Knowledge and (Ab)Use in Connection with Novel Psychoactive Substances: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Iraqi Medical Students

Al-Imam, Ahmed; Al-Mukhtar, Farah; Shafiq, Aisha; Irfan, Manolia; Saleh, Mustafa M

doi:10.5539/gjhs.v9n11p61

Cited by 3 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Descriptions of the studies are reported in Table 2. Of the included studies, only four were alcohol specific [17][18][19][20]; two were about substance use [21,22] and two about health risk behaviours [23,24]; one each was primarily focused on mental health disorders [25], smoking [26], novel psychoactive drugs [27], risky driving [28], and sleep disorders [29]. No literature was found that related to preventative strategies in relation to alcohol.…”

Section: Research Topicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Only one study recruited a sample from more than one province [25]. Four studies recruited from Baghdad [19][20][21]27] and Erbil [17,22,23,28]. Two recruited students from Karbala [18,26].…”

Section: Study Settings and Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…All studies were cross-sectional and quantitative. Nine studies were self-administered surveys [17-19, 23, 24, 26-29]eight of these were paper-and-pen and one online [27]. Three studies used face-to-face interviews [21,22,25] and one used autopsy blood samples [20].…”

Section: Study Settings and Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Three studies used face-to-face interviews [21,22,25] and one used autopsy blood samples [20]. Eight studies were conducted in school or college [17-19, 23, 24, 26, 28, 29], two at home [22,25], one each at a youth centre [21], online [27] and at a forensics laboratory [20].…”

Section: Study Settings and Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ten of the studies reported randomised recruitment with varying levels of detail. Ten studies included a student sample: four were general university samples [17][18][19]26], three were medical students [27][28][29], two secondary school [23,24] and one did not specify [22]. Although Ali, Sabir [17] defined their sample as medical college students, it included students studying medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and nursing.…”

Section: Samplesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Alcohol among young people in Iraq: a systematic scoping review

2022

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Introduction Young people in Iraq are exposed to conflict and trauma, and to alcohol references in uncensored international TV and media. Previous regional reviews indicate that alcohol is the least studied substance in Arab countries and no data on young people in Iraq were identified. Accordingly, we re-examined the scope of available literature on alcohol and Iraqi young people, including in studies where alcohol was not the primary focus. Methods Five major international databases (MEDLINE (OVID), Embase (OVID), PsycINFO (OVID), Scopus, Web of Science) and one local Iraqi database (Iraqi Academic Scientific Journals (IASJ)) were systematically searched for published articles up to 16 September 2019. Original articles that included any alcohol data on general Iraqi young or student samples were included. Results Thirteen articles met the inclusion criteria from a total of 3374 results. All studies were cross-sectional and quantitative. Most alcohol data were incidental rather than the focus of the studies. All but two studies used face-to-face or pen-and-paper surveys. Each study reported on alcohol differently—with most not using validated tools. A wide range of drinking prevalence was reported (2.2%–23.7%). Studies reported a relatively high rate (12.2–56%) of alcohol misuse among those that drink. Alcohol was associated with risky behaviour in the two studies that reported on this measure. Conclusion Results suggest a low prevalence of drinking compared to non-Muslim Majority Countries (non-MMCs), and a relatively high prevalence of risk amongst drinkers. More research is needed using study methods and validated screening or diagnostic tools tailored for the local Iraqi context.

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Section: Research Topicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study Settings and Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study Settings and Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study Settings and Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Samplesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Alcohol among young people in Iraq: a systematic scoping review

2022

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Past Myocardial Infarctions and Gender Predict the LVEF Regardless of the Status of Coronary Collaterals: An AI-Informed Research

Singh¹,

Al-Imam²,

Tirpude³

et al. 2023

Open Access Maced J Med Sci

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BACKGROUND: The degree of the development of coronary collaterals is long considered an alternate – that is, a collateral – source of blood supply to an area of the myocardium threatened with vascular ischemia or insufficiency. Hence, the coronary collaterals are beneficial but can also promote harmful (adverse) effects. For instance, the coronary steal effect during the myocardial hyperemia phase and that of restenosis following coronary angioplasty. OBJECTIVES: Our study explores the contribution of coronary collaterals – if any exist – while considering other potential predictors, including demographics and medical history, toward the left ventricular (LV) dysfunction measured through the LV ejection fraction (LVEF). METHODS: Our cross-sectional design study used convenience sampling of 100 patients (n = 100; a male-to-female ratio of 4:1). We conducted frequentist inference statistics using IBM-SPSS version 24 and Microsoft Office Excel 2016 with the analysis ToolPak plugin; we ran parallel neural networks (supervised machine learning (ML)) and a two-step clustering (non-supervised ML) for robust conjoint inference with frequentist statistics. RESULTS: The past incidents of myocardial infarction (p = 0.036) and gender (p = 0.072) influenced the LVEF; both are significant predictors at a 90% confidence interval. We found that gender and past incidents of MI influenced the LVEF regardless of the status of coronary collaterals. Our study did not yield any positive or significant findings concerning the status of coronary collaterals or the coronary circulation dominance patterns. CONCLUSION: Regardless of the status of coronary collaterals, we verified that the female gender is protective of the LV function, contrary to the past infarction incidents that predispose to a deteriorated LV function. Our study’s innovation relates to its status as the first study from India to explore the coronary collaterals and the ejection fraction while incorporating frequentist statistics and narrow artificial intelligence to infer reliable results.

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Alcohol and University Students in Iraq: Attitudes, Availability, and Use

Ansari

Dawson

Room

et al. 2022

Journal of Muslim Mental Health

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As with other Muslim-majority countries (MMCs), there is little data on alcohol use in Iraq. This study examines attitudes toward alcohol and its use among Iraqi university students. It considers the likely impact of the context of conflict and globalization. An online quantitative questionnaire was distributed to students at several universities in Iraq. The survey included questions on alcohol use (AUDIT-C) and availability, drug use, attitudes toward alcohol policy and a screen for post-traumatic stress disorder (PC-PTSD). Descriptive analysis was conducted, followed by multivariate logistic regression to determine independent predictors of drinking. Of the 468 students who provided alcohol-related data, a minority reported having ever consumed alcohol (5.3%; 1.6% females, 10% males). Only 21 participants consumed alcohol in the last 12 months, of whom six had an AUDIT-C score of 4+ (all males). Most students indicated that access to alcohol was “easy”. In multivariate analysis, gender was an independent predictor of lifetime consumption; however, it was not a significant predictor of past year drinking. Living away from relatives was the only consistent significant predictor of lifetime and past year drinking, including among Muslim students. Of the 220 respondents who completed the PC-PTSD screen, 29.2% (n=63) had positive scores. Two in five (n=90, 41.7%) reported direct exposure to violent conflict. While prevalence of drinking is low, 6/15 male current alcohol users in this convenience sample report drinking at risky levels. There are several challenges conducting research on this sensitive topic in a MMC. Further research could strive to obtain representative samples and to ascertain appropriate prevention and early intervention approaches for the socio-cultural context of Iraq.

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Knowledge and (Ab)Use in Connection with Novel Psychoactive Substances: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Iraqi Medical Students

Cited by 3 publications

References 15 publications

Alcohol among young people in Iraq: a systematic scoping review

Alcohol among young people in Iraq: a systematic scoping review

Past Myocardial Infarctions and Gender Predict the LVEF Regardless of the Status of Coronary Collaterals: An AI-Informed Research

Alcohol and University Students in Iraq: Attitudes, Availability, and Use

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