Biosocial factors affecting vitamin D status of women of childbearing age in the United Arab Emirates.

Low serum 25-OHD in female Arab subjects, which may predispose their infants to hypocalcaemia, has been suggested to be due to inadequate sunshine exposure, but may include other sociobiological factors. The effects of duration of sunshine exposure--weighted against the magnitude of clothing (UV exposure) and other sociobiological variables such as age, education and living accommodation--on serum 25-OHD and mineral status of 33 UAE national women of childbearing age were compared with those of 25 non-Gulf Arabs and seventeen Europeans. Serum concentrations of calcium, phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase and intact parathyroid hormone among the groups were not significantly different.

The primary care anxiety and depression (PCAD) scale: a culture-oriented screening scale.

The construction of a screening scale for states of anxiety and depression among primary health care (PHC) patients is described. Most of the scale items were selected from a pool of items chosen from two international screening scales which were validated locally, namely the Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) Scale. A validity study of a new sample of PHC patients indicated that the scale provided a valid measure of anxiety and depressive states, and was closely correlated with the psychiatrist's clinical judgement.

Retesting the validity of the Arabic version of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) scale in primary health care.

The Arabic version of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) scale was retested and cut-off points determined in a sample of 217 patients attending a primary health care centre in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.

Behaviour disorders in primary school children in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.

A multi-stage random sample of primary school children in central Al Ain city, Abu Dhabi Emirate, United Arab Emirates was screened in January 1993 with the Rutter B2 Scale to estimate the prevalences of behaviour disorders, and to determine whether and how these were associated with the age, gender, nationality, grade and scholastic performance of the children. Of 2100 boys and girls aged between 5.4 and 16.

Minor psychiatric morbidity in primary health care: prevalence, nature and severity.

The Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS) (Goldberg et al. 1970) was applied in a study investigating the prevalence rate, nature and severity of minor psychiatric disorders among U.A.