The effect of home-based care on housebound patients and their caregivers in two Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon: a qualitative study.

Background: The incidence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) increases annually by approximately 5% among older (age 50 years and older) Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, of whom around 10% are housebound. Care for housebound patients does not exist in the over-medicalised and highly privatised Lebanese health system or within the health system for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. This has led to a neglected population.

Self-reported medication adherence among patients with diabetes or hypertension, Médecins Sans Frontières Shatila refugee camp, Beirut, Lebanon: A mixed-methods study.

Introduction: Low adherence to medications, specifically in patients with Diabetes (DM) and Hypertension (HTN), and more so in refugee settings, remains a major challenge to achieving optimum clinical control in these patients. We aimed at determining the self-reported medication adherence prevalence and its predictors and exploring reasons for low adherence among these patients.

Methods: A mixed-methods study was conducted at Médecins Sans Frontières non-communicable diseases primary care center in the Shatila refugee camp in Beirut, Lebanon in October 2018.

Pediatric appendectomy in developing countries: How does it differ from international experience?

Introduction: A review of the English literature indicates the faint superiority of laparoscopic (LA) over open appendectomy (OA) in the pediatric population; however, a developing-country's experience in the field is not available yet. This study presents our experience in LA versus OA over the last 7 years in one university hospital in Lebanon and compares our results to the international ones.

Method: A single center retrospective study was done including all patients aged less than 15 years who underwent appendectomy.

Treating Syrian refugees with diabetes and hypertension in Shatila refugee camp, Lebanon: Médecins Sans Frontières model of care and treatment outcomes.

Background: Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has been providing primary care for non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which have been increasing in low to middle-income countries, in the Shatila refugee camp, Beirut, Lebanon, using a comprehensive model of care to respond to the unmet needs of Syrian refugees. The objectives of this study were to: 1) describe the model of care used and the Syrian refugee population affected by diabetes mellitus (DM) and/or hypertension (HTN) who had ≥ one visit in the MSF NCD clinic in Shatila in 2017, and 2) assess 6 month treatment outcomes.

Methods: A descriptive retrospective cohort study using routinely collected program data for a model of care for patients with DM and HTN consisting of four main components: case management, patient support and education counseling, integrated mental health, and health promotion.

Methods used in adaptation of health-related guidelines: A systematic survey.

Background: Adaptation refers to the systematic approach for considering the endorsement or modification of recommendations produced in one setting for application in another as an alternative to de novo development.

Objective: To describe and assess the methods used for adapting health-related guidelines published in peer-reviewed journals, and to assess the quality of the resulting adapted guidelines.

Methods: We searched Medline and Embase up to June 2015.

Risk Factors, Clinical Presentation, and Outcome of Bacteremia.

Infections caused by (AB), an increasingly prevalent nosocomial pathogen, have been associated with high morbidity and mortality. We conducted this study to analyze the clinical features, outcomes, and factors influencing the survival of patients with AB bacteremia. We retrospectively examined the medical records of all patients developing AB bacteremia during their hospital stay at a tertiary care hospital in Beirut between 2010 and 2015.

A methodological survey identified eight proposed frameworks for the adaptation of health related guidelines.

Background And Objective: Our objective was to identify and describe published frameworks for adaptation of clinical, public health, and health services guidelines.

Methods: We included reports describing methods of adaptation of guidelines in sufficient detail to allow its reproducibility. We searched Medline and EMBASE databases.