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Biomedical subjects

N Achour

Publications and source records attributed to N Achour.

32 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1983

[Cross-sectional study of growth between 3 and 20 years of age in the population of Tunisia].

In the course of a study designed to estimate the prevalence of diabetes in the Gouvernorat of Tunis, 1449 households chosen at random were examined at home between October 1976 and June 1977. The following parameters : weight, height, tricipital and subscapular skinfold thickness were determined for each subject 3 years old or more. From the data observed on 1 889 males and 1 940 females aged from 3 to 20 years, estimates by age and sex are proposed as references for growth among the tunisian population in urban area. Then an approach of the secular trend is derived from the distributions of height according to the year of birth in the adult population.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Mortality due to smoking in Tunisia in 1997].

In Tunisia, in spite of the high prevalence of the cigarette smoking among males, there consequences in term of mortality were not until evaluated. These last can be estimated from tobacco consumption data, mortality statistics and estimates of risks observed among populations of smokers in cohort studies. Numbers of deaths by causes have been estimated from WHO for 1998 year. Smoking prevalence have been estimated from a national survey conducted in 1996 by l'Institut National de Santé Publique and the National League against the Tuberculosis and the Respiratory Illness. Mortality attributable to tobacco in Tunisia has been estimated 6430 deaths. The effect of smoking are a lot more important at the man (5580 deaths), contributing to 22% of male deaths, that at the woman (850 deaths) contributing at 4% of the female deaths. The present mortality to tobacco is similar to certain developed countries as France or Canada. The consumption of cigarettes even though it recorded a light decrease during these last years, remain even elevated notably at the young. Then it is waited to see an increase of tobacco related deaths during the future decades. It is urgent to conduct an efficient politics against this tobacco epidemic by helping the smoker to stop smoking and preventing teenagers to begin to smoke.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of women towards breast cancer screening].

The objective of this study was to describe knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of women towards breast cancer screening methods in two regions of north Tunisia. Thus 936 women from Ariana (urban region) and 993 women from Zaghouan (rural region) were selected and answered a questionnaire on their perception of the gravity of breast cancer, the vulnerability of women, the efficacy of screening and their use of screening. The use of screening was significantly more frequent in Ariana for both clinical breast examination and mammography, but screening use was modest. This low use of breast cancer screening contrasts with a positive attitude to breast cancer screening methods. The factors positively associated with use of screening were urban residence, age between 35 and 49 years, educational level and the perception that cancer treatment had advanced in Tunisia.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Smoking among medical students in Tunisia: trends in behavior and attitudes].

We report a cross sectional survey to analyze the effects of medical training on the smoking habits of Tunisian medical students, and their attitudes and knowledge about smoking. Two groups of medical students were studied. One group was 257 first year students at the Medical Faculties of Tunis and Sfax, in 1987, the other 211 final year students at the same Faculties in 1994 and who had been in the first year in 1987. A questionnaire bases on that of the WHO and International Union against Lung Disease for health professionals was administered. It was completed by 95% of the students. Fifty-four % were men and 46% women, and 70.2% lived in an urban area before attending university (table 1). Nonsmokers were defined as those who had never smoked. Exsmokers were those who had formerly smoked but no longer did so. Smokers were divided into those who smoked occasionally and those who smoked daily. The prevalence of smoking was higher among the final year students than the first year students. Combined daily and occasional smoking was 24.1% among first year students and 37.1% among final year students (table 2). The rates among men for daily smoking were 19.2% in the first year and 38.9% in the final year, whereas for women the corresponding rates were 1.8% and 2% (table 3). The prevalence of occasional smoking among men was 17.8% for the first year and 17.7% in the final year. Among women, this behavior increased from 5.5% to 16.8%. Men exsmokers increased from 6.2% to 16.8% and women from 4.6% to 13.4% from the first to the final year. The proportion of first year smokers who reported a serious attempt to stop was 64.8% and that of final year students was 50%. Protected personal health was the most common reason (table 4). In the final year, 94.1% of te students agreed strongly with the view that smoking is harmful to health (table 5). However, there was substantial underestimation of the contribution of tobacco to causing serious diseases including bladder cancer, coronary artery disease, peripheral vascular disease, emphysema and neonatal morality (table 6). The study evidences insufficient awareness of medical students about their responsibility for health education and prevention. There was little interest in preventive action for patients. Only 4.5% of the final year students felt that they were equipped to advise patients about smoking. Similarly, 65.7% would not advise patients to stop smoking if they had no smoking-related symptoms and did not raise the question themselves (table 7). There were major deficiences in knowledge of preventive measures. Only 45.5% of final year students considered that they had adequate knowledge to advise patients about smoking (table 8) and 72.5% thought that they should have received more specific training about counseling (table 9). This work shows that, like in Africa, Asia and Europe, Tunisian medical students have an unsatisfactory knowledge of tobacco and its effects. There were no substantial changes in the students' knowledge of, or attitude to, smoking between the first and final year of training. Simply stimulating the interest of these future doctors in the problem of smoking is insufficient.

Cross-Sectional Studies↗