Psychotic experiences and psychological distress in adolescents: an examination of longitudinal bidirectional effects across sex.

Background: Although the co-occurrence of psychotic experiences (PEs) and psychological distress symptoms is growingly recognized in several previous studies, there is still a lack of literature, which clearly outlines how these two psychopathological entities affect each other over time. This study is intended to add to the literature by examining: (a) the longitudinal, bidirectional associations between PEs and psychological distress in a sample of Tunisian adolescents, and (b) whether these associations are moderated by sex.

Methods: 510 adolescent students (mean age of 16.

Q Fever Endocarditis with Bilateral Multifocal Retinitis: A Case Report.

Purpose: To describe a case of bilateral retinitis in a patient with endocarditis and a serologically confirmed Q fever.

Methods: A single case report documented with multimodal imaging.

Results: A 55-year-old patient with culture-negative endocarditis was referred to our department for an ocular examination.

Impulsivity as a predictor of clinical and psychological outcomes in a naturalistic prospective cohort of subjects at ultra-high risk (UHR) for psychosis from Tunisia.

Background: Impulsivity is associated with serious detrimental consequences on physical, mental, behavioral and social aspects of health among patients with psychosis. The present prospective 12-month follow-up study aimed to determine the prevalence of highly impulsive individuals among Ultra High Risk (UHR) patients, how impulsivity evolves over the follow-up period, and whether impulsivity impacts clinical, psychological and functional outcomes in this population.

Method: UHR patients were invited to complete a battery of measurements at three-time points: at baseline, and at 6 and 12 months of follow-up.

Variation of retinal and choroidal microvascularization after an exercise stress test in patients with effort angina.

Purpose: To describe retinal and choroidal vascular changes following an exercise stress test (ET) in patients with effort angina and to determine whether optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) could play a role in the prediction of ischemic cardiac events.

Methods: Prospective comparative study including patients with effort angina. All patients underwent OCT-A before and after an ET was performed.

Mediating effect of depression and acute stress between exposure to Israel-Gaza war media coverage and insomnia: a multinational study from five arab countries.

Background: In the context of persistent wars and conflicts worldwide, the impact of acute, excessive and constant exposure to media coverage of such events on mental health outcomes becomes a serious problem for public health, and requires therefore urgent investigation to inform an effective prevention and management response. The objective of the present study was to test the hypothesis that war-related media exposure is directly and indirectly associated with insomnia through depression and perceived stress among adults from the general population of different Arab countries.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried-out two weeks after the beginning of Israel-Gaza war on the 7th of October 2023.

A Case of Infantile Cataract and Neonatal Hypoglycemia.

Purpose: To describe a case of lamellar cataract in a child with a history of neonatal hypoglycemia and illustrate the importance of meticulous history-taking in children with cataracts, especially before planning surgery.

Methods: A single case report.

Results: A 7-year-old girl with a history of neonatal hypoglycemia and ketoacidosis with high suspicion of a primary defect in ketone body utilization who presented with bilateral progressive blurred vision.

Development and initial validation of the cannabis-related psychosis risk literacy scale (CPRL): a multinational psychometric study.

Background: Public education efforts to address and reduce potential harms from cannabis use in Arab countries are either slow or inexistent, and do not follow the steadily increasing trends of cannabis use in Arab youth. Several decades of research on substance use, it can be suggested that being aware of, and knowing about, psychosis risk related to cannabis can at least limit the consumption of the substance. Motivated by a lack of measures specifically designed to measure literacy about cannabis-related psychosis risk in younger populations, and based on an extensive literature review, we aimed to create and validate a new self-report scale to assess the construct, the Cannabis-related Psychosis Risk Literacy Scale (CPRL), in the Arabic language.

Attitudes of ophthalmologists towards pharmaceutical promotion.

Introduction: The interaction between physicians and pharmaceutical industry highlighted many issues lately concerning their influence on physician's attitude and their prescribing behavior.

Aim: To evaluate the attitudes of Tunisian ophthalmologist towards pharmaceutical promotion.

Methods: Data was collected through an auto-administered anonymous questionnaire elaborated in French that was distributed to 160 ophthalmologists (residents and specialists) working in hospitals or private practices in four Tunisian governorates (Tunis, Sousse, Monastir and Sfax).

French validation of the barriers to access to care evaluation (BACE-3) scale.

Background: The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate a French version of the Barriers to Access to Care Evaluation (BACE-3) scale that is tailored to the socio-cultural and language setting of the study.

Methods: The translation of the BACE-3 into French and its validation were the two key components of this psychometric investigation. An online survey was created and circulated to French-speaking participants who volunteered to participate in the study.

Moderating effect of alexithymia between problem gambling and psychotic experiences in university students.

Background: Most of the young individuals with problem gambling (PG) or psychotic experiences (PEs) are less prone to seek medical help. Therefore, community-based studies investigating the relationship between these entities in non-clinical young people across a continuum of severity are warranted. To this end, the present study proposes to advance knowledge on the mechanisms that potentially underlie the association between PG and PEs, by examining the role of a potential moderator, i.

Body image as a mediator in the relationship between psychotic experiences and later disordered eating: A 12-month longitudinal study in high school adolescents.

Background: The relationship between psychosis and disordered eating remains a challenging area of research to which little interest was paid. Using longitudinal data, we aimed to explore the hypothesis that the pathways from psychotic experiences (PEs) to disordered eating (DE) and body-mass index (BMI) are mediated by body-image disturbances.

Methods: A prospective longitudinal study was performed.

The relationship between internet gaming disorder and psychotic experiences: cyberbullying and insomnia severity as mediators.

Background: The nature of the relationship between Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) and psychosis is unclear so far. There is evidence that greater time spent in playing video games may expose players to both insomnia and a toxic online environment with widespread cyberbullying. These two possible consequences of IGD may, in turn, be associated with greater psychotic experiences (PE).

Clinical features of infectious uveitis in a Tunisian population.

Introduction: Infectious uveitis (IU), one of the main causes of ocular inflammation in Tunisia, has various etiologies and clinical presentations.

Aim: To report the causes and clinical features of IU in a Tunisian population.

Methods: Patients with IU referred to our department from February 2019 to January 2022 were included in a retrospective observational study.

Mental illness stigma as a moderator in the relationship between religiosity and help-seeking attitudes among Muslims from 16 Arab countries.

Background: Determining the potential barriers responsible for delaying access to care, and elucidating pathways to early intervention should be a priority, especially in Arab countries where mental health resources are limited. To the best of our knowledge, no previous studies have examined the relationship between religiosity, stigma and help-seeking in an Arab Muslim cultural background. Hence, we propose in the present study to test the moderating role of stigma toward mental illness in the relationship between religiosity and help-seeking attitudes among Muslim community people living in different Arab countries.

Peripheral retinal cysts in presumed ocular toxocariasis.

Typical clinical manifestations of ocular toxocariasis are central posterior granuloma, peripheral granuloma and chronic endophthalmitis. Herein we report the presence of peripheral subretinal cysts in two cases with a presumed ocular toxocariasis (OT).

Insomnia and distress as mediators on the relationship from cyber-victimization to self-reported psychotic experiences: a binational study from Tunisia and Lebanon.

Background: While expansive research has accumulated concerning the association between traditional, face-to-face peer victimization and psychosis, a paucity of empirical research has been undertaken so far to investigate these associations with experiences of new and evolving ways of victimization through the digital world. Exploring these associations is highly relevant and timely, given that emerging adults are heavy users of digital technologies, highly exposed to online risks, and are at the peak age of onset of psychosis. This study aimed to test the hypothesis that psychological distress and insomnia symptoms have a significant indirect mediating effect on the association between cyber-victimization and self-reported positive psychotic experiences (SRPEs) in a binational sample of Tunisian and Lebanese community adults.

Neuro-Ophthalmological Manifestations of Horner's Syndrome: Current Perspectives.

Horner's syndrome (HS) is caused by a damage to the oculosympathetic pathway. HS may be congenital, but it is usually acquired and may reveal a life-threatening condition. According to the anatomic location of the underlying pathologic process, HS is classified as central, pre- or postganglionic, when the lesion affects the first, second or third-order neuron, respectively.

Ocular Manifestations After Acute Methanol Poisoning.

Acute methanol poisoning is first and foremost life-threatening. Otherwise, functional prognosis is mainly based on ocular impairment. In this case series we aimed to describe the ocular manifestations after acute methanol poisoning during an outbreak in Tunisia.

Schizotypal traits in a large sample of high-school and university students from Tunisia: correlates and measurement invariance of the arabic schizotypal personality questionnaire across age and sex.

Background: The main goal of the present study was to examine the characteristics of schizotypal traits and their correlations with genetic (i.e., family history of mental illness), demographic (i.

Surgical management of lifebuoy cataract.

Lifebuoy cataract is a rare form of congenital cataract with anatomical characteristics. Herein, we present a case of an otherwise healthy 42-year-old female with a long-standing history of blurred vision. Examination showed the presence of esotropia and bilateral horizontal nystagmus.

New-onset acute psychosis as a manifestation of lupus cerebritis following concomitant COVID-19 infection and vaccination: a rare case report.

Background: Rare cases of COVID-19 infection- and vaccine-triggered autoimmune diseases have been separately reported in the literature. In this paper, we report the first and unique case of new onset acute psychosis as a manifestation of lupus cerebritis following concomitant COVID-19 infection and vaccination in a previously healthy 26-year-old Tunisian female.

Case Presentation: A 26-years old female with a family history of a mother diagnosed with schizophrenia, and no personal medical or psychiatric history, was diagnosed with mild COVID-19 infection four days after receiving the second dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.