modalities, and were more likely to try acupuncture as an add-on or last resort treatment, compared to group 1.

Bladder Cancer in Lebanon: Incidence and Comparison to Regional and Western Countries.

Lebanon has one of the highest estimated age-standardized incidence rate (ASR(w)) of bladder cancer (BC) worldwide. The aim of this study is to analyze the incidence rates for BC in Lebanon over a period of 7 years and to compare them to the rates in other countries. Data were obtained from the Lebanese National Cancer Registry for the currently available years 2005 to 2011. The calculated ASR(w) and age-specific rates were expressed as per 100 000 population. From 2005 to 2011, BC has been ranked as the third most common cancer in Lebanon. It accounted for 9.0% of all newly diagnosed cancer cases excluding nonmelanoma skin cancer. It ranked second in males and ninth in females. The average ASR(w) over this period was 31.2 in men and 7.3 in women. These incidence rates are among the highest worldwide across all age groups in both sexes. This study shows that the incidence of BC in Lebanon is high and it is among the highest worldwide. It is important to reduce the risk of BC through tobacco control and by decreasing exposure to avoidable environmental and occupational risk factors.

Knowledge, attitude and practice of Lebanese primary care physicians in nutrition counseling: a self-reported survey.

Aim This study aims to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of primary care physicians (PCPs) in Lebanon regarding nutrition counseling and to investigate possible related barriers. BACKGROUND: Nutrition counseling is an important aspect of patient care, especially with the increase in nutrition-related disorders. METHODS: This is a descriptive study among a convenience sample of PCPs in Lebanon at two annual conferences in 2014 using an anonymous questionnaire. Findings Response rate was 54.6%. Overall, physicians considered that they have good to very good nutritional knowledge. Although they rated their formal nutritional education poorly, they had a positive attitude towards nutritional counseling and reported practicing general nutritional counseling with their patients. Barriers to nutritional counseling were: time, perceived poor patient adherence to diet, gap in physician's nutritional knowledge and lack of insurance coverage for dietitian fees. Changes should be made to medical education curricula to include nutrition courses related to prevalent health problems.