The high prevalence of underweight among children is a serious health concern in Bangladesh. Nutritional status influences students' academic performance directly or indirectly. This study aimed to determine factors that affect the academic performance of students in primary schools. Methods: Data were collected from several schools and madrasahs in Chapainawabganj district, Bangladesh using multistage stratified sampling with proportional allocation technique. Results: The prevalence of underweight children was 32.3%, with 43.0% of them being girls and 21.4% boys. Multiple logistic regression analysis demonstrated that normal weight children were more likely (p<0.05) to obtain good results (GPA >3.50) than underweight children. Children with gestational age of 39 to 41 weeks were more likely to obtain good results than those whose gestational age was 37 and 38 weeks. Children who were breastfed for <24 months were less likely (p<0.01) to perform well academically (GPA>3.50) compared to their counterparts. Children whose parents had a higher income or higher education had a significantly better chance of obtaining good results compared to their counterparts. Conclusion: These results suggest that childhood nutritional status, parents' education and economic level are significant common factors which affect children's academic performance. Consequently, under-nutrition and poverty can be considered as the major problems for good academic performance of Bangladeshi children and requires attention
Thinness ; Nutritional Status ; Schools ; Child ; Bangladesh

Patient satisfaction can be used as one of the indicator for measuring quality of dental care provided. The objective of this study was to assess patient experiences with dental service provided by undergraduate dental students in Faculty of Dentistry, University of Malaya. A cross sectional study was done by distributing a self-answered questionnaire to patients treated by undergraduate dental students. Patient level of satisfaction was assessed by using five point Likert-like scale (strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree and strongly agree), with a list of items divided into three domains, consist of interpersonal skills, dental treatment and services. The response rate was 71.3%. The mean satisfaction scores were 83.09%, 78.62 and 74.16 for interpersonal skills, dental treatment and services domains respectively and the overall mean satisfaction score was highly satisfactory (78.62%). The percentage of satisfied patients was 82.4%, 66.2% and 55.4% for interpersonal skills, dental treatment and services domains respectively. There was significant association between satisfaction score with age (p-value=<0.001), treatment received by examination and diagnosis (p-value=0.027), denture treatment (p-value=0.032), others treatment (p-value=0.043) and ‘year of study’ of the students (p-value=0.001). Patients were satisfied with their overall experiences while receiving dental care provided by undergraduate dental students. They were highly satisfied with the students’ interpersonal skills, dental treatment received and services provided at the undergraduate dental clinics.

Vibrio cholerae infection is mainly caused acute diarrhoea disease. Bacteraemia due to non-O1 V. cholerae is rare and mainly reported in liver cirrhotic patients. We report one case of non-O1 V. cholerae bacteraemia in splenectomised thalassaemic patient who presented with septic shock secondary to abdominal sepsis. She had undergone emergency laporatomy and was managed in the intensive care unit for nine days. She was treated with meropenem and doxycyline and discharged well after fourteen days of admission. The V. cholerae was identified by API 20NE, serotype and polymerase chain reaction showed as non-O1, non-O139 strain. Besides known cholera-like toxin and El Tor hemolysin, with increasing reported cases of V. cholerae bacteraemia, there is possibility of other virulence factors that allow this organism to invade the bloodstream.

Aim: In response to the introduction of an integrated dentaleducation program at University of Malaya (UM) in 2011,a study was conducted to develop a caries risk assessmentmodel (CRA) for use in non-surgical caries managementfor Year 3 and 4 students of the new integrated program.Methods: The CRA model was based on risk indicatorsused by dental students in the Preventive Dental Clinic(PDC). Patients aged 15 years and above who attended thePDC for the first time in year 2009 and 2010 were used asstudy sample. Four hundred and fourteen patient nameswere identified from the student PDC logbook. Of the414, 359 dental records had complete data and includedin the analysis. Data were analysed using SPSS version17.0. Chi-square test was used for group comparison andassociated factors for coronal caries were analysed usingMultiple Logistic Regression (MLR). Results: The finalmodel showed that adults, brushing teeth once daily,and not having dental prosthesis/appliance were 3.31(CI=1.64-6.69), 2.53 (CI=1.19-5.40), and 2.25 (CI=1.25-4.10) more likely to develop coronal caries, respectively,than adolescents, brushing teeth at least twice a day, andhaving dental prosthesis/appliance. Conclusions: Theresults indicate that age group, toothbrushing frequencyand dental prosthesis status are significant indicators forcoronal caries among patients. Outcomes of the studycontributed towards bridging the gap between cariologyand preventive modules in the new integrated dentalprogram.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The approval of sofosbuvir (SOF), a direct-acting antiviral, has revolutionized the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV). METHODS: We assessed the sustained virological response (SVR) of SOF-based regimens in a real-world single-center setting for the treatment of chronic HCV genotype 1 (G1) patients. This was a retrospective review of chronic HCV G1 adult patients treated with a SOF-based regimen at Virginia Mason Medical Center between December 2013 and August 2015. RESULTS: The cohort comprised 343 patients. Patients received SOF+ledipasvir (LDV) (n=155), SOF+simeprevir (SIM) (n=154), or SOF+peginterferon (PEG)+ribavirin (RBV) (n=34). Of the patients, 50.1% (n=172) had cirrhosis. The SVR rate was 92.2% for SOF/LDV, 87.0% for SOF/SIM, and 82.4% for SOF/PEG/RBV. Compared with the cirrhotic patients, the patients without cirrhosis had a higher SVR (96.8% vs 85.5%, p=0.01, SOF/LDV; 98.2% vs 80.6%, p=0.002, SOF/SIM; 86.4% vs 75.0%, p=0.41, SOF/PEG/RBV). In this study, prior treatment experience adversely affected the response rate in subjects treated with SOF/PEG/RBV. CONCLUSIONS: In this single-center, real-world setting, the treatment of chronic HCV G1 resulted in a high rate of SVR, especially in patients without cirrhosis.
Adult ; Cohort Studies ; Fibrosis ; Genotype ; Hepacivirus ; Hepatitis C, Chronic* ; Hepatitis, Chronic* ; Humans ; Retrospective Studies ; Sofosbuvir ; Virginia

Objectives: This study aimed to adapt the survey questionnaire designed by Moens et al. (2021) and determine the validity and reliability of the Arabic version of the survey in a sample of the Saudi population experiencing teleworking. Methods: The questionnaire includes 2 sections. The first consists of 13 items measuring the impact of extended telework during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis. The second section includes 6 items measuring the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on self-view of telework and digital meetings. The survey instrument was translated based on the guidelines for the cultural adaptation of self-administrated measures. Results: The reliability of the questionnaire responses was measured by Cronbach’s alpha. The construct validity was checked through exploratory factor analysis followed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to further assess the factor structure. CFA revealed that the model had excellent fit (root mean square error of approximation, 0.00; comparative fit index, 1.0; Tucker-Lewis index, 1; standardized root mean squared residual, 0.0). Conclusions The Arabic version of the teleworking questionnaire had high reliability and good validity in assessing experiences and perceptions toward teleworking. While the validated survey examined perceptions and experiences during COVID-19, its use can be extended to capture experiences and perceptions during different crises.

OBJECTIVES: The emergence of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is a major challenge for the global control of tuberculosis (TB). The aim of this study was to determine the risk factors associated with MDR-TB in Sudan. METHODS: This case-control study was conducted from May 2017 to February 2019. Patients newly diagnosed with MDR-TB were selected as cases, and controls were selected from TB patients who responded to first-line anti-TB drugs. A questionnaire was designed and used to collect data from study participants. Logistic regression was used to evaluate associations between risk factors and MDR-TB infection. The best multivariate model was selected based on the likelihood ratio test. RESULTS: A total of 430 cases and 860 controls were selected for this study. A history of previous TB treatment (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 54.85; 95% confidence interval [CI], 30.48 to 98.69) was strongly associated with MDR-TB infection. We identified interruption of TB treatment (aOR, 7.62; 95% CI, 3.16 to 18.34), contact with MDR-TB patients (aOR, 5.40; 95% CI, 2.69 to 10.74), lower body weight (aOR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.87 to 0.91), and water pipe smoking (aOR, 3.23; 95% CI, 1.73 to 6.04) as factors associated with MDR-TB infection. CONCLUSIONS Previous TB treatment and interruption of TB treatment were found to be the main predictors of MDR-TB. Additionally, this study found that contact with MDR-TB patients and water pipe smoking were associated with MDR-TB infection in Sudan. More efforts are required to decrease the rate of treatment interruption, to strengthen patients' adherence to treatment, and to reduce contact with MDR-TB patients.

OBJECTIVES: The emergence of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is a major challenge for the global control of tuberculosis (TB). The aim of this study was to determine the risk factors associated with MDR-TB in Sudan.METHODS: This case-control study was conducted from May 2017 to February 2019. Patients newly diagnosed with MDR-TB were selected as cases, and controls were selected from TB patients who responded to first-line anti-TB drugs. A questionnaire was designed and used to collect data from study participants. Logistic regression was used to evaluate associations between risk factors and MDR-TB infection. The best multivariate model was selected based on the likelihood ratio test.RESULTS: A total of 430 cases and 860 controls were selected for this study. A history of previous TB treatment (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 54.85; 95% confidence interval [CI], 30.48 to 98.69) was strongly associated with MDR-TB infection. We identified interruption of TB treatment (aOR, 7.62; 95% CI, 3.16 to 18.34), contact with MDR-TB patients (aOR, 5.40; 95% CI, 2.69 to 10.74), lower body weight (aOR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.87 to 0.91), and water pipe smoking (aOR, 3.23; 95% CI, 1.73 to 6.04) as factors associated with MDR-TB infection.CONCLUSIONS: Previous TB treatment and interruption of TB treatment were found to be the main predictors of MDR-TB. Additionally, this study found that contact with MDR-TB patients and water pipe smoking were associated with MDR-TB infection in Sudan. More efforts are required to decrease the rate of treatment interruption, to strengthen patients' adherence to treatment, and to reduce contact with MDR-TB patients.
Body Weight ; Case-Control Studies ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Odds Ratio ; Risk Factors ; Smoking ; Sudan ; Tuberculosis ; Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant ; Water

OBJECTIVES: The emergence of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is a major challenge for the global control of tuberculosis (TB). The aim of this study was to determine the risk factors associated with MDR-TB in Sudan. METHODS: This case-control study was conducted from May 2017 to February 2019. Patients newly diagnosed with MDR-TB were selected as cases, and controls were selected from TB patients who responded to first-line anti-TB drugs. A questionnaire was designed and used to collect data from study participants. Logistic regression was used to evaluate associations between risk factors and MDR-TB infection. The best multivariate model was selected based on the likelihood ratio test. RESULTS: A total of 430 cases and 860 controls were selected for this study. A history of previous TB treatment (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 54.85; 95% confidence interval [CI], 30.48 to 98.69) was strongly associated with MDR-TB infection. We identified interruption of TB treatment (aOR, 7.62; 95% CI, 3.16 to 18.34), contact with MDR-TB patients (aOR, 5.40; 95% CI, 2.69 to 10.74), lower body weight (aOR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.87 to 0.91), and water pipe smoking (aOR, 3.23; 95% CI, 1.73 to 6.04) as factors associated with MDR-TB infection. CONCLUSIONS: Previous TB treatment and interruption of TB treatment were found to be the main predictors of MDR-TB. Additionally, this study found that contact with MDR-TB patients and water pipe smoking were associated with MDR-TB infection in Sudan. More efforts are required to decrease the rate of treatment interruption, to strengthen patients’ adherence to treatment, and to reduce contact with MDR-TB patients.
Body Weight ; Case-Control Studies ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Odds Ratio ; Risk Factors ; Smoking ; Sudan ; Tuberculosis ; Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant ; Water