We aimed to generate a valid reliable Arabic version of MOS social support survey (MOS-SSS). We did a cross sectional study in medical students of Faculty of Medicine in Khartoum, Sudan. We did a clustered random sampling in 500 students of which 487 were suitable for analysis. We followed the standard translation process for translating the MOS-SSS. We accomplished factor analysis to assess construct validity, and generated item-scales correlations to evaluate the convergent and discriminant validity. We extracted the Cronbach’s α and Spearman Brown coefficient of spit half method to determine internal consistency. We measured stability by correlation between the scores of the MOS survey taken at two different occasions with ten days apart in 252 participants. All items correlated highly (0.788 or greater) with their hypothesized scales. All items in subscales correlated higher by two standard errors with their own scale than with any other scale. Principle component analysis with varimax rotation was conducted on the 19 items and examination of scree plot graphically suggested 4 predominant factors that account for 72 % of variance. It showed high loadings, ranging from 0.720 to 0.84 for items of emotional support, 0.699–0.845 for tangible support, 0.518–0.823 for affectionate support, and 0.740–0.816 for positive social interaction. Cronbach’s alpha for overall MOS scale and subscales indicated high internal consistency. The test–retest correlation showed weak correlation between the test and retest (ranges from 0.04 to 0.104). The Arabic MOS-SSS had high validity and internal consistency.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40064-016-2960-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

ObjectivesWe aimed to stratify the possible risk factors for diabetic cardiac autonomic neuropathy (CAN).MethodsWe did a meta-analysis of risk factors of CAN. We did a web-based search for literature in MEDLINE/PubMed, Scopus database and CENTRAL database up to August 2015. We included clinical trials or cohort studies that provide data about relationship between CAN and variables of interest. Our risk factors of interest were age, sex, duration of diabetes, body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure (sBP) and diastolic blood pressure (dBP), glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), high-density lipoprotein and low-density lipoprotein (HDL and LDL), triglycerides, retinopathy and nephropathy. We generated Forest plots, χ2 test and I2 as tests for heterogeneity, risk ratio (RR), mean difference (MD), CIs and p values by ReVMan V.5.3 software.ResultsWe found a total of 882 related items. We excluded 873 studies from the title and abstract and 4 studies after review of full reports. Four studies were included. Our meta-analysis showed significant association between CAN and age (MD=4.94 (3.46 to 6.42)), duration of diabetes (MD=4.51 (2.51 to 6.52)), HbA1c (MD=0.48 (0.28 to 0.67)), BMI (MD=0.55 (0.08 to 1.01)), serum triglycerides (MD=0.09 (0.01 to 0.17)), proliferative retinopathy (RR=3.69 (1.20 to 11.34)), microalbuminuria (RR=2.47 (1.43 to 4.29)), hypertension (RR=4.18 (2.52 to 6.91)) and sBP (MD=4.10 (2.20 to 6.00)). We neither discovered the absence of significant association between the development of CAN and male sex (RR=1.57 (0.45 to 5.39)), dBP (MD=0.89 (−0.36 to 2.14)), cholesterol level (MD=1.19 (−0.99 to 3.36)), LDL (MD=0.12 (−0.15 to 0.39)), nor HDL level (MD=−0.28 (−0.58 to 0.03)).ConclusionsAge, duration of diabetes, HbA1c, BMI, serum triglycerides, proliferative retinopathy, microalbuminuria, hypertension and sBP are directly related to the risk of development of diabetic CAN.

Introduction: Percutaneous injuries, caused by needle sticks and other sharps, are a serious concern for all health care workers (HCWs) and pose a significant risk of occupational transmission of blood borne pathogen. Two million injuries are believed to occur each year among HCWs. Methodology: The study group consisted of 249 HCWs of various categories of a tertiary care hospital in Khartoum, Sudan. Data collection was carried out using a standardized questionnaire. To measure knowledge, attitude and practices on needle stick injuries. Results:70% of respondents were females and around 47% of participants were nurses Half of participants attended a biosafety course, and around 90% of them followed what they was trained on in all or most of times. Most of respondents graded their knowledge about as good and the main source of knowledge was the university curriculum. In our study 46% had NSI with a mean of 6.1 injuries/year of 6.14 most of them were among nurses 40%. Almost thirty percent didn't hear about the term post exposure prophylaxis more than 90% knew that HIV, HBV, and HIV can be transmitted through NSI. More than 83% of respondents were worried about NSI. Regarding the most recent NSI, Most of injuries occurred in the ward followed by emergency room, lab, and theatre. In half of cases the culprit was the victim himself during usage of syringe. The most common procedure associated with NSI was blood sampling. The frequent action was to wash the injury site using antiseptic solution. Almost two thirds of respondents who had NSI didn't report it. Around 4.3% had NSI of HIV patient yet, the majority of them did not receive any medication. Out the 7 participants who had a NSI from a HBV positive patient, 5 were fully vaccinated all of which didn't check their vaccination status. Moreover, none of the 5 participants received PEP. Conclusion and recommendation: prevalence of NSI was relatively low but there were many deficient area such as checking immune status of HBV, knowledge about importance and methods of PEP, role of wearing gloves during handling needles, and procedure of reporting injuries. HCW =health care worker NSI = needle stick injuries PEP= post exposure prophylaxis

BackgroundBreast cancer (BC) is the most common type of cancer in women. Among many risk factors of BC, mutations in BRCA2 gene were found to be the primary cause in 5–10% of cases. The majority of deleterious mutations are frameshift or nonsense mutations. Most of the reported BRCA2 mutations are protein truncating mutations.MethodsThe study aimed to describe the pattern of mutations including single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and variants of the BRCA2 (exon11) gene among Sudanese women patients diagnosed with BC. In this study a specific region of BRCA2 exon 11 was targeted using PCR and DNA sequencing.ResultsEarly onset cases 25/45 (55.6%) were premenopausal women with a mean age of 36.6 years. Multiparity was more frequent within the study amounting to 30 cases (66.6%), with a mean parity of 4.1. Ductal type tumor was the predominant type detected in 22 cases (48.8%) among the reported histotypes. A heterozygous monoallelic nonsense mutation at nucleotide 3385 was found in four patients out of 9, where TTA codon was converted into the stop codon TGA.ConclusionThis study detected a monoallelic nonsense mutation in four Sudanese female patients diagnosed with early onset BC from different families. Further work is needed to demonstrate its usefulness in screening of BC.

Trials suggest patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) without ‘standard modifiable cardiovascular risk factors’ (SMuRFs) have poorer outcomes, but the role of ethnicity has not been investigated. We analyzed 118,177 STEMI patients using the Myocardial Ischaemia National Audit Project (MINAP) registry. Clinical characteristics and outcomes were analyzed using hierarchical logistic regression models; patients with ≥1 SMuRF (n = 88,055) were compared with ‘SMuRFless’ patients (n = 30,122), with subgroup analysis comparing outcomes of White and Ethnic minority patients. SMuRFless patients had higher incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) (odds ratio, OR: 1.09, 95% CI 1.02–1.16) and in-hospital mortality (OR: 1.09, 95% CI 1.01–1.18) after adjusting for demographics, Killip classification, cardiac arrest, and comorbidities. When additionally adjusting for invasive coronary angiography (ICA) and revascularisation (percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or coronary artery bypass grafts surgery (CABG)), results for in-hospital mortality were no longer significant (OR 1.05, 95% CI .97–1.13). There were no significant differences in outcomes according to ethnicity. Ethnic minority patients were more likely to undergo revascularisation with ≥1 SMuRF (88 vs 80%, P < .001) or SMuRFless (87 vs 77%, P < .001. Ethnic minority patients were more likely undergo ICA and revascularisation regardless of SMuRF status.