Eastern Mediterranean health journal = La revue de santé de la Méditerranée orientale = al-Majallah al-ṣiḥḥīyah li-sharq al-mutawassiṭ
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East. Mediterr. Health J. · Jul 2001
[Availability and use of emergency services in Tunisia: principal results of an exhaustive national survey].
In order to assess hospital emergency rooms, a comprehensive national epidemiological investigation was conducted in all 155 public emergency structures in Tunisia. Here we present the main results of the levels of availability and use of emergency services. Coverage of the population by services is adequate (one emergency service per 60,000 people). ⋯ The university hospital emergency services are the most heavily used (150 patients per day on average). Emergency services are sought for medical (60%), surgical (18%), paediatric (14%) and gynaecological reasons (5%). It would be useful to assess the quality of care delivered and the satisfaction of citizens and health workers.
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East. Mediterr. Health J. · Jul 2001
Impact of triage in accident and emergency departments in Bahrain.
We aimed to assess the impact of triage by physicians on the workload and expenditure of the Accident and Emergency (AE) Department of Salmaniya Medical Complex, Bahrain. We analysed three sets of data: patient visits to the AE Department over a 9-month period; patient visits 1 year previously; and forecast patient visits over 9 months starting from July 1999. ⋯ The reduction in health care expenditure was estimated at between 15.3% and 17.3%. We conclude that triage by physicians can be cost-effective and can reduce the AE Department workload, freeing more time to manage life-threatening and urgent cases.
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The clinical files of 16,443 women delivered during the period June 1994 to June 2000 at Queen Alia Military Hospital were retrospectively studied for clinical presentation, investigation, operative findings and histopathological diagnosis of appendicitis during pregnancy. The result showed that 10 of the women underwent laparotomy for probable appendicitis. ⋯ The clinical presentation varies and diagnosis is usually delayed. Right-side abdominal pain is the principal basis for diagnosis, while leukocytosis and low-level fever, as in the non-pregnant state, are unreliable for diagnosis.
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East. Mediterr. Health J. · Jul 2001
Reasons for underreporting of notifiable diseases by Syrian paediatricians.
We investigated reasons for underreporting of notifiable diseases among Syrian paediatricians. Self-administered questionnaires and self-addressed envelopes were sent to all paediatricians listed in the recent records of the Syrian Medical Association. ⋯ Approximately 50% of paediatricians gave two reasons for underreporting: lack of reporting forms and ignorance of reporting telephone numbers. Nearly 70% indicated that the most important improvements would be the availability of easy reporting forms and a condensed and feasible list of notifiable diseases.