Randah R Hamadeh | Arabian Gulf University (original) (raw)

Papers by Randah R Hamadeh

Cancer in the Arab World, 2022

Cancer research is needed in the Arab world to provide evidence to healthcare workers and health ... more Cancer research is needed in the Arab world to provide evidence to healthcare workers and health policy makers. This chapter examines the literature on cancer research productivity in the Arab world, and the output of the 22 countries with respect to the number of publications, main types of cancers studied and top journals that researchers aim to publish their findings in. Although the Arab region is lagging in its cancer research output, it is reassuring that productivity has been on the rise in the last decade. There are great variations between countries in their contribution to cancer research, with Egypt and Saudi Arabia contributing the most and sub-Saharan Arab countries the least. Breast cancer is the most researched cancer in the Arab countries, overshadowing other leading cancers. The top journals that researchers published their work in are the Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention, Pan African Medical Journal, Saudi Medical Journal, Tunisie Medicale, the Gulf Journ...

The Lancet, Mar 1, 1981

6 Joint FAO/WHO expert Committee on Food Additives . Thirteenth Report. Specifications for the id... more 6 Joint FAO/WHO expert Committee on Food Additives . Thirteenth Report. Specifications for the identity and purity of food additives and their toxicological evaluation: some food colours, emulsifiers, stabilizers, anticaking agents and certain other substances. WHO Tech Rep ...

MedEdPublish, 2020

Health education programmes face numerous challenges, particularly in medical sciences. Universit... more Health education programmes face numerous challenges, particularly in medical sciences. Universities are under pressure to provide innovative programmes and in particular curricula to embed and support research. Further, university rankings that have gained popularity in recent years pose another challenge to universities. As higher education continues to see limited government funding, the competition for global rankings within knowledge-based economies becomes more acute. The Kingdom of Bahrain has two medical schools,

Injury Prevention, Jan 8, 2020

background The epidemiological transition of non-communicable diseases replacing infectious disea... more background The epidemiological transition of non-communicable diseases replacing infectious diseases as the main contributors to disease burden has been well documented in global health literature. Less focus, however, has been given to the relationship between sociodemographic changes and injury. The aim of this study was to examine the association between disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) from injury for 195 countries and territories at different levels along the development spectrum between 1990 and 2017 based on the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2017 estimates. Methods Injury mortality was estimated using the GBD mortality database, corrections for garbage coding and CODEm-the cause of death ensemble modelling tool. Morbidity estimation was based on surveys and inpatient and outpatient data sets for 30 cause-of-injury with 47 nature-of-injury categories each. The Socio-demographic Index (SDI) is a composite indicator that includes lagged income per capita, average educational attainment over age 15 years and total fertility rate. results For many causes of injury, age-standardised DALY rates declined with increasing SDI, although road injury, interpersonal violence and self-harm did not follow this pattern. Particularly for self-harm opposing patterns were observed in regions with similar SDI levels. For road injuries, this effect was less pronounced. Conclusions The overall global pattern is that of declining injury burden with increasing SDI. However, not all injuries follow this pattern, which suggests multiple underlying mechanisms influencing injury DALYs. There is a need for a detailed understanding of these patterns to help to inform national and global efforts to address injury-related health outcomes across the development spectrum.

Injury Prevention, Aug 24, 2020

Background While there is a long history of measuring death and disability from injuries, modern ... more Background While there is a long history of measuring death and disability from injuries, modern research methods must account for the wide spectrum of disability that can occur in an injury, and must provide estimates with sufficient demographic, geographical and temporal detail to be useful for policy makers. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2017 study used methods to provide highly detailed estimates of global injury burden that meet these criteria. Methods In this study, we report and discuss the methods used in GBD 2017 for injury morbidity and mortality burden estimation. In summary, these methods included estimating cause-specific mortality for every cause of injury, and then estimating incidence for every cause of injury. Non-fatal disability for each cause is then calculated based on the probabilities of suffering from different types of bodily injury experienced. Results GBD 2017 produced morbidity and mortality estimates for 38 causes of injury. Estimates were produced in terms of incidence, prevalence, years lived with disability, cause-specific mortality, years of life lost and disability-adjusted life-years for a 28-year period for 22 age groups, 195 countries and both sexes. Conclusions GBD 2017 demonstrated a complex and sophisticated series of analytical steps using the largest known database of morbidity and mortality data on injuries. GBD 2017 results should be used to help inform injury prevention policy making and resource allocation. We also identify important avenues for improving injury burden estimation in the future.

BMC Public Health, Apr 3, 2020

Background: Child and adolescent injury is one of the leading causes of child death globally with... more Background: Child and adolescent injury is one of the leading causes of child death globally with a large proportion occurring in Low-and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). Similarly, the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) countries borne a heavy burden that largely impact child and adolescent safety and health in the region. We aim to assess child and adolescent injury morbidity and mortality and estimate its burden in the Eastern Mediterranean Region based on findings from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD), Injuries and Risk Factors study 2017. Methods: Data from the Global Burden of Disease GBD 2017 were used to estimate injury mortality for children aged 0-19, Years of Life Lost (YLLs), Years lived with Disability (YLDs) and Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) by age and sex from 1990 to 2017. Results: In 2017, an estimated 133,117 (95% UI 122,587-143,361) children died in EMR compared to 707,755 (95% UI 674401.6-738,166.6) globally. The highest rate of injury deaths was reported in Syria at 183.7 (95% UI 181.8-185.7) per 100, 000 population. The leading cause of injury deaths was self-harm and interpersonal violence followed by transport injury. The primary cause of injury DALYs in EMR in 2017 was self-harm and interpersonal violence with a rate of 1272.95 (95% UI 1228.9-1319.2) almost 3-times the global rate. Conclusion: Almost 19% of global child injury related deaths occur in the EMR. Concerted efforts should be integrated to inform policies and adopt injury preventive strategies to reduce injury burden and promote child and adolescent health and well-being in EMR countries.

Research Square (Research Square), Feb 8, 2022

Background: An increase in the prevalence of eating disorders (EDs), sleep problems, and stress i... more Background: An increase in the prevalence of eating disorders (EDs), sleep problems, and stress in the general population and medical students is becoming an area of concern. This study was designed to determine the incidence of sleep and EDs in medical students and to assess the relationship between these factors and stress levels. Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was performed, and the data were collected using a selfadministered, structured questionnaire via instant chat groups and social media advertisements between September and December 2019. Medical students (years 1-6) (n = 1100

Springer eBooks, 2022

Health research productivity in the Arab countries is lagging than other non-Arab countries in th... more Health research productivity in the Arab countries is lagging than other non-Arab countries in the Middle East and the world [1-3]. It is below the world average except for four countries (Qatar, Tunisia, Lebanon, and Kuwait) [2]. However, there has been an increase in scientific productivity since the start of the 1990s [4]. A study on the toxicology research output among Middle Eastern Arab countries has also shown that Arab countries are falling behind in the number of publications and noted a rise in the research activity [5]. The Arab world was delayed in the number of publications in top journals and the number of citations [2]. International collaborations have contributed to the recent increase in citations and publishing in top quartile journals [2]. It has been reported that common metrics that assess health research are missing from some Arab countries [6]. Research in the Arab region has been criticized for several issues, including the underinvestment in research and development, production, and use of research [4, 7, 8]. Arab countries have low Gross domestic Expenditure on Research and Development (GERD) as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with Libya (0.86) and Morocco (0.73) having the highest GERD/GDP ratios [9]. It is worth noting that most Arab countries suffer from brain drain except for the

The Lancet, Sep 1, 2017

Background Measurement of changes in health across locations is useful to compare and contrast ch... more Background Measurement of changes in health across locations is useful to compare and contrast changing epidemiological patterns against health system performance and identify specific needs for resource allocation in research, policy development, and programme decision making. Using the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2016, we drew from two widely used summary measures to monitor such changes in population health: disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) and healthy life expectancy (HALE). We used these measures to track trends and benchmark progress compared with expected trends on the basis of the Socio-demographic Index (SDI). Methods We used results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2016 for all-cause mortality, cause-specific mortality, and non-fatal disease burden to derive HALE and DALYs by sex for 195 countries and territories from 1990 to 2016. We calculated DALYs by summing years of life lost and years of life lived with disability for each location, age group, sex, and year. We estimated HALE using age-specific death rates and years of life lived with disability per capita. We explored how DALYs and HALE differed from expected trends when compared with the SDI: the geometric mean of income per person, educational attainment in the population older than age 15 years, and total fertility rate. Findings The highest globally observed HALE at birth for both women and men was in Singapore, at 75•2 years (95% uncertainty interval 71•9-78•6) for females and 72•0 years (68•8-75•1) for males. The lowest for females was in the Central African Republic (45•6 years [42•0-49•5]) and for males was in Lesotho (41•5 years [39•0-44•0]). From 1990 to 2016, global HALE increased by an average of 6•24 years (5•97-6•48) for both sexes combined. Global HALE increased by 6•04 years (5•74-6•27) for males and 6•49 years (6•08-6•77) for females, whereas HALE at age 65 years increased by 1•78 years (1•61-1•93) for males and 1•96 years (1•69-2•13) for females. Total global DALYs remained largely unchanged from 1990 to 2016 (-2•3% [-5•9 to 0•9]), with decreases in communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional (CMNN) disease DALYs offset by increased DALYs due to non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The exemplars, calculated as the five lowest ratios of observed to expected age-standardised DALY rates in 2016, were Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Maldives, Peru, and Israel. The leading three causes of DALYs globally were ischaemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, and lower respiratory infections, comprising 16•1% of all DALYs. Total DALYs and age-standardised DALY rates due to most CMNN causes decreased from 1990 to 2016. Conversely, the total DALY burden rose for most NCDs; however, age-standardised DALY rates due to NCDs declined globally. Interpretation At a global level, DALYs and HALE continue to show improvements. At the same time, we observe that many populations are facing growing functional health loss. Rising SDI was associated with increases in cumulative years of life lived with disability and decreases in CMNN DALYs offset by increased NCD DALYs. Relative compression of morbidity highlights the importance of continued health interventions, which has changed in most locations in pace with the gross domestic product per person, education, and family planning. The analysis of DALYs and HALE and their relationship to SDI represents a robust framework with which to benchmark location-specific health performance. Country-specific drivers of disease burden, particularly for causes with higher-than-expected DALYs, should inform health policies, health system improvement initiatives, targeted prevention efforts, and development assistance for health, including financial and research investments for all countries, regardless of their level of sociodemographic development. The presence of countries that substantially outperform others suggests the need for increased scrutiny for proven examples of best practices, which can help to extend gains, whereas the presence of underperforming countries suggests the need for devotion of extra attention to health systems that need more robust support. Funding Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

British Dental Journal, Oct 1, 2015

The challenge for governments and the health development community... about the comparative effec... more The challenge for governments and the health development community... about the comparative effect of health risks...'

Injury Prevention, Apr 24, 2020

Original research Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed. data ava... more Original research Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed. data availability statement Availability of input data depends on original source. Select data are available in a public, open access repository. Select data are available on reasonable request. Select data may be obtained from a third party and are not publicly available. All results relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as supplementary information or are available online.

PLOS ONE, Jan 17, 2017

The Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) is witnessing an increase in chronic disorders, including ... more The Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) is witnessing an increase in chronic disorders, including mental illness. With ongoing unrest, this is expected to rise. This is the first study to quantify the burden of mental disorders in the EMR. We used data from the Global Burden of Disease study (GBD) 2013. DALYs (disability-adjusted life years) allow assessment of both premature mortality (years of life lost-YLLs) and nonfatal outcomes (years lived with disability-YLDs). DALYs are computed by adding YLLs and YLDs for each age-sex-country group. In 2013, mental disorders contributed to 5.6% of the total disease burden in the EMR (1894 DALYS/100,000 population): 2519 DALYS/100,000 (2590/100,000 males, 2426/ 100,000 females) in high-income countries, 1884 DALYS/100,000 (1618/100,000 males, 2157/100,000 females) in middle-income countries, 1607 DALYS/100,000 (1500/100,000 males, 1717/100,000 females) in low-income countries. Females had a greater proportion of burden due to mental disorders than did males of equivalent ages, except for those under 15 years of age. The highest proportion of DALYs occurred in the 25-49 age group, with a peak in the 35-39 years age group (5344 DALYs/100,000). The burden of mental disorders Burden of Mental Disorders in EMR

The Lancet Global Health

Background More than 3 billion people do not have access to clean energy and primarily use solid ... more Background More than 3 billion people do not have access to clean energy and primarily use solid fuels to cook. Use of solid fuels generates household air pollution, which was associated with more than 2 million deaths in 2019. Although local patterns in cooking vary systematically, subnational trends in use of solid fuels have yet to be comprehensively analysed. We estimated the prevalence of solid-fuel use with high spatial resolution to explore subnational inequalities, assess local progress, and assess the effects on health in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) without universal access to clean fuels. Methods We did a geospatial modelling study to map the prevalence of solid-fuel use for cooking at a 5 km × 5 km resolution in 98 LMICs based on 2•1 million household observations of the primary cooking fuel used from 663 population-based household surveys over the years 2000 to 2018. We use observed temporal patterns to forecast household air pollution in 2030 and to assess the probability of attaining the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target indicator for clean cooking. We aligned our estimates of household air pollution to geospatial estimates of ambient air pollution to establish the risk transition occurring in LMICs. Finally, we quantified the effect of residual primary solid-fuel use for cooking on child health by doing a counterfactual risk assessment to estimate the proportion of deaths from lower respiratory tract infections in children younger than 5 years that could be associated with household air pollution. Findings Although primary reliance on solid-fuel use for cooking has declined globally, it remains widespread. 593 million people live in districts where the prevalence of solid-fuel use for cooking exceeds 95%. 66% of people in LMICs live in districts that are not on track to meet the SDG target for universal access to clean energy by 2030. Household air pollution continues to be a major contributor to particulate exposure in LMICs, and rising ambient air pollution is undermining potential gains from reductions in the prevalence of solid-fuel use for cooking in many countries. We estimated that, in 2018, 205 000 (95% uncertainty interval 147 000-257 000) children younger than 5 years died from lower respiratory tract infections that could be attributed to household air pollution. Interpretation Efforts to accelerate the adoption of clean cooking fuels need to be substantially increased and recalibrated to account for subnational inequalities, because there are substantial opportunities to improve air quality and avert child mortality associated with household air pollution.

The Lancet Public Health

Background Globally, transport and unintentional injuries persist as leading preventable causes o... more Background Globally, transport and unintentional injuries persist as leading preventable causes of mortality and morbidity for adolescents. We sought to report comprehensive trends in injury-related mortality and morbidity for adolescents aged 10-24 years during the past three decades. Methods Using the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factors 2019 Study, we analysed mortality and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) attributed to transport and unintentional injuries for adolescents in 204 countries. Burden is reported in absolute numbers and age-standardised rates per 100 000 population by sex, age group (10-14, 15-19, and 20-24 years), and sociodemographic index (SDI) with 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs). We report percentage changes in deaths and DALYs between 1990 and 2019. Findings In 2019, 369 061 deaths (of which 214 337 [58%] were transport related) and 31•1 million DALYs (of which 16•2 million [52%] were transport related) among adolescents aged 10-24 years were caused by transport and unintentional injuries combined. If compared with other causes, transport and unintentional injuries combined accounted for 25% of deaths and 14% of DALYs in 2019, and showed little improvement from 1990 when such injuries accounted for 26% of adolescent deaths and 17% of adolescent DALYs. Throughout adolescence, transport and unintentional injury fatality rates increased by age group. The unintentional injury burden was higher among males than females for all injury types, except for injuries related to fire, heat, and hot substances, or to adverse effects of medical treatment. From 1990 to 2019, global mortality rates declined by 34•4% (from 17•5 to 11•5 per 100 000) for transport injuries, and by 47•7% (from 15•9 to 8•3 per 100 000) for unintentional injuries. However, in low-SDI nations the absolute number of deaths increased (by 80•5% to 42 774 for transport injuries and by 39•4% to 31 961 for unintentional injuries). In the high-SDI quintile in 2010-19, the rate per 100 000 of transport injury DALYs was reduced by 16•7%, from 838 in 2010 to 699 in 2019. This was a substantially slower pace of reduction compared with the 48•5% reduction between 1990 and 2010, from 1626 per 100 000 in 1990 to 838 per 100 000 in 2010. Between 2010 and 2019, the rate of unintentional injury DALYs per 100 000 also remained largely unchanged in high-SDI countries (555 in 2010 vs 554 in 2019; 0•2% reduction). The number and rate of adolescent deaths and DALYs owing to environmental heat and cold exposure increased for the high-SDI quintile during 2010-19. Interpretation As other causes of mortality are addressed, inadequate progress in reducing transport and unintentional injury mortality as a proportion of adolescent deaths becomes apparent. The relative shift in the burden of injury from high-SDI countries to low and low-middle-SDI countries necessitates focused action, including global donor, government, and industry investment in injury prevention. The persisting burden of DALYs related to transport and unintentional injuries indicates a need to prioritise innovative measures for the primary prevention of adolescent injury. Funding Bill &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp; Melinda Gates Foundation.

The Lancet

Background Human resources for health (HRH) include a range of occupations that aim to promote or... more Background Human resources for health (HRH) include a range of occupations that aim to promote or improve human health. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the WHO Health Workforce 2030 strategy have drawn attention to the importance of HRH for achieving policy priorities such as universal health coverage (UHC). Although previous research has found substantial global disparities in HRH, the absence of comparable crossnational estimates of existing workforces has hindered efforts to quantify workforce requirements to meet health system goals. We aimed to use comparable and standardised data sources to estimate HRH densities globally, and to examine the relationship between a subset of HRH cadres and UHC effective coverage performance. Methods Through the International Labour Organization and Global Health Data Exchange databases, we identified 1404 country-years of data from labour force surveys and 69 country-years of census data, with detailed microdata on health-related employment. From the WHO National Health Workforce Accounts, we identified 2950 country-years of data. We mapped data from all occupational coding systems to the International Standard Classification of Occupations 1988 (ISCO-88), allowing for standardised estimation of densities for 16 categories of health workers across the full time series. Using data from 1990 to 2019 for 196 of 204 countries and territories, covering seven Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) super-regions and 21 regions, we applied spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression (ST-GPR) to model HRH densities from 1990 to 2019 for all countries and territories. We used stochastic frontier meta-regression to model the relationship between the UHC effective coverage index and densities for the four categories of health workers enumerated in SDG indicator 3.c.1 pertaining to HRH: physicians, nurses and midwives, dentistry personnel, and pharmaceutical personnel. We identified minimum workforce density thresholds required to meet a specified target of 80 out of 100 on the UHC effective coverage index, and quantified national shortages with respect to those minimum thresholds. Findings We estimated that, in 2019, the world had 104•0 million (95% uncertainty interval 83•5-128•0) health workers, including 12•8 million (9•7-16•6) physicians, 29•8 million (23•3-37•7) nurses and midwives, 4•6 million (3•6-6•0) dentistry personnel, and 5•2 million (4•0-6•7) pharmaceutical personnel. We calculated a global physician density of 16•7 (12•6-21•6) per 10 000 population, and a nurse and midwife density of 38•6 (30•1-48•8) per 10 000 population. We found the GBD super-regions of sub-Saharan Africa, south Asia, and north Africa and the Middle East had the lowest HRH densities. To reach 80 out of 100 on the UHC effective coverage index, we estimated that, per 10 000 population, at least 20•7 physicians, 70•6 nurses and midwives, 8•2 dentistry personnel, and 9•4 pharmaceutical personnel would be needed. In total, the 2019 national health workforces fell short of these minimum thresholds by 6•4 million physicians, 30•6 million nurses and midwives, 3•3 million dentistry personnel, and 2•9 million pharmaceutical personnel. Interpretation Considerable expansion of the world's health workforce is needed to achieve high levels of UHC effective coverage. The largest shortages are in low-income settings, highlighting the need for increased financing and coordination to train, employ, and retain human resources in the health sector. Actual HRH shortages might be larger than estimated because minimum thresholds for each cadre of health workers are benchmarked on health systems that most efficiently translate human resources into UHC attainment. .

Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research, 2020

Background: Women often make dietary changes during pregnancy but little is known of these dietar... more Background: Women often make dietary changes during pregnancy but little is known of these dietary changes. We aimed to describe the dietary habits, knowledge and use of herbal remedies during pregnancy. Methods: This is a cross sectional study in which 300 pregnant Bahraini women were recruited from primary health care centers in Bahrain. Results: Two hundred and ninety nine responded and half reported good appetite with consumption of three meals daily. Most of the women knew about good dietary practice during pregnancy and believed that the type of food they consume can influence their pregnancy outcome (86.0% and 74.7% respectively). The study found that 62.0% consumed fruits and vegetables daily and 35.0% consumed vegetables and fruits twice/weekly or less. Fish was consumed two times a week by 58%, and once weekly or less by 15.0%. One-third (30.6%) disliked candies during pregnancy and 21% disliked eggs. Cinnamon was avoided by 69.0% of the participants and pineapple by 22.0%. Only 17.2% reported using herbal remedies during pregnancy of which 51% used mint, 39% green tea and 29% ginger. The most common reason for using herbal remedies was to treat nausea and vomiting (70.5%). Conclusion: Pregnant Bahraini women are aware of the importance of maternal diet and its effect on the fetal outcomes. However, their dietary knowledge and practices are limited and not entirely compliant with international recommendations. Herbal remedy use was representative of the Bahraini culture and traditions and was often influenced by family and social media. Detailed nutritional assessment during pregnancy is recommended in future research.

BMC Medical Education, 2018

Background: Tobacco prevention research traditionally focuses upon cigarette smoking, but there i... more Background: Tobacco prevention research traditionally focuses upon cigarette smoking, but there is also a need to implement and evaluate the usefulness of waterpipe tobacco smoking (WTS) interventions since it is considered less harmful than cigarettes. This study aimed to assess the impact of an educational intervention on WTS knowledge of health professional students in three academic health institutions in Bahrain. Methods: A quasi-experimental design was used to include medical students from the Arabian Gulf University, medical and nursing students from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland-Bahrain and nursing students from the University of Bahrain. Two hundred fifty students participated in the three phases of the study during October 2015-June 2016 from an original sample of 335. The participants answered knowledge questions on WTS before and after an intervention, which included a lecture by an expert and a video on the awareness about the health hazards of WTS. Results: The mean age of starting cigarette and WTS was 16.8 ± 2.8 and 17.5 ± 1.7 years, respectively. The prevalence of ever smoking any type of tobacco among students was 22.4% (medical 25.8% and nursing 37. 5%) and that of WTS, 17.7% (medical 20.0%, nursing 13.6%). The prevalence of current cigarette smoking was 9.6% among medical and nursing students combined with 10.3 and 8.5% for medical and nursing students, respectively. WTS was prevalent at a proportion of 6.8% among medical and nursing students combined with 6.5% in medical and 14.8% in nursing students. The university curriculum as the main source of knowledge on WTS increased from 14.2 to 33.3% after the intervention (p < 0.005). Knowledge about the hazards of WTS increased in 16 of the 20 statements. The difference in overall knowledge score was significant (p < 0.05) for nursing (77. 5 ± 1.5 vs 85.8 ± 2.2) compared to medical students (85.3 ± 1.0 vs 87.3 ± 0.9) after the intervention. Conclusions: Our educational intervention with health professional students improved their knowledge about the health effects of WTS. Medical and nursing institutions may consider using various methods such as informative videos and expert lectures to include in their teaching curricula as part of WTS prevention strategies.

JAMA Oncology, Dec 1, 2019

Global Burden of Disease Cancer Collaboration IMPORTANCE Cancer and other noncommunicable disease... more Global Burden of Disease Cancer Collaboration IMPORTANCE Cancer and other noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are now widely recognized as a threat to global development. The latest United Nations high-level meeting on NCDs reaffirmed this observation and also highlighted the slow progress in meeting the 2011 Political Declaration on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases and the third Sustainable Development Goal. Lack of situational analyses, priority setting, and budgeting have been identified as major obstacles in achieving these goals. All of these have in common that they require information on the local cancer epidemiology. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study is uniquely poised to provide these crucial data. OBJECTIVE To describe cancer burden for 29 cancer groups in 195 countries from 1990 through 2017 to provide data needed for cancer control planning. EVIDENCE REVIEW We used the GBD study estimation methods to describe cancer incidence, mortality, years lived with disability, years of life lost, and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs). Results are presented at the national level as well as by Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a composite indicator of income, educational attainment, and total fertility rate. We also analyzed the influence of the epidemiological vs the demographic transition on cancer incidence. FINDINGS In 2017, there were 24.5 million incident cancer cases worldwide (16.8 million without nonmelanoma skin cancer [NMSC]) and 9.6 million cancer deaths. The majority of cancer DALYs came from years of life lost (97%), and only 3% came from years lived with disability. The odds of developing cancer were the lowest in the low SDI quintile (1 in 7) and the highest in the high SDI quintile (1 in 2) for both sexes. In 2017, the most common incident cancers in men were NMSC (4.3 million incident cases); tracheal, bronchus, and lung (TBL) cancer (1.5 million incident cases); and prostate cancer (1.3 million incident cases). The most common causes of cancer deaths and DALYs for men were TBL cancer (1.3 million deaths and 28.4 million DALYs), liver cancer (572 000 deaths and 15.2 million DALYs), and stomach cancer (542 000 deaths and 12.2 million DALYs). For women in 2017, the most common incident cancers were NMSC (3.3 million incident cases), breast cancer (1.9 million incident cases), and colorectal cancer (819 000 incident cases). The leading causes of cancer deaths and DALYs for women were breast cancer (601 000 deaths and 17.4 million DALYs), TBL cancer (596 000 deaths and 12.6 million DALYs), and colorectal cancer (414 000 deaths and 8.3 million DALYs). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE The national epidemiological profiles of cancer burden in the GBD study show large heterogeneities, which are a reflection of different exposures to risk factors, economic settings, lifestyles, and access to care and screening. The GBD study can be used by policy makers and other stakeholders to develop and improve national and local cancer control in order to achieve the global targets and improve equity in cancer care.

Cancer in the Arab World, 2022

The Lancet, Mar 1, 1981

MedEdPublish, 2020

Injury Prevention, Jan 8, 2020

Injury Prevention, Aug 24, 2020

BMC Public Health, Apr 3, 2020

Research Square (Research Square), Feb 8, 2022

Springer eBooks, 2022

The Lancet, Sep 1, 2017

British Dental Journal, Oct 1, 2015

Injury Prevention, Apr 24, 2020

PLOS ONE, Jan 17, 2017

The Lancet Global Health

The Lancet Public Health

The Lancet

Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research, 2020

BMC Medical Education, 2018

JAMA Oncology, Dec 1, 2019

Human Systems Management, 2021

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Outcomes of the pandemic COVID-19 varied from one country to another. We ... more BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Outcomes of the pandemic COVID-19 varied from one country to another. We aimed to describe the association between the global recovery and mortality rates of COVID-19 cases in different countries and the Human Development Index (HDI) as a socioeconomic indicator.
METHODS: A correlational (ecological) study design is used. The analysis used data from 173 countries. Poisson regression models were applied to study the relationship between HDI and pandemic recovery and mortality rates, adjusting for country median age and country male to female sex ratio.
RESULTS: During the first three months, the global pooled recovery rate was 32.4% (95% CI 32.3%-32.5%), and the pooled mortality rate was 6.95% (95% CI 6.94%-6.99%). Regression models revealed that HDI was positively associated with recovery ␤ = 1.37, p = 0.016. HDI was also positively associated with the mortality outcome ␤ = 1.79, p = 0.016. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings imply that the positive association between the HDI and recovery rates is reflective of the pandemics' preparedness. The positive association between the HDI and mortality rates points to vulnerabilities in approaches to tackle health crises. It is critical to better understand the connection between nations' socioeconomic factors and their readiness for future pandemics in order to strengthen public health policies.