Zain Ahmad - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Zain Ahmad

Research paper thumbnail of The United Kingdom Eating Disorders Genetics Initiative

International Journal of Eating Disorders

ObjectiveThe United Kingdom Eating Disorders Genetics Initiative (EDGI UK), part of the National ... more ObjectiveThe United Kingdom Eating Disorders Genetics Initiative (EDGI UK), part of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Mental Health BioResource, aims to deepen our understanding of the environmental and genetic etiology of eating disorders. EDGI UK launched in February 2020 and is partnered with the UK eating disorders charity, Beat. Multiple EDGI branches exist worldwide. This article serves the dual function of providing an in‐depth description of our study protocol and of describing our initial sample including demographics, diagnoses, and physical and psychiatric comorbidities.MethodEDGI UK recruits via media and clinical services. Anyone living in England, at least 16 years old, with a lifetime probable or clinical eating disorder is eligible to sign up online: edgiuk.org. Participants complete online questionnaires, donate a saliva sample for genetic analysis, and consent to medical record linkage and recontact for future studies.ResultsAs of September...

Research paper thumbnail of The clinical presentation of avoidant restrictive food intake disorder is largely independent of sex, autism spectrum disorder and anxiety traits

ImportanceAvoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) is a newly recognised eating disorder... more ImportanceAvoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) is a newly recognised eating disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition and in the International Classification of Diseases, Eleventh Revision which shows great heterogeneity in its clinical presentation.ObjectivesHere, we examined the clinical characteristics of ARFID and explored the associations between ARFID symptoms and traits of anxiety. We also investigated whether individuals with ARFID show a different clinical presentation based on their biological sex or comorbid autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsWe recruited 261 consecutive patients from the specialised ARFID outpatient service at the Maudsley Centre for Child and Adolescent Eating Disorders, Michael Rutter Centre, Maudsley Hospital, London, United Kingdom.Main Outcomes and MeasuresThe parents of the patients completed the Pica, ARFID, Rumination Disorder – ARFID – Questionnaire (P...

Research paper thumbnail of The Eating Disorders Genetics Initiative (EDGI) United Kingdom

medRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory), Nov 14, 2022

Research paper thumbnail of Dynamics of factors associated with rates of COVID-19 cases and deaths in African countries

Globalization and Health

Background African countries have not had the high case and death rates from COVID-19 as was pred... more Background African countries have not had the high case and death rates from COVID-19 as was predicted early in the pandemic. It is not well understood what factors modulated the rate of COVID-19 cases and death on the continent. Methods We collated data from the World Bank data site, Our World in Data and Freedom House for African for 54 African countries who are members of the African Union. We used them as explanatory variables in two general linear model regression analyses. COVID cases and deaths per 100,000 obtained from WHO COVID-19 dashboard on August 12, 2021, as outcome variables in two prediction models. Results GDP, percentage of population under 14 years of age, Maternal Mortality Ratio, number of international tourists visiting per year and public transportation closures were not significant in predicting COVID-19 cases. Higher percentage of unemployed adults in the population, lower percentage of the population over 25 years of age with secondary education, internal t...

Research paper thumbnail of Predictors of self-reported research productivity amongst medical students in the United Kingdom: a national cross-sectional survey

BMC Medical Education

Background The number of academic clinicians in the UK is declining and there are demographic ine... more Background The number of academic clinicians in the UK is declining and there are demographic inequalities in the clinical-academic workforce. Increased research productivity by medical students is believed to reduce future attrition in the clinical-academic workforce. Thus, this study investigated the association between student demographics and research productivity amongst UK medical students. Methods This is a national multicentre cross-sectional study of UK medical students in the 2020/21 academic year. We appointed one student representative per medical school, and they disseminated a 42-item online questionnaire over nine weeks, through departmental emails and social media advertisements. The outcome measures were: (i) publications (yes/no) (ii) number of publications (iii) number of first-authored publications (iv) abstract presentation (yes/no). We utilised multiple logistic and zero-inflated Poisson regression analyses to test for associations between the outcome measures ...

Research paper thumbnail of Predictors of self-reported research self-efficacy and perception of research amongst medical students in the United Kingdom: a national cross-sectional survey

Postgraduate Medical Journal

Purpose There has been a decline in the number of academic clinicians in the UK, and there are et... more Purpose There has been a decline in the number of academic clinicians in the UK, and there are ethnic/gender disparities in the academic workforce. Higher research self-efficacy (RSE) and a positive perception of research (PoR) amongst students are associated with a higher motivation to engage in academic medicine. Hence, this study aimed to determine the factors that influence RSE and PoR amongst UK medical students. Methods This is a multicentre cross-sectional survey of medical students in 36 UK medical schools in the 2020/21 academic year. Multiple linear regression was used to investigate the association between students’ demographics and RSE/PoR. P-values less than a Bonferroni-corrected significance level of .05/28 = .0018 were considered statistically significant. Results In total, 1573 individuals participated from 36 medical schools. There were no ethnic differences in PoR or RSE scores. Although there were no gender differences in PoR, female students had lower RSE scores...

Research paper thumbnail of Student Spotlight Zain Ahmad

BC Law student Zain Ahmad decided to pursue an internship at NASA--and landed the job of his dreams

Research paper thumbnail of The United Kingdom Eating Disorders Genetics Initiative

International Journal of Eating Disorders

ObjectiveThe United Kingdom Eating Disorders Genetics Initiative (EDGI UK), part of the National ... more ObjectiveThe United Kingdom Eating Disorders Genetics Initiative (EDGI UK), part of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Mental Health BioResource, aims to deepen our understanding of the environmental and genetic etiology of eating disorders. EDGI UK launched in February 2020 and is partnered with the UK eating disorders charity, Beat. Multiple EDGI branches exist worldwide. This article serves the dual function of providing an in‐depth description of our study protocol and of describing our initial sample including demographics, diagnoses, and physical and psychiatric comorbidities.MethodEDGI UK recruits via media and clinical services. Anyone living in England, at least 16 years old, with a lifetime probable or clinical eating disorder is eligible to sign up online: edgiuk.org. Participants complete online questionnaires, donate a saliva sample for genetic analysis, and consent to medical record linkage and recontact for future studies.ResultsAs of September...

Research paper thumbnail of The clinical presentation of avoidant restrictive food intake disorder is largely independent of sex, autism spectrum disorder and anxiety traits

ImportanceAvoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) is a newly recognised eating disorder... more ImportanceAvoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) is a newly recognised eating disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition and in the International Classification of Diseases, Eleventh Revision which shows great heterogeneity in its clinical presentation.ObjectivesHere, we examined the clinical characteristics of ARFID and explored the associations between ARFID symptoms and traits of anxiety. We also investigated whether individuals with ARFID show a different clinical presentation based on their biological sex or comorbid autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsWe recruited 261 consecutive patients from the specialised ARFID outpatient service at the Maudsley Centre for Child and Adolescent Eating Disorders, Michael Rutter Centre, Maudsley Hospital, London, United Kingdom.Main Outcomes and MeasuresThe parents of the patients completed the Pica, ARFID, Rumination Disorder – ARFID – Questionnaire (P...

Research paper thumbnail of The Eating Disorders Genetics Initiative (EDGI) United Kingdom

medRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory), Nov 14, 2022

Research paper thumbnail of Dynamics of factors associated with rates of COVID-19 cases and deaths in African countries

Globalization and Health

Background African countries have not had the high case and death rates from COVID-19 as was pred... more Background African countries have not had the high case and death rates from COVID-19 as was predicted early in the pandemic. It is not well understood what factors modulated the rate of COVID-19 cases and death on the continent. Methods We collated data from the World Bank data site, Our World in Data and Freedom House for African for 54 African countries who are members of the African Union. We used them as explanatory variables in two general linear model regression analyses. COVID cases and deaths per 100,000 obtained from WHO COVID-19 dashboard on August 12, 2021, as outcome variables in two prediction models. Results GDP, percentage of population under 14 years of age, Maternal Mortality Ratio, number of international tourists visiting per year and public transportation closures were not significant in predicting COVID-19 cases. Higher percentage of unemployed adults in the population, lower percentage of the population over 25 years of age with secondary education, internal t...

Research paper thumbnail of Predictors of self-reported research productivity amongst medical students in the United Kingdom: a national cross-sectional survey

BMC Medical Education

Background The number of academic clinicians in the UK is declining and there are demographic ine... more Background The number of academic clinicians in the UK is declining and there are demographic inequalities in the clinical-academic workforce. Increased research productivity by medical students is believed to reduce future attrition in the clinical-academic workforce. Thus, this study investigated the association between student demographics and research productivity amongst UK medical students. Methods This is a national multicentre cross-sectional study of UK medical students in the 2020/21 academic year. We appointed one student representative per medical school, and they disseminated a 42-item online questionnaire over nine weeks, through departmental emails and social media advertisements. The outcome measures were: (i) publications (yes/no) (ii) number of publications (iii) number of first-authored publications (iv) abstract presentation (yes/no). We utilised multiple logistic and zero-inflated Poisson regression analyses to test for associations between the outcome measures ...

Research paper thumbnail of Predictors of self-reported research self-efficacy and perception of research amongst medical students in the United Kingdom: a national cross-sectional survey

Postgraduate Medical Journal

Purpose There has been a decline in the number of academic clinicians in the UK, and there are et... more Purpose There has been a decline in the number of academic clinicians in the UK, and there are ethnic/gender disparities in the academic workforce. Higher research self-efficacy (RSE) and a positive perception of research (PoR) amongst students are associated with a higher motivation to engage in academic medicine. Hence, this study aimed to determine the factors that influence RSE and PoR amongst UK medical students. Methods This is a multicentre cross-sectional survey of medical students in 36 UK medical schools in the 2020/21 academic year. Multiple linear regression was used to investigate the association between students’ demographics and RSE/PoR. P-values less than a Bonferroni-corrected significance level of .05/28 = .0018 were considered statistically significant. Results In total, 1573 individuals participated from 36 medical schools. There were no ethnic differences in PoR or RSE scores. Although there were no gender differences in PoR, female students had lower RSE scores...

Research paper thumbnail of Student Spotlight Zain Ahmad

BC Law student Zain Ahmad decided to pursue an internship at NASA--and landed the job of his dreams