Ayesha Saleem | Aga Khan University (original) (raw)

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Papers by Ayesha Saleem

Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy, 2006

Drug abuse is hazardous and known to be prevalent among young adults, warranting efforts to incre... more Drug abuse is hazardous and known to be prevalent among young adults, warranting efforts to increase awareness about harmful effects and to change attitudes. This study was conducted to assess the perceptions of a group of medical students from Pakistan, a predominantly Muslim country, regarding four drugs namely heroin, charas, benzodiazepines and alcohol. In total, 174 self-reported questionnaires were received (87% response rate). The most commonly cited reasons for why some students take these drugs were peer pressure (96%), academic stress (90%) and curiosity (88%). The most commonly cited justifiable reason was to go to sleep (34%). According to 77%, living in the college male hostel predisposed one to using these drugs. Sixty percent of students said that the drugs did not improve exam performance, while 54% said they alleviated stress. Seventy-eight percent said they did not intend to ever take drugs in the future. Females and day-scholars were more willing to discourage a f...

Seizure, 2007

Conclusions: Considerable gaps exist in the community's knowledge about epilepsy. Some of these m... more Conclusions: Considerable gaps exist in the community's knowledge about epilepsy. Some of these may explain the prevalence of negative attitudes towards this ailment.

Tropical Doctor, 2008

Misconceptions about epilepsy may explain the considerable stigma accompanying it. We aimed to id... more Misconceptions about epilepsy may explain the considerable stigma accompanying it. We aimed to identify such fallacies through questionnaire-based interviews of 487 adult residents of a slum area in Karachi, Pakistan. Of those interviewed, 25% believed that epilepsy was caused by evil spirits, black magic and envy by others - those without a school education were more likely to hold these views (P &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;lt; 0.05). Perceived complications included impotence and cancer. Shoe-sniffing was considered a treatment modality by 13%. It appears that misconceptions abound regarding epilepsy&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;#39;s causes, complications and methods of treatment. However, those who had received a school education were less likely to link epilepsy with supernatural phenomena.

JPMA. The Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association, 2006

To estimate the occurrence rate of sleep deprivation and to identify the environmental, staff-rel... more To estimate the occurrence rate of sleep deprivation and to identify the environmental, staff-related and patient-related factors associated with SD among general ward patients of a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan. In a cross-sectional study, a pre-tested questionnaire was administered to 108 patients admitted into the general medical and general surgical wards of Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi. In all, 50 (46.3%) respondents felt deprived of adequate sleep in the hospital. Worry about illness disturbed the night-time sleep of 47 (43.5%) patients; most of these had SD (70%) (p < 0.001). Other patients' noise disturbed 31.5% of study subjects and a significant majority (68%) of these had SD (p = 0.003). Over 17% of study subjects reported cell phone's ringing as a disturbing factor; more by those with SD (68%) compared to those with no SD (32%); again the difference was significant (p = 0.003). Physical discomfort and presence of cannula were reported as disturbi...