BackgroundInjuries are a major cause of childhood morbidity and mortality worldwide. We aimed to determine the magnitude and characteristics of child injuries in Egypt and to identify the associated risk factors.MethodsA community-based, cross-sectional survey was conducted over 27 Egyptian governorates from June to October, 2011. The target population was 1977 households with children aged 0–18 years who had experienced accidental injuries.ResultsIn the 6-month period before the investigation, 1576 injuries were reported in 1472 children from a sample population of 1399 households (response rate 70.8 %). Falls (25 %) and burn injuries (20.3 %) were the most common accidental injuries. The incidence of these injuries was significantly higher among boys (57.2 %) than girls and in children aged 2–6 years (70 %) compared with older and younger children. The five main causes of injuries were wounds (30.6 %), fractures (28.7 %), burns (20.3 %), swallowing a foreign body (8.4 %) and accidentally ingesting a poison (7.8 %). Injuries from drowning (n = 27), animal bites (n = 22) and sunstroke (n = 20) mostly occurred in rural children, accounting for 65 %, 54.4 % and 52 %, respectively, of all injuries in rural children. Home and its immediate surroundings (64.4 %) was the most common setting for injuries. Maternal age, education and working status were also associated with childhood injuries (p < 0.05). Children of second and third birth order were at higher risk for injuries (p < 0.0001).ConclusionsChildhood injuries account for a substantial healthcare burden in Egypt. Our findings emphasise the importance of developing national preventive programs designed to reduce the incidence of childhood injuries.

Background: The highest prevalence rates of childhood obesity have been observed in developed countries, however, its prevalence is increasing in developing countries as well. Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of overweight and obesity among primary school children, aged from 6 to 12 years and to estimate risk factors of obesity and overweight, defined by body mass index (BMI). Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out at Port Said city during the second term of school year 2010/2011. The researcher took the anthropometric measurements inside the nurse's room in the school and gave a questionnaire to the students to be answered by one of the child's parents. The questionnaire included questions related to socioeconomic status, life style (physical activity and eating habits) and family history of overweight and obesity. Results: Eight hundred and fifty-two students participated in this study. Prevalence of overweight and obesity was 17.7% and 13.5% respectively. The rate of obesity was the highest at the age of 7-8 years (grade 2) and decreased with an increase in age, while overweight increased with an increase in age to be the highest at the age of 9-10 (grade 4) and 10-11 (grade 5). Socioeconomic class, faulty dietary habits, sedentary life, low level of physical activity and positive family history of overweight and/or obesity were significantly associated with student's BMI. Conclusion: This study found a relatively high prevalence of overweight and obesity among children aged 6-12 years in Port Said city. Decreased rate of obesity with an increase in age in our study, signifies that faulty feeding habits were the highest at lower ages. ª 2013 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of The Egyptian Pediatric Association.

IntroductionAddressing difficulties of seeking and getting health care would lower the burden of diarrhea among ill children from developing countries as Egypt. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the economic burden of diarrhea associated with outpatient visits of children in Egypt by identifying the different types of related costs.MethodsThis cross-sectional clinic-based survey was done by interviewing parents of 763 children presenting with diarrhea to the outpatient clinics of Pediatric Hospital of Cairo University. Estimated costs included tangible costs (direct, indirect) and intangible costs (forms of suffering). Insurance status of the children was also described. Descriptive statistics were presented in frequency tables, median, minimum, maximum, interquartile range, mean and standard deviation, whenever appropriate.ResultsIt was found that 90. 7% of the studied children were of low and middle socioeconomic standard with a median monthly family income of US$83 and a median monthly expenditure of LE US$79. The average direct and indirect costs of acute diarrhea per case were US$13.2±19.5 and US$11.3±93.1 respectively. The mean cost per diarrheal episode is US$24.5 which almost consumes 29.5% of the mean monthly income. About 61% of cases sought medical care before visiting our hospital, 43.6% of them visited more than one provider. Awareness about health insurance was found in 72.7% and coverage by a health insurance system in 33%. Of insured patients only 41.4% utilized the insurance services.ConclusionDiarrhea causes great socio-economic burden for families in Egypt, which could result in significant delay in seeking health care.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) is predicted to increase over the coming years. AIM: The objectives of the study were to measure the level of awareness and healthy practices related to five healthy domains and assess the effect of different demographic characteristics, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level, and body mass index (BMI) on these levels among diabetic patients in a rural Egyptian village. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was done on 300 selected insulin-dependent diabetic patients resident in an Egyptian village. Data were collected using a questionnaire covering five domains: General disease awareness and management compliance practice, check-up, foot care, diet, and physical activity. HbA1c and BMI were also measured as an impact of the management adherence. RESULTS: The study found that more than three quarters of the participants (82.0%) were uncontrolled or poorly uncontrolled (HbA1c >8) diabetics and 76.0% were either obese or morbidly obese. Total awareness and practices percentage scores were low (42.4 ± 16.8% and 40.5 ± 12.3%, respectively). The linear regression model showed that high educational level had significantly positive effects on both the total awareness and practice scores as well as their domains. The study found that female participants and those having relatives with DM had significantly higher diet awareness and practice scores (p < 0.05). Younger age had significantly higher scores on foot care and diet awareness scores, physical activity, general disease awareness, and management compliance practices domains. CONCLUSION: The studied awareness and practice domains were inadequate. Their improvement is cornerstones to impact glycemic control of diabetics and control their health risks, especially in rural communities.

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Background: Diabetes mellitus is best described as a condition that is characterized by postprandial hyperglycemia that has two types; diabetes type 1 and type 2. Many patients with type 2 diabetes can be asymptomatic. There are many novel biomarkers for the detection of diabetes type 2, such as FABP1, which is investigated as a marker to detect patients with diabetes type 2. Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate FABP1 in Patients with diabetes type 2 and to find the correlations between FABP1 and fasting insulin in those patients. Methods: Samples were collected from 99 diabetic patients and 85 samples of healthy participants as the control group. All participants were subjected to liver enzymes (ALT and AST) lipid profile (triglycerides, HDL, LDL, and cholesterol), T-billirbun, Albumin, Alp, AFP, BMI, S-creatinine, Hb, Fatty acids, F. Insulin, CA19.9, HbA1c, and Fbs that were done by an autoanalyzer. The serum level of fatty acid-binding protein 1 was measured by SunRed human FABP1 Elisa kits. Results: Data was represented as mean ± standard deviation or median with statistically significant values of ALT, AST, ALP, PT, and INR (at P< 0.05). Findings revealed a significant positive correlation between our marker FABP1 and TG, cholesterol, LDL, Fasting insulin, and CA19.9, Conclusion: FABP1 can be used as a novel marker to detect patients with diabetes type 2.