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. · Apr 2012
Assessment of patient safety culture among healthcare providers at a teaching hospital in Cairo, Egypt.
A previous study in Cairo, Egypt highlighted the need to improve the patient safety culture among health-care providers at Ain Shams University hospitals. This descriptive cross-sectional study assessed healthcare providers' perceptions of patient safety culture within the organization and determined factors that played a role in patient safety culture. ⋯ The lowest mean score was for the dimension of non-punitive response to error (19.5%). Patient safety culture still has many areas for improvement that need continuous evaluation and monitoring to attain a safe environment both for patients and health-care providers.
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East. Mediterr. Health J. · Apr 2012
Road rage and road traffic accidents among commercial vehicle drivers in Lahore, Pakistan.
Road rage and road traffic accidents increase the burden of morbidity and mortality in a population. A cross-sectional survey with convenience sampling was conducted among commercial vehicle drivers in Lahore, Pakistan (n = 901) to record their behaviours/experiences regarding road rage and road traffic accidents. ⋯ A total of 112 respondents (12.4%) reported being involved in a road traffic accident in the previous 12 months but traffic police did not record the accident in 52.7% of cases. The results of this study underline the need to improve road safety in Pakistan.
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East. Mediterr. Health J. · Apr 2012
Verbal and physical abuse against Jordanian nurses in the work environment.
This descriptive cross-sectional study determined the prevalence and sources of verbal and physical workplace abuse in the last 6 months, the nurses' reactions to abuse, and their opinions about it. Datawere collected by questionnaire from 447 nurses working in various departments in 3 hospitals in Amman. The prevalence of verbal and physical abuse was 37.1% and 18.3% respectively. ⋯ Only 35.1% of the abused nurses reported it; of those that did not, 57.1% thought it was useless to do so, while 34.2% thought they could handle the incident without help. Over half of the abused nurses considered leaving nursing and felt their quality of work decreased because of the abuse. Negative societal image of nurses (64%) and poor support from hospital authorities (60%) were the factors the nurses believed most contributed to abuse.
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East. Mediterr. Health J. · Mar 2012
Case ReportsSchistosomiasis of the spinal cord: report of 5 cases from Sudan.
Schistosomiasis of the spinal cord is an uncommon but potentially curable form of schistosomiasis, if diagnosed and managed early. The spinal cord is more frequently affected in Schistosoma mansoni or S. haematobium infections. This paper describes the clinical manifestations, diagnosis and management of schistosomiasis of the spinal cord in 5 patients attending Shaab and Ibn Khuldoun Hospitals, Khartoum from 1997 to 2007. ⋯ Biopsy showed ova of S. mansoni with surrounding inflammatory reaction. The cord showed demyelination near the ova and an associated inflammatory reaction. Patients responded well to surgical ecompression and treatment with praziquantel and oral steroids.
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East. Mediterr. Health J. · Feb 2012
ReviewHalothane: how should it be used in a developing country?
The anaesthetic agent halothane is still widely used in developing countries including the Islamic Republic of Iran because of its low price. Because of halothane-induced hepatitis, a rare complication, it has been replaced by other inhalation anaesthetics in Western countries; it has been suggested by some Iranian professionals that the Islamic Republic of Iran should do the same. We evaluated various dimensions of this replacement through a literature review to assess the incidence of halothane-induced hepatitis and costs of anaesthetics in the country. ⋯ The results indicate that the incidence of halothane hepatitis in the Islamic Republic of Iran is very low and could mostly be avoided by strict adherence to guidelines. Complete withdrawal of halothane in the Islamic Republic of Iran might not be appropriate at present. Comprehensive cost-effectiveness studies are needed before a decision is made on complete replacement of halothane with other anaesthetics.