Nidal F. Eshah

SEEKING MEDICAL ATTENTION AMONG JORDANIAN PATIENTS WITH ACUTE MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION

The conducted clinical and instrumental study revealed that the aggregate group of the patients with chronic diseases of throat differs by increased frequency of isolated and combined disorders of gastrointestinal tract. If a patient has such symptoms as hoarseness, tickling, scratching, burning, feeling of dryness in throat, frequent variant of gastro-intestinal tract disorders is gastroesophageal reflux disease with pharyngolaryneal reflux. There are such severe pathologies of throat as pachydermia of vocal cords and nodules of vocal cords among more frequently met disorders at gastro-intestinal tract diseases. High probability of accompanied pathology of throat in the form of pachydermia and nodules of vocal cords at patients with gastro-intestinal tract disorders stipulates for the necessity of conducting fibrorhynolaryngoscopy in combination with fibergastroscopy.Study presents short overview of drug situation’s indicators during the first, or heroin decade of drugs, and then during the second, soft and synthetic drugs decade of drugs in Slovakia. Then the results of series of nation-wide school surveys, mapping development of licit and illicit drugs use among children and youth during nineties are outlined. The results indicated constant growth of licit and illicit drugs consumption among primary school pupils, and secondary school students until the fourth wave of nation-wide school surveys in the years 2006 – 2007. However, the next wave after four years has detected profound change in the expected pattern of further growth in the case of illicit drugs. Instead of this decline of use or at least stabilization occurred among Slovak youth. At the same time we have found growth of use in the case of licit drugs – alcohol and tobacco, more profoundly among girls. Also the use of new synthetic drugs among young people was revealed via traditional school survey.

Self-reported adherence to therapeutic regimens among patients with hypertension

ABSTRACT Objectives: To assess Jordanian hypertensive patients’ adherence rate to hypertension therapeutic regimen (HTR) and to identify the strongest predictors of adherence rate among such patients. Design and sample: A descriptive comparison design and convenience sampling were used. The sample comprised 192 participants who came to their regular appointments in a public healthcare center. Measurement: The Hill-Bone Compliance to High Blood Pressure Therapy Scale and the Hypertension Knowledge-Level Scale were used to assess adherence to HTR and knowledge of hypertension, respectively. Results: The mean total score for adherence to HTR was 87.3, and 82.8% of participants reported good adherence overall. Adherence scores were significantly higher among women, less educated, unemployed participants, those with comorbidities, those with a negative family history of hypertension, and those who visited their physicians regularly. To identify the most significant predictors of adherence to HTR, multiple linear regression analysis was performed. Results indicated that good adherence to HTR was predicted by greater knowledge about hypertension and regularly visiting a physician. Conclusions: Adherence to taking antihypertensive medications was good overall among the study participants; these participants, however, were less interested in adherence to reduced sodium intake and keeping up with medical appointments. Hypertensive patients appear to follow instructions related to pharmacological management and are less likely to comply with other elements of HTR.

Assessing Publics' Knowledge About Hypertension in a Community-Dwelling Sample

Background:Hypertension is one of the major risk factors for cardiovascular diseases that affect a high proportion of people worldwide. Understanding people’s levels of knowledge about hypertension might contribute effectively to nurses’ efforts to prevent, treat, and control the disease. Objectives:The objectives of this study were to identify the levels of knowledge about hypertension disease among Jordanian adults and to identify differences in knowledge about hypertension on the basis of sociodemographic and clinical variables. Methods:A convenience sample was used in this descriptive comparison design as was the Hypertension Knowledge-Level Scale, which measures 6 dimensions of knowledge about hypertension (definition, treatment, drug compliance, lifestyle, diet, and complications). Results:There were 284 participants, and the mean total knowledge about hypertension was 73.65. The participants had higher levels of knowledge about lifestyle and complications; lower scores were recorded for definition of hypertension as well as the relationship between diet and hypertension. Participants with higher education levels, who watched health programs, exercised regularly, visited their physicians regularly, and had other chronic diseases, had greater knowledge about hypertension. Conclusions:Although the total level of knowledge about hypertension is good among the participants, more efforts are needed to improve all dimensions of hypertension-related knowledge. Sociodemographic and clinical variables have significant relationships with levels of knowledge about hypertension. This necessitates the importance of considering these variables when designing and providing health educational programs.

Knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and patterns of waterpipe use among Jordanian adults who exclusively smoke waterpipes:

Background: Widespread waterpipe smoking (WPS) is reported worldwide. Although remarkable numbers of waterpipe smokers do not smoke cigarettes, very few studies have explored the phenomenon of WPS in people who smoke water pipes exclusively. The aim of this study was to assess levels of knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and patterns of WPS among Jordanian waterpipe-only smokers. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive design was used; with 247 participants who were recruited through convenience sampling from 23 cafés offering waterpipes. An interview and self-reported questionnaire was used to collect data. Results: The average age for starting WPS was 19.4 ± 5.6 years, of whom 71% started as teenagers. Participants like WPS because they like its flavor and social environment (46.3% and 29.5% respectively). The majority of participants reported that they smoked a waterpipe for the first time with their friends (66.8%), they usually smoke in the company of others (63.2%), and believe that quitting cigarettes smoking is harder than quitting WPS (61.6%). More than half (56.7%) of participants have extremely poor knowledge about the health effects of WPS. Participants who had smoked cigarettes in the past, were more knowledgeable than those who had never smoked cigarettes. The majority of participants, and specifically women, have high positive feelings and emotions (attitude) toward WPS, and 88.3% of them reported that it is a socially acceptable behavior. Conclusions: Waterpipe smoking participants started WPS at an early age, and are attracted to the social environment that accompanies WPS. Participants have high positive attitude about WPS however they lack knowledge about harmful health effects of WPS.

Knowledge of stroke and cerebrovascular risk factors among Jordanian adults.

ABSTRACT This study aimed to identify the level of knowledge of stroke and cerebrovascular risk factors among Jordanian adults. It also aimed to measure the prevalence of cerebrovascular risk factors and to compare the stroke-related knowledge among participants based on their sociodemographical data. Two hundred twenty-four participants were included in this cross-sectional descriptive study. Data on prevalence and knowledge of stroke and cerebrovascular risk factors were collected through self-report questionnaires. Widespread prevalence of cerebrovascular risk factors was noted. The most common risk factors were inactivity (74%), overweight and obesity (59%), and smoking (34%). Moreover, only 30% of the study participants were able to enumerate three or more risk factors. The most commonly recognized risk factors were smoking (76%), hyperlipidemia (60%), and obesity (53%). Participants lacked basic knowledge about stroke; the average score for stroke knowledge was 8.8 of 20, with 49% of the participants achieving lower than the average score. Therefore, community awareness of stroke and cerebrovascular risk factors should be increased through national health education campaigns. In addition, health promotion programs should be adopted. They need to focus on utilizing available resources to reduce the high prevalence of major cerebrovascular risk factors in the Jordanian community. This will in turn reduce people’s risk of experiencing strokes and other cerebrovascular diseases.

Risk profile of myocardial infarction in young versus older adults

Background: In developing countries, the number of adults who develop myocardial infarction (MI) at a young age is high. The popularity of waterpipe smoking (WPS) has increased among the same age group. It is unknown if WPS contributes to the incidence of early‐onset MI. Objective: To study the association of WPS with early‐onset MI, which is defined as first MI occurring in individuals 18 ≥ age ≤ 45 years compared to those older than 45 years. Methods: This was a cross‐sectional study. The association of WPS with first‐time MI was compared between younger and older adults (N = 225). Results: Twenty‐five percent of all participants developed an acute MI before the age of 46 years. Both cigarette and WPS were more common among younger first‐time MI patients than older first‐time MI patients. Conclusions: WPS is one risk factor that distinguishes the risk profile of young adults with early‐onset MI.

Investigating cardiovascular patients’ preferences and expectations regarding the use of social media in health education

Background: To reach more people in the community, health educators have considered employing social media alongside traditional health education methods. Aims: To understand the preferences and expectations of patients with cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) regarding the use of social media in health education. To assess the association between patients’ socio-demographics with their preferences and expectations about the use of social media in health education. Methods: This is a cross-sectional descriptive study, which included 135 subjects with an established diagnosis of CVDs. The subjects were met at three cardiac outpatient clinics and recruited through a convenience sampling technique. They were recruited if they were adults, oriented and diagnosed with the CVDs for at least six months. Results: Most subjects (50.3%) were interested in receiving health education through social media, and 74.8% of them felt that using social media in health education would improve the process and lead to better outcomes. Preference for social media was significantly related to younger age, higher education, lower income, watching health education programmes on television, positive family history of CVDs, and currently has a job. Furthermore, higher positive expectations regarding using social media in health education were significantly related to higher education, watching health education programmes on television, being single, and currently has a job. Conclusions: Subjects with CVDs are enthusiastic about health education through social media, believing that it will be good for educating them and providing them with the up-to-date information they need to live with their diseases. Findings of this study may positively contribute to the international efforts of improving health education through employing social media to improve accessibility to health education materials, and consequently decrease the burden of CVDs.