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Biomedical subjects

M A Moussa

Publications and source records attributed to M A Moussa.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Analysis of underlying and multiple-cause mortality data: the life table methods.

The stochastic compartment model concepts are employed to analyse and construct complete and abbreviated total mortality life tables, multiple-decrement life tables for a disease, under the underlying and pattern-of-failure definitions of mortality risk, cause-elimination life tables, cause-elimination effects on saved population through the gain in life expectancy as a consequence of eliminating the mortality risk, cause-delay life tables designed to translate the clinically observed increase in survival time as the population gain in life expectancy that would occur if a treatment protocol was made available to the general population and life tables for disease dependency in multiple-cause data.

Actuarial Analysis↗
PubMed1986

Type A behaviour in Arab patients with myocardial infarction.

Sixty male patients with myocardial infarction were compared to a similar number of patients with noncardiovascular disease on scales measuring Type A behaviour (TAB) and neuroticism. No significant differences emerged. Differences in TAB were observed in relation to nationality and there was a positive correlation between TAB and neuroticism. TAB is discussed in the light of sociocultural variations and the suggestion is made that TAB might be a culture-bound cluster of characteristics.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

The concurrent associations of group A streptococcal serotypes in children with acute rheumatic fever or pharyngitis-associated glomerulonephritis and their families in Kuwait.

A group of 146 children with acute rheumatic fever and 256 members from their families, and a group of 125 children with post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis and 199 family members, together with a group of 145 children with non-complicated group A streptococcal pharyngitis were examined over a period of three years. The purpose of the study was to explore the concurrent association and distribution of group A streptococcal serotypes among the three groups. Strains isolated from the children with non-complicated group A streptococcal pharyngitis represented the prevalent strains of group streptococci in the childhood community during the period of study. Rheumatic fever was encountered in a non epidemic situation. As expected, the recovery of group A streptococci was low. The strains however belonged mainly to two patterns, namely type M1 and M non-typable strains. Nephritis was pharyngitis-associated and occured also sporadically throughout the year. Types M12 and 49 accounted for the majority of the isolates. Type M12 accounted for 34.4% of the group A isolates from family members of children with nephritis and was totally absent in family members of children with rheumatic fever (p less than 0.001). The T pattern 8/25/Imp. 19 accounted for 40% of the group A isolates from family members of rheumatic patients compared to 3.3% from family members of nephritis patients (p less than 0.005). Data from this study show that the group A streptococcal serotypes, concurrently isolated from children with acute rheumatic fever and their families are disparately different from those of children with pharyngitis-associated glomerulonephritis and their families in the same population. These findings support the concept of "nephritogenicity" and "rheumatogenicity" and indicated the important role of the biological characteristics of the streptococcal serotypes in the aetiology of acute rheumatic fever and acute poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1986

The effect of consanguineous marriages on reproductive wastage.

A stratified representative sample size of 5,007 Kuwaiti females aged 15 years and above was drawn during 1983 and structurally interviewed to study the influence of consanguineous marriages (up to the second cousin) on reproductive wastage. Losses comprised prenatal deaths (abortions and stillbirths) and neonatal deaths (up to the first month of life). The rate of consanguineous mating in the sample was 54.3% with 95% confidence limits estimated rate 52.9% to 55.7% when projected over the whole Kuwaiti population. First cousin marriages accounted for 30.2% of the sample followed by 22.1% less than first cousin (first cousin once removed and second cousins) and 2% only double first cousin. The study showed higher prenatal and neonatal losses among consanguineous (14.2%, 2.97%) than nonconsanguineous (13.97%, 2.54%) although not statistically significant. No consistent increase in reproductive wastage was evident as the inbreeding coefficient, F, advances mainly because of decline in the wastage rate among the double first cousin marriages which represents only 2% of our sample.

Abortion, Spontaneous↗
PubMed1986

Psychosocial profile of the parasuicidal patient in Kuwait.

A consecutive sample of 92 parasuicides aged 14-44 years (mean age +/- standard deviation, 22.9 +/- 5.6) was seen during the period December 1984-November 1985 at Kuwait's main teaching general hospital (catchment area 449000 population). Self-poisoning accounted for 85.9%. Their sociodemographic characteristics were consistent with contemporary trends of parasuicidal behaviour reported in other countries. The structure of the Kuwaiti population is quite special. The majority (58.3%) are expatriates mostly males at the working age group while the minority (41.7%) are Kuwaiti nationals. Family discord was the dominant antecedent life event in Kuwaitis. On the other hand, non-Kuwaiti Arabs and non-Arab expatriates reported an excess of work-related problems as precipitating factors. Non-Arab females resorted to more violent methods than other females. Acute situational distress was the most common diagnosis while depression was present in about 25% of the total sample. The attitudes of family members of the parasuicidal patients were discussed in the light of the socio-cultural perspective. Attention to possible preventive measures is suggested. Parasuicide (Kreitman et al 1970) is a topic which has stimulated considerable research in recent years. A wealth of information has become available on the subject and its patterns in different cultures and various countries (WHO 1974). In the "Arab World" a few studies have dealt with parasuicide. El-Islam (1974) studied the characteristics of hospital referred parasuicide in Qatar and indicated that intergenerational conflict was the commonest precipitating life event.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Inter-generational conflict and psychiatric symptoms.

Secondary school pupils and their parents were investigated using the scaled version of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) and by a questionnaire designed to study attitudes involved in inter-generational conflict in psychiatric patients. Parent-pupil and inter-parental conflict in answers to the attitude questionnaires were taken as measures of intergenerational and intra-generational conflicts respectively. The former significantly exceeded the latter. Parent-student conflict was higher when the students involved were females, Kuwaiti, or had less educated fathers. The tendency of the number of reported GHQ symptoms to be higher in members of families with higher inter-generational conflict did not reach statistical significance. There is an apparent discrepancy between this finding and the prominence of inter-generational conflict in clinical material.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Adverse drug reaction monitoring in Kuwait (1981-1984).

The methodologic, operational, and medical aspects of general population spontaneous adverse drug reaction (ADR) monitoring system organized in the State of Kuwait between June 1981 to June 1984 are described. The objectives of the study were to outline the procedures required for the establishment of a national ADR center in addition to studying the pattern of ADRs. Ethnic and sociocultural variables were factors influencing the frequency of adverse effects. A computer data base was created to handle incoming reports. A total of 704 reports were received from 26 hospitals and health clinics; the majority (90.5%) were classified as having a possible positive causal relationship. Anti-infectives were the most commonly reported drugs (32.2%), and cutaneous reactions were encountered most often (48.6%). Serious drug-induced reactions have been identified. Intake of nifedipine adversely affected glucose tolerance among diabetic and nondiabetic subjects. Bromocriptine causal sexual dysfunction was reported among women. Cimetidine and ethambutol were associated with optic neuritis and blindness. Metoclopramide and prochlorperazine resulted in dystonic reactions in children. Based on this study, the health authorities in Kuwait indicated their intention to establish a national ADR center.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

The role of prehospital discharge two-dimensional echocardiography in determining the prognosis of survivors of first myocardial infarction.

Two-dimensional echocardiography (2DE) was performed in 47 consecutive survivors (mean age 47 years) of a first myocardial infarction (MI), to assess its value in predicting major cardiac complications (MCC) during the posthospital phase. 2DE was undertaken 1 day before hospital discharge (mean 15 days). A wall motion score was derived by analyzing endocardial motion in 11 left ventricular segments. During a mean 17-month follow-up, 17 patients had MCC: eight (47%) had significant angina; two (12%) reinfarcted, and seven (41%) died. Wall motion scores of patients with MCC (9.2 +/- 0.9) (+/- SEM) were significantly higher compared to those without MCC (3.7 +/- 0.4 (p less than 0.005). A wall motion score greater than or equal to 8 was present in 82% (14 of 17) of patients with MCC compared to 7% (2 of 30) who remained asymptomatic. Patients who died had significantly higher wall motion scores compared to those who survived (11.3 +/- 0.9 vs 4.7 +/- 0.5) (p less than 0.005). Stepwise logistic regression and discriminant analysis, by means of age, infarct site, maximal Killip class, cardiac enzymes, and wall motion score, identified wall motion score and Killip class as the most significant predictors of MCC. Thus predischarge 2DE is capable of identifying high-risk patients prone to developing MCC after a first MI.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

The measurement of interobserver agreement based on categorical scales.

The Kappa statistic is used to measure the interobserver similarity based on categorical scales. The cases of two or more observers with two or more rating categories are considered. Allowance is made for the attachment of disagreement weights, based on rational or clinical grounds, to different rating categories. Tests of hypotheses about the conditions Kappa = 0 and Kappa greater than 0 are conducted.

Biometry↗
PubMed1985

Testing marginal homogeneity in square tables; with emphasis on matched data.

A noniterative procedure based upon the minimum modified X2 approach is employed to test the model of homogeneity of one-dimensional margins in square tables. Such tables may arise from matched pairs with k outcomes. The special case of double dichotomy (i.e. matched pairs with two outcomes) reduces to the McNemar test statistic. The case of multiple matched controls is also dealt with. The Cochran's Q test is used to test the marginal homogeneity in cases comparing m distinct matched samples in addition to testing trends in proportions. Reference is made to the equivalence between these tests and the approach of hierarchical log-linear models for testing marginal homogeneity of square tables.

Biometry↗
PubMed1985

Planning a cohort or case-control study with allowance for cost and test power.

This paper deals with balanced and unbalanced allocation designs in cohort and case-control studies. It focuses on: determination of the equal sample size design given the relative risk, R, of disease, the incidence of disease among the nonexposed group or the prevalence of exposure to risk factor, P1, type I and II errors alpha, beta; estimation of the unequal allocation designs that either maximize the test power subject to fixed total cost or minimize the total study expenditure subject to prespecified power using the simplex procedure for function minimization; assessing the efficiency of different allocation designs by computing the power of the exact conditional (Fisher-Irwin) test for comparing two proportions.

Computers↗
PubMed1985

Kuwait nutritional survey: comparison of the nutritional status of Kuwaiti children aged 6-9 years with the NCHS/CDC reference population.

A national cross-sectional survey of the heights and weights of Kuwaiti primary school children aged 6-9 years was conducted on a stratified multistage sample of 5132 subjects from two socio-economic districts. The collected data were used to compare the nutritional status of Kuwaiti children with their American counterparts using the NCHS/CDC reference population. The basic indices used for comparison were height for age and weight for height, each considered in terms of centiles and SD scores and cross-classified using SD scores. The results indicated that although Kuwaiti children in the studied age groups are shorter than American children severe short stature is relatively infrequent as 48.3% fell below the 30th centile of the reference population. Conversely, Kuwaiti children are relatively heavier than American children as 61.1% fell above the 50th centile of the reference population.

Body Height↗