APROSPECTIVE EPIDEMIOLOGIC study of spontaneous abortions and fetal wastage was done in Oklahoma City U.S.A. from September 1980 to September 1981 for the purpose of delineating the etiologic effects of previous abortions. 1050 pregnant women were followed from their first prenatal visit till the termination of pregnancy. In addition to the available information in the patients' medical records, a detailed questionnaire was administered to all the patients. Detailed information was sought on the patients' previous abortion history. A relationship was found between the history of previous spontaneous abortion and subsequent non-live birth, but not between induced abortion and non- live birth.
A retrospective study of 210 cases of diabetes was carried out at King Khalid University Hospital diabetes clinic to delineate etiologic factors in non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM). Standardised detailed questionnaires were administered to both cases and controls and the information sought included general demographics, dietary patterns, anthropometric values, family history, consanguinity and familial aggregation of Diabetes Mellitus (DM). Familial aggregation yielded an odds ratio of 6:2 which suggests a causal association with DM. A synergistic effect of familial aggregation was observed which needs to be further explored in future studies.
A simple random sample of 4498 Saudi pregnant women was analysed to study the effect of consanguinity on pregnancy outcome. The rate of consanguinity was found to be 54.3% which comprised 31.4% of first cousins and 22.9% of other relatives. The average proportion of outcome was higher and over 50% within the consanguinous marriages in all pregnancy outcome except prematurity and low birth weights. In general, more unfavourable outcomes occurred among consanguinous than non-consanguinous marriages. Perinatal, infant and neonatal deaths were the most deleterious outcomes among related marriages with 62%, 60.3% and 57.9% respectively. The differences between total consanguinity and unrelated marriages in the infant and perinatal death categories were significant (P = 0.05).
A three year maternal mortality survey in Saudi Arabia has identified the various epidemiologic risk factors for maternal deaths. Unbooked, uneducated and economically underprivileged females were at increased risk of maternal death, especially >para 7 females, who were found to be at increased risk of maternal death, particularly deaths due to hemorrhage, pulmonary embolism and uterine rupture. In Saudi Arabia, there are contradictory risk factors for maternal death; e.g. low female literacy rate, early marriage and unregulated high fertility, and affluence which has brought about improvements in all walks of life including health services. Increasing the number of booked patients, especially among the elderly grand multipara, improving the quality of emergency obstetric services and achieving a higher female education rate are likely to bring the present maternal mortality ratio (MMR) of 18 per 100,000 births down to a minimum. The MMR obtained in this study compared favorably with those of the oil-producing Gulf countries and the developing and developed countries of the world. Ann Saudi Med 1995;15(4):A Al-Meshari, SK Chattopadhyay, B Younes, C Anokute, Epidemiology of Maternal Mortality in Saudi Arabia. 1995; 15(4): 317-322During the past half century there has been a dramatic fall in maternal mortality rates, especially in developed countries, so much so that standards of obstetric care can no longer be assessed in terms of mortality rates. The picture is different in the developing world and the disparity in deaths between developed and developing countries is larger for maternal mortality than for any other global health problem. While 25 % of females of reproductive age live in developed countries, they contribute to only 1 % of maternal deaths. The developing countries, on the other hand, accommodate 75% of females of reproductive age and contribute to 99% of maternal deaths, the widest disparity in all statistics of public health.1 Research supported by the World Health Organization (WHO) and other agencies has provided data on the magnitude of the problem of maternal death. There are over 500,000 deaths each year to females in pregnancy and childbirth in the world and that amounts to one woman every minute of every day. 2Few countries have complete and accurate data on maternal mortality and the national statistics in most of the developing countries are highly inaccurate. In Saudi Arabia, there is a paucity of data on maternal deaths and the triennial study on maternal mortality in Saudi Arabia 3 was the first of its kind with the objective of forming a national data base. The cultural and sociodemographic patterns of Saudi Arabia have contradictory epidemiologic risk factors for maternal deaths. On one hand, economic affluence has brought a rapid expansion and improvement in nutritional standards, free public sector health services, public sanitation and an impressive network of communication which are comparable to those in the developed countries. On the other hand, social customs of early marria...
The study analysed 13,390 police records of road traffic accidents (RTAs) covering a three and a half year period according to different suspected aetiological factors. The majority of the accidents were recorded for vehicles in good condition on well-paved straight roads with well-operating traffic light systems. Adverse weather conditions such as precipitation, fog and dust were of minimal importance, with most of the accidents being reported during sunny days during the rush period of 12 noon to 3 pm. Driver's error was identified as the main contributing factor in about two thirds of all RTAs mainly as reckless driving and excess speeding. About 27% of the drivers were professional drivers and 41% were in the age group 25-35 years in good health with no alcohol or drug intake. Hence, human errors may be attributed to carelessness, experience, lack of knowledge or attention, over-exhaustion or fatigue. The effects of physical stressors on performance of drivers need to be further explored and clarified but this need not under estimate the importance of vehicle and environment since most accidents are multifactoral and a slight change in them may effectively enhance perception and minimise personal error. Recommendations for remedial measures adopting an interdisciplinary approach are presented.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.